Alex Palmer's Natural History Notes and Thoughts

T his post consists of my notes from a lecture on trees in construction sites as part of a training to become a certified arborist by the International Society of Arborculture.  The speaker was Lindsay Ivanyi, a natural resources specialist with the Forest Preserves of Cook County and her lecture took place on January 28, 2015 at the Salt Creek Resource Management facility in Willow Springs, Illinois.   Construction damage is the most common cause of tree damage and death in urban areas.  There is usually severe injury to the crown and trunk (broken branches and trunk lacerations).  Cutting of the roots from digging and trenching activities, as well as lowering the grade of the surface can cause a lot of tree damage and fatalities.   Compaction should be avoided at all costs.  Compaction reduces oxygen that roots take in and it reduces the ability of the roots to absorb minerals and nutrients.   Smothering of roots is also a problem because 90% of tree roots are in the upper few

T his post consists of my notes from a lecture on tree risk management for urban trees as part of a training to become a certified arborist by the International Society of Arborculture.  The speaker was Lindsay Ivanyi, a natural resources specialist with the Forest Preserves of Cook County and her lecture took place on January 28, 2015 at the Salt Creek Resource Management facility in Willow Springs, Illinois.   Failure potential Fungi growing at the base of a tree, or basal rot , is a sure sign of decay on that tree and could pose a risk!  This kind of damage to a tree cannot be repaired because the tree will compartmentalize off the damaged area, compromising its structural integrity.   Recognizing  Risk Codomiant stems (see figure 1) are a result of improper pruning in the early stage of growth of the tree.   It's important to understand that trees are supported in a manner  that is more like a wine glass, with a wider "plate" of roots at the bottom (figure 2)

T his post consists of my notes from a lecture on water management for urban trees as part of a training to become a certified arborist by the International Society of Arborculture.  The speaker was Brenda Ochhiuzzo, a natural resources specialist with the Forest Preserves of Cook County and her lecture took place on January 23, 2015 at the Salt Creek Resource Management facility in Willow Springs, Illinois.   Introduction Water is vital to all plants.  Plants absorb water which allows them to take in dissolved minerals from the soil via their roots.  Up to 95% of that water is transpired into the air.  See figure 1.    Too much water can cause damage.  Trees in urban areas need proper irrigation  and drainage.   Trees and Water The amount of water used by a tree varies on the species.  Some are adapted to withstand dry periods by transpiring less.  Transpiration is controlled by the stomatal openings.   Figure 1:  Water is absorbed by a tree's roots and then is transpired

This post consists of my notes from a lecture on soil science as part of a training to become a certified arborist by the International Society of Arborists.  The speaker was Brenda Ochhiuzzo, a natural resources specialist with the Forest Preserves of Cook County and her lecture took place on January 23, 2015 at the Salt Creek Resource Management facility in Willow Springs, Illinois.   Introduction Trees and soil are interdependent.  Soil has the greatest health factor on a tree.  When planting and managing trees in urban environments, soil texture, structure, pH, and water-holding capacity are often overlooked during planning.   Biological Properties of Soil Soil it its own ecosystem.  There are billions of organisms living within the soil.  Worms accelerate decay and aeration.   Nematodes are parasites on roots and can carry disease.  Bacteria and fungi can help decompose. Native soil is soil that is the result of thousands or even millions of years of weathering from bedrock

January 21, 2015 Gina McCarthy, I am writing to express my concern about the increasing volume of trash and litter across our country and into our waterways, and I would like to ask you to consider some new solutions to this age-old and classic environmental issue.  Littering is not just a petty issue.  Litter, including food packaging, Styrofoam, cigarette butts, plastic water bottles, and more wash through rivers and into lakes and the ocean causing damage to infrastructure, contamination of soil, degradation of drinking water reservoirs, and a loss of aesthetics.  Each year nearly 20,000 tons of trash washes through the Anacostia River alone, located only a short distance from the EPA headquarters in Washington, DC.  Of course, proper disposal of trash could potentially eliminate most of this problem.  Yet this “solution” has come to no avail due to the difficulties of getting people not to litter.  The next time you go to a grocery store, consider all of the dispos

This post consists of my notes from a lecture on tree biology as part of a training to become a certified arborist by the International Society of Arborists.  The speaker was Sarah Rose, a naturalist with the Forest Preserves of Cook County and her lecture took place on January 14, 2015 at the Salt Creek Resource Management facility in Willow Springs, Illinois.   Introduction A tree is a long-lived woody perennial plant that can compartmentalize .  It is usually singe-stemmed, but not always. Most plants are photoautotrophic (versus people who are heterotrophs). Trees posses an apical meristem (discussed in detail below).  The cell walls of plants are composed of cellulose.  Trees are multicellular organisms that have a symoplasm (living tissue) and an apoplasm (non-living tissue). Some trees are deciduous while others are evergreen.  In evergreen plants, only a portion of leaves all off at one time.  In deciduous trees, leaves fall off annually. Roots Roots are structures