Never before have I seen trembling aspen seed production as this year. Yesterday, in a walk around Tower, their appeared to be snow in the air most of the way, especially when the clumps of seed fluff were backlit by the sun. I’ve seen windrows of accumulated fluff on trails and roadsides where I’ve never noticed it before. In one of our recent gales, a live aspen snapped off just as the seed capsules were starting to split open, providing a rather dramatic example of the amount of seed fluff a single catkin, let alone a tree’s worth, can produce:
A few vigorous kicks were enough to trigger a ground blizzard:
And this evening, Cat Lake appeared to have a skim of mold on its surface.
Steve Wilson
Never before have I seen trembling aspen seed production as this year. Yesterday, in a walk around Tower, their appeared to be snow in the air most of the way, especially when the clumps of seed fluff were backlit by the sun. I’ve seen windrows of accumulated fluff on trails and roadsides where I’ve never noticed it before. In one of our recent gales, a live aspen snapped off just as the seed capsules were starting to split open, providing a rather dramatic example of the amount of seed fluff a single catkin, let alone a tree’s worth, can produce:
A few vigorous kicks were enough to trigger a ground blizzard:
And this evening, Cat Lake appeared to have a skim of mold on its surface.
--
Steve Wilson
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On Jun 7, 2022, at 10:11 PM, Viki Krikorian <vikikr...@gmail.com> wrote:
Thank you, Steve. I was wondering if my mind has been playing tricks on me as I don’t remember seeing anything like this either. But then again, I’ve been coming up to this part of the world only for about 10 years. At times, when I look outside my cabin window it seems like snowing. I wonder, could last year’s Summer drought and/or this year’s wet Spring somehow be contributing to this phenomenon? Like Jackpine cones opening up after fire, do dry then wet conditions increase Aspen seed production?
I wondered the same thing, Vicki. Certainly some combination of factors, perhaps some extreme as we’ve seen lately, may have played a hand. I understand a single tree can produce millions of seeds in a good year, which this certainly is.
Regardless of whether this year’s abundant moisture played a role in seed production, it will enhance successful germination of seeds. Soil moisture is critical, because their small seeds don’t have the food-storing endosperm that many seeds do. Normally, though, the vast majority of seeds never end up on a suitable substrate for germination and seedling establishment. Mineral soil can support seedling establishment and growth, as can burnt organic substrate – think Greenwood burn. In the coming years It will be interesting to see whether this confluence of unusual factors – abundant seed, adequate moisture, and 20,000+ acres of suitable substrate - will result in areas of the burn being dominated by aspen where there was little or none before.
Steve
On Jun 7, 2022, at 10:00 PM, clever...@gmail.com wrote:
Never before have I seen trembling aspen seed production as this year. Yesterday, in a walk around Tower, their appeared to be snow in the air most of the way, especially when the clumps of seed fluff were backlit by the sun. I’ve seen windrows of accumulated fluff on trails and roadsides where I’ve never noticed it before. In one of our recent gales, a live aspen snapped off just as the seed capsules were starting to split open, providing a rather dramatic example of the amount of seed fluff a single catkin, let alone a tree’s worth, can produce:
<image001.jpg>
<image002.jpg>
A few vigorous kicks were enough to trigger a ground blizzard:
<image003.jpg>
And this evening, Cat Lake appeared to have a skim of mold on its surface.
<image004.jpg>
Steve Wilson
Roger A Powell Department of Applied Ecology North Carolina State University PO Box 918, Ely, Minnesota 55731 tel. - 218-235-8808 https://cals.ncsu.edu/applied-ecology/people/rpowell-2/ Husk at leve mens du gør det. Husk at elske mens du tør det. Piet Hein
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Bill,
It does seem counterintuitive that drought or other stressors could result in increased seed production. But apparently it happens in certain species under certain conditions. This from a bulletin by the University of South Dakota:
“Trees signal their water deficit through a number of symptoms. The most common changes in appearance are lighter green to yellow-green foliage, leaf scorch around the margins, wilting leaves and dropping them prematurely. These stressed trees will also often have stunted shoots and may produce more seeds than typically seen for a tree. Conifers will often produce an abundance of cones the second year of a drought.”
This post offers a hypothesis on why: https://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/do-stressed-trees-produce-more-seeds.
I couldn’t find definitive research supporting this hypothesis, but if anecdotal observations – like those on this site -- mean anything, there is a relationship there. Another example is an arborist’s comments about an abundance of elm seed in Winona:
“Those little round seed pods, blowing everywhere in the slightest breeze. They're not an uncommon sight every spring, but this spring there's an uncommon number of them.
They're elm seeds. And you can blame our wet winter.
It seems when there's a lot of moisture, it's a signal for the trees to try to make a lot more little trees. If you're saying right now 'Wait a minute, I remember seeing a lot of them in a dry year too.' you're absolutely right.
"When they're stressed out they send out seeds, as well, to procreate more," says Dale Carlon, a consulting arborist for the Truckee Meadows Water Authority.."Either way. They're opportunistic. This is an indicator of an environmental influence on the trees whether it be good or bad."
Steve
From: elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com <elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Bill Hohengarten
Sent: Wednesday, June 8, 2022 8:59 PM
To: con...@consiepowell.com
Cc: Roger Powell <rpo...@ncsu.edu>; Ely Field Naturalists <elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: {Ely Field Naturalists} Aspen Fuzz
In connection with hypotheses about why the aspens are spectacularly fecund this spring, I have also been thinking about the fact that the birches were spectacularly fecund this winter. While the wet spring could play a role in the aspens' reproductive vigor, it can't explain the birches'. During the winter I was wondering why the birches were putting out so much seed when the preceding spring, summer, and fall were so droughty. Though it turns out that soil is now moist, there was no way for the birches to "know" that would happen. To me it seemed like natural selection would not result in extra reproductive activity when conditions appeared to be so bad. But the birches disagreed. And I wonder if the drought also spurred on the aspens, and if so, why. Any thoughts?
Bill
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/CAO0Pff%2Bkdv3KoU-_SN1CFD%2BdZ0_T8%2BXsRVfDmG%2BqS8d5dkKZAA%40mail.gmail.com.
Bill,
It does seem counterintuitive that drought or other stressors could result in increased seed production. But apparently it happens in certain species under certain conditions. This from a bulletin by the University of South Dakota:
“Trees signal their water deficit through a number of symptoms. The most common changes in appearance are lighter green to yellow-green foliage, leaf scorch around the margins, wilting leaves and dropping them prematurely. These stressed trees will also often have stunted shoots and may produce more seeds than typically seen for a tree. Conifers will often produce an abundance of cones the second year of a drought.”
This post offers a hypothesis on why: https://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/do-stressed-trees-produce-more-seeds.
I couldn’t find definitive research supporting this hypothesis, but if anecdotal observations – like those on this site -- mean anything, there is a relationship there. Another example is an arborist’s comments about an abundance of elm seed in Winona:
“Those little round seed pods, blowing everywhere in the slightest breeze. They're not an uncommon sight every spring, but this spring there's an uncommon number of them.
They're elm seeds. And you can blame our wet winter.
It seems when there's a lot of moisture, it's a signal for the trees to try to make a lot more little trees. If you're saying right now 'Wait a minute, I remember seeing a lot of them in a dry year too.' you're absolutely right.
"When they're stressed out they send out seeds, as well, to procreate more," says Dale Carlon, a consulting arborist for the Truckee Meadows Water Authority.."Either way. They're opportunistic. This is an indicator of an environmental influence on the trees whether it be good or bad."
Steve
From: elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com <elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Bill Hohengarten
Sent: Wednesday, June 8, 2022 8:59 PM
To: con...@consiepowell.com
Cc: Roger Powell <rpo...@ncsu.edu>; Ely Field Naturalists <elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: {Ely Field Naturalists} Aspen Fuzz
In connection with hypotheses about why the aspens are spectacularly fecund this spring, I have also been thinking about the fact that the birches were spectacularly fecund this winter. While the wet spring could play a role in the aspens' reproductive vigor, it can't explain the birches'. During the winter I was wondering why the birches were putting out so much seed when the preceding spring, summer, and fall were so droughty. Though it turns out that soil is now moist, there was no way for the birches to "know" that would happen. To me it seemed like natural selection would not result in extra reproductive activity when conditions appeared to be so bad. But the birches disagreed. And I wonder if the drought also spurred on the aspens, and if so, why. Any thoughts?
Bill
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/CAO0Pff%2Bkdv3KoU-_SN1CFD%2BdZ0_T8%2BXsRVfDmG%2BqS8d5dkKZAA%40mail.gmail.com.