A couple of succession questions
Hey, Casey and Alex! I had a couple of questions about ecological succession that I've been mulling over ever since you did your series of episodes about it. First, if a forest is wiped off the map and starts over with early succession trees and other plants, how do those early succession trees physically...get there? Are their seeds blown in from existing trees elsewhere, or pooped out by animals that pass through? Or, have the seeds been dormant underground that whole time, biding their time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike? Is it a little bit of all of those depending on the species of tree and the specific situation? Second, does every habitat and forest type have a more or less "formalized" succession process, where it's fairly predictable which plants will grow first, which ones will grow later, and which ones will grow last, or is that only a feature for forests that experience somewhat regular disruptions, like our forests that frequently burn down in the western united states? If an ecosystem that wasn't "used" to disruptions like this were suddenly struck by disaster, would the succession process be total chaos, as none of the plants knew who should grow back first? Followup question, do any such habitats that rarely or never get disrupted even exist? Thanks! Excited for a new year of Completely Arbitrary. Also, be sure to let Alex know that if he ever finds his way down to San Diego, there's an entire cafe devoted entirely to mango-based Japanese desserts!
Trouble with playback.
Hey fellas! Love the pod, new member to the cone of the month club. Is there any other way to listen to the extra content. I can’t get anything to play on this supercast site. I have no trouble with any other podcast apps. I’ve tried everything I can think of. I press play and it never starts. Frustrating. Let me know. Thanks!
Thoughts on Rewilding?
Striped Maple was a wonderful episode. It was exciting to hear Casey has a dream I had, to start a nursery and arboretum. I've settled for growing trees from seed in pots on my deck and planting them across the street in the landscaping around the water tower, where the ash trees succumbed to EAB. I've planted about as many as there is room for: 2 Northern Catalpas, Eastern Redbud, Amur Maackia, Dwarf Siberian Pine. I transplanted an American Hornbeam seedling from my yard, but it didn't come back after winter. I had plans to rewild the hill in my backyard, but I've not gotten enough seeds to germinate and survive. Which finally brings me to my question... What are your thoughts on rewilding urban yards and areas with tiny forests? (https://ideas.ted.com/how-to-grow-your-own-tiny-forest/) I always take a minimalist approach, which inevitably fails. Thanks so much for your show. I love your enthusiastic curiosity, and ability to learn and convey so much as a teacher/student pair. Genius!
Tree Maturation Rates
Hello again, I’ve been wondering about why trees have pretty stark differences in maturation rates. For example, willows produce seeds in 5ish years while hickories take 20+ years to produce nuts. Why is there such a wide range? Is there any advantage to taking longer to produce seeds? Thanks! Ian V
If you could only plant one tree across America, which tree would it be? I'm thinking for beauty, posterity, utility, adaptability, cost, and of course for the environment.
If you could only plant one tree across America, which tree would it be? I'm thinking for beauty, posterity, utility, adaptability, cost, and of course for the environment.
Moving a tree
My parents have a lovely olive tree that they are probably going to remove. Is there a way to just pick up a tree and put it somewhere else? I really would prefer not to kill it and since we’re in Sonoma county (Mediterranean climate, which I learned on a Casey Clapp Tree Walk!), there are plenty of Olive orchards and nurseries. Thank you, still my comfort podcast and constant inspiration for botanical drawing - one day I’ll be brave enough to submit a Cone Club Contribution!
Variegated fall leaves?
Hi, guys! Love the pod, as always. Here's my current question: why does it seem that trees with variegated leaves (I'm not sure that's the right term) don't have pretty fall foliage? There's a tree in my neighborhood that has beautiful green leaves with white outlines (I think it's a version of a Norway Maple) in the summer, but in the fall it just goes drab and brown. What gives?
Closing cones?
Hi guys love the pod! Inspired by Casey, I’ve started collecting cones around the national forest I work in. So far I have a couple cones from western white pines, a cone from a white bark, some hemlock cones, and a ghost/gray pine cone. I haven’t acquired jars for them yet and some of them are pretty pitchy so I have them outside on my porch until I can get jars. I’ve noticed that when it’s rained the past couple of weeks, all the cone scales close up. This is absolutely fascinating to me and I am dying to know how and why that happens. It almost feels like the cones are alive even though I found them all on the ground already so I’m dying to know… how does this work??
Favorite falling leaf
Hey Alex and Casey! After getting out of class last week I noticed a couple bright yellow leaves falling from a massive black walnut. I realized that those leaves were the most satisfying leaves to see falling. They were spinning very quickly about their long axis, but the actual leaf was falling very slowly in lazy circles. Do you guys have a favorite leaf to see falling? Thanks! Adam
Expert and Alex opinions on naming trees as characters in a story.
Hey there, love yall btw. Thanks for the work you do. I'm writing a book with trees as characters and went with super basic human names for comedy but now I'm not so sure example: an oak called Derek, an alder called Bea and a chestnut called Marge etc Would you go a) super elaborate like lotr elven names? B) stay basic to make them accessible? Or 3) choose names that reference their species/genus or personality? Thank you forever. Megan💜
What happened to the genus Cornus??
Hi Casey and Alex! Long time listener, first time question-asker. I work at a native plant nursery and I was doing some research into dogwoods and Cornus sericea was being labeled as Swida sericea and Cornus florida was Benthamidia florida. Have the splitters come along and made things unnecessarily convoluted? Why did they do this to us?! Most importantly, can you give a rating of this new taxonomy from 1 to 10 golden cornels of honor? Thanks so much and happy new years!
Pollarding or just b.s
Sup dudes! Garrett from treevia team deodorables. Is pollarding a tree actually necessary? Or beneficial. From my understanding when I use to be a junior climber it was described as a " factory reset". And alex when is your first live show in Seattle? Wife and I would gladly be in th front row. Oh! Book recommendation, To Speak For The Trees by Diana Beresford-Kroeger
Can roots grow bark? In one of your episodes you said trees have "four organs" - trunk/stems, roots, leaves, and reproductive parts. When you see bare roots around a tree, they often have a bark-like covering so I'm curious if they are made of the same type of tissue as the stems and if this tissue can grow bark. Thank you for this podcast - it changed me from tree curious to tree seeker!
Tree(s) to plant in Bozeman, MT in prep for EAB's arrival
Hello Casey and Alex! Been an avid fan of the pod for a while now, and finally got to join the Cone Club as a Hannukah gift from my partner! Here is my question: I live in Bozeman, Montana, on a street lined with huge mature (century+ old) ash trees. I worry that if/when Emerald Ash Borer makes it here, all of the street trees will die. So just in case, I want to start planting other trees in my boulevard near the ash trees so that there can still be some beautiful trees (and the foliage, fall color, habitat, shade, etc that they provide). And I hope to encourage my neighbors to do the same! What trees would you recommend we plant? Thank you in advance! Finn
What other “invasive” trees are misunderstood?
Hey guys! Katie S here again (love you guys, i look forward to listening to each new episode every thursday, it’s the only thing that gets me through the week) The discussion on the black locust was so good and got me wondering - what other trees have been labeled as invasive but maybe are just misunderstood? Bonus unrelated question: what tree names/terms make for good names? so far my favorites are Juniper and Cypress but im open to ideas PS - any episode where you guys play a game and we get to hear alex sing is a treat, i LOVE hearing the songs
Livestreams?
Hi Alex and Casey. I just switched over from patreon. I was new to patreon and hadn't caught up on all the episodes. I was looking through the episodes and noticed that your past livestreams are not on here. Will they be put up soon or should I binge them on patreon before canceling? Thank you for the great podcast.