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<html xmlns:v=3D"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" x --001a114363784d6e16052b46b869 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hey John yes tree roots are purported to be amazing N and P pumps and can take up nutrients before they reach waterways..90% range according to Maltby who was working on big rivers of Europe. when you lose trees you lose these pumps and go to lower functional states and herbaceous plants arent a lick on trees. The tree was an engineer of floodplains in big ways and we lost a lot of that when we converted floodplain for agriculture. This floodplain forest is what supports a good group of the Appalachian Deciduous Forest species..bloodroot, blue cohosh Canada violet (?) wild coffee, Canada Lily, wild garlic, yellow violets, toothwort, Solomon's plume..and this is the habitat we need right now to let us preserve the diversity that is expanding northward and may be eliminated from Kentucky in time. I'm looking forward to being able to eat pawpaws, crush spicebush leaves and swing on forest grape vines in my nineties in Nova Scotia but first we need to secure and restore floodplain habitat. must be midwinter On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 2:05 PM, David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com> wrote: > Hi John & All, > Any deep-rooted plant will move nutrients to the surface if that is > what you mean. Grasses are in general better than trees because their fin= e > roots can penetrate the pores of rigid soils not accessible to tree roots= . > This is why Agropyron repens (Couch) is such a vigorous weed. And why the > fertility of Prairie soil is immense. > Yt, DW > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* John and Nhung <nhungjohn@eastlink.ca> > *To:* naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > *Sent:* Monday, February 08, 2016 12:06 PM > *Subject:* RE: [NatureNS] two trees to buy a pizza or would we rather a > car with the same two trees? > > When I was a CUSO volunteer in Northeast Thailand, thirty-odd years ago, > our country Director (a soil scientist by training) called trees =E2=80= =9Cnutrient > pumps.=E2=80=9D > > > > Made eminent sense in an area with terrible soils, with minimal organic > content. > > > > *From:* naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto: > naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] *On Behalf Of *Nicholas Hill > *Sent:* February 8, 2016 11:44 AM > *To:* naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > *Subject:* Re: [NatureNS] two trees to buy a pizza or would we rather a > car with the same two trees? > > > > Trees have been called environmental engineers as they make habitat and > set up the food web. We are very lucky to have neighbours that let us wal= k > and bring kids through their woods that are in good condition with large > mature trees of pines and hemlock. We saw the strips of tree felling from > the microbursts that we called the Berwick Blow of a few winters ago that > took out some 200 year old hemlock but we also see blow down along a line > between two properties where still another neighbour has clearcut and it > has made it not possible to ski in the adjacent uncut property over a 40m > width due to blow down. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 11:06 AM, David & Alison Webster < > dwebster@glinx.com> wrote: > > Hi Dusan, > > Yes and no. A sufficiently high wind can mow a swath through > undisturbed forest. And counting Dec 13, 2010 (ignoring Juan because it w= as > local) we have had two high winds recently; one even in May, 2013 (?). An= d > many winds which finish the job or start fresh ones. > > The Kentville ravine is a good example; the 2010 wind felled a > significant area of Hemlock/hardwood. In my woods more Poplar went over > than 5 households could use both as 'scattered' trees of up to 6 in one > domino and two areas (~1 acre & 2 acres) where nearly every tree went > down. Most large Spruce which survived 2010 were taken in 2013. > > > > I think we are in a new era of damaging winds. Note that Juan took > large trees and spared medium trees. With regard to canopy protection thi= s > no doubt helps but if trees grow with space they are better anchored than > trees which grow crowded. > > Yt, DW > > ----- Original Message ----- > > *From:* Dusan Soudek <soudekd@ns.sympatico.ca> > > *To:* naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > > *Sent:* Monday, February 08, 2016 9:28 AM > > *Subject:* Re: [NatureNS] two trees to buy a pizza or would we rather a > car with the same two trees? > > > > =EF=BB=BF To Donna, David, et al; > > one of the obvious way trees in a forest cooperate is protection against > strong winds. A solitary tree is unlikely to withstand windstorms, a fore= st > with an intact canopy usually does. But, on the other hand, there is brut= al > competition for sunlight in a forest. Taller trees inhibit the growth of > smaller trees, often their conspecifics and even their own descendants. O= f > the millions and millions of seeds a mature tree will produce over its > lifetime, on the average only one will reach maturity... > > Dusan Soudek > > On February 8, 2016 at 8:21 AM David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com= > > wrote: > > Hi Donna & All, Feb 8, 2016 > > The book, The Hidden Life of Trees, should be interesting reading. > > But there is nothing mysterious about "...for reasons unknown, keep > the ancient stumps of long-felled companions alive for centuries by feedi= ng > them a sugar solution through their roots.=E2=80=9D This is root grafting > practiced by Spruce sometimes, Hemlock always, Fir sometimes and Norway > Maple. > > > > Root grafting is I suspect a reflection of somewhat hostile soil > conditions and/or perhaps 'permanent woodland' such that extension roots > tend to follow old root channels as opposed to making a new one. When a > root cap of tree A meets one of tree B they sometimes (always ?) unite an= d > form a 2-way link. > > Decades ago I came across a great example of this at Dean Chapter > Lake. The roots of the Spruce forest which had been killed by raising the > water level for hydro were mostly intact but exposed by wash. Every Spruc= e > I saw was attached to two or more Spruce by grafting. > > > > Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville > > ----- Original Message ----- > > *From:* Donna Crossland <dcrossland@eastlink.ca> > > *To:* naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > > *Sent:* Sunday, February 07, 2016 9:11 PM > > *Subject:* [NatureNS] two trees to buy a pizza or would we rather a car > with the same two trees? > >