Our Woods
~ by Jim Eagleman
Changes in Brown County temperature and humidity are once again about to confront the vegetative scheme around us. Internationally-known for its vast array of fall colors, the park and town will greet the many tourists that come here to appreciate it.
How plants and trees respond to environmental stimuli of temperature, water, heat, and light has always fascinated me. And how wildlife adapt and react to this natural environment has been equally captivating.“ If I was going to be a half decent biologist,” said a professor,“ I was also to become an acceptable botanist, as both disciplines go together to understand the environment.” My love of plants, landscaping, gardening, and forests was an“ excuse” to take up the academics of botany.
On a foggy ridgetop, at the start of a morning hike, hikers and I looked out over a vista. Wisps of moisture spiraled up from the lowlands like smoke, as though Native American fires were still burning. A mention of who lived here and when got us talking about the first settlers and their struggle to make a living farming these rugged forestlands. It’ s difficult to imagine how quantities of timber were removed off this abused landscape. It’ s a testimony to the recovering habit of plants that erosion scars, deep gullies, and tree stumps disappear over time. The result is a young forest here with small trees.
Humidity rising, I noticed by 8 a. m. the temperature was already in the 80s. By 9 a. m., approaching 90. Wiping beads of perspiration from my forehead, I related the plumbing story trees assume. Moisture uptake is a normal process at the root level. We don’ t consider it to be stressful to plants if there are normal amounts of it. The lack of water can take its toll. A recent rain and fog made the trees around us drip with overnight dew. They appeared healthy. I explained that too much water can also be harmful.
Transpiration, the act of giving off water, occurs during night time hours and it happens on the undersides of the leaf, the stomata. A healthy sugar maple, for example, can give off as much
60 Our Brown County • Sept./ Oct. 2015 photo by Tim Tryon as 40 gallons of water in a 24 hour period during the growing season mid-May to mid-June. No wonder the forest is a humid place. It is at this time the new, annual growth ring appears. Any height change and girth size also happens. Giving off water in the form of vapor ensures the tree has just enough for maintenance and growth. We watched this moisture slowly dissipate. It is the reason trees lose their leaves in the fall, I added. If trees retained leaves with the winds of winter soon to come, they would almost assuredly lose water as the leaf flapped in the winter wind. So they drop and seal themselves shut, the process sometimes starting as early as July.
Walking through the woods we see many levels of branches overhead— thin, thick, short, or long— in a chaotic display with hardly any form or order. Light is the reason for this stretching arrangement. The term, forest structure refers to the strata, occurrence, and organization in the forest matrix. We look up to the canopy for light openings, inspect the understory for the next crop of trees, and notice the herbal layer of herbaceous plants as we stand on the forest floor.
Does knowing these terms help us appreciate the forest community? Do we become more aware of this local natural resource? Maybe. What is more important, I believe, is that we enjoy the quality of this place— its diversity, beauty, and value. While it is a renewable, recyclable, and resilient stockpile of botanic, medicinal, and marketable items, it is also a home and habitat to the many birds and animals that live here. As home and landowners we are stewards of this place. We can live on the land, or live with it. Future generations will know how compatible we were by our actions. •