| Monica's
Woods, Broad
Brook Watershed, Florence,
MA |
Robert
Leverett |
| Mar
28, 2005 12:03 PST |
ENTS:
This past weekend saw us measuring
trees in two locations, one new
and one familiar.
...Bryant
Woods
I
also measured trees on the property of a lady friend Monica
Jakuc
in Florence, MA. Monica's woods abut conservation lands so there
is a
lot to explore. I will compute a full Rucker index in time, but
at
present, my main interest in Monica's woods is the combination
of
relatively young white pine, tuliptree, and northern red oaks.
Monica's
tuliptrees are within about 7 miles of the northeastern limit.
So before
we're through, we will have the northeastern growth limits for
the
species firmly established. Monica's woods are at the edge of
stream
that feeds into nearby Fitzgerald Lake. The altitude is about
275 feet.
Species Height Circumference
White pine 120.6 7.2
White pine 122.8 7.6
N. red oak 105.8 6.5
N. red oak 107.8 7.3
Tuliptree 109.7 6.6
Tuliptree 114.1 5.6
Tuliptree 120.1 6.5
Tuliptree 124.5 6.4
I am hopeful of finding
other tuliptrees growing within the area.
But a search must await the melting of more snow.
Bob
Robert T. Leverett
Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society
|
| Monica's
Woods |
Robert
Leverett |
| Apr
07, 2005 08:01 PDT |
ENTS:
I added two more species to the list for
Monica's woods, a red maple
and a hemlock. A Rucker Index based on 5 species follows:
Species Height Circumference
Tuliptree 123.3 6.6
White pine 123.1 6.7
N. red oak 107.8 7.3
Hemlock 100.2 7.5
Red maple 100.1 4.7
Other species available in the general
vicinity include yellow and
black birch, white and black oak, sugar maple, and green ash. I
expect a
full Rucker index will be between 98.5 and 100.5.
There seems to be caps on all the
species that in other locations
can get 20 to 40 feet taller.
Bob
Robert T. Leverett
Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society
|
| Monica's
Woods |
Robert
Leverett |
| Apr
13, 2005 09:45 PDT |
ENTS:
Monica's woods in Florence, Mass near
Fitzgerald Lake has a small
area that includes a cluster of fairly tall trees. A careful
remeasurement late yesterday evening of the tallest among 7
pines
produced exactly 130 feet. Two of the remaining pines are
between 120
and 123 feet. Co-mingled tuliptrees are competitors of the
pines. One
just breaks 120 and the other just breaks 123 feet. Other pines
and
tuliptrees in Monica's Woods are 110 to 115 feet tall. A
northern red
oak breaks 107 feet, a red maple and a hemlock just break 100
feet. With
the exception of the red maple, all these trees are very close
in
circumference, between 6.5 and 7.6 feet.
In the general vicinity of Monica's Woods,
many white pines break 110
feet, but not 120. Many oaks break 90 feet, but not 100. A few
spots may
have oaks pushing 100 feet and one dense cluster of pines may
have a few
120-footers. But I can look until the cows come home and I'll
not break
135 feet on any white pine or 125 on any tuliptree. all other
species
will be well under these maximums. I can look in wet spots,
spots with
deep soil, protected spots, spots with an abundance of well
formed
trees, etc., but I won't break the above height maximums,
regardless of
tree age.
However, if I move northward and westward and follow the
Deerfield
River, I will find white pines to 166 feet and hardwoods to 151.
The
latitude difference is about 0.3 degrees and the Deerfield
watershed is
at a higher altitude.
One might suggest soil type as the
distinguishing feature between the
areas that account for the difference in tree growth, but
locations in
MTSF that grow some of the super pines have sandy to somewhat
silty
soils. Nor can the difference in the growth of trees between the
locations be attributed to water availability and certainly not
latitude
and/or altitude.
What explains the difference in tree growth for the two areas? I
have
absolutely no idea. I suspect we'll be hunting for the explanation
for a
very long time and it won't be me that discovers the answer. It
will
likely be Lee Frelich in future studies. Well, there won't be
any
shortage of data when he's ready. That's the one thing ENTS can
deliver
on.
Bob
Robert T. Leverett
Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society
|
| Monica's
woods |
Robert
Leverett |
| Apr
15, 2005 07:09 PDT |
ENTS:
I am gradually dialing in the woodlands around Monica Jakuc's
house,
plus getting better and better measurements on each tree making
up the
Rucker index. The following is the latest list of 8 species. I
have
yellow birch and white oak to go. But based on what I expect to
find,
the Rucker index will be between 101 and 102 for a full 10
species. It
could possibly go as high as 102.5, but not likely higher. What
is
interesting is that the index is derived within an area of less
than 10
acres. What I hope to do is gradually expand the area and plot
the rise
in the index as a function of expanding area, noting the
addition of
species and habitats. The current 105.6 index on 8 species
occurs in an
area of about 1 acre. But I can readily see that significant
expansion
of the area will raise the index only marginally. This should be
an
interesting exercise, and hopefully it will provide some insight
to
species clustering and what we might expect in terms of Rucker
index
value going from a small, tightly packed grove to much larger
areas.
Species Height Circ
WP 130.0 7.6
TT 124.9 6.6
NRO 107.8 7.3
WA 105.2 4.5
HM 100.2 7.5
RM 100.1 4.7
BO 90.9 5.9
BB 85.4 4.6
Rucker Index 105.6
The tuliptree is the same tree as reported before, just a higher
twig.
Bob
Robert T. Leverett
Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society
|
| Broad
Brook Watershed, MA |
Robert
Leverett |
| Jun
23, 2005 12:01 PDT |
ENTS:
Broad Brook is a small stream that begins within the Florence
section
of the township of Northampton, MA and flows for about 5 miles
before
reaching Running Gutter Brook. The combination then run into the
Mill
River just west of that stream's confluence with the Connecticut
River.
The geographical coordinates of the head of Broad Brook are: 42
degrees, 21 minutes, and 50.3 seconds of latitude and 72
degrees, 40
minutes, and 50.5 seconds of longitude. The little stream drops
from 400
feet above sea level to about 150 at its confluence with Running
Gutter
Brook. Thanks to conservation lands and the VA Hospital, a few
areas of
mature forest line the banks of Broad Brook. Most notably, a
scattering
of tuliptrees can be found for at least part of its length.
For study purposes, I've dubbed an
area of about 59 acres in the
vicinity of Monica's house as "Monica's Woods". As of
Tuesday evening,
the Rucker index of this area stood at 107.4, courtesy of a
104-foot
cottonwood measurement. The Rucker index may rise slightly
higher after
today, because at least one white oak within the 59-acre area
promises
to up the index.
For classification and study,
other areas of the Broad Brook
watershed will be named as follows: (1) Upper Broad Brook (260
acres),
(2) Fitzgerald Lake (370 acres), and (3) Lower Broad Brook (685
acres).
In time, I'll develop separate Rucker indices for each of these
sites.
But for now, I intend concentrate on the lower part of Upper
Broad
Brook, Monica's Woods, and Fitzgerald Lake, an area of at least
500
acres.
One reason
the watershed of this little stream fascinates me so
much is the occurrence of Liriodendron tulipeferia. The
tuliptree
reaches its northeastern most geographical limit within about 5
miles of
Monica's house. So the tulips along the stream corridor are
special
trees. Some have the in-forest forms that I noticed for the
tuliptrees
growing in Little River Gorge in Westfield. They are definitely
older
trees tahn what typically grow in people's yards. I expect that
some are
around 150 years old.
I'm
ordinarily so focused on the tall forests of the
Berkshires and Taconics that I bypass the Connecticut River
Valley
region except for the areas with the largest and tallest trees.
My
interest in Broad Brook, at least to a degree, has changed that.
I am
now fascinated to see just how far I can push the Rucker index.
I expect
it will eventually go to about 108.5, maybe even 109. For the
present,
the single tallest tree I have measured in Broad Brook's
watershed is
the pine directly in back of Monica's house. The tree's
pre-season
height was 130.6 feet. Looking througfh binoculars, it currently
shows
growth candles of 5 to 6 inches. So the pine is now
approximately 131
feet tall. I expect to eventually exceed the height of Monica's
pine
within the overall Broad Brook watershed, but for the present,
Monica's
pine rules.
The tuliptree on the adjacent property
to Monica's presently rules
for that species. At 124.9 feet before this seasons growth, the
Ehrhard
Frost tuliptree exceeds the tulips farther up the watershed,
which so
far have proven to be on the order of 105 to 115 feet tall.
Incidentally, Ehrhard Frost is a forester friend of mine who
lives in
central Vermont.
Bob
Robert T. Leverett
Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society
|
| New
scarlet oak champ |
Robert
Leverett |
| Jun
24, 2005 06:28 PDT |
ENTS:
Yesterday evening, Monica's Woods yielded a
new state champ, a
97.0-foot tall, 5.9-foot around scarlet oak. In the mix of N.
reds,
blacks, and whites, I had missed the scarlets. The new height
for the Mt
Greylock red spruce, the new scarlet oak champ, and the Jake
Swamp trees
continued growth gave me a feeling of satisfaction.
Even with the scarlet oak champ, I haven't
found anything even close
to the incredible silver maples that Dale recently confirmed,
but I am
excited that the Broad Brook corridor of Northampton will yield
more
surprises. It may also give us a much better fix on what can
grow at the
edges of the Connecticut River Valley province - a hilly area
that I've
ignored for far too long.
Oh yes, the scarlet oak raises the Rucker
index of Monica's Woods to
108.01.
Bob
Robert T. Leverett
Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society
|
|