Aspen Fuzz
clever...@gmail.com
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
Viki Krikorian
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
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ely Field Naturalists" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to elyfieldnatural...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/02a601d87ae4%2416699520%24433cbf60%24%40gmail.com.
Viki Krikorian
Kayaking in snow on Snowbank Lake a couple of days ago.
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?
clever...@gmail.com
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
Mike Ruzich
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 Powell
Consie & I have noted exuberant flowering of fruiting shrubs this spring. Last spring, our 3 apple trees were in full bloom in late May when we had 3 hard frosts, killing all the flowers. We ended up getting only 1 apple, total, from our trees.
So, we have hypothesized that having sexual reproduction truncated last spring led to trees and shrubs having more energy for sexual reproduction this year. We expect that timing of last year's drought, this recent winter's snowfall, and this spring's rain all have contributed to the "snowfall" of aspen fuzz and seeds this year. That, anyway, is our hypothesis.
peace , , , , , ,
rog . . . . . .
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
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/46B8F202-13D6-4598-BC39-DAF27C8EDA47%40att.net.
con...@consiepowell.com
I've made, leading up to the Big Fuzz.
Even as early as January of this year, I noted that a number of our
trembling aspen trees seemed to have fairly fat "buds" up there
silhouetted against the sky. As winter waned and spring progressed, these
buds got fatter and fatter, seemingly more so than in other years. (I
carefully check out these tree tops every year; they are an easy view out
our east windows with binocs). Each year, such buds get fat, then open
into little fuzzy catkins, usually followed by leaf-out as May moves
along. This year, those fuzzy catkins got huge; probably twice as big as
in previous years, looking like big fat pussywillows. This was in mid-May.
They also held on for quite some time. As temps warmed, those pussyaspens
grew long and pendulous, looking much like fuzzy caterpillars (especially
when we'd see dropped ones on the ground). This lengthening also
corresponded with when I noticed a thin layer of pollen on our PV panels.
By the end of May, all the fuzzy catkins (those were the male ones) were
gone, and the trees had grown long, very green catkins (the female ones).
This was still before much of any leaves had come out on those trees.
(However, trembling aspens that weren't doing this riotous reproduction
were leafing out.) Very soon thereafter, we started seeing the fuzzes. I
had noticed a number of the green catkins on the ground, and within a few
days, as the fuzz was blowing from the catkins in the trees, those catkins
on the ground also opened up and released seeds. I actually watched this
happen, because I'd brought one of the green catkins inside, to draw it,
since it had some white tips to the little green spikes. But with warmth,
those green spikes opened and the fuzz emerged, right in front of me. I
also observed that on warm sunny days, the tree catkins were vigorously
opening. It's pretty cool.
I expect we're due for a second pulse of Big Fuzz, because the Big Tooth
Aspens, which are always a couple weeks behind the Trembling Aspens in
leafing out, are presently at the pendulous green catkin stage. So before
long, I expect that they will follow suit.
Consie
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>> Groups "Ely Field Naturalists" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
>> an email to elyfieldnatural...@googlegroups.com.
>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/46B8F202-13D6-4598-BC39-DAF27C8EDA47%40att.net?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "Ely Field Naturalists" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to elyfieldnatural...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
>
Bill Hohengarten
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/31c900272c2034fe0db47fe05f6c9cf8.squirrel%40emailmg.ipower.com.
Bill Hohengarten
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.
clever...@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.
clever...@gmail.com
Steve Wilson
-----Original Message-----
From: con...@consiepowell.com <con...@consiepowell.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 8, 2022 11:12 AM
To: Roger Powell <rpo...@ncsu.edu>
Cc: elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: {Ely Field Naturalists} Aspen Fuzz
Mike Ruzich
Sent from my iPad
> On Jun 11, 2022, at 1:00 PM, clever...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> Fun fact: aspen fuzz isn't just blanketing the roadways this year, it can also blanket the front of your vehicle's radiator, as I discovered when I looked under the hood of mine. If you've been driving in fuzz-prone areas, you might want to check, and clean, yours too.
JudyKrish
Roger Powell
Well, the recent rain settled the fuzz from the quaking aspens.
Today! Our bigtooth aspens have started shedding fuzz. We have a
snowstorm of fuzz coming from the 3 big bigtooths (bigteeth?) to the
west of our Little Big House (the name of our house).
Of interest is that the balsam poplars did not shed fuzz. They came out
and went through reproduction before the quaking aspens. They appear
not to be as closely related as the quaking and bigtooths and their
flowers and seed organs appear to be different.
peace , , , , ,
--