Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / July 2008

Tree Farming and Related Problems
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/SOUND/

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Consulting Tree Biologist
www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.
Some people will buy products they do not understand and not buy books that
will give them understanding.

Lets use a tornado as an disturbance and not bark beetles.
1 of 16
Note: the Silviculture mentioned with restoration - I will use the
definition for salvaging from a website from a recognized consulting
forester in Texas, which I would assume is a forestry industry standard.
"Salvage and restoration. There comes a time when nature just does not
cooperate with the best of management efforts. At that time you may have to
salvage whats left, and start anew. Salvage is a very different sales effort
for forest products. Usually, the sales material is damaged, dead, or dying.
Finding a market for this material can be tricky, and incomes low. But, best
to move the material, get it out of the way for future work. Take what
income you can from the salvage, and set it aside for planting the site."

I except the definition but I disagree that you can plant a forest and the
fact that you may have to remove what is left which in this case would be
the old growth conditions (Tionesta)

What tornados do not do, verses doing the following after a tornado.  In
other words what would removing wood from a tornado swath achieve -   I.e.,
not limited too but including -

The fallen wood will become symplastless, if not already and in contrast, a
symplastless tree or log includes a considerable number of living cells, as
much 35% of the biomass may be live fungal cells (Franklin, Shugart and
Harmon, 1987, pg  [Removing this unique feature.]

It's is documented that a large symplastless tree is not a wasted resource;
indeed, it continues to function as an important part of a terrestrial or
water system, either while remaining on the site at which it once grew, or
by becoming a structural part of an aquatic or marine habitat. Our aim is to
help anyone interested in perpetual forest productivity to understand the
importance of large, symplastless woody debris.  (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988, pg 1par5).

[This unique feature will be removed.]

Fallen trees harbor a myriad of organisms, from bacteria and actinomycetes
to higher fungi.  Of these, only some of the fungi might be noticed by the
causal observer as mushrooms or bracket fungi.  These structures, however,
are merely the fruiting bodies produced by mold colonies within the log.
Many fungi fruit within the fallen tree, so they are seen only when the tree
is torn apart. Even when a fallen tree is torn apart, only a fraction of the
fungi present are noticed because the fruiting bodies of most appear only
for a small portion of the year.  The smaller organisms, not visible to the
unaided eye, are still important components of the system (Maser and Trappe,
1984, pg16-par 5).  [This unique feature will be removed]

The flow of plant and animal populations, air, water, and essential elements
between a fallen tree and its surroundings increases as decomposition
continues (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 12-par1).  [This unique feature will
be removed]

Fallen trees offer multitudes of both external and internal habitats that
change and yet persist through the decades.  One needs an understanding of
the synergistic affects of constant small changes within a persistent large
structure to appreciate the dynamics of a fallen tree and its function in an
ecosystem (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 17-par 1).  [This unique feature will
be removed]

The so called symplastless, still standing trees, yet damaged, still
continues to serve several natural functions important to many groups of
organisms of the once fertile forest or tree system.  ).  [This unique
feature will be removed]

Eventually the tree falls:  the wood is in contact with the soil, again
providing another unique ecological situation. Some species such as American
chestnut would have served ecological system survival duties for 50 years or
more if they were not removed (SHIGO, 1969).

As fallen trees progress from decay class I to class II, the scavengers are
replaced by competitors with the enzyme systems needed to decompose the more
complex compounds in wood. The fungi involved in this activity are often
mutually antagonistic, so that a given part of the tree may be occupied by
only one fungus that excludes others by physical or chemical means (Maser
and Trappe, 1984, pg27-par4).   (We call this altered area a niche - See
pg70 Modern Arboriculture)(See niche in our www.treedictionary.com -
Dictionary)  [This unique feature will be removed]

Note:  Bacteria are very small. They do big things (Shigo, 1999, #216 pg34)

Free-living bacteria in woody residues and soil wood fix 30-60% of the
nitrogen in the forest soil. In addition, 20% of soil nitrogen is stored in
these components (Harvey et al. 1987). Harmon et al. (1986) reported that
CWD accounted for as much as 45% of aboveground stores of organic matter.
Symplastless wood in terrestrial ecosystems is a primary location for fungal
colonization and often acts as refugia for mycorrhizal fungi during
ecosystem disturbance (Triska and Cromack 1979; Harmon et al. 1986; Caza
1993) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).

[This unique feature will be removed]

Franklin, et. al. (1987) pg 551 states - With the large array of organisms
present in the decaying log, it may be more "alive" than a living bole.  In
addition to being the habitat of decomposer organisms, symplastless trees
provide critical habitat for sheltering and feeding a variety of animal
species.  [This unique feature will be removed]

Symplastless and symplast containing trees are linked together in the living
machinery of a forest (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988, pg25par1).
[This unique feature will be removed]

References:
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/SOUND/whatitis/references.html

end of 1 of 16

Tornado's And Salvaging 2 of 16

Note: the Silviculture mentioned with restoration - I will use the
definition for salvaging from a website from a recognized consulting
forester in Texas (Don Staples), which I would assume is a forestry industry
standard.  "Salvage and restoration. There comes a time when nature just
does not cooperate with the best of management efforts. At that time you may
have to salvage whats left, and start anew. Salvage is a very different
sales effort for forest products. Usually, the sales material is damaged,
dead, or dying. Finding a market for this material can be tricky, and
incomes low. But, best to move the material, get it out of the way for
future work. Take what income you can from the salvage, and set it aside for
planting the site."

I accept the definition, however,  I disagree that you can plant a forest as
well as the statement that you may have to remove what is left, which in
this case would be the old growth conditions (Tionesta).  I use the Tionesta
Scenic Area in the Allegheny National Forest as a control.  It had a tornado
go through in around 1986 and most recently had a blow down.  As far as I
know nothing has been removed and all ecological stages of trees exist.  I
did soil sampling in that area in the rhizoplane.

What tornados do not do, verses doing the following after a tornado.  In
other words what would removing wood from a tornado swath achieve -   I.e.,
not limited too but including -

I believe, Salvaging would alter the carbon to nitrogen ratio over time.
Something to keep in mind - Reports from some countries indicate an
abundance of soluble nitrogen compounds in runoff water and even in ground
water. This is a strong indication that the carbon-nitrogen ratio has been
disrupted in the soil.  It is well established from studies of the
physiology of fungal parasitism that the degree of parasitism is often
determined by the carbon-nitrogen ratio.  It is probably similar for other
organisms (Shigo, 1996).

Salvaging would be removing a storehouse for moisture, which would have
provided moisture for plants and animals during dry times such as summer
drought, as it may be called (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham,
1991).

Salvaging would be removing present and future decayed logs, which act like
a sponge to absorb water and retain much of the water throughout the
following growing season.  This water would be a survival feature during
drought for members of the system (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and
Graham, 1991).

Too often "drought", what ever they mean, is used by the USFS to describe
the cause of mortality to trees, most often in areas that have been Salvaged
at one time or another.  I would think that the tornado spot has great
potential for moisture retention as those 400 increment old fallen hemlock
and white pine, which are heartwood forming trees, become like a sponge.
These nurse logs may be around for a long time.  Does anybody guess how long
a nurse log, from a 400 increment old Eastern Hemlock tree, would function
let's say with soil contact.  After tornado a flush of birch and cherry
quickly grew and shaded the soil and nurse logs.  I must return again.  Last
time we had to crawl on hands and knees to get in through the thickets of
growth.  A unique place to be - for sure.  My son and I were in there doing
pedology work.  Has anyone on this list ever crawled back in to Tionesta?

Just for fun!

http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/temp2/

Can someone offer suggestions on benefits of Salvaging and area with respect
for the health of the system?

Salvaging this area would be removing materials, that when soil contact was
made, would have played key roles with the cation exchange capacity, water -
holding capacity, bulk density, essential element and nutrient budgets and
erosion potential (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).

Salvaging this area would be removing woody material that has been
identified as playing several important roles in the functioning of the
region's forests.  In southwest Oregon, brown-cubical-rotted CWD acts as a
perched water reservoir, the spongy decayed wood being able to hold over
twice its own weight in water.  This material thus would have otherwise been
a major source of moisture for fungi and roots well into the summer drought
that characterizes the region (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).  The
same has been seen in the Allegheny Mountains in the Cook State Park
Forest - Protected area, i.e., protected from Salvaging.  Animals also
utilize stored water.

Salvaging this area would stop the processes, which would take place between
a fallen tree and its surroundings, which would have increased, as
decomposition would have continued.  E.g., the flow of plant and animal
populations, air, water, and essential elements.  (Maser and Trappe, 1984,
pg 12).   Salvaging kills this system processes by means of disruption and
depletion causing dysfunction.

Salvaging this area would remove and reduce the forming of Large Stumps such
as in old-growth trees, which are a finite resource, and their loss from the
forest affects both soil shear strength and watershed hydrology (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe, and Franklin, 1988, pg44-fig2.6).

Salvaging this area would remove CWD, and the associated epiphytic
bryophytes, which act as both essential element and moisture buffers for the
ecosystems (FEMAT 1993).  This buffering would allow the slow release of
water and essential elements to surrounding plants.  In mature and old
growth coastal forests, a large proportion of western hemlock and Sitka
spruce seedlings germinate and grow on CWD substrates (Harmon and Franklin
1989; G. Davis, pers. comm., 1994).

Salvaging this area would remove CWD, which would affect temperature as well
as moisture, which would have had the capacity to benefit certain beneficial
fungi (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).

Salvaging this area would remove large, fallen trees or trees, in various
stages of decay.  Salvaging is removing parent material, which would
contribute much-needed diversity to terrestrial and aquatic habitats in
forests.  When most biological activity in soil is limited by low moisture
availability in summer, the material removed, fallen tree-soil interface,
would have offered a relatively cool, moist habitat for animals and a
substrate for microbial and root activity.  Intensified utilization and
management can deprive future forests of large, fallen trees.  The impact of
this loss on habitat diversity and on long-term forest productivity must be
determined because management needs sound information on which to base
resource management decisions (Maser and Trappe, 1984, Abstract-par2).

Salvaging this area would remove wood and its moisture-holding capacity thus
eliminating its internal processes and therefore the succession of plants
and animals. This affects the biotic community (Maser and Trappe, 1984,
pg4-par3).

Salvaging this are would remove some snags, which may have accumulated
moisture - carried essential elements and had a higher essential element
capital when it fell than does a tree with symplast (Maser and Trappe, 1984,
pg19-par2).   Figure that one out!

Salvaging this area would stop colonization of decomposing wood by animals
which would have helped microbes to enter interior surfaces of the wood and
create additional openings for entry of water and essential elements; and
penetration of the wood by roots of trees, such as western hemlock (eastern
hemlock in Tionesta and white pine), which in turn facilitates entry by
mycorrhizal fungi (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg19-par4).

Salvaging this area would remove many readily available essential elements
that support opportunistic colonizers as well as the remaining essential
elements, which would be locked in the more decay resistant compounds of the
wood.  Ultimately, organisms, with more sophisticated enzyme systems would,
have succeeded the rapidly growing opportunists. (Maser and Trappe, 1984,
pg37-par2)

- - - - - - - -
People that like to use Webster -

Salvage -

property or goods saved from damage or destruction

save from ruin, destruction, or harm

the act of saving goods or property that were in danger of damage or
destruction

- - - - - - - -

Salvaging this area would remove fallen tress or in some cases, future
fallen trees that when oriented along the contour of a slope, the upslope
side would be filled with humus and inorganic material which would have
allowed invertebrates and small vertebrates to tunnel alongside.  The down
slope side would have provided protective cover for larger vertebrates.
When under a closed canopy, such trees would have also been saturated with
water and act as a reservoir during the dry part of the year (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe, and Franklin, 1988, pg45-par3).  Exactly the environment in
the swath at Tionesta.

Salvaging this area of so called rotten wood or so called rotten wood to be
would be removing  something critical as substrate for ectomycorrhizal
formation.  E.g., in one forest which contained a coniferous stand of trees
(Eastern Hemlock and White Pine are coniferous), over 95 percent of all
active mycorrhizae were in organic matter of which 21 percent were in
decayed wood.  In another study in the northern Rocky Mountains, decayed
wood in soil was important.  In moist, mesic, and arid habitat types (Harvey
et al. 1979), it was the most frequent substrate for active ectomycorrhizae
on the dry site, probably because of high moisture levels in the wood.
Mycorrhizal fungi can colonize logs, presumably using them as sources of
water, essential elements and nutrients.  (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al.
others, 1981).

Where we are.  Endangered species. Salvaging this area would remove present
and future available moist microhabitats, primarily because of a lack of
large logs in intermediate and advanced stages of decay.  Aubry et al.
(1988) found that some species of salamander were most abundant around CWD.
Dupuis (1993) concluded that salamander populations in Salvaged areas were
limited by available moist microhabitats, primarily because of a lack of
large logs in intermediate and advanced stages of decay (Voller and
Harrison, 1998).
Note: There are salamander species on T & E list.

Salvaging in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, is removing present
and future symplastless wood, which would have functioned as a reservoir of
moisture, ameliorating drought conditions and providing a 'perched water
table' (Triska and Cromack 1979) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).

My conclusion about water:  The capacity and ability, of CWD, to provide
water / moisture for fauna and flora during dryer times too often goes
unobserved, such as the case in this Painter Run Windthrow Salvage Project?
Coarse woody debris / ecoart nurse logs play a key role in providing the
requirements of water/moisture for survival of species of animals as well as
plants, be they listed as threatened and endangered or not.  This function
it plays a key role during hot, drier times.   To fully comprehend the
importance one must consider time.  This function must be thoroughly
considered before making a decision to remove this function from the system
or not.

References:
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/SOUND/whatitis/references.html

Case sensitive.

End of 2-16

3 of 16

Tornado's And Salvaging

Note: the Silviculture mentioned with restoration - I will use the
definition for salvaging from a website from a recognized consulting
forester in Texas, which I would assume is a forestry industry standard.

"Salvage and restoration.  There comes a time when nature just does not
cooperate with the best of management efforts.  At that time you may have to
salvage whats left, and start anew. Salvage is a very different sales effort
for forest products.  Usually, the sales material is damaged, dead, or
dying.  Finding a market for this material can be tricky, and incomes low.
But, best to move the material, get it out of the way for future work.  Take
what income you can from the salvage, and set it aside for planting the
site."

I accept the person's definition, however,  I disagree that you can plant a
forest as well as the statement that you may have to remove what is left,
which in this case would be the old growth conditions (Tionesta).  I use the
Tionesta Scenic Area in the Allegheny National Forest as a control.  It had
a tornado go through in around 1986 and most recently had a blow down.  As
far as I know nothing has been removed and all ecological stages of trees
exist.  I did soil sampling in that area in the rhizoplane.

Elements, nutrients and food defined:  Food is a substance that provides and
energy source, mostly.  Nutrient is a substance that provides an energy
source, elements, and other substances essential for life, in types and
amounts that can provide a healthy life.  Fertilizer is a substance that
provides elements, as salts mostly, or in bonded forms, that require
microorganisms to alter to forms that can be absorbed by plants.  We cannot
and do not feed plants.  We add essential elements at Keslick And Son.
Trees manufacture their own food and they do not absorb a nutrient or food
from the soil.  We add essential elements.

If we could feed trees, we would take away the major job of the sun! People
who say "plant food" are ignorant about photosynthesis.

In other words:  Foods are substances that contain an energy source mostly,
and may contain some elements, and other substances.  The main part of food
is the energy source.  There are junk foods, fatty foods, and healthy foods.
There are many diet books telling you about healthy foods.  Animals can
absorb an energy source.  Plants cannot absorb an energy source. fertilizers
are not plant foods.  Fertilizers provide elements essential for growth of
plants.  The elements are part of salts, usually, that ionize in water.
Ions are charged particles; anions, negative, and cations, positive.  Plants
"make" carbohydrates by trapping the light energy of the sun in a process
called photosynthesis.  Sad that so many people who work with plants do not
know this.  They call fertilizers plant food. Very sad.

What tornados do not do, verses doing the following after a tornado.  In
other words what would salvaging wood from a tornado swath achieve -   I.e.,
not limited too but including -

Salvaging this area would alter the availability in the proper proportions
of the right "STEW" - Space, Temperature, Elements and Water over time.  It
is hard for the energy of the sun to optimally make a tree into the most
efficient system on earth when the right amount of essential elements and
water has been removed.

Salvaging this area would remove required substrate for a decomposition
process where fallen trees release essential elements for microbial and
plant growth (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988, pg37-par1).
Thus, salvaging would remove essential elements for microbial and plant
growth.  Elements other than nitrogen such as calcium and magnesium also
accumulate in decomposing woody substrate.  (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg
16-par2)

Salvaging this area would remove woody duff, which regardless of type or
size, takes considerably longer to decompose than needle and leaf duff does.
Needles, leaves, and small twigs decompose faster than larger woody material
and essential elements are thereby recycled faster in the forest floor.
About 140 years are required for essential elements to cycle in large,
fallen trees and more than 400 years for such trees to become incorporated
into the forest floor; they therefore would interact with the plants and
animals of the forest floor and soil over a long period of forest and stand
successional history (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988. pg37-par1).

Salvaging this area would remove the capacity of the system to accumulate
nitrogen in decaying, fallen trees as well as other significant essential
elements such as calcium and magnesium.  Although nitrogen fixation in wood
is modest compared with that occurring in other substrates in forests, the
persistence of decaying wood allows small increments of nitrogen to accrue
over many decades (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 16).

Salvaging this area would remove wood that would further decompose which
would undergo changes in other chemical constituents and pH as well as
physical structure.  Very old, decayed wood can even become somewhat
humified and leave long lasting substrate resistant to further decay (Maser
and Trappe, 1984, pg 16-par 4).

Salvaging this area would remove trees, which would have been decaying
trees.  These trees would have comprised considerable accumulations of mass,
nutrients and elements.  (Maser and Trappe, 1984,pg16-par1).

Note: Some of the largest accumulations occur in the unmanaged forest of the
Pacific Northwest.  Coarse woody debris can range from 130 to 276 tons per
acre in stands from 100 to more than 1,000 years old.  Although here we are
concerned with Douglas fir, neither decaying wood nor research data are
unique to forests of the Pacific Northwest.  McFee and Stone (1966) Observed
that decaying wood persisted for more than 100 years in New York and others
pointed out that substantial accumulations of CWD in old-growth forest in
Poland.  (Just as Tionesta) These observations evidence the long-term
continuity of decaying trees as structural components in forest (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 16-par1).

Salvaging this area would remove present and future decaying logs on or
which would become a part of the forest floor, which would have been a
reservoir for nutrients as well as essential elements.  (Page-Dumroese,
Harvey, Jurge