A spring in our step...

One of the many field experiments we currently have running deals with restoring hemlock trees to the landscape.  When we finally do solve the hemlock woolly adelgid puzzle, land managers of all sorts and sizes will want to restore their hemlock forests.

A bucket of fertilizer rests against one of our planted hemlock trees.

 Just this week I was fertilizing planted hemlocks at field sites in a an experiment designed to answer some questions regarding how best to get healthy hemlocks back in the forest.  Trees were planted at the tail end of 2013.  Some were treated with insecticides protecting them from the adelgid and some were not.  Some were fertilized, others were not.  A combination of all treatments was used on some seedlings, then others had nothing done to them.  We are taking annual measurements in an effort to find out what treatments grow the healthiest trees.

 A birds nest propped in the young, but sturdy branches of a hemlock seedling.

I was pleasantly reminded that species other than adelgids use our hemlock trees.  

 Eastern tent caterpillar crawling on a hemlock branch.

Please meet Malacosoma americanum, the eastern tent caterpillar.  You have probably noticed the silk tents that these critters construct on many of the broad-leaved trees this time of year. 

For The Future

Planting trees early in spring,

we make a place for birds to sing

in time to come. How do we know?

They are singing here now.

There is no other guarantee

that singing will ever be

-Wendell Berry

 

Predator Beetle Impact Assessment

We recently returned from field sites where the hemlock woolly adelgid predator Laricobius nigrinus was released several years ago.  We are contributing to a region-wide study of the impact this particular predator beetles is having on adelgid populations.

A heavily predated section of branch.

We were elated to find hemlock branches where predators have ransacked HWA ovisacs.  We retrieved our final branch samples this past week and they are now in our lab space at UNC-Asheville. 

Branch samples from our NC site ready for the growth chamber.

The branches are set in floral foam and placed in cups so they will stay as fresh as we can keep them for as long as possible.  The growth chamber is set to mimic night and day light conditions and temperatures so the beetles and adelgids will continue developing.  Every few days, we will be checking each branch for Laricobius larvae that are dropping off after feeding.

Branch samples from NC in the growth chamber.

Working in the Mark Trail Wilderness

On a recent visit to an ongoing field experiment in the mountains of Georgia, my colleague mentioned that we had just passed into the Mark Trail Wilderness. 

A fact that, I freely admit, has escaped me all this time.  In my defense, we are usually focused on things like how to install our experiment 30 feet up in the canopy of a hemlock tree. But I digress.

My colleague went on to describe a brief report she had heard in the news about the recent death of an artist who illustrated comic book character Mark Trail.  I was completely ignorant of the significance of Mark Trail and the existence of his comic, but the few details she related piqued my curiosity.   

Ed Dodd started writing the comic strip "Mark Trail" in 1946.  Jack Elrod started working with Dodd in 1950 before taking over the comic in 1978.  Our hero, Mark, is a ruggedly handsome outdoorsman whose pursuit of the simple pleasures in life are often interrupted by poachers, thugs, and goons invading those peaceful settings and selfishly destroying beautiful natural areas.  Mark's career as a photojournalist and love for wilderness propel him into the fray as a hero fighting "to preserve the integrity of the American wilderness for future generations."

But it's not all confrontation and right-hooks from our sophisticated man-of-the-woods.  Mark is an intelligent instructor and advocate for your safety.

In the age of information overload, I somehow missed this gem of a comic. Lovingly illustrated, these comics are chock full of factoids about our natural world and our role in it.  I am on a mission to find out more.

Both Dodd and Elrod were natives of Georgia and outdoorsmen themselves.  These men and their comic strip showed millions that being an environmentalist is not only important, but cool.  Over the years, the comic and authors received many accolades and honors.  Not only is there a designated wilderness area named for this trendsetter, but Mark Trail is the official spokescharacter for NOAA.

Mr. Dodd passed away at the age of 88 in 1991 and Mr. Elrod passed away just this past February at the age of 91.  Thankfully, their legacy lives on through Mr. James Allen, yet another Georgian, now responsible for navigating Mark Trail in this new era of invasive species and fragmented landscapes.  

Thank you gentlemen for a creative and educational romp through our woods!

P.S. And check out this special one celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness act.

Good news from the greenway...

 William and Dr. Mayfield shooting ropes into a walnut tree in order to hang insect traps.

I want to introduce everyone to our young colleague William, a boy scout from the Asheville area.  William just won several awards at a local science fair for some work he collaborated with Dr. Mayfield on this past summer.

 William sorting trap collections under the microscope.

Here are excerpts from his science fair presentation:

Good work William!  We are glad you didn't find any Pityophthorus juglandis on our greenway.  Congratulations on your awards!

Larry O's Are Fit to Print...

A beetle in its pre-flight routine at our SC release.  Photo by Mac Stone.

It turns out we are not the only people excited about the first release of Laricobius osakensis beetles in The Carolinas.  Check out the following articles:

Predator Beetle to Combat Hemlock Pest

A Hope for Hemlocks?

First Release in The Carolinas of a New Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Pest

A Winter Wallop...

Winter Storm Jonas blazed a historic trail this past weekend dumping snow and ice all over the east coast.  It was dangerous at times and had tragic consequences.  The power went out for millions, there was coastal flooding, flights were cancelled, work and school schedules were interrupted and record snowfalls were recorded.  A Mt. Pisgah tower keeper even had to be rescued from the mountaintop.

Thankfully, in our neck of the woods, we weathered the storm peaceably with only minor inconveniences and a mild case of cabin fever to speak of.

 Bent Creek Experimental Forest accumulated approximately 1 foot of snow.  Most of that coming on Friday the 22nd.  Temperatures were mostly in the 20s and 30s.

 If this cold winter persists and we see temperatures in the single digits we can expect a 3rd consecutive year where hemlock woolly adelgid  populations are adversely affected.

 The hemlock seedlings we planted this past year will benefit from all the precipitation.

First release of L. osakensis in The Carolinas

We enjoyed another first in our fight against hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) this week.  We just released over 1200 Laricobius osakensis predator beetles at 3 sites in The Carolinas!  

 

Technicians Andy Whittier and Bryan Mudder carefully releasing L. osakensis on a hemlock in Western NC.

 Each release is carefully recorded and entered into a database for monitoring.

In recent years there has been increased interest in Laricobius nigrinus as a predator of HWA.  L. nigrinus hails from the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. and has a real knack for finding and feeding on HWA.  We had the privilege of getting our hands on Laricobius osakensis beetles that come from the same part of the world our non-native adelgid can be traced to...

...No, not that Osaka. The Osaka region of Japan.  We are hoping that L. osakensis will be a better predator of HWA than L. nigrinus because they evolved together in the same part of the world.

Our Larry O's, as I like to call them, came from the insect rearing lab at UT-Knoxville.  I was able to pick them up on Wednesday and we released them on Thursday.

 Sorting and counting L. osakensis at the rearing lab in Knoxville, TN

L. osakensis small, but mighty.

 The bossman takes his work very seriously.

L. osakensis tearing into an adelgid ovisac just before release.