| Re-energizing
our Rucker Analysis Mission |
Robert
Leverett |
| Nov
06, 2006 11:26 PST |
ENTS:
Will's comment "That is a cool project.
Just think of the resource if
the trees were measured properly!" set me to thinking. The
number of
mis-measured trees in studies past and present done by others
literally
swamp the number that have been measured right. The troubling
implication is that most of the tree height data that
researchers will
be using is suspect at best and downright awful at worst. I've
been
thinking about this situation and I've come to the conclusion
that there
are two ENTS states of mind for coping. One is for us to feel
overwhelmed and perhaps slighted (Why didn't they ask us?) and
just stay
focused in our world. The other, the better course, is to feel
energized. If we choose to be, we can eventually become the main
source
of accurate tree height data in the East available for research
purposes. Additionally, we will have an increasing number of
internal
uses for our data.
Lee is biding his time until we collect enough
data to warrant a
group of us, under his leadership, writing a paper on maximum
tree
heights correlated to predictive variables. This project has
been
mentioned several times before on the list, but most of the
discussions
have been off-list. Lee has had the project in mind for some
time, but
we're not there yet in terms of raw data. There are major gaps
in our
dataset and they have to be filled carefully.
It isn't enough just to visit more sites on
whirlwind explorations,
grabbing a few numbers here and there. For serious research
purposes,
our measurements need to reflect complete searches of the sites
we
choose for inclusion. A single visit to a site by a single
measurer is
nowhere near sufficient. One needs to spend enough collective
time
on-site that the resulting dataset reliably reflects the maximum
heights
for the species represented. That's the data that should feed
the model
Lee has in mind. But, collecting the data is no mean task.
Howeevr,
through sheer persistence, we now have a number of sites that
have been
measured to saturation. The data are of impeccable quality. MTSF
and
Cook Forest SP probably lead the list. A step down from
saturation, we
have places like Hearts Content, Monroe State Forest, Zoar
Valley, Ice
Glen, McConnell's Mill, a number of sites in the Smokies,
several sites
in South Carolina, the Elders Grove in the Adirondacks, and the
Congaree
NP in SC.
We can live with near-saturation measuring to
be reasonably confident
that our data represents the tallest trees to be found at the
respective
sites. That is what we are after, but near-saturation coverage
is very
labor-intensive. Alas, we need more troops.
Next April, we will hold another rendezvous at
Cook Forest State
Park, and as part of the rendezvous, we will have a
tree-measuring
workshop, similar to the one that got rained out at MTSF on Oct
28th and
the one's we've held at Cook before. We encourage as many Ents
as can
make it to come and join the elite of the eastern tree
measurers. As an
outcome of the rendezvous, it would be great to add a couple of
measurers from the Mid-west. It would be the stuff that dreams
are made
of to recrut someone to represent us in the
Alabama-Mississippi-Louisiana area. Larry? Also, Don Bragg could
probably use some help covering the southwestern corner of the
range of
eastern species. Don is a non-man army, but his Forest Service
duties
keep him occupied most of the time. Hey, maybe we can eventually
get
state-oriented competitions going. Nothing wrong with a little
competition to sharpen the desire, resolve, etc. Anyone have
ideas on
how do we get things started?
In terms of replicating the working state
models, I'd have to say
that Pennsylvania is our front runner. With Dale Luthringer,
Scott Wade,
Ed Frank, Anthony Kelly, and Carl Harting on the job,
Pennsylvania is in
very good shape. Okay fellows, what's your secret? Is it in the
water?
BTW, any chance you all could adopt West Virgina? The
Massachusetts crew
will adopt Maine if you all will adopt West Virginia.
In terms of the eastern seaboard, whatever
happened to Darian Copiz?
Darian, Oh, Darian, where are you, Darian? Delaware, Maryland,
the D.C.
area, and northern Virginia are in need of coverage. Colby
Rucker's
passing left a big hole in that region. We need at least two and
preferably three folks to cover it.
Bob
|
| Re:
Re-energizing our Rucker Analysis Mission |
wad-@comcast.net |
| Nov
06, 2006 12:58 PST |
Bob
Delaware is on the list for me. I live about 15 minutes from the
state line. I don't think there is much to measure, except for
the northern county of New Castle. Most of the state is in the
coastal plain. We should get down there soon.
Scott
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