Finally It Begins!

The past two weeks have finally set this year’s pollination program in motion.  Although things have been considerably delayed, we have fought through the undesirable conditions to bag and pollinate three trees in Litchfield County.  Two weeks ago two trees near the Town of Litchfield (one in Litchfield and one in Warren) were bagged.  Unfortunately, there were a few problems with the tree in Warren and many of the female flowers aborted their development.  However, we still managed to get 22 bags and 2 controls on the Litchfield tree and 13 bags and 1 control on the Warren tree.  As previously mentioned, the control bags will not be pollinated and are merely there to ensure the tree was not pollinated by an outside source.  At the end of the season, we will uncover the control bags to (hopefully) discover that there are no fertile nuts.

Last week,  a slightly larger tree was bagged on Mt. Washington Rd. on the Riga Mountain Plateau.  This tree is located on a ridge that is among the highest elevation in Connecticut. Because of this, it is likely that this tree was one of the last bagged in the state.  At first glance, this smaller tree appeared to have a few decent clumps of catkins and flowers and would likely get a few more bags than the other two trees.  However, once the bagging process began, it was evident that the tree had far more flowers than expected.  The final tally was 41 bags with 4 controls! 

Charlie White, from Bartlett Tree Experts, bagging the tree on Mt. Washington Rd.

 

The Mt. Washington Rd. tree, in all its glory.

 

Look how high up he had to go!

Luckily, all three trees had many catkin clumps with several flowers.  In fact, two of the bags on the Litchfield tree had six female flowers in one bag!  Hopefully this indicates that the trees will have a better harvest than the number of bags might indicate.

Last Friday we were also able to pollinate the Litchfield tree, as its flowers indicated they were ready. The styles on the flowers were fully developed, spread apart, and straw colored.  In addition, the male catkins were “bushy” and very aromatic.  Bill Moorhead, John Baker, and I worked together to pollinate all of the non-control bags using a ladder.  Although there are several methods, we used the “dunk” method which involves dunking the female flower into a small vial of pollen (actually it was a vial of anthers which each have many individual pollen grains).  Once it appears as though enough pollen is on the styles of each flower, the bag is replaced and secured.  The pollen for this particular tree is from an advanced hybrid in Virginia and will hopefully breed in blight resistance to local American Chestnuts. Other than checking on the tree every now and then, the rest is merely a waiting game until the nuts develop.

Bill Moorhead and I pollinating the tree in Litchfield.

Me assisting with the pollination of a tree in Hamden, CT. This gives an idea of how the "dunk" method works.

 

Ladder pollination in Hamden, CT

The Warren tree will hopefully be pollinated this Wednesday; although, we are having some trouble scheduling the bucket truck and may need to come up with an alternative.  The Mt. Washington tree is set for Monday, July 20th.  I only wish I could be there in October to collect the nuts and enjoy the fruits of our labor

Trees will be trees…

As much as the unusual weather has attempted to thwart pollination efforts, we have finally entered into the first week of pre-pollination bagging here in Litchfield County.  For the most part, the enormous amount of precipitation has put a real “damp”er on the time and accurate estimation of flower maturation.  Luckily for the Connecticut chapter, dependable and determined members have kept an even closer eye on flower progress in an effort to determine the right time to bag.  From what I’ve been told of seasons past, bagging this year is at least a week (oftentimes more) later than it usually is.  In addition, male catkins aren’t maturing at their usual rate, making them unreliable determinants of female flower progress.  Alas, I believe we have battled our way through this unfortunate summer and are finally ready for the first step in the pollination process.

On Tuesday, June 30th, two trees in the central part of Litchfield County will be bagged by Bartlett tree experts.  Their generous donation of bucket trucks and expert bagging assistance will undoubtedly make the process run smoothly.  Bagging female flowers involves removing all surrounding male catkins and leaves so there is no trace of pollen or interference to flower maturation.  Small paper bags are gently, yet securely, placed around the female flower and subsequent twig.  These bags will remain on the female flowers for the next 3-4 months.  Ten to fourteen days after bagging, Bartlett will return to the tree, remove the bags, apply the genetically desired pollen, and carefully replace the bags.  After the controlled pollination event, the flowers will mature into seeds with a surrounding, protective burr which will be harvested sometime in October.

Bartlett bagging a tree in Canaan, CT. Photo courtesy of Gayle Kida.

Bagged female flowers on a Burlington, CT tree. Photo courtesy of Gayle Kida.

The number of bags placed on the trees obviously depends on the number of flowers present on the tree.  The general goal is to harvest 100 nuts per tree (producing an adequate breeding line).  However, this goal is not always reached in a single season.  Since most of the reproductive trees are fairly small and shrub-like, it is fairly common to receive about half the desired amount.  The plan is to therefore choose trees that can be pollinated and harvested in two consecutive years (to reach the goal).  Each female flower will yield about 3 nuts; however, usually only 2 of these nuts are fertile.  In the case of the two trees which will be bagged on Tuesday, it is likely that the trees will get 20-30 bags of about 30 flowers.  Then we must hope that the tree not only survives another year, but also is reproductive another year.

The tree I will be managing will likely be ready to bag next week.  It is located on the highest elevation range in Connecticut and is consequently well behind the lower elevation trees.  This tree will probably not produce 100 nuts this year either, but the tree seems to be in decent health and will likely be around next year.

Female flowers on the Riga Mountain Chestnut tree (highest elevation ridge in CT). The flowers are at the base of the catkins and are almost "cabbage-like." These flowers are at least a week to maturity.

The point of controlled pollination is to simultaneously breed in blight resistant traits with desired American Chestnut traits.  Blight resistance is a genetic trait of Chinese chestnuts, but the overall Chinese tree characteristics are inferior to the American characteristics.  This year’s Litchfield County trees are all validated American Chestnuts and are sources of desirable American genetics and local adaptability. 

Although we’ve come across several setbacks (some trees were unfortunately hybrids and not American, permission for use was not granted, and promising trees refused to develop catkins), we’re hoping for a successful season with the trees we did finally locate as representatives of Litchfield County. Stay tuned!

A weekend trip to Campbell Falls State Park

The falls are actually located in Massachusetts, but back-to-back state parks preserve the surrounding area with trails.

All of this rain has made for some beauty

Updates from the Chestnut Hunt

 

After finally completing most of the geospatial analysis on the chestnut “hotspot” project, several maps were passed out late last week to the CT-ACF members.  I eventually figured out how to complete the topographic relative moisture index which, as I said before, combines relative slope position, slope configuration, slope steepness, and slope aspect into a single value ranging from 0 to 60.  Lower numbers indicate more xeric sites while higher numbers indicate more mesic sites.  For the purpose of this analysis, I reclassified the optimal moisture index as “40″ based on our knowledge of chestnut ecology.  From there, I decreased the optimal ranking from 40 to 60 and 40 to 0.  The final map now includes hotspot analysis based on soil and a TRMI.

Map of Litchfield County with incremental radii spreading out from the Town of Litchfield

 

Detailed view of Town of Litchfield Area with hotpots and ALL compatible soils.

Hopefully these maps came in handy this past weekend as Licthfield Audubon members flocked across the county for the June bird count.  The goal is to help narrow the attention of chestnut hunters in certain areas as well as provide motivation for getting out there.  I have also been using and continuing to validate the map.  After my journey to Kent/Warren/Skiff Mountain Road, I adventured far in the opposite direction to explore possibilities around the Barkhamsted Reservoir.  Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of side streets on the main road (rt. 219/179 which heads toward Bradley International).  But my trusty hotspot map was telling me this was optimal habitat, so I veered off onto one of the only sidestreets and went exploring anyway.  I ended up searching an area slightly off the map, but I found several sprouts and one reproductive plant with clumps of male catkins.  The tree is on private property just off Ratlum Mountain Road, but I believe the owners are really supportive of the Chestnut Foundation’s pollination program and are going to participate as best they can.

Tree with catkins in a private community on Robin Road off of Wright/Ratlum Mountain Rd.

Later that week, Woods Sinclair and I traveled to the very northwestern corner of the county (and state!) to search the property owned by Mount Riga Association.  Traveling up Mt. Riga Rd, we came across several sprouts, but none that looked promising for the pollination program.  We eventually ran into the manger of the Association’s property and he gave us a few insider clues on the best places to look.  Therefore, a subsequent trip took us beyond Mt. Riga Rd and onto Mount Washington Road where we came across huge densities of sprouts.  Several of these trees were very large (6-8 in dbh, about 30 feet tall) and very impressive– especially when we’ve been accustomed to the “shrubby” chestnut sprouts.  Once we hit the open area around Bingham Pond, larger sprouts started to show catkins.  Apparently having FULL light makes all the difference.  Woods and I found four good trees with catkins, one of which had burrs and nuts on the ground from last year!  We’re hoping to get permission to access these trees for our program.

Tree off Mount Washington Road with large clumps of male catkins

Close-up of the same tree, showing the catkins.

Hopefully these maps are useful to members as they fan out across the county for the last leg of chestnut hunting.  It’s just about crunch time and the pollination process will be upon us shortly.

In the meantime, here’s a few fun pictures from my Connecticut adventure so far…

I love how Black Birch trees can have leaves growing right out of the trunk. It's so pretty.

My first porcupine sighting! He was way up in a tree! (I didn't even know they could climb trees).

One of many 360 views from Haystack Mountain Tower. This tower, built in 1929, is a large stone tower that sits atop Haystack Mountain and provides excellent views of the Connecticut countryside.

Another view from the Tower

Another porcupine friend off Canaan Mountain Road. He didn't even budge when I drove by, just kept munching away.

An Insider’s Guide to Chestnut Hunting…

So I’m back from a day of “testing” our geospatial predictor hypothesis on Chestnut locations.  I drove around the western part of Litchfield County near Segar Mountain Road and Skiff Mountain Road in hopes of finding some potential pollinators.  Unfortunately, I did not find any reproductive trees, but I certainly found several sprouts!  After a day of strenuous hunting, I have some advice on helpful methodology…

Segar Mountain Road (rt 341) with potential "hotspots"

Skiff Mountain Road with potential "hotspots"

 

For starters, I highly recommend recruiting an assistant Chestnut hunter.  It is far easier to drive and search with two sets of eyes. By doing so, you might not have to drive quite as slow, therefore decreasingthe number of angry Connecticutians that may be behind you…Sorry!  Either way, if you’ve found a potential route that straddles a larger, well-trafficked road, I would advise ignoring the map and pulling off on the first side street.  For starters, small shoulders on busy roads would be difficult for a pollination team to deal with, and it’s probably not too safe to be traipsing up and down them anyway.  For example, my first mission was to explore the Segar Mountain Road area (rt. 341).  This, as many of you may know, is a rather busy road and attempting to study the roadsides was nearly impossible.  Slightly frustrated at my inability to spot Chestnut trees (let alone identify the species of any tree), I immediately pulled off onto a small side street to get out my map and regroup.  As soon as I pulled over and shut down my car, I noticed a little Chestnut sprout staring straight up at me (almost mockingly, really). I jumped out of my car to investigate further and noticed this roadside (maybe 30 yards from rt 341) was covered in Chestnut sprouts! None of them had any signs of male catkins, but many of them were a decent size in a fairly sunny location–indicating they may be ready in a year or two!  Actually, one sprout did have an old nut hanging on for dear life, suggesting that perhaps last year was the peak year for that particular tree.  I took a few samples for Validation, but I would certainly keep this spot in mind!

An old nut, probably from last year. This dying sprout is one of many on this road (Heading west on rt 341 from Warren take a right on Cemetery Road, less than 1/4 mile)

After exploring Cemetery Road for a while, I eventually chose to turn down another, larger side street that had several “hotpots” on it as well.  Turning right on Kenico, I made a huge loop through Gorham to end up back on Segar Mountain.  Where the loop turns into Gorham is most definitely Chestnut territory. It’s a previously disturbed area in very early succession stages–prime Chestnut location.  I saw several sprouts on this street as well; although, again, none were reproductively active.  I did see one sprout with male catkins, but they were oddly small, indicating that this plant may be a hybrid.  Farther behind this individual were several large sprouts (probably the largest I saw all day) that really look promising–just not this year. Sigh.

Sprout with small catkins off of Gorham Road

I eventually made it to Skiff Mountain Road which leads me to my next bit of advice.  The potential hotspots displayed on the map certainly do not take all aspects of Chestnut ecology into account.  Skiff Mountain Road is a fairly narrow, relatively undisturbed road with mature growth and very dense stands.  There is not a lot of light coming through and large hemlock forests seem to shade out the possibility of Chestnut.  I, therefore, did not find very many sprouts on this road.  My advice is to keep in mind those important facts about Chestnut ecology when using this map.  Especially when time is off the essence, I might advise X-ing a shady, narrow road off your list. 

In addition, if you are cruising along solo, keep in mind those facts that might make your life a little easier: key in on sunny spots (Chestnuts thrive off of release), choose sidestreets that may be less traveled, and don’t be afraid to pull over and park if you’ve spotted a single sprout (chances are, there’s probably a few more around too).

Just one last piece of advice: make sure to have your favorite CD available.  It was scientifically proven today that whenever your favorite song on a certain CD began to play (in my case, Ray Charles’ Georgia), a Chestnut sprout always appeared. Like I said before, it’s as if they’re mocking us.

It can't hurt to see a Chinese Chestnut for comparison. Notice the shiny leaves and shallow dentations...Can't be an American!

Just a few more fun pictures from a beautiful New England Countryside.

I know we've all seen wild turkeys, but this guy was almost turkey dinner AND I was driving ridiculously slow.

Covered bridge in West Cornwall

This bridge cross the Housatonic River, popular among many flyfisherman.

This photo I just thought was particularly amusing because it's my brother-in-law's surname! What's his southern family doing all the way up here?

The Needle in a Haystack

…or how to improve your chances of finding a Chestnut!

It’s that time of year when we pull out all stops trying to find native American chestnut trees to pollinate across the native range.

A recent suggestion by CT-TACF member and Director Bill Moorhead has led to a full-blown attempt to make locating potential Chestnut trees easier for all chapter members. Specifically focusing in Litchfield County, several criteria were identified as optimal habitat for Chestnut trees. Based on historic sightings and pollinations, the most common soil type and moisture was inferred. It appears as though the highest frequency of Chestnut sprouts were found on Charlton-Chatfield complex soils which are very rocky and have a slope somewhere between 3 and 45 percent (classifications 73C and 73E). In addition, the sprouts appear to prefer dry-mesic sites. Based on this information, a geospatial analysis was conducted in order to determine potential hotspot of Chestnut sprout occurrences. The effectiveness of this method can only be verified by further sightings in the field. Therefore, it is the hope of this research team that this year’s tree identifiers will use this map as a guide and will report back on success rates.

Preliminary map of Chestnut hotspots using ArcGIS 9.3

The preliminary maps are a bit premature. The hope is to weight preferred soil moisture with preferred soil type as well as distance to the nearest road (important for bucket truck access and visibility from roads). Soil moisture calculations are a bit involved, however. Digital elevation models are used to estimate a variety of topographic indices. Slope, perhaps the most popular topographic index, strongly affects flow and residence time of moisture. Aspect (the Azimuth direction of the side of a hillslope) is used to estimate solar incidence, thermal conditions, and exposure between sites. Keeping that in mind, a Topographic Relative Moisture Index (TRMI) combines relative slope position, slope configuration, slope steepness, and slope aspect into a single value ranging from 0 to 60. Lower numbers indicate more xeric sites while higher numbers indicate more mesic sites (Method modified after Wilds 1996). Once the soil moisture index is properly calculated, its importance can be weighted into site determination. This will hopefully be available soon.

To start with, the following map rates Chestnut site preference based on soil type and distance to roads (<10 meters). The distance to roads was weighted with 75% importance while soil type was weighted with 25% importance. This will change when soil moisture data is added. The green sites indicate all preferential soil sites. However, many of these sites are not accessible by road. Therefore, the bright magenta sites combine soil type and road accessibility to produce a more realistic potential site.

Simply glancing over the map suggests that there are several hotspots to keep an eye on. On the western side of Litchfield County, areas around Skiff Mountain Road and Segar Mountain Road look promising. To the south, areas around Washington and just east of Elm may have significant clumps of trees. To the southeast, it appears as though some of the smaller roads surrounding Bristol may be ideal habitat. In addition, there is a large area north of Burlington Road and south of the city of Torringford. Finally, in the northeastern part of the county, the area along Hartland Road as well as some of the smaller roads around Winsted, particularly Highland Lake and  West Hill Lake may be prime locations. I encourage Litchfield County CT-TACF members to find these hotspots in their area and take a look. Hopefully they will be good indicators. Either way, please report back to the research team so we can better produce these mappings of potential sites.

This is exciting research and I hope it’s helpful in successful Chestnut pollinations!

Second Week

Hello again!

So as my second week comes to a close, I’m beginning to get a better grasp on my role here in Connecticut.  On Tuesday I met with John Anderson at Aton Forest to get a detailed look at my research site. It’s only a short hike behind the main office and is primarily dominated by hemlock with a few other species mixed in (white pine, red maple, birch, beech and one very random Tulip Poplar which reminded me of home ).  There are several fallen Chestnut logs resting on the forest floor which were probably felled by the blight—somewhere in the early 1920s.  It’s incredible how well preserved these logs are.  Logs of other species would have undoubtedly rotted by now, leaving barely a trace.  Instead these Chestnut logs are in fairly good shape.  All have begun decomposing, but many are hard enough to saw through—hence why Sara, Fred, John and Bill were able to take cookie samples back in April. More on the cookie details later.

Thats my research site in Aton...the steep guy right at the top, like a little thumbprint. There's a ravine dividing my site with a larger, plateau to the west.

A more detailed view...the west-southwest slope of the mountain in the top-center. Thanks to my brother-in-law for his trails.com subscription! That's how I was able to get these maps

Anyway, the Aton site is going to be a bit of a challenge, as I’m going to have to practice my “walking up the side of a very steep mountain” skills.  Perhaps I can call in Spider Man for a little lesson.  Nevertheless, I will figure something out because the research must be completed.  Speaking of research, I have a few more details on the gist of the project.  On the Harvard Forest site (Prospect Hill tract), there is a “halo” of chestnut sprouts surrounding a dense hemlock grove that was once dominated by Chestnuts.  These Chestnut trees were obviously successful at recruitment since the fruits (no pun intended) of their pollination labor germinated on the surrounding abandoned pasture land—aka optimal chestnut habitat.  The sprouts seen today are a result of this successful recruitment.  The Aton site, on the other hand, is lacking this “halo” outside of the hemlock grove.  It is surrounded by a similar habitat (abandoned pasture land currently in late succesional stages), but there are no sprouts anywhere!  Perhaps this indicates that recruitment in these Aton Chestnuts was severely lacking.

Now that I see this project is more about historical recruitment, I have changed many of the ecological variables I will be testing.  Originally I thought such variables as basal area, light availability, understory competition, etc would be important.  However, since forests are dynamic systems, the current state of these conditions will actually tell us very later about how the forest was a century ago.  Alas, I have a new list. I’m sticking to identifying species, determining geology, soil samples, hydrologic flow, ecosystem zonation, climate, and most importantly, land use history.  More specifically, I will form a grid of each site concentrating 10m radius subplots around Chestnut logs.  In these subplots, I will take soil samples and core neighboring trees to determine release dates and disturbance history.

Now this all sounds fairly simple, I’m sure.  But I’m planning for the inevitable wandering and remarking of gridlines.  Not to mention, the inescapable hilarity of tangled measuring tapes and my (lack of) brawns attempting to core a very defiant oak tree.  And this will all undoubtedly occur as I’m tumbling down the side of a mountain.  I’ll be sure to NOT capture those moments digitally…

Leaving my research project for a bit, I’m sure you’re all well aware of the upcoming pollination frenzy.  Gayle has been working long and hard on organizing the pollination mess this year, and I must say, she seems to be doing a pretty admirable job.  I believe this year’s pollination load is slightly larger than last year’s attempts, making the job harder and more complex.  I myself will be helping out with a few trees here in Northwestern Connecticut.  As the events get closer and details more forthcoming, I will be sure to share them.  As for now, I’m looking forward to learning the ropes from Kendra when we meet in New Haven for a crash course in pollination.

Male and female catkins of a rare mature tree. Photo courtesy of www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/cade.html

Just a fun little story that has absolutely nothing to do with Chestnuts (Lets be real here. We all need a break every now and again).  Yesterday I was simply fed up with the rain and glum, so I put on my raincoat and my best hiking boots and went out for a much needed break.  I walked along the lake behind my pleasant little cabin (Tobey Pond, I believe) and explored the world around me.  For starters, I was extremely pleased to see that the boathouse down by lake was open for business and the floating dock was peacefully awaiting some warm summer sun.  Yet today, obviously, was not the day.  So I continued my walk around the lake—there’s a nice little trail that runs through the hemlocks and I’m sure goes all the way around (I wasn’t feeling quite that ambitious).  Anyway, as I was taking my little stroll in the deadly quiet woods, I heard a startling “plop” in the water below.  Thinking that this could only be some sort of Connecticut lake monster, I changed from a careless tread to walking in my very best “toe to heel” Indian imitation stride. Read: I might have been a little scared. Immediately straining my eyes to see what thing could have possibly made this sound, I caught sight of a little brown blob, bobbing up and down.  On closer inspection, I noticed the signature tail and face of a beaver.  Sure, I’ve seen my share of lodges and dams, but I’ve yet to actually see the little guys swimming around.  And that’s just what he was doing.  Frolicking in the water as if it were a summer swim in the Hamptons.  I sat and watched him for awhile and then eventually headed back because the rain was getting to be a little too much.  I guess it just goes to show you that you find the coolest things when you least expect them.  Hopefully I’ll have more run-ins like these

A representation of my neighbor Photo courtesy of http://ecolibrary.cs.brandeis.edu/display.php?id=Beaver_swimming_DP584

And I leave a final parting query to all my faithful readers: is the sun ever going to shine in Norfolk again?

CT-TACF, Intern style

Hello and Happy Summer Everyone!

This is the start of my summer blog to keep everyone updated on my chestnut projects and my ever exciting life as an intern.  I think I’ll begin this riveting blog my first introducing myself.  First of all, I must admit I seem to be a bit of a fish out of water.  I’m from the south (specifically Virginia and North Carolina), and I found it most ironic when I was told Norfolk was the “icebox of Connecticut.” Read: holy cow, what have I gotten myself in to?  But so far so good. We’ve only had one really cold night and I think I brought enough layers to make it through this “summer” weather.

Also, I consider myself a professional student, a “nerd” one might say.  I love school. And I love science. Fast forward through a four year biology/environmental science stint at the University of Virginia, and you’ll find I’ve returned to school to pursue environmental studies.  I’m currently a graduate student at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, attempting to complete a Master’s Degree in both Environmental Management and Forestry. 

Combine these two Master’s programs, one cup nerdy love of science, a splash of the love for the outdoors, and a summer free of school. Mix thoroughly, bake for 11 weeks, and you have Christine Cadigan, intern extraordinaire.

So here I am: Norfolk, Connecticut.  I’m living in a carriage house on the Childs’ beautiful Cool Water estate, appreciating the quietness of living in the midst of a forested environment.  It is because of this that I have dubbed this my “Thoreau Summer.”  Maybe this blog will be the next Walden.

The main house on the estate. Isn't it beautiful?

 

My Dad walking to my upstairs carriage house. He helped me move in

So now that I’m settled in the beautiful (but cold) part of the country, I suppose I should get down to Chestnut related business.  My first week was fairly introductory, as I was attempting to learn the ropes and meet as many members as possible.  On Tuesday I drove to the Northern Connecticut Land Trust chestnut orchard where I met Jim Gage and Gayle Kida.  They proudly introduced me to their beautiful seedlings and well-maintained orchard. Next, I drifted a little south to visit David Bingham’s orchard in Salem.  His orchard style is a little different, as I’m sure you all are well aware of.  He’s protecting and preserving biodiversity while simultaneously growing chestnut seedlings.  His grassy and flowering meadows are beautiful, and I can only imagine what spectacular wildlife he must see on a daily basis.  He told me that over 200 of his life birds came from only a few miles from his property! If you know anything about birding, you can surely appreciate how amazing this really is.

I also had the opportunity to not only visit Great Mountain Orchard, but also contribute to its beautification and maintenance.  Kendra Gurney and Woods Sinclair arranged a maintenance day on Friday with 15-20 VO-AG high school students! I must admit, the task of weeding and replanting this orchard looked mighty daunting.  However, I was thoroughly impressed with the boys’ willingness to help and effectiveness at working quickly and efficiently. Thank goodness they were there to help! The orchard looks magnificent.  The grass is neatly mowed, the weeds are clear, mulch is in place, and I just know those little nuts are going to germinate in no time.  Where else can you get such great community support?

The orchard at GMF with a few helpful high school students in the background. Doesn't it look great?

A few of the seedlings we planted. This orchard is so close, I just might have to go back and check on them!

Finally, my last important bit of news was that I got to sit and talk with Bill Adamsen to properly plan my summer.  My primary goal is to conduct the research project proposed by Dr. Fred Paillet.  Essentially the project is comparing two observationally similar plots in Aton and Harvard Forest.  Harvard Forest has several chestnut sprouts whereas Aton Forest seems to be lacking.  Hopefully, I can uncover the reason behind this anomaly.  So far I’ve been researching and reading up on chestnut ecology.  I’ve come up with a preliminary list of reasons why the sprout distribution may be different: slope, aspect, available sunlight, ground cover, species present (allelopathic, mutualistic relationships?), soil (nutrient deficit?), precipitation, geology, land use and climatic history (including both natural and anthropogenic disturbances).  I’m not sure if I will be testing all of these variables, but I’m hoping once I see the site in Aton Forest and the amount of information available at Harvard Forest, things will be more clear. 

Well I guess that’s all for now! Y’all should be hearing from me again soon! (Yes, I said y’all–southern girl, remember?)