If a tree falls in the forest … Part 2. Why does it fall?

I once had this very naïve idea that I would count the trees on our lot. Well, that was a very short lived idea.  

We have a lot of trees – probably in the thousands.  Here’s a few examples:

 

Eastern White Pine, (Pinus strobus)

White and Red Oak, (Quercus alba and rubra),

White or Red Ash (Fraxinus americana or pennsylvanica)

Iron Wood (Ostrya virginiana)

Sumac (Rhus typhina)

Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)

Eastern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis)

And then there are the Maples.  

Red maple (Acer rubra)

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)

The maples are very special trees. It’s because of the maples that we have such wonderful vibrant red and orange fall colours here in the east of Canada (and of course the United States).   

Killarney Provincial Park

Japanese Maples have some of the most spectacular fall colour. This is an Acer Japonica Aconitifolium taken at the Montreal Botanical Gardens (Spoiler:  we actual have this tree and it will feature in a future blogpost)

Maples do not occur naturally on the west coast and so the fall colour is limited to yellow hues.

Fall colour in Cariboo, BC. Apparently these are larches.

David will probably admonish me if I launch into another chemistry lesson now, so we’ll leave the investigation of why leaves change colour and drop for another post, and go back to the garden.

Right, where was I? Yes, we have lots of trees, deciduous and evergreen, alive and dead. There are many reasons why trees die, and I’m not sure why some of our trees have died (especially some of the huge oaks which should have long life spans).  But dead trees are not necessarily a bad thing (unless, of course, you’ve just paid a tidy sum for that “must have” tree which is, however, borderline in your zone, and didn’t make it through the winter -serves you right!). They form incredible micro environments that provide habitats for all manner of fauna and flora. 

Some of our dead trees are dead because the beaver has cut them down. These are obvious as the tell tale pencil-point shaped cuts are evident on the remaining trunk.  

I wish I had taken this picture. Credit goes to "Howstuffworks.com"

Such was the fate of a beautiful old Paper birch that lived right on the shore near the bridge to the large island.  

Birches do best when their feet are wet. That’s why you often see them on the edges of water courses and in swampy areas.  This particular venerable tree (venerable for a Birch which are short lived trees) had been gnawed by a beaver many years ago, but for some reason it had never fallen. Perhaps it was just too stubborn to know when to lie down and quit.

I’m sorry I don’t have a better picture, of this tree, and although you can’t see the beaver’s work, you can see how it is leaning, and how it’s still alive despite a grievous injury.

To be continued …