Trees As A Public Good

trees as a public good represents a topic that has garnered significant attention and interest. Tropical Fossils in Alaska | Geophysical Institute. Paleobotanist Jack A. Wolfe of the United States Geological Survey at Menlo Park, California, has found a number of tropical rain forest fossils along the eastern Gulf of Alaska. These include several kinds of palms, Burmese lacquer trees, mangroves and trees of the type that now produce nutmeg and Macassar oil. Cottonwood and Balsam Poplar | Geophysical Institute.

The Klukwan giant belies the belief that trees tend to get smaller the farther north one goes. Both balsam poplar and cottonwood have value for fuel wood, pulp and lumber. Northern Tree Habitats | Geophysical Institute. Why take a chance with exotics, when native trees have proven their ability to survive?

In this context, several reasons prompt testing of foreign tree species. Human activities often create and maintain new, sometimes artificial habitats that native trees are not adapted to. Exotics may have strong wood, large fruits or straight boles that are lacking in the ... More on Why Tree Trunks Spiral | Geophysical Institute. In an earlier column , I asked if any readers could explain why the grain in trees seemed to spiral up the trunk-in a clockwise direction. That is, spiral marks in old trees crack open from the upper right to lower left around the trunk.

In relation to this, professor (now Emeritus) Neil Davis, the originator of this column, posed the same question in this column over ten years ago, and it's time for an update. Tamarack -- Not A Dead Spruce | Geophysical Institute. When one of these trees finds itself on a better site, however, it shows a remarkable change of pace. Individual tamarack growing in white spruce stands may achieve a size comparable to white spruce 100 to 150 years old.

The current record tamarack in Alaska stands near mile 311 of the Richardson Highway. Furthermore, trees as Earthquake Fault Indicators | Geophysical Institute. A swath of dead, tilted and broken trees now makes obvious the trace of the Fairweather fault that broke in July 1958 to devastate Lituya Bay and nearby parts of southeastern Alaska. Sagging or tilting of the ground along a fault trace causes trees there to tilt or even fall.

Maverick red aspens in a world of gold | Geophysical Institute. From the solution of liquid leaves, they determined that a sugary red pigment was indeed present in red and orange aspens, but not in yellow aspens. The scientists hinted that the red occurs on only some trees, meaning it is probably a genetic trait — a red aspen is sort of like a person with red hair. Black Spruce | Geophysical Institute.

Somehow black spruce trees seem like the jackasses of the northern forests--sort of ungainly looking, ugly little beasts that somehow can survive under conditions prohibitive to the taller and more elegant birches and white spruce. But, like donkeys, black spruce have their likable and interesting qualities. Burls - Geophysical Institute.