tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30877168.post7209604192508203624..comments2024-01-30T03:16:18.674-08:00Comments on Vestal Grove: Ashes to Ashes (and oaks to oaks)Stephen Packardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811489977185760340noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30877168.post-28035552404268857252013-05-17T12:51:28.261-07:002013-05-17T12:51:28.261-07:00Great perspective. The loss of the ash tree should...Great perspective. The loss of the ash tree should be viewed as an opportunity and call to action.<br /><br />Hoorah!<br />RRob Livahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16393408414048629764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30877168.post-66669999853981179702013-04-05T11:33:09.678-07:002013-04-05T11:33:09.678-07:00Awesome blog...lifted my hope! I saw my first wal...Awesome blog...lifted my hope! I saw my first walking stick in IL last summer on a geranium planter at Temple Jeremiah in Northfield. I had not seen one since I left the Pine Barrens of New Jersey where I saw them all the time in my back yard. Thanks to your blog, my blue bird house is complete and ready for the yard! Would like to talk sometime as to what plants are native to the floodplain forests and where their growth should be limited. John CherryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30877168.post-72615501455039104962013-04-02T16:03:43.806-07:002013-04-02T16:03:43.806-07:00At Deer Grove they have been able to get fires tha...At Deer Grove they have been able to get fires that were plenty hot in oak woodlands heavily invaded by Maple and Basswood. The reason for their success was they had removed the buckthorn which holds its leaves late into fall. The buckthorn shades the leaf layer during prime burn season preventing the sun from drying out the fuel. I do not think the woodland grasses, sedges, and rushes contribute much to fuel compared to the dried deciduous tree leaves. These graminoids are either too spare or are still green when a burn occurs. It does not seem that oak leaves burn significantly hotter than maple or basswood. <br /><br />It is true that a hot woodland burn will not kill large trees. Seedlings and saplings of fire intolerant species are killed. Maple trees are constantly having their bark stripped off by squirrels during the winter. Other tree species regularly die from any number of factors. This is actually an argument to have a diverse assemblage of trees in woodlands. If recruitment of fire intolerant tree species was prevented by correctly prescribed burns then these species would slowly disappear by attrition. <br /><br />Savannahs are a different case altogether. Fires on the prairie edge are hot enough to kill large trees. It would be wise for any land manager trying to create a prairie/savannah/woodland dynamic to start thinning on the western edge of their property. There is more to prairie/savannah/woodland than just fire intensity. Unobstructed drying winds from the west are also important.<br /><br />I have seen prescribed burns which destroyed thousands of sprouting acorns. It seems burning during the spring after a bumper acorn crop is counterproductive if your objective is to increase the recruitment of given species of oak. This is something that needs to be given more consideration by those prescribing burns.<br /><br />I hope some of these thoughts are helpful.<br /><br />James <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30877168.post-62945292866137042222013-04-02T10:22:23.484-07:002013-04-02T10:22:23.484-07:00James, good questions. These days, in my experienc...James, good questions. These days, in my experience, most fires in most woodlands are not intense enough to kill most large "native" invasive trees. Thus, for oak reproduction, invading trees typically need to be thinned out by cutting or girdling. The Woods Audit sampled the average woods of the region. Most of those woods had not been regularly burned. Indeed, many of them have a fuel structure that they would not now burn except in extreme conditions. One purpose of burning is to increase grassy fuel and decrease the woody fuel that makes for burns intense enough to kill typical big trees. <br />Stephen Packardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01811489977185760340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30877168.post-8706799480536900382013-04-02T10:13:42.330-07:002013-04-02T10:13:42.330-07:00Daniel, I very much agree with your suggestions. Y...Daniel, I very much agree with your suggestions. Yes, people care about birds, but if conservation doesn't protect the insects they eat, then we don't have a thriving bird community. Old woods and savannas typically have an abundance of dead "snags" that support a great diversity of nesting habitat, insects, fungi, etc. Many "recovering" restoration sites have few old trees. Especially in these areas it would be much better to girdle many trees than to cut them down. Stephen Packardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01811489977185760340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30877168.post-40958961119964352412013-04-01T15:41:19.600-07:002013-04-01T15:41:19.600-07:00Will the return of fire to oak woodlands control a...Will the return of fire to oak woodlands control ash, box elder, maple, and basswood? Was the woodland audit a measure of trees that invaded oak woodlands with or without regular burns? If the return of fire to the ecosystem will also return the equilibrium of native species then wouldn't resources be better focused on non-native invasive species?<br /><br />JamesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30877168.post-85404479869673051552013-04-01T13:15:55.963-07:002013-04-01T13:15:55.963-07:00First of all, great title.
Second of all, I wonde...First of all, great title. <br />Second of all, I wonder about sites that may not have a large abundance of ashes or insects that could take care of aggressive tree species. Would girdling another species, say basswood, still provide the important habitat in its "second life", or are ashes somehow distinct in this regard? <br />I think this topic is an important one. Many people have to varying degrees restored plant and animal communities, but not much is mentioned in the discussion about insect conservation/restoration. Since we know so little about them, providing as much habitat for them to persevere seems to be an important but possibly overlooked management practice. Daniel Suarezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07100413827533980847noreply@blogger.com