Blog Archives
First resurvey of the Lehigh Experimental Forest
Students in general ecology (EES-152) resurveyed a portion of the Lehigh Experimental Forest, to assess changes in tree growth, mortality, and recruitment since 2013. No new trees greater than 1.4 m high were documented, and both growth and mortality varied considerably among species. Over 500 trees were measured, and the plot above shows data for the dominant trees (those with >15 individuals included in the survey).
We will use these data as a springboard for discussion of processes controlling forest dynamics, and will examine some of these issues in greater depth during our discussions and future lab activities.
For now, students should answer the following questions:
1. The dbh measurements were converted into estimates of area, assuming that each tree was a perfect circle in cross-section. Why do you think basal area was used to compare growth among the different species? Why was this expressed as the average change in basal area per tree, as opposed to the total change in basal area for all individuals of the species? What factors might have caused the observed differences in radial growth among species?
2. What does the pattern of mortality and recruitment suggest about the future of the Lehigh Experimental Forest? What factors might have caused the differences in mortality among species during these two years? What factors might be contributing to the lack of new tree recruitment in the forest?
3. Which species had both very high mortality and very low growth during this time period? Do some research on current threats to this particular species, and summarize your research in a short paragraph.
Tweeting from the field: Natural history, trees, and a forest inventory
Students in ecology (EES-152) at Lehigh University share pictures of our field activities via Twitter. Below are some highlights from the first few field labs, which were focused on tree identification and forest inventory methods. The students resurvey experimental forest plots original established in 1915….
https://twitter.com/AMcCarter152/status/374234718025170944
https://twitter.com/SmallsKnowsAll/status/374978147097522176
https://twitter.com/SmallsKnowsAll/status/377122119173165056
https://twitter.com/neb215ees152/status/377604391957569538
https://twitter.com/sep214/status/378529415551918080
https://twitter.com/beagle757/status/379467160155742208
https://twitter.com/SmallsKnowsAll/status/379633937540079617
Looking for old trees on Lehigh’s campus
A beautiful spring day at Lehigh University, and many of the trees have sprung-out small leaves. I took a short walk on campus with Michelle Spicer to look for some old trees…and there are plenty of these on Lehigh’s campus. In fact, many of the larger oaks are well over 200 years old. However, we wanted to determine if a few particular trees mentioned in a 1934 article in the Brown & White, shown below, were still present.
The results….two out of three is not bad.
Gnarled old oak on the west-end of Christmas-Saucon Hall.
Yes, now over 300 years old (!), this old giant is still there and doing well. Although I have walked by this white oak (Quercus alba) hundreds of times, I didn’t really take much notice of it. You don’t realize how big it is until you approach it, and the size of its base is a bit concealed by its close proximity to the building.
“Old Man of the Mountain” wild cherry.
Unfortunately, this apparently charismatic and previously well-known tree is no longer around. Wonder when it came down?
Ginkgo tree in the plot of land on the corner of Packer and Brodhead.
Yes, the Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) is still there and doing quite well. This area of campus is also one of my favorites, a wonderful park of many large trees – sugar maple, tulip poplar, norway spruce, oaks, and even a Kentucky coffeetree. Many of the trees in this area still have labels (labels are on some trees throughout campus, but quite a few have fallen off).
Addendum, 27 August 2013
Students in EES-152 (Ecology) at Lehigh University were given the 1934 article as part of an introduction to tree identification. They managed to find both the “gnarled oak” and the Ginkgo. Some of the best pictures are below…
The Ginkgo
https://twitter.com/beagle757/status/372134419639042048
The “gnarled oak”
https://twitter.com/SmallsKnowsAll/status/372101278932819968