Yesterday, Monica and I took a friend for a walk on the
Metacomet-Monadnock Trail along the basalt cliffs of Mount Tom in
the Connecticut River Valley. Mount Tom is volcanic and is known for
its diversity. I will forego the usual deluge of statistics and go
right to the hike. The climb up onto the ledges is fairly steep, but
worth every ounce of sweat. The great majority of hikers go to the
cliff region of Mount Tom for the views. So do I, but also for the
vegetation and one species in particular, red pine.
Image#1-RdPinesLineUp.jpg: This image shows red pines along the
Metacomet-Monadnock Trail. These are the first pines you see when
intercepting the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail from the Quarry Trail,
which is north of Whiting Peak.
Image#2-RedPinesAreBeautiful.jpg: This image looks looks down
through a cluster of red pines into the valley below.
Image#3-RedPinesAndSnag.jpg: The red pine strip goes for half a
mile or more with intermittent pines hugging the basalt ledges.
There is a little regeneration.
Image#4-Guardians2.jpg: This is another view of the cluster. Very
photogenic.
In addition to the old red pines, the basalt formation is
photogenic. Take red and white pines, basalt ledges, and the valley
beyond and Mount Tom becomes a photographer's bonanza.
Image#5-BasaltAndValley.jpg: The basalt formations stand in bold
relief to the valley and Berkshire Hills beyond.
Image#6-BasaltAndValley2.jpg: This image shows the surface
structure of the basalt.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Leonard" <mlfores
...@rcn.com>
To: entstrees@googlegroups.com
Cc: "Sarah' 'Belchetz-Swenson" <sa...@belchetz-swenson.com>,
"Tanya' 'Blaich" <tanya_bla...@hotmail.com>,
"ROBERT' 'CAMPANILE" <ROBERT.CAMPAN...@STATE.MA.US>,
"Robert' 'Carr" <robert.a.c...@state.ma.us>,
"John' 'Davis" <jda...@adirondackcouncil.org>,
"Paul' 'Dittmer" <paulditt...@frontier.net>,
"Carol' 'Duke" <fl...@valinet.com>,
"Carol' 'Gilmour" <ca...@oneilz.com>,
"Sharl' 'Heller" <slhelle...@comcast.net>,
"Claudia' 'Hurley" <mandchur...@comcast.net>,
"Amy' 'Kaiser" <amykai...@sbcglobal.net>,
"Rob ' 'Loomis" <rloomis...@gmail.com>,
"Mollie' 'Matteson" <matte...@gmavt.net>,
"Heidi' 'Ricci" <hri...@massaudubon.org>,
"Mike' 'Ryan" <mike_r...@comcast.net>,
"Doug' 'Seale" <Doug.Se...@comcast.net>,
"David' 'Stahle" <dsta...@uark.edu>,
"Nancy' 'Weiss" <n-we...@embarqmail.com>,
"Phoebe' 'Weil" <phoebedw...@me.com>,
"Timothy' 'Zelazo" <TIMOTHY.ZEL...@STATE.MA.US>,
"Rick' 'Neil" <rick...@aol.com>
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 5:04:18 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada
Eastern
Subject: [ENTS] Re: Mt Tom and red pines
Bob,
In this area, you almost never see red pine seedling/sapling
regeneration. The only places I have seen it under plantations
are a few areas where there is just a strip of red pine w ith a
lot of sunlight getting through and there is absolutely no
unders tory competition. D id you note any red pine seedling
regeneration on Mt. Tom? What does it take to facilitate red
pine regeneration? Fire to kill off the competition and exposing
mineral soil? Does native red pine in MA only occur on the poor
growing sites like Mt. Tom? While declining red pine plantations
should have some silvicultural treatment , native red pine is
pretty rare in this state so it ’ s probably a good idea to
protect these sites.
When I marked a 40 acre lot in Petersham last year I noted 4
pole size red pines (6-12 inches in DBH) . Three of the red
pines were blown part way over and had grown banana shaped pr
obably from the 1938 hurricane. The fourth one was relatively
straight and had a decent crown so I left that and marked the
other 3 that were on the way out. Could these have been native
red pine or di d they seed in from the nearby plantation that ’
s on Harvard Forest land? Well that ’ s about 100 yards away so
I don ’ t know. I ’ ll have to go back there and try and date
those trees now to see if they predate the plantation era (1930
’ s).
I like red pine. The bark is extremely attractive but
unfortunately red pine is highly susceptible to severe snow and
ice damage .
Every once in a while I ’ ll see a decent solitary red pine
in the middle of a mixed stand and wonder how the heck did this
tree get here ? Would someone plant a single red pine tree way
back when the old farm was abandoned ? There are many other
anomalies I see in the woods which makes my job interesting!
Mike
www.northquabbinforestry.com
-----Original Message----- From: entstrees@googlegroups.com [
mailto:entstrees@googlegroups.com ] On Behalf Of dbhg...@comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:04 PM To: entstr...@googlegroups.c
om Cc: Belchetz-Swenson, Sarah; Blaich, Tanya; CAMPANILE,
ROBERT; Carr, Robert; Davis, John; Dittmer, Paul; Duke, Carol;
Gilmour, Carol; Heller, Sharl; Hurley, Claudia; Kaiser, Amy;
Loomis, Rob ; Matteson, Mollie; Ricci, Heidi; Ryan, Mike; Seale,
Doug; Sta hle, David; Weiss, Nancy; Weil, Phoebe; Zelazo,
Timothy; Neil, Rick Subject: [ENTS] Mt Tom and red pines
ENTS,
Yesterday, Monica and I took a friend for a walk on the
Metacomet-Monadnock Trail along the basalt cliffs of Mount Tom
in the Connecticut River Valley. Mount Tom is volcanic and is
known for its diversity. I will forego the usual deluge of
statistics and g o right to the hike. The climb up onto the
ledges is fairly steep, but worth every ounce of sweat. The
great majority of hikers go to the cliff region of Mount Tom for
the views. So do I, but also for the vegetation and one species
in particular, red pine .
Image#1-RdPinesLineUp.jpg: This image shows red pines along
the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail. These are the first pines you see
when intercepting the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail from the Quarry
Trail, which is north of Whiting Peak.
Image#2-RedPinesAreBea utiful.jpg: This image looks looks
down through a cluster of red pines into the valley below.
Image#3-RedPinesAndSnag.jpg: The red pine strip goes for half
a mile or more with intermittent pines hugging the basalt
ledges. There is a little regeneration .
Image#4-Guardians2.jpg: This is another view of the cluster.
Very photogenic.
In addition to the old red pines, the basalt formation is
photogenic. Take red and white pines, basalt ledges, and the
valley beyond and Mount Tom becomes a photographer's bonanza.
Image#5-BasaltAndValley.jpg: The basalt formations stand in
bold relief to the valley and Berkshire Hills beyond.
Image#6-BasaltAndValley2.jpg: This image shows the surface
structure of the basalt.
Bob
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