Life of a Maple Part 5: Maple Incline and Decline

Healthy sugar maple forest.

It is very likely that prior to European settlement that deciduous forests of eastern North America were actually more disturbed than they are today.  This presettlement disturbance however was much different from the disturbance we see in our forests today.  Today, we see grazing, logging, invasive species, and widespread agriculture as the major forms of disturbance.  During presettlement days fire was the most common type of disturbance of the forest.  Just like the modern disturbances, it is very likely that fire was also human caused in a vast majority of cases.  Given the wet nature of eastern deciduous forests, it is extremely unlikely that fire could have been anything other than human caused.  While today's disturbances are typically an after though to land use, Native Americans purposely used fire to manipulate the landscape, increasing its productivity, and health. 

Fire however, strongly works against the maple tree.  Remembering back to previous installments of this series on maple trees, you might remember that maples prefer very stable, undisturbed habitats.  Anytime fire comes around one of these habitats where maples have become established, the maples are killed off.  As a result, prior to European settlement of the eastern deciduous forest oaks, a fire adapted species were far more abundant, and maples, a fire intolerant species were far less abundant.  By some estimates in some locations there may be up to three times more maples today than there was in the 1800's.  The increase of maples over the last century is a result of fire suppression by European settlers.  It was only on the best soils, in the most ideal habitats where fire didn't touch that maples were found in the 1800's and prior. 

Sugar Maples in fall.

As fire was suppressed and forests began to stabilize, maples began to expand there range.  Maples increased, invaded, and replaced forests that historically had been filled with oaks.  Oak forests typically are far drier and have poorer soil than ideal maple forests.  Oak forests were naturally more prone to fire and therefore easily survived.  But without fire maples moved in. 

Maples moving into areas of less than ideal soil wasn't the best thing for the forest.  Being maples are extremely picky about their environment, living in these less than ideal soils made them especially sensitive to drought.  Oaks are adapted to drought but maples are not.  Maples ideally overcome drought simply by living in the best soils in the forest.  But in less than ideal soils, the maples were damaged during drought.  The damage did not end with drought though.  Drought damage made the tree more susceptible to other problems such as fungal infections and insect damage which often end up killing the tree.  So the incline of maples was a direct result of fire suppression allowing maples to move into marginal habitats.  Maple decline is a result of maples living in these marginal habitats.

Forest where many of the maple trees are dying due to "maple decline".

Life of a Maple Part 4: Maple Syrup

If the Sugar Maple tree is famous for anything, it is famous for maple syrup.  Early each spring as the snow melts, maple syrup farms spring to life from the Midwest U.S., Northeast U.S., and Southeast Canada.  I personally have payed a few visits to these farms and they are always quite an interesting experience.  The weather is typically beautiful with temperatures between 30 and 50 degrees.  This is at least beautiful compared to the previous winter months.  Snow is typically on the ground but melting, which is producing the next most memorable thing about most maple syrup farms: mud.  The farms I've visited are always unbelievably muddy.  They are so muddy in-fact that horses are often used to gather sap.  Horses are used rather than tractors or other vehicles simply because they don't get stuck in the mud! 

The story of how maple syrup is made begins with the previous late summer.  Late in the summer, the maple tree stops growing and instead stores energy in the form of starch.  This starch is stored in the trees sapwood through the winter.  Come spring when sapwood temperatures reach about 40 degrees the starch is converted to sugar by an enzyme and moves out of the wood and into the tree sap.  Rising temperatures, particularly in the morning as the sun comes up, cause the sap to rise through vessels.  The sap rises towards the trees twigs and branches where the sugar will help the tree to begin flowering and budding. 

A large maple tree with two taps and buckets for collecting sap.

As the sap rises, if a tap is in place, some of the sap will drip out of the tree.  This sap generally contains about 2-3 percent sugar and is collected in buckets hanging from the tap.  One Sugar Maple tap can produce 5 to 15 gallons of sap.  Once the sap is gathered from multiple trees it is boiled down to evaporate off the water and concentrate the sugars to form maple syrup.  Typically 40 gallons of sap will produce about 1 gallon of maple syrup.  While sugar maples are the most common tree for producing syrup, red maples, black maples, silver maples, and even boxelder trees (also in the maple family) all can produce syrup. 

Maple syrup was first discovered by and utilized by Native Americans.  Europeans quickly picked-up on the practice and refined it to the practice we see today. 

Life of a Maple Part 3: The Maple Tree and Sunlight

When it comes to soil, Sugar Maples are pretty picky.  When it comes to sunlight however, maples aren't picky at all.  Other trees, such as oaks, prefer to have as much sunlight as possible through out their entire lifespan.  Maples however can do quite well with very low levels of light early on in life.  This is a very fortunate adaptation being the most ideal soils for maples are typically going to be located in the shade of large trees.  Lots of, but not complete, shade aids the germination and early sprouts of maples.  However, maple seedlings will often have stunted growth in very low light situations.  Small seedlings and saplings are capable of surviving many years in the shade of larger trees.  Other sun loving trees such as oaks simply would die due to lack of sunlight.  These small maple trees simply wait until the larger tree dies and is removed by ice storms, wind, or disease.  The wait for an older maple to die can be a long one though being they are capable of living 500 years. 

Once these over-story trees are out of the way, smaller trees that had waited patiently in the shade for years suddenly make a bolt for the sky until becoming a dominant tree in the forest canopy.  This cycle can then repeat itself many times over with younger maples replacing older maples.  This self sustaining process of the Sugar Maple forest will continue unless significant disturbance such as fire or major drought take place.  If disturbance does happen, plants that require more light, such as grasslands or oak forests, will replace the maple trees.  Given time though, and lack of disturbance, after a hundred or more years the maples will replace sun loving trees such as oaks and will again dominate the forest.  This process of one plant community replacing another plant community is called succession.  Maple forests typically are the last stage in succession, which is called the climax plant community. 

Slow growth, long life, and tolerance for shade are what make the maple a climax forest species.  Faster growing trees with shorter lives typically require lots of light and occupy areas after a major disturbance such as fire.  The slow growing maple tolerates the shade and out live these faster short lived species.   Shade tolerance is one of the most important adaptations maples have to being a late successional climax tree.  There are a number of more minor adaptations that aid in the overall shade tolerance of maple.  First off, maples form large thin leaves that gather light very well.  Leaves lack pubescence, or hairiness, which would block light.  These leaves also grow to orient themselves in a manner that helps them gather the most sun light.  Pigments inside of the leaves also are especially adapted to gathering far red light which is abundant in shady environments.  Lastly, maples produce a huge number of leaves in their canopies in order to catch as much light as possible.  Such a great density of leaves are produced by Sugar Maples that the top 10 percent of leaves gather 60 percent of the total sunlight. 

Life of a Maple Part 2: Soil and Roots

A moist maple forest with rich soil.

A Sugar Maple seed doesn't get to choose where and what type of soil it gets to land on.  Typically, where the seed lands is a result of wind direction and strength at the time it falls.  Where ever the seed germinates and begins to grow is where it will spend the rest of its life.  The unfortunate majority will die long before reaching a foot in height.  Often, predators such as deer and squirrels, find the young seedling far to appetizing to pass it by.  Many seedlings will also unfortunately find themselves in soil that is less than ideal.  As far as deciduous forest trees go, the Sugar Maple is quite picky, much like Goldilocks.  The soil can't be too wet or the roots will suffocate as they drown in the water soaked soil.   Neither can the soil be too dry or the roots will dehydrate.  Nor can the soil have too much clay or too much sand.  They soil has to be just right. Even when the soil has just the right texture (meaning the right amounts of clay and sand) and the right amount of water, the soil might not be good enough.  The soil also has to have high levels of nutrients.  Soils with low nitrogen or calcium may prevent healthy growth and longevity of maples.  Even then, maples seem to prefer very deep soils deposited by glaciers over any other type of soil.  The maple is very picky...

The reason the maple is so very picky is because of its roots.  Just like branches of deciduous trees shed their leaves annually, larger roots also shed tiny roots annually and with dry weather.  Maples produce an abundance of these fine roots at very shallow depths, right where the nutrients are highest.  It has been estimated that 60 percent of annual productivity of maples is actually contained within these roots.  This is quite amazing when you consider the great density of leaves maple trees produce annually.  The fact that so much of the tree is in-fact these very sensitive tiny roots makes the whole tree very sensitive to whatever happens on or in the most shallow layers of soil.  Trampling by foot traffic, vehicles, or cattle can damage these roots as well as cause the soil to dry out, killing the roots and potentially killing the whole tree.  If fire burns across the ground, the surface soil will be significantly dried out also potentially killing the roots.  The heat of the fire can also kill the roots very easily.  Pollution, such as acid rain, can change the chemistry of the soil, also killing fine roots and damaging the overall tree.

Fortunately, the maple tree does have some adaptations that help make it at least a little less sensitive to changes in the surface soil.  For one, the overall root system of maples is capable of hydraulically redistributing moisture from deep within the soil to more shallow soils.  The thick shade of maples also helps to prevent evaporation of moisture from the soil.  Also, the fact that maples transpire, or "exhale", large amounts of water vapor while photosynthesizing helps cool the environment and increase humidity.  Fallen leaves are very absorbent and are a very effective mulch that help hold moisture in the soil.  All of this helps moisture to be retained within the soil where it can be utilized by the tree and prevents moisture from evaporating into the environment.  All around, the maple works to keep its environment as moist as possible.

Sugar Maple tree in fall.

Life of a Maple Tree: Part 1 Seed to Sprout

I'll be starting a new series on the blog about the life cycle of the maple tree, specifically the sugar maple.  This is sort of a follow-up to the series on oaks and hickory trees.  Maples are sort of a logical follow-up to the oak-hickory forest being they are later successional species to the oaks and hickories.

Sugar Maple leave

The life of a maple tree begins with the charismatic "whirlybird" seed which fall like helicopters from the mother maple.  Often masses of these seeds will blow off of mature maples and twirl to the ground on windy fall days.  Technically, these "whirlybird" seeds are called samara, which are simple seeds with a flattened papery wing-like portion.  The whirlybird nature of these seeds helps the wind to carry them a long to new locations, often hundreds of yards away.  Then hopefully, the seed will be able to sprout and develop into a new tree.

Once on the ground, the maple seed prefers moist and undisturbed locations, such as in a maple forest or an oak-hickory forest that has not been disturbed by fire.  This is because the maple seed is not well protected.  While the wing portion of the samara is good for transporting the seed with the wind, it doesn't do much else.  The seed requires a moist area, and is easily killed by damage from trampling animals, dehydration, or heat from fire.  Once on the ground though the seed becomes actively searched out for by numerous small animals such as rabbits, squirrels, and mice.  Predation really isn't too much of a problem though, the maple tree typically produces so many seeds that it overwhelms predators.  Predators have plenty to go around and there are still plenty of seeds left over to germinate and sprout. 

Sugar Maple samara seeds.

If not found by seed predators on the ground, the seed than requires the cold of winter in order for it to germinate.  Without cold, the seed will not germinate.  Many species of trees, such as oaks, have a difficult time establishing themselves in soil covered with a thick layer of leaves.  Oaks therefore require the ground to be disturbed by fire so their acorns can sprout and grow.  The maple however, does not have this problem and prefers undisturbed forest ground cover, often thickly covered with dead leaves.  Once germinated, the root easily penetrates through thick moist layers of leaves from the previous year. 

Another oddity of the maple is that it prefers shade.  The maple does not like competition with other small plants such as grasses and shrubs.  It does to quite well though when growing under the canopy of mature trees that shade-out other plants.  In-fact, maple seeds germinate and grow best where there is 50 percent or more shade.  In these areas tiny maple seeds can sprout by the thousands, often leading to a carpet of young maple trees.  The problem though is, once germinated there is so little light in these areas the trees will not grow very large and growth will be stunted.  Again though, the maple is adapted to this situation, being able to survive, but not grow, in minimal light retirements for many years.  The tiny stunted tree simply waits until older larger trees casting shade on the forest floor die.  Once these larger trees die, the tiny maple tree grows rapidly in the new sunlight. 

During the potentially long period of time that a maple seedling remains a small stunted tree it is important that the forest remains undisturbed.  Fire and drought both will easily kill these seedlings.  Predators, such as deer, also heavily browse on "carpets" of small maple seedlings.  Usually though, plenty of seedlings survive predation with drought and fire being the big killers. 

Life of a Hickory Tree Part 3

This is part three and the last post of the Life of a Hickory Tree.

As the hickory slowly grows it develops a hard strong wood.  While this wood structure helps the tree survive drought and windy conditions, it also makes it highly useful to humans.  Hickory is well known for making strong tool handles.  Native Americans frequently made bows and arrows from the wood.  Settlers also used it to make wagon wheels, skis, and old fashion golf clubs.  It is also great fire wood being its dense wood burns long and hot making great charcoal.  This extremely useful wood made the hickories some of the first to be cut down by early settlers.  Even today hickory is used in making tools, all kinds of wood craft, and for smoke curing meats.  In my opinion, hickory smoked meats really are some of the best tasting!

As the shagbark hickory grows it develops a tall straight trunk and often columnar shaped tree.  Oak trees are often spreading, making them especially adapted to growing in grasslands where they can spread their branches horizontally to gather light and there is little competition with nearby trees shading them.  Hickories with their narrower more columnar shape are more of a woodland species grow up towards sunlight as they compete with nearby trees.  As the hickory slowly grows it loses its ability to re-sprout if damaged by fire.  Larger trees however are increasingly resistant to fire as they grow.  This fire resistance though is nothing compared to oaks thick insulating bark and large hickories still can only tolerate very low intensity ground fires.  If larger trees are exposed to higher intensity fires, even if the flames do not initially kill the tree, damaged cambium becomes highly prone to rot which can subsequently kill the tree. 
For the first 20 to 30 years of life, the shagbark produces a beautifully smooth, gray bark.  This bark is very thin and even a very shallow cut into it will produce the green cambium.  As the tree ages though the bark becomes increasingly scaly, rough, and a gray-black color.  A much harder and slightly thicker layer of bark covers the trunk.  By the time the tree reaches 30 years of age the bark begins to fissure and flake outwards, producing the classic shaggy bark these trees are known for.  I have never heard anything about the fire resistance of this shaggy character of bark but I suspect it catches fire relatively well and it part of the reason these trees are not very fire resistant.  The shaggy bark is so easily recognizable and memorable that once told, even a child can easily identify the tree.  The flaky bark also is quite useful as a hiding place for insects and a roosting location for bats.  The fact that many bugs hide among the shaggy bark benefits many species of insect loving birds that search out the flakes and crevices for dinner.  Shagbark hickory is such an important bat roosting location that when mature shagbarks are logged a bat population can nearly disappear.  Some birds, such as the brown creeper, also nest under bark flakes.  Humans also prior to 1900 or so utilized the inner bark to produce a yellow dye.  Today, a few people in the east boil the bark with sugar in a secret process to produce shagbark hickory syrup which some claim puts maple syrup to shame. 

The shaggy bark of this hickory provides homes for many insects as well as some birds and bats.  

Around 40 years of age the shagbark begins to produce larger mast crops.  Large mast production occurs every one to five years depending on spring weather conditions.  Animal populations typically fluctuate along with large oak and hickory mast years.  In years with large mast production there is a large amount of food to go around for deer, bear, turkey, woodpeckers, ducks, and jays.  As a result these animals will often produce many young and the population will grow.  Years with low mast crops will result in little food allowing fewer wildlife offspring to survive therefore causing populations to shrink.  Though inconsistent in production and causing the rise, fall and rise again, in many animal populations, the overall benefit of these mast producing trees is huge.  Other trees, such as maples, produce huge numbers of seeds every year but benefit wildlife populations little in comparison of the oaks and hickories. 
The hickory can continue to grow and produce mast until about 200 years of age, after that most trees begin to decline.  Maximum lifespan is likely between 200 and 300 years.  At these old ages the hickory has become a tall straight tree of 70 to 80 feet tall.  Canopy width is typically about half or less of their height.  At this stage in life the shagbark has become a stately tree.  The long flakes of shaggy bark make these trees presence in the woodland clear.  Dark colored and straight trunks with their beautiful dark green foliage make these trees stately columns.  In spring these leaves burst forth from large scarlet colored leaf buds.  In fall the bright yellow leaves are a strong contrast against the more drab yellow and reds of neighboring oaks.  Though smaller, shorter lived, and less common than the oak, the hickory is a cornerstone tree to Midwestern and Eastern woodlands.  It is unfortunate it often takes a backseat to oaks being it is such a magnificent tree in itself.  

Life of a Hickory Tree Part 2

A yellow Hickory leaf.

Not only are hickory nuts sought out by wildlife, humans also have partook in the gathering of these nuts.  Though hickories were less common than oaks in Midwestern and Eastern wooded areas they still were an important food source for Native Americans.  Being oaks and hickories often grow right alongside each other I am sure hickory nuts were often gathered with acorns in the fall.  Both fall from trees at approximately the same time.  Even today hickory nuts are one of the most popular types of tree nuts eaten.  The pecan comes from a hickory tree closely related to the shagbark.  While many people claim that shagbarks produce a nut that tastes superior to the pecan, the shagbark unfortunately is an inconsistent producer.  Pecans are produced consistently year after year while shagbark nuts are produced in an abundance only every few years or so.  Being farmers don’t like to wait a few years to obtain a harvest, the pecan quickly dominated agriculturally.  So the next time you eat pecan pie or pralines remember the hickory they grew on.  Other hickory trees also produce nuts however, none of them taste anywhere near as good as the pecan or shagbark.  The pignut and bitternut hickories produce nuts that taste about as good as their names sound.  I have tasted some before and couldn’t tolerate the taste for more than a few seconds. 

Hickory nuts.

Ideally, the lost hickory nut will find itself in a disturbed location such as along a forest edge, a recently burned area or in a forest clearing where larger canopy trees have recently fallen or been logged.  While hickories do tolerate some shade, they prefer lots of sun, so recently disturbed areas are preferred.  Typically, oaks will invade an area before hickories do but, if an area has a lower level of disturbance, frequently hickories will closely follow the oaks in becoming established.  The Shagbark Hickory is the most common type of hickory of the oak-hickory forest.  While this hickory is tolerant of most soil types it does not do well in wet soils and prefers the drier soils.  So ideally the nut will be cached in mesic to dry soil.  Once here, the seed must be exposed to cold winter temperatures before it will germinate.  After exposure to winter cold however, soil moistened by melting snow and warmer temperatures cause the seed to rapidly germinate.  Immediately at germination, the seed puts all of its energy into developing a thick strong taproot.  This taproot can be several inches long before any green shoots sprout above ground.  But once green sprouts do appear, light harvested through photosynthesis is rapidly converted into energy to grow this taproot.  Over the lifespan of this tree, this taproot will be the primary root from which smaller roots venturing outward.  As a result, hickories are considered one of the sturdiest trees of the forest.  The hickories, life philosophy, at least for the first several years, is root before shoot; this is similar to the oak.  This results in an extremely slow growing tree and often other trees out-compete hickories by shading them out.  Amazingly, even slow growing oak trees outpace the hickory.  But slow growth emphasizing a strong taproot builds a well established, durable tree with high quality wood.  Within the prairie to forest transition, wind and drought are common problems that must be overcome for survival.  The great strength hickories gain from deep root to high limbs allows them to survive strong winds with firm anchoring, strong stature, and deep probing in search of hidden soil moisture.

Even though hickories are not well adapted to brush or grass fires like this one, young hickories still can sprout back after the fire.

Establishing a strong taproot not only overcomes drought and wind, it overcomes another factor common to the prairie to forest transition: fire.  Fires are most common in fall and spring.  In the fall, low intensity ground fires can disturb an area, clearing competing vegetation, and making it an ideal location for a hickory seedling to establish itself.  In spring, fire can be much more dangerous to hickory sprouts by killing them.  Hickory seedlings are also targets for grazing animals such as the white tail deer.  However, if a hickory sprout or seedling is killed by fire or eaten, the well established root can rapidly resprout.  Once resprouted after fire, competing vegetation has been burned away, and the young hickory can rapidly grow without competition.  This ability to resprout maintains itself until the tree is 20 or so years old.  At this point, fire will more likely kill the tree and the root will not be able to resprout.  Hickories do not have the thick fire-resistant bark upland oaks do.  Their bark is rather thin and is easily damaged by fire, so hickories can only establish themselves in woodland areas that are burned less frequently.  While oaks can survive ground fires about every two to ten years, hickory forests can only survive low intensity fires every twenty or more years.  For this reason, hickories are commonly found in slightly moister areas that have lower fire frequencies. 

Life of a Hickory Tree Part 1

Oak-Hickory Forest found in Eastern Iowa.  The red trees are oaks and the yellow trees Shagbark Hickory.

This is the first of a four part series on the Shagbark Hickory tree of the Oak-Hickory Forest found in the Midwestern and Eastern United States.  It is sort of a continuation of the Life of an Oak blogs posts from last fall.  

In upland Oak-Hickory forests oaks draw all the attention and excitement.  Typically, oaks are larger and more abundant, but it takes hickory trees to make an Oak-Hickory forest of course.  Hickories have very similar life histories when compared to oaks of the Eastern and Midwestern United States, and this is exactly why oaks and hickories are closely associated.  The hickory however, is more of a forest species and indicates another step in transition from prairies more common to the west, to forests more common to the east.  In the Midwest, where this prairie to forest transition takes place, the Shagbark is the most common hickory of this forest type.  When first settled in the mid-1800's the Shagbark was an extremely minor tree in oak savannas but more common in oak woodlands, especially in slightly moister areas where fires burned less frequently.  Settlers made quick use of the hickory trees, chopping them down and using them to build strong tools and for burning.  Savanna and woodland oaks however, were often too large to cut down with ordinary 1800's era tools but the smaller hickories were much easier to cut and process.  For this reason, and because they were less common in the first place, hickories vanished far before oaks did.  As a result, hickories may be in lower proportions even today in oak forests.  Today however, I have seen an abundance of young hickories in oak forests, making me think their populations are growing in some areas.  Fire suppression in the modern era may be contributing to this increase of hickories as well as a normal repopulation of areas where hickories historically were completely eliminated by logging. 

Life as a nut

For hickories, life begins with what most of us would consider a nut.  Scientists however tell us that hickory nuts are not in-fact nuts, rather they are fruit.  Let me explain.  First of all, a fruit is any plant structure that contains seed.  Nuts on the other hand are simply a large dry seed enclosed in a dry shell.  While the hickory does have a large dry seed enclosed in a dry shell, early in its life this nut is enclosed in fleshy, or should I say fruity, plant material.  As the seed matures this fleshy container hardens into a dense woody shell that even the most pesky of squirrels can't penetrate.  Traditional ideas of succulent sweet fruit does not fit the hickory nut fruit.  This dense husk like flesh protects the hickory seed extremely well as it grows on the tree through summer.  However, as if to say, "you can eat me when I'm ready," the thick husk begins to split into four sections once maturity is reached in early fall.  Breaking of the husk happens as the fruit dries out, just before or just after it falls from the tree.  Once the husk splits, the hickory seed, or nut, is no longer safe.  For our purposes here, we will refer to the hickory fruit as a nut.  Which despite what scientists say, still seems to make the most sense.

Some Hickory fruits, or nuts.

In a similar way to the upland oak, the upland hickory begins its life as a nut.  Mother hickories send their progeny off with a simple quick drop from canopy to forest floor.  Once on the ground with the husk split open, hickory nuts don't move much except for maybe a short roll downhill.  Here, the nuts become a coveted food source.  In most years, these predators will quickly find and consume nearly every nut produced by the mother hickory.  However, every few years or so, such an abundance of nuts are produced that there are many left over.  In these years of abundant mast (nut) production predators are overwhelmed but still typically locate nearly all the seeds that fall from the tree.  However, instead of consuming the nuts immediately, certain forest creatures cache the abundance throughout the forest.  Deer, turkey, and bears all immediately eat hickory nuts in hopes of fattening up for winter.  Other predators such as squirrels, chipmunks, Bluejays, and woodpeckers will gather seeds, hiding them in caches throughout the forest and new locations outside of the forest.  These caches of nuts are then to be consumed later in winter when other food sources are scarce.  Woodpeckers will most often cache large amounts of seeds in tree cavities where they will easily be relocated.  Squirrels, jays, and chipmunks will hide seeds by burying them in many caches just below the soil surface, then attempt to relocate them later in the winter.  Amazingly, most of these hidden caches will be relocated and eaten.  A very tiny percentage of nuts actually survive the initial scavenging of forest creatures.  In good mast production years many however, will be lost and never be recovered.  Then, once lost, nuts find themselves in an ideal location, hidden away from predators, protected from the elements, planted and ready for germination.

Blue Jays commonly cache large seeds including the hickory nut.

Miracle Under the Oaks

Oak woodland where management practices similar to what is discussed in the book "Miracle Under the Oaks" have been implemented.

Recently, I read William Stevens’ book “Miracle Under the Oaks.”  This is an absolutely fantastic book of the scientific drama a group of non-scientists experienced as they learn how to, and restore prairies and oak savannas along the Chicago river.  Beginning in the late 70’s, Steve Packard lead a group of volunteers to restore the tallgrass prairies in north east Illinois.  These volunteers were composed of ordinary citizens who really had no idea how to restore a prairie.  Carpenters, doctors, pharmacists, people from all walks of life with no formal scientific background, self educated themselves and learned through trial and error how to restore the prairie.  As things began to pickup with the restoration projects, the general public and scientists began to take notice, becoming increasingly involved.  In the process of prairie restoration the volunteers rediscovered and helped define the Midwestern oak savanna, an ecosystem that once encompassed 30 million acres during pre-settlement time but today only 0.02% remains.  As a result, a movement has begun where thousands of acres of tallgrass prairie oak savannas are being researched and restored throughout the Midwest today.  This ecological restoration movement has not been isolated to oak savannas however, many other similar movements are taking place throughout the world in many different ecosystems as diverse as deserts to grasslands to forests.  Similar to the story in this book, these restorations are largely spearheaded by ordinary people without scientific backgrounds.  These ordinary people work together with the scientific community and often become experts in some portion of these projects.  Here is a great quote from the book showing how ordinary people can become valuable experts in a scientific subject through experience and self education:

“...I think there’s a lot of knowledge out there we haven’t taken advantage of.  One of the things that bothers me is the degree of arrogance you see among the so-called scholars and researchers who have gotten the notion that they have all the answers and who often look down with disdain at people who are just walking encyclopedias of bits of knowledge.”  Allen Harvey in Miracle Under the Oak

So the average non-scientist can become through self education and experience a sort of lay-scientist.  Where these types of people work together with the scientific community huge strides can be made in restoration of damaged ecosystems and habitats.  I truly believe common people can become experts on a subject if they have the desire to.  Formal education does not need to limit this, though it can help.  Formally educated scientists will always play a major role in science but the informal, lay-scientist expert can and should be playing a much larger role in science.  Yes, the application of lay-scientists will be different but their overall roll can and should be an important one in many areas of science.  The lay-scientist often has better access to land for ecological work and is not limited by availability of grant money.  They do it because they love it.  I love to encourage people to pursue things they love through self or formal education and become an expert of some type, the results are often amazing.  

Here is a link to one of the preserves Steve Packard’s group worked on:

Somme  Preserve

More information on Midwestern oak savannas:

http://oaksavannas.org/

Red oak leaves and acorn.

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire: What Ever Happened to this Christmas Tradition?

The American Chestnut.  Whatever happened to the American tradition of, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."????

Everyone knows how the song goes, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."  But how many people really have roasted chestnuts over an open fire for Christmas?  I can't think of a single person.  Of course nuts are part of Christmas tradition today as we can find walnuts, pecans, almonds, pistachios, and of course the corresponding famed nutcrackers in stores.  Chestnuts also can be occasionally be found but these are always the Chinese variety as opposed to the traditional American variety.  It has been said that roasting chestnuts on an open fire was such a common tradition in the eastern United States that its distinctive smell could be found throughout towns in the east this time of year.  Part of this was because the American Chestnut tree was extremely abundant prior to the early 1900's.  But no more.  So what happened to this once nearly universal American tradition?  The answer can be found in the plight of the American Chestnut beginning in 1904.

The Asian chestnut trees have grown for millenniums with chestnut bark fungus, resulting in strong resistance.  American trees, however, were never exposed to this fungus and therefore could not easily survive infection.  Beginning in 1904 the first american tree infected with the bark fungus was found in the Bronx Zoo.  The disease had been accidentally transported to the United Stated from Asia on an imported Chinese Chestnut tree.  After the initial infection in the Bronx, the disease spread rapidly through air-born fungal spores.  American Chestnut trees were killed by the billions.  The disease quickly became known as chestnut blight, and by the early 1940's had made the american chestnut tree exceedingly rare.  During this 40 or so year span the chestnut tree also was aggressively logged in forest areas and cut down in residential areas.  This aggressive removal of trees was done simply because it was thought they were all going to die anyway.  As a result, the blight made this once abundant tree has today been wiped out from the landscape and with it, the tradition of roasting chestnuts at Christmas time.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...

But there is hope for the return of the chestnut tree and therefor the roasting chestnuts at Christmas.  While it may appear that the American Chestnut is extinct, a handful of small areas with surviving trees have been discovered.  It has been estimated that less than 100 have survived that are greater than 24 inches in diameter. Many more, but still not a lot, survive as roots in the ground that send up sprouts that never reach more than a few inches in diameter before the blight kills them.  If it were not for the aggressive logging of chestnut trees in response to the blight many, but not a lot, more likely would have survived.  Unfortunately, some of these surviving trees could likely still be killed by the blight.  Fortunately, however, many of these survivors likely are resistant to the blight and can be propagated to reintroduce and repopulate chestnut trees in eastern North America.  Geneticists and plant breeders are also working to identify and place genes that are resistant to the blight into American Chestnuts.  They are using both the resistant Chinese chestnut and the surviving American Chestnuts to find genes and breed new resistant breeds of American Chestnuts.  Many non-scientists who are interested gardeners, naturalists, and landscapers are taking a large part in this though aiding scientists in breeding, growing, observing, and finding resistant chestnut trees.

Check out the American Chestnut Foundation for more information on efforts to restore this species:

http://www.acf.org/

Fifty or so years ago we may have thought that the American Chestnut was extinct, or at least doomed to extinction.  Today however, there is great hope for the tree.  While still possible, it is unlikely that the tree will not go extinct.  We can currently say it really can't get much worse for this species and recovery is a very viable option.  Only time will tell, and as with most trees it will take a long time to grow these trees to see if they are able to grow and resist the blight.  Our efforts as humans often result in environmental destruction as we see with the american chestnut.  But the american chestnut also shows that hopefully, our careful efforts can also restore and benefit the natural world.  And there is great hope that song words, "chestnuts roasting on an open fire" can once again be experienced by Americans.  Merry Christmas!

Life of an Oak Part 4: the Eastern Forest Tree of Life

Life of an Oak part 4 of 4

After twenty or so years of slow continuous growth, the oak tree enters the next stage of life.  At this age most oaks begin bearing their first large harvests of acorns.  Ground fire disturbance during decades leading to mast production help the acorn bearing process along.  Native Americans knowing this would purposely burn oak woodlands to increase production.  While most oaks produce some acorns every year, years of large mast production typically happen every two or three years.  A few oaks, such as the White Oak, will only have large mast productions every five or so years.  Large mast production typically depending on spring weather conditions that affect pollination of the trees flowers.  During the spring flowering period for oaks, freezing temperatures will kill flowers or overly wet conditions will prevent pollination, both of which prevent large acorn crops from being produced.  Further complicating this matter is the fact that some oaks require only one summer to produce acorns such as White Oaks, while Red Oaks require two summers to mature acorns.

Mother of the Forest
Once mature, the open canopy of oaks allow flecks of sun to pass through the tree and across the forest floor.  Greater amounts of sun reaching the forest floor allows for a greater diversity of plant-live and
greater total plant production.  As a result, the oak tree not only feeds an abundance of animals with acorns in the fall, but by aiding thicker more diverse vegetation on the forest floor an abundance of organisms are fed through spring and summer.  Spring in an oak woodland is filled with a variety of delicate beautiful flowers such as Bloodroot, Dutchmans Breeches, Trillium, and Wild Geranium.  During the summer a thick green blanket of vegetation covers the forest floor.  Where oaks are more spread out such as in savannas or open woodlands even prairie plants can begin to establish themselves.  Other trees such as Maples have such thick canopies that forest floors under mature trees can often be quite bare.

These fallen pin oak leaves resist decay because of the chemical tannin within the.   By resisting decay and curling up like these leaves, oak leaves encourage low intensity ground fires in the fall.  

The Oak doesn't stop here however.  At the end of each summer and through early spring an abundance of dry curly leafs fall from the tree.  Other trees typically produce leafs that lay flat against the ground, absorb water, and rot quickly.  Oaks however produce hardy leafs that curl-up, resist decay, and remain dry.  These fallen leafs, as well as additional ground cover as a result of the oaks open canopy, produce an abundance of ideal fuel for a low burning ground fires. These fires clear forest floors, befitting both the oak tree and the overall community, as well as encouraging the growth of new oak seedlings.  And so the oak forest or savanna is perpetuated with its own help.

Cycle of Forest Life
The oak is truly a mother and nurturer of the forest, part of a larger cycle involving humans providing fire, wildlife being fed and dispersing seed, and the forest community being structured by the presence of this magnificent tree.  The mature mother oak produces an abundance of seed feeding forest wildlife.  Light is let through the tree canopy growing more plants that provide more food for wildlife.  Fallen leafs and thicker ground vegetation encourage fire that clears invading plants.  Forests cleared by fire encourage the tree to grow stronger and produce more acorns.  Wildlife, fed by the oak, disperse and plant acorns in new areas.  Fire in-turn produces ideal locations for acorns to sprout and grow into new oaks which will again nurture a healthy forest habitat.  And so the oak comes full circle.

Life of an Oak Part 3: seedling to canopy

This is part three of a four part series titled "Life of an Oak".


Root Before Shoot
Oak seedlings thrive in recently disturbed areas.  Whether the disturbance was a result of logging, fire, or diseased caused death of larger trees, oaks establish themselves by taking advantage of the lack of competition with other plants and the abundance of sunlight.  Most oaks start off rather slowly compared to other trees.  Willows, birches, aspens, or cottonwoods put most of their energy into quick above ground growth.  However, these trees later suffer the consequences with a shortened lifespan, maybe 100 years, partially due to smaller root systems.  Oaks however are in it for the long-hall, say three to five hundred years in some instances, and order their life strategy accordingly.  Immediately upon germination oaks begin with this long-term view by putting all of their energy into root establishment.  Even after above ground foliage appears on seedlings or saplings, much of their energy goes into root establishment at the expense of above ground growth.  Extensive well established root systems later in life will benefit the oak with strong hard wood, capable of surviving all but the worst ice storms, fires, winds, and droughts.  Faster growing trees with weaker root systems and softer woods, such as cottonwoods, suffer dramatically from these same natural events.  When an oak sends roots out it claims the soil as its own for the long run.

Slow determined growth emphasizing root and long term establishment is an excellent life strategy.  This strategy is not however without consequence.  Slow growth makes oak seedlings easy targets for Whitetail Deer who love to munch on the new sprouts.  Unfortunately, over population of Whitetails in much of the eastern United States has partially resulted in poor establishment of oak seedlings over the past several decades.  Faster growing trees can quickly out grow young oaks and shade them out.  Fortunately, though oaks prefer lots of sunlight, most are fairly tolerant of some shade.  Too much shade will however, kill an oak.  When partially shaded by faster growing trees, oaks don't change life strategies and try to compete by growing faster.  Rather, in tortoise and the hare like fashion, the slow growing oak continues according to plan.  By slowly out growing and out living the faster growing, weaker, and shorter lived tree the oak eventually prevails.  The oak may suffer in the short run due to faster growing trees, but oaks have a long term perspective.  Often, if low intensity ground fires are present, oaks will not need to wait long to overcome other trees.  While other trees may be killed by fire the thick bark of oak insulates from and resists fire.  Even if a young sapling is killed by the fire the roots remain alive underground ready to sprout soon after the fire.  Very few tree species have both the ability to resist flames as well as resprout from roots.

Fire killed oak sapling.  This young trees roots still survive underground and will sprout next spring.

Fire and Resprout
Young oaks can be killed back by fire and resprout many times.  The larger an oak grows the thicker its bark becomes making it increasingly resistant to ground fires.  With time, oaks overcome both competitor trees and fire.  As the oak continues to grow it continues to take advantage of ground fires as they eliminate competing trees and replenish the soil with nutrients.  Once an oak is around five years old it is very likely it will survive to old age, only a fraction of a percent survive even to this age.  At this stage the tree has earned the ground it has slowly but surely taken, as most of the predators, fire, insects, and competing trees have been overcome or will be overcome in a matter of years.  The slow but steady path of growth will continue and the oak tree will become increasingly a landscape landmark.

After twenty or so years, the young acorn sprout makes its way back to the canopy.  The severe struggle against the forces of nature are overcome and the oak enters the next stage of life.

Life of an Oak Part 2: from acorn to sprout

These charred branches are evidence of ground fires in this Oak Savanna.

Fire and the Young Oak
Just prior to and after winter, oak woodlands historically experienced another form of harsh natural selection.  Just when life appears to be as hard as it gets, fire enters the picture.  In the fall before snow fall and early spring after snow melt, the ground is covered with a large supply of flammable dead vegetation.  Oak trees themselves contribute significantly to this fuel with their crunchy leaves covering the ground.  This dead vegetation historically has supported low intensity ground fires across the prairies and bordering oak savannas and woodlands.  Amazingly, most oaks are highly adapted to this type of fire, and anywhere you find fire disturbance you will typically find oaks.  Native Americans and many early European settlers throughout the eastern United States liberally utilized fire for a number of purposes.  In-fact, prior to any European impact Native Americans utilized fire so frequently and on such a large scale that essentially none of the Eastern or Midwestern landscape can be considered without human disturbance.  The general attitude seems to have been when in doubt, burn it.  The thinking went something like this: I want an open forest, lets burn this area.  I want more berry and fruit production here, lets burn it.  I want to create a fire break for the village, lets burn the area surrounding the village.  It would be easier to gather nuts or wild ground bird eggs if there wasn't so much vegetation, lets burn it so we can find these easier.  Prairie and forest floor fires had the added benefit of cooking the eggs also, making them ready to eat.  I want to create better habitat for game animals, burn it.  We need to herd some animals to make the hunting easier, lets round them up by burning them out.  Lets clear the land so we can plant a garden, better burn it.  There are too many snakes and ticks in this area, lets burn it.  And the list goes on.  Scientists have found that fire returned to areas anywhere from every two to 11 years.  Most of this burning was human started for the purpose of benefiting the landscape.  Very few of these fires were "natural" lightning started fires.

A recently burned oak savanna in Eastern Iowa.

Fire was amazingly effective in accomplishing all kinds of positive effects on the prairies, woodlands,and savannas; and oaks always followed right behind these fires.  As fire goes, so goes the oak, or any other tree for that mater.  While most trees are killed by fire, many upland oaks greatly benefit from ground fires.  Shortly after fall fires, Bluejays will begin caching acorns from nearby forests in newly burned areas.  Even if caches are made just before an area burns, low intensity ground fires cause very little harm to these acorns being they are protected underground.  Insect predators, such as Acorn Moths and weevils, are nearly eliminated in burn areas, greatly increasing acorn viability.  Fires also clear thick overhead vegetation, decrease surface soil moisture, and kill seeds deposited on the surface.  This allows for the full sun oaks require for establishment as well as lack of competition they thrive on.  Other tree seedlings typically require higher soil surface moisture for establishment or are killed by fire while oak acorns are safely buried just under the surface, and have access to soil moisture.  Even with very little soil moisture, the large acorn seed is capable of sprouting and sending out a thick strong taproot to search for moisture.  Very few plant seeds have this ability to germinate and survive such low moisture conditions.

This young oak tree has four stems coming from one original stem that was burned in a fire during a previous year.  The four stems showing in this picture were killed by a surface fire this fall but the root remains alive and will sprout next spring.

Sprouting
The cache is an ideal acorn hiding spot where they can snugly wait the winter out.  A few acorns, such as those from White Oaks, will sprout within weeks of falling of the tree in the fall and occasionally even sprouting on the tree.  This gives them a head start come spring and helps them avoid seed predators.  Bluejays or squirrels returning to a cache for a dinner of White Oak acorns, will likely be very disappointed when they find unappetizing sprouting acorns.  Most acorns however wait for snow melt and spring temperatures before germination, requiring exposure to cold before they are even able to germinate.  Once germination starts the seedling immediately puts all its energy into producing a thick taproot that can grow to six inches or more before any greenery sprouts above ground.  Establishing a healthy root system helps ensure the longevity of the plant as well as prepares it for future fires.  When fire does burn through an area, established seedlings may be top killed but thick healthy roots remain safe underground and can quickly sprout new stems.  In general, the thicker and larger a root system the more likely it will survive a top killing fire.  Quick recovery and growth after fire allows oak seedlings to out compete other plants, ensuring survival.

Fall in an eastern oak woodland.

Life of an Oak Part 1: life as an acorn

A White and Red Oak forest in Eastern Iowa.

This is the first of a four part series on the life cycle of oak trees in the eastern upland deciduous forest.

Hiking though the cathedral like upland forest normally gives us no impression of the journey those trees took to where they are today.  Towering trees give the impression of quiet permanence, as though they have always been there and always will.  This path operates on a different time frame from what we do, years or perhaps seasons as apposed to our hour and minutes.  Very very few people actually are privileged and patient enough to observe this process, let alone live long enough.  The journey from seed, to seedling, to sapling is not survived by many.  It is a long, difficult journey back to the canopy.  Each tree species has a particular preferred route from the ground to the canopy programmed into their DNA.  Any deviations from this DNA program prove fatal for the vast majority of seeds, seedlings, and saplings.  Even when everything follows pre-programmed genetic pathways, the vast majority do not survive, falling to predators or the abundance of natural hazards filling the woods.  But slowly and surely, some do survive, and some do produce seed to start the whole cycle over again.

Pin Oak leaves and acorn.

The Mighty Oak and Vulnerable Acorn
Mighty oaks are revered in every culture they are found as symbols of strength, royalty, high rank, endurance, and even deity.  It is easy to see why when gazing upon a mature oak tree, and it is easy to forget this oak was once an acorn among thousands or millions of similar acorns.  Life as an acorn is quite simple, growing on the mother oak for a year or two, depending on the species, and then making the short quick journey from mother to ground.  This fall is quick and easy but the return is long and difficult, exceedingly few survive.  Once on the ground the acorn finds itself in a rather non-ideal location under its mothers canopy.  Shade from the mother plant can limit growth of young oaks and competition of roots between the plants can end up hurting both mother and child, but primarily child.  So what's an acorn to do?  It can't roll itself to another location and its too heavy blow in the wind.  At the same time often 90 or more percent of these acorns will become infected by insects, bacteria, or fungi, causing them to rot long before they ever have the chance to germinate.  On top of that, deer, turkey, chipmunks, squirrels, and birds of all types literally flock to oak trees each fall, gorging themselves on calorie rich acorns in preparation for winter.  From a practical standpoint none survive this magnet like attraction to acorns.  Literally, searching a forest floor the following spring or even a few months after the initial fall, likely not a single viable acorn will be found.  The food source is simply too valuable for wildlife to leave alone.

The Blessing and Curse of Predators
But with the curse of wildlife gorging themselves comes deliverance.  While deer and turkey consume acorns as soon as they find them, this is not true of all wildlife.  Chipmunks, squirrels, and certain types of birds gather and hide huge numbers of acorns in caches to get them through winter.  Squirrel and oaks seem to be particularly fond of each other.  Squirrels sneak around under oak trees hiding from predators, searching out acorns.  Often acorns hidden under foliage are the first to be gathered.  Foliage that hides acorns also hides squirrels from hawks flying overhead, thus oddly, hidden acorns are not hidden at all from seed loving rodents.   But as squirrels eat they also gather and hide many acorns by burying then in secret locations for winter feasting.  Oddly, Red Oaks appear to encourage both eating and caching of acorns by squirrels at the same time.  Top portions of Red Oak acorns are sweeter while bottom portions have higher proportions of bitter tannins.  Squirrels will bite in, eat the top portions, but leave the bottom behind.  Interestingly, these bottom portions contains the embryo, and even without a top portion the seed can easily germinate and grow, so both oak and squirrel have their nut and eat it too.  Cached acorns are often buried in location away from trees and in open areas ideal for oak seedling growth.  The often forgotten caches later germinate, potentially growing into trees.

Bluejay, picture from allaboutbirds.org

Acorn Snobs
Bluejays and oaks also have a particularly close relationship.  These loud and aggressive birds are like snobbish connoisseurs of the acorn world.  Nothing gets in the way of a Bluejays acorns, and if something does the bird lets it be known loud and clear.  Depending on their mood, nothing is too big for the Bluejay to squawk at or try and chase off.  These birds are quite opinionated, and quite entertaining to watch, as long as you are not the one they are squawking opinions at.  Jays are excessively efficient at what they are designed to do, which is gather and cache large seeds.  Jays have the ability of gather nearly all acorns fallen from a tree within days, without the help of other wildlife.  And true to their connoisseur title, only the best, most viable acorns are gathered.  Jays examine, peck, shake, and weigh acorns in their beaks.  Acorns meeting their high standards are then stored temporarily in their expandable esophagus.  Several acorns can be stored this way and transported quickly to distant locations for caching.

The Bluejay cache is the ideal location for acorns.  High quality seed, buried in the dirt, hidden from predators, in areas away from other trees, like any master gardener would do it.  Most caches will be relocated by the jay and eaten during winter, but many will be forgotten or simply not used.  Some oaks such as the white, prevent their acorns from being eaten by germinating within days of being cached.  Others survive the winter hoping they are lost or not needed by the jay to get through the winter.  Come spring however, the acorns readily germinate, potentially expanding the oak forest.  Very few acorns actually get to the stage of germination, and of the few that do germinate most don't continue much past seedling stage.  Life as an acorn is passive and easy, if survived.  No real work is ever done by the seed.  But with germination begins the work as the tiny oak begins its climb back to the canopy.

Looking Into Midwestern Deciduous Forest Future

An Oak-Hickory forest, historically this was the most common upland forest, along with oak savanna in Iowa.

Looking at a forest, we naturally get the idea that the present state of that forest will continue forever.  Historically, Iowa and much of the Midwest has been characterized by Oak-Hickory upland forests and mixed bottomland forests.  Today, even after 100 plus years of drastic change, the forests remain predominately Oak-Hickory uplands and mixed bottomlands.  Of course, its a little more complex than this and we have in-fact lost many original forests to development.  The structure and details of these communities have changed right along with changes in land use, but the overall communities remain relatively similar.  Flood control systems, agricultural practices, and urban development have more or less already "set" their effects on the land so huge impacts like ones of the past century are not expected in the coming century.  As odd as it may sound, compared to today's doom and gloom environmental lookouts, Iowa's forests are expanding in acreage and relatively healthy.  Not everything is "rose petals and teacups" however, there are problems.  But considering the states present forest conditions, what should we look for in the future?

An old Oak-Hickory woodland being taken over by Sugar Maples and Basswood due to the lack of fire disturbance over the last century.  Palisades State Park near Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Most forests in Iowa are in the 100 to 150 year old age range, growing out of logging and fire disturbances of the late 1800's.  While these disturbances were common 100 years ago, they no longer are common today.  Out of these disturbances grew the upland Oak-Hickory forests.  Both hickory's and especially oaks are well adapted to the full sun and lack of competition common after logging or fire.  One logging event, or several low intensity fires, can establish an Oak-Hickory forest that can survive fore potentially a few hundred years.  With settlement of the state, fire was suppressed and nearly eliminated.  Logging also became far less common, simply because all the forests in Iowa were already logged and most converted to farmland.  So without fire and logging, oaks and hickories have not continue to regenerate themselves.  So in the absence of these disturbances, trees such as Sugar Maple and Basswood begin to take over.  These trees easily establish in the shade of old oaks and hickories.  Then without forest floor fire disturbance they will eventually overtake the forest.  Due to these facts, Oak-Hickory forests are rapidly declining in the state as well as in much of the rest of the Eastern United States, and Maple-Basswood forests are increasing.  And as of now, it appears this trend will continue into the future.

Fortunately for land managers in Iowa, as well as the rest of the Eastern United States, are realizing the value of low burning fires as a management tool in prairies, savannas, and most recently Oak-Hickory forests.  Today even, this management tool is fitting being almost all fires prior to settlement were also human started, also often to manage the growth of Oak-Hickory forests.  Native Americans and many early settlers understood the value and importance of fire in maintaining quality, productive habitats and frequently set ground fires.  Today, similar to these presettlement fires, these fires are not the raging hundred foot flames that consume everything in their path.  Rather, they were low burning, lower temperature fires.  Fire intolerant shrubs, trees, and thick accumulations of herbaceous plant materials were killed and cleared.  Fire adapted trees such as oaks and hickories survive, and herbaceous plants survive as roots, all proliferated as a result of fire.  Hopefully, the reintroduction of fire as a management tool will again cause the regeneration of Oak-Hickory forests.  Time will tell.

Oak woodland restored through controlled burns of the forest floor.

Bottomland forests continue today to have a similar disturbance pattern of flooding and wet soils.  While flooding patterns have changed during the past century due to human development of river channels, flooding still remains and will remain in the future.  Bottomland forest therefore remain a similar mix of trees such as Ash, Elm, Willow, Cottonwood, Maple, and certain types of oaks.  The future of these forests seem to be a continuation of of the past more or less.  However, there is one major up and coming problem for ash trees, the Emerald Ash Borer.  This exotic insect bores inside of ash trees and kills them.  Currently, the Emerald Ash Borer has only been found in one location in Iowa.  Managing this insect appear to be only slowing its spread.  Very likely the spread of this insect will greatly reduce the number of ash trees in bottomland forests in the future.

The future of Iowa and other Midwestern forests has its dark spots but there is good reason for hope.  While there doesn't seem to be much hope for the bottomland Ash tree, there is great hope for upland Oak-Hickory forests with the reintroduction of fire.  This doesn't automatically mean Oaks and Hickories will start regenerating, but does greatly increase the likelihood.  Our increased understanding and concern for our land will hopefully translate into healthy forests.  Increased human management today, is similar to human management of the past, and this is good for us and our forests.  These forests have been managed by humans for thousands of years, and a return to past healthy forests with the return to past management practices is very hopeful.

White Oak leaves.