Post by cunningstunts on Jan 25, 2022 21:17:57 GMT
Been thinking about old trees a lot in the past few weeks. Really want to get out and do some investigation and exploring.
I'm now amassing my reference books on the subject, but I found this wonderful reference online:
www.friendsofmountsunapee.org/wp-content/uploads/Old-Growth-in-the-East_rev-ed-2003.pdf
Of course, I'm mainly interested in the Adirondacks because it has the most old-growth in the state, and the forest types there are interesting to me.
I've been to visit a few small stands, mostly of old eastern white pine. By themselves, interesting micro pockets of old-growth, but not really an old-growth forest per se. White pines won't always regenerate under their elders, so they tend to either need to live in places that are inhospitable to others, or colonize pockets of disturbance. They will colonize old fields, but sometimes get outcompeted by cherry, maple, aspen, birch. They will outlive most of them though if they can make it. Anyway, I've been more interested in our large pockets of old-growth, which tend to be Northern Hardwoods: Maples-Beech-Birch.
Because of beech bark disease, the presence of the very old beech is sparse, so that leaves us with a few other major species, mainly Red and Sugar maples, and various Birches. Only Sweet/black birch and yellow birch are long-lived species. Sweet birch doesn't grow, or very rarely does in the Adirondacks. It's right at its northerly range. Yellow birch is very common though, and they have been reported to be some of the oldest trees out there.
Red maples are not necessarily long-lived species, but they can make an old-growth presence, but very sparsely, as opposed to our second growth logging forests which fill in largely with this species. Sugar maples are a long-lived species, and I'm not even sure what their limit is. I tend to read 300+ years, but the oldest I've ever seen pictures of is in the 200's. Sugar maples tend to look very similar from 100 years on though, so unless you are coring the trees or have the land history, you may not know if you're in old-growth sugar maples i.e. maples with trees in the 200's.
The same can be said about white pine - they just don't look all that much different at 100 to when they are 350. Fast growers can reach great heights and diameters at 100 and slow growers could be on the small side even at 350. We do have a populations in the Adirondacks up to 350, which are now dying, but naturally. 350-400 is the extreme upper limit for the white pine AFAIK.
So back to yellow birch. That's the tree to keep an eye on and look for. There are claims of yellow birch in the Adirondacks near 500 years old. I'm not sure how true that is because I don't think anyone has risked coring them. Maybe when they die we can see. There are many over 200, and probably well onto 300-350. I believe that specimens have been cored/counted to 350. Anyway, what makes them great for old-growth hunting is that they change their bark as they age. When they are young, less than 150 years old, they have a bronze, peeling bark that is easy to spot. As they age, that starts to slough off, much like cherry trees do at younger ages, and they push out somewhat large gray, plates. It's speculated this process happens between 150-200 years of age, but no one really knows for sure. Anyway, if you find a yellow birch with scaly, platey grey bark, it's likely older than 200 years. That is if you know it's a yellow birch and know how to identify the old ones. I believe that I've probably walked right past them and never even knew. Now I know what to look for and where some of these trees are, I need to go see for myself.
Red oak can also be an indicator species and probably can make it to 300 years +. The oldest specimens I've seen are in the 170 yo range, and other than their size, they don't look any different than a 100 yo red oak. But I've seen images of old growth red oak that show it with a more pronounced, corky bark with far more horizontal cracking than the more typical "ski tracks" of the younger bark. It looks very similar to chestnut oak to me. WTBS, I've seen red oak that were likely no older than 150 yo with that same corky bark. So, maybe some exhibit this more in old age, but it's no guarantee. Also oak presence is very limited in most of the Adirondacks except the east, where it is warmer and drier. I'm not 100% sure why this is, but they just have a tough time penetrating into the colder, wetter parts (central, north and west).
I'm now amassing my reference books on the subject, but I found this wonderful reference online:
www.friendsofmountsunapee.org/wp-content/uploads/Old-Growth-in-the-East_rev-ed-2003.pdf
Of course, I'm mainly interested in the Adirondacks because it has the most old-growth in the state, and the forest types there are interesting to me.
I've been to visit a few small stands, mostly of old eastern white pine. By themselves, interesting micro pockets of old-growth, but not really an old-growth forest per se. White pines won't always regenerate under their elders, so they tend to either need to live in places that are inhospitable to others, or colonize pockets of disturbance. They will colonize old fields, but sometimes get outcompeted by cherry, maple, aspen, birch. They will outlive most of them though if they can make it. Anyway, I've been more interested in our large pockets of old-growth, which tend to be Northern Hardwoods: Maples-Beech-Birch.
Because of beech bark disease, the presence of the very old beech is sparse, so that leaves us with a few other major species, mainly Red and Sugar maples, and various Birches. Only Sweet/black birch and yellow birch are long-lived species. Sweet birch doesn't grow, or very rarely does in the Adirondacks. It's right at its northerly range. Yellow birch is very common though, and they have been reported to be some of the oldest trees out there.
Red maples are not necessarily long-lived species, but they can make an old-growth presence, but very sparsely, as opposed to our second growth logging forests which fill in largely with this species. Sugar maples are a long-lived species, and I'm not even sure what their limit is. I tend to read 300+ years, but the oldest I've ever seen pictures of is in the 200's. Sugar maples tend to look very similar from 100 years on though, so unless you are coring the trees or have the land history, you may not know if you're in old-growth sugar maples i.e. maples with trees in the 200's.
The same can be said about white pine - they just don't look all that much different at 100 to when they are 350. Fast growers can reach great heights and diameters at 100 and slow growers could be on the small side even at 350. We do have a populations in the Adirondacks up to 350, which are now dying, but naturally. 350-400 is the extreme upper limit for the white pine AFAIK.
So back to yellow birch. That's the tree to keep an eye on and look for. There are claims of yellow birch in the Adirondacks near 500 years old. I'm not sure how true that is because I don't think anyone has risked coring them. Maybe when they die we can see. There are many over 200, and probably well onto 300-350. I believe that specimens have been cored/counted to 350. Anyway, what makes them great for old-growth hunting is that they change their bark as they age. When they are young, less than 150 years old, they have a bronze, peeling bark that is easy to spot. As they age, that starts to slough off, much like cherry trees do at younger ages, and they push out somewhat large gray, plates. It's speculated this process happens between 150-200 years of age, but no one really knows for sure. Anyway, if you find a yellow birch with scaly, platey grey bark, it's likely older than 200 years. That is if you know it's a yellow birch and know how to identify the old ones. I believe that I've probably walked right past them and never even knew. Now I know what to look for and where some of these trees are, I need to go see for myself.
Red oak can also be an indicator species and probably can make it to 300 years +. The oldest specimens I've seen are in the 170 yo range, and other than their size, they don't look any different than a 100 yo red oak. But I've seen images of old growth red oak that show it with a more pronounced, corky bark with far more horizontal cracking than the more typical "ski tracks" of the younger bark. It looks very similar to chestnut oak to me. WTBS, I've seen red oak that were likely no older than 150 yo with that same corky bark. So, maybe some exhibit this more in old age, but it's no guarantee. Also oak presence is very limited in most of the Adirondacks except the east, where it is warmer and drier. I'm not 100% sure why this is, but they just have a tough time penetrating into the colder, wetter parts (central, north and west).