RE: Cook Forest update   John Eichholz   Mar 12, 2004 07:03 PST  Ed, Dale: Dale's data is so deep it can already provide for many kinds of analysis. I recently posted about the distribution of heights of Black Cherry in the vicinity of the state co-champ in MTSF. A similar analysis of Dale's BC data also shows a bell-type distribution, with a median and mode of 120' Here is the data, and the rounding down to 5's: black cherry 87.02 85 black cherry 95.73 95 black cherry 104.5 100 black cherry 104.77 100 black cherry 105.31 105 black cherry 109.6 105 black cherry 110.5 110 black cherry 111.14 110 black cherry 111.47 110 black cherry 113.3 110 black cherry 113.91 110 black cherry 114.1 110 black cherry 116.4 115 black cherry 117.23 115 black cherry 117.46 115 black cherry 118.4 115 black cherry 119.21 115 black cherry 119.8 115 black cherry 119.87 115 black cherry 120.1 120 black cherry 120.1 120 black cherry 120.5 120 black cherry 120.7 120 black cherry 120.9 120 black cherry 122.55 120 black cherry 123.1 120 black cherry 123.7 120 black cherry 124 120 black cherry 124.62 120 black cherry 124.69 120 black cherry 126.7 125 black cherry 127.8 125 black cherry 128.8 125 black cherry 128.86 125 black cherry 128.87 125 black cherry 129.8 125 black cherry 131.5 130 black cherry 133.74 130 black cherry 136.24 135 black cherry 136.39 135 black cherry 137 135 black cherry 137.49 135 This data, unlike the MTSF data, is not from a single stand, but an aggregate at the site level. Also, it does not purport to cover all BC at Cook. Nevertheless, a similar distribution pattern shows up. Dale, I would guess "Tony's BC stand" is a contiguous area. Are any other BC stands at Cook in a tight geographic cluster? I think foresters as well as researchers would be interested in any eventual conclusion we could draw between the top height and the median height for a species on a site. John Ed Frank wrote:   ENTS, All joking aside, I am interested in the data set Dale is gathering on the large pines at Cook Forest. It will be interesting to see how the size distributions fall out and is certainly a worthwhile project. Dale has provided us with a much larger data set for the state of Pennsylvania than just a list of the big trees at various localities by including a list of many significant trees besides just the largest and much more analysis could be done with that kind of detailed information (It is posted on the website) The focus of the Eastern Native Tree Society should not be just on one aspect of the forest. RE: Cook Forest update   Dale J. Luthringer   Mar 12, 2004 08:08 PST  John, That stand of black cherry you mention is actually part of a larger stand. I just broke it into named "sections" that I could remember for future documentation. That section of black cherry you mention lays on a northeast facining slope that stretches about 1.5 to 2 miles. The tallest are usually towards the base of this slope, or on small benches throughout the slope. The black cherry in this area usually shares canopy dominance with E. hemlock, Am. beech, and some E. white pine. I'd suggest many of the largest black cherry are old specimens, >175-250 years old. There is one in particular that might go a bit older, but is only around ~120ft in height. We recently found a whopper that went to ~11ft x 140ft even. 140ft class black cherries are very rare. When you get into the upper 130's, you're starting to get close to the known upper height limit of black cherry. Dale     Home