Kveldssanger

When governments are pushing the fracking agenda, one can hardly say they are leading by example. Once big business (oil, for one) is divorced from government, then we will see proper progress. Until then, it's a proverbial wildernss of smoke and mirrors. There's too much money for things to change substantially. Lip service it is, and nothing more. Renewable energy technology is supressed as long as the oil oligarchs have a strangehold of government policy (across the world). Oil companies even have affiliations with the House of Lords in the UK - directly (for example, Lord Browne joined Riverstone in 2007 as a Partner - Riverstone is the co-owner of Cuadrilla). Money corrupts.

Aye - I admit I forgot about access to all the back issues! Nonetheless, new information is always desired in the form of publications - at least, for me.

Funny caption but this trivilises the situation and the argument is redundant. I am sure nobody, even those who doubt climate change being heavily man-induced, wouldn't want to see a better, less-polluted, healthier (in the sense of ecosystems), sustainable world.

9/10/15. Fact #55. Soil bulk density is, to some degree and in combination with other soil characteristics, reflective of the mechanical resistance roots meet in the soil. At higher bulk densities, root growth can be restricted as the forces exerted by the roots as they push through the soil cannot 'overcome' the resistant forces of the compacted soil. Further to this, increased bulk density reduces soil porosity and therefore offers less viable space for roots to grow within (given roots grow most often within aerated pockets of the soil structure). By-and-large, root growth is optimal at 1.2g/cm³ and limited seriously when bulk densities exceed 1.6 g/cm³. Road foundations in Copenhagen, Denmark are typically compacted to bulk densities exceeding 2g/cm³ however, which indicates - as a proxy - the extent of the problem for urban trees on a wider scale, in particular. Sources: Bassett, I., Simcock, R., & Mitchell, N. (2005) Consequences of soil compaction for seedling establishment: Implications for natural regeneration and restoration. Austral Ecology. 30 (8). p827-833. Buhler, O., Kristoffersen, P., & Larsen, S. (2007) Growth of street trees in Copenhagen with emphasis on the effect of different establishment concepts. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 33 (5). p330-337.

Afternoon, So there are meant to be four journals a year. We currently have one (I believe?). Will we still get four this year? It's the main reason why I pay for membership, if I am honest.

Ordered a few books (one by T. T. Kozlowski on flooding, and another on air pollution). They're both from the 70s, though look great from overviews. Will post some facts once they come through.

I cannot answer that either. It'd be a phenological response, perhaps driven genetically to a degree, though I admit there are massive amounts of variables involved - soil temperature being another for growth initiation in spring (for some species).

One reservation I have with the current climate change model is that we have seen, on numerous occasions, attempts to fix or change data (ClimateGate I & II, as just two examples). This is further exacerbated when one theorises that just because something is studied en masse, does not make it inherently right (as in, the 'norm' doesn't make something 'true'). For instance, humanity could spend vast amounts of money attempting to support the hypothesis (or disprove the null-hypothesis) that the world is actually just a massive snow-globe structure, publish many papers saying that it is and showing 'proof' through mathematics or otherwise, but there could be a basic and massive flaw in the thought processes and research operations, which renders much of the work incorrect or based on falsehoods (whether intentional or not). No doubt we are polluting the world and purging it of its dignity, though I readily meet anything with a degreee of scepticism when money is involved in such massive amounts. I have posted this video before, though will do it again as I feel it is relevant in showing a slightly different angle to the situation at hand. [ame] [/ame]

8/10/15. Fact #54. Buds are able to produce exclusively vegetative growth, exclusively floral growth, or both / either; as in, a bud has the potential to form both vegetative and floral growth or one or the other, whereas other buds can only form one or the other by default and are thus 'predetermined' to be either a flower or form an extended shoot. Such 'role allocation' of buds varies between species, though the buds of Aesculus hippocastanum and Prunus avium are just two examples that aid with the illustration of the point being made. A. hippocastanum, for instance, will always have its terminal bud develop into a flower raceme - this means specimens will be multi-branched (sympodial) - though obviously not when young, as the tree will not begin to flower until a specific age (flowering when very young from the dominant bud would reduce its competitive ability in searching for light). P. avium, alternatively, will always have its apical bud form shoot extension growth and instead flower on lateral buds, thereby not terminating the apical growth of the specimen as readily. Of course, such species and specimens are not monopidal, though do have more of an upright habit on average. Clearly, other factors will play a role on the exact form that trees adopt (phototropism, geotropism, other tropisms, natural or mechanical damage, hormones [auxin, ethylene, gibberelic acids], and so on), though this underlying principle is one (arguably main) driver in structural tree physiology. Source: Watson, B. (2006) Trees - Their Use, Management, Cultivation, and Biology. India: Crowood Press.

Aye. Natural succession by just leaving a site alone is the best way to facilitate woodland regeneration. You'll find the most optimal genetic provenance, likely much better diversity over time, and better complexity. It just takes a long time. It would make a good study. Perhaps someone will try it, if it hasn't already been tried? Fascinating post.

My understanding is that trees principally 'measure the lengths of the night' to know when they should be shedding their leaves. Trees measure blue light wavelengths to determine the quality and quantity of light. This drives the photosynthetic process, by-and-large. Without this ability to measure, they'd be clueless.

6/10/15. Fact #53. Variegated leaves are attractive from an aesthetic standpoint, though the reduced chlorophyll content in the leaf structure's creamy-white parts means that such variegated cultivars lack the vigour of their non-variegated conterparts. In the natural world, this would mean that any sporadically-occurring specimens that do have variegated leaves are quickly out-competed by non-variegated specimens. This is why variegated specimens in the wild are incredibly rare. If one is found, it must be vegetatively reproduced via budding, grafting, or cutting - sexual reprpduction is not possible. Even then, the genetic 'instability' that caused the mutation may 'revert', in turn causing variegated specimens to change back to non-variegated forms later in life. In botanic gardens and general home-owner gardens therefore, variegated individuals should be planted where there is little light competition. Reduced photosynthesis will also mean, as stated, they have lesser vigour, which will cause slower growth and, I also suspect, cause higher disease susceptibility if the niche that they occupy changes in any manner (or is adverse to begin with). Source: Watson, B. (2006) Trees - Their Use, Management, Cultivation, and Biology. India: Crowood Press.

6/10/15. Fact #52. An earth-shattering fact for today. Didn't realise this myself...! The plural of Sorbus is (at least for the English language) Sorbi. I am unsure whether in has any basis in general nomenclature, however. Source: Watson, B. (2006) Trees - Their Use, Management, Cltivation, and Biology. India: Crowood Press.

I believe vegetative propagation (suckering) is a survival mechanism that was initially established in wet, dark woodlands, where reproduction via seed was poor. From there, species further evolved into their niches, of which lime is a main culprit.

5/10/15. Fact #51. Locally-sourced hawthorn seed has shown, through a number of field trials, to flush later, be thornier, more resistant to mildew, and more vigorous on upland sites than seed sourced from the Continent - to the point that landowners, where new hedges are being created, should source from local specimens. This will help ensure the hawthorn remainds very hardy and prosperous, going forward. The practice of local seed-sourcing also is highly important for associated wildlife. The approprite phenology and flowering habits of hawthorns, as well as their thorny character, provide insects and birds with viable habitat respectively. Source: Hemery, G & Simblet, S. (2015). The New Sylva: A Disource of Forest & Orchard Trees for the Twinty-First Century. Spain: Bloomsbury.

You say G. resinaceum... Now I initially thought the top one was resinaceum and the bottom applanatum / australe. I'm not sure if the leaf (?) on the top bracket is throwing me off, however. My focus was more on the bottom bracket. Can you get some closer photos, at all, please? With the honey fungus I was too quick to look at the upper colour of the cap. I must learn to look at the cap as a whole, and not 'cherry-pick' specific traits and assume. In time! Actually, looking at the top bracket I agree - G. resinaceum. You can see some of the senescent bracket (is this the right term to use?) from last year (or this?) around the middle region.

5/10/15. Fact #50. The effects of elevated ground-level ozone, CO2, and other gaseous compounds within the atmosphere are well-documented on the whole. Perhaps a more obscure factoid regarding elevated ground-level ozone and CO2 is that of elevated levels, but still levels that may occur naturally (and more readily as pollution continues), disrupting the 'communication' (chemical) between plants and insects. For instance, elevated levels of CO2 (not ambient levels) adversely impacted upon plant communication (and subsequent recruitment) with carnivorous insects that predate upon herbivorous insects defoliating the plant. Elevated ground-level ozone, similarly, disrupted communication of plants with wasps, by rapidly oxidising chemical secretions (volatiles) by the plant before they could be adequately 'received' by the wasp. Perhaps research into such changing atmospheric conditions should therefore more readily consider the impacts on plant volatile emissions, as we move into a more polluted future. Sources: Karban, R. (2015) Plant Sensing & Communication. USA: University of Chicago Press. Pinto, D., Nerg, A., & Holopainen, J. (2007) The role of ozone-reactive compounds, terpenes, and green leaf volatiles (GLVs), in the orientation of Cotesia plutellae. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 33 (12). p2218-2228. Vuorinen, T., Nerg, A., Ibrahim, M., Reddy, G., & Holopainen, J. (2004) Emission of Plutella xylostella-induced compounds from cabbages grown at elevated CO2 and orientation behavior of the natural enemies. Plant Physiology. 135 (4). p1984-1992.

Oops.

The bottom caps looks like Coprinus sp., the larger caps Armillaria sp., and the bracket looks like Ganoderma applanatum.

Turned out to be a busy day in the end - will get a fact done from The New Sylva tomorrow. So much text, I will have a hard time knowing where to look. I did spot a cool fact on oak breeding programmes, which I may write about.

Nothing like some Graveland for a winter's night! Yep! The one and only Yggdrasil.

Insecure. Bullied as a child. Lack of self confidence. Trend-hopper. Not serious! :001_tt2:

I didn't know Rob Darken was into arboriculture.

What happens if the garden tree is a veteran and thus retained tree from an old hedgerow, but it's not preserved? And the spec' is "top it" / "cut half off".

I recall David saying that giant polypore can act as a saprophyte and decay 'shed' roots, and not attack the living roots - yet still, given the dead and living roots are intertwined, the fruiting body gives the appearance that it's parasitic when in fact it's not.