by
Michael Dickerson
According to Noah Charney, Assistant Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Maine, nature is composed of complex patterns, which are the result of specific interrelated conditions. In order to understand the underlying conditions driving patterns in nature, Charney, who discussed “reading the landscape” in a talk on November 9 at Emerson Hall, recommends observing carefully, maintaining contextual awareness and thinking critically.
A deeper engagement with nature enhances one’s connection to it, with potential implication on forest conservation, Charney argues in his book These Trees Tell a Story.
As an example of a “puzzle” to be deciphered in nature, Charney presented an image to the audience of two opposing hillsides within a forest. At first glance, the understory of one hillside appears darker green than the other. A closer look reveals different species of plants and trees on either slope.
Charney then challenged the audience to consider what might be driving such a pattern. Members of the audience suggested that light might explain the difference. Prepared for the idea, Charney displayed a compass reading and tree species list from the site.
Counterintuitively, tree species that tend to prefer moist soils, including ash and basswood, were found on the south-facing slope, while tree species that tend to prefer dry conditions, including chestnut and oak, populated the north-facing slope. Charney encouraged the audience to consider alternative explanations for the observed species variation.
“The soil!” an attendee called out from the audience of the well-attended event. Indeed, Charney confirmed that soil conditions were driving the surprising pattern of tree growth. The presence of basalt and the associated presence of magnesium and other nutrients caused by ancient lava flows and plate tectonics allowed for the tree species that generally prefer more moisture to proliferate on the drier, south-facing slope.
Charney argues that a greater awareness and understanding of the natural environment as a result of nuanced observation is important in both forming a connection to nature and informing the decision-making process regarding land use and forest protection.
Roger Greene, forester at the Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust in East Orland, focused on his efforts to “rehabilitate a degraded forest” to become one of “stability and sustainability” at a November 16 talk at the Wilson Museum. Greene manages a preserve called the Wildlands, owned by the Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust, north of East Orland.
The majority of the Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust land, which is over 5,000 acres, was purchased in 2005. The forest had been almost entirely denuded for lumber by its prior owners, except one small parcel that had been thought to be the adjacent landowner’s property.
The landowning objectives of the Trust include generating a “sustainable level of income from forest product sales to offset operating costs.” Greene’s goal is to create a “working forest” with “balanced areas of new and advanced regeneration and a sustainable harvest rotation of perhaps 125 years.”
Through forest management practices, Greene seeks to produce a “mixed harwood, multi-aged, irregular, high forest.” To increase species diversity, he is introducing chestnut and white oak.
Claiming that “people may not like to hear this,” Greene advocated for the limited use of pesticides in some situations. According to the Trust’s 2019 article, “Pesticide Use in the Wildlands,” the “considered and judicious use of pesticides is justified, and sometimes essential.”
Within the Wildlands, pesticides are used to eradicate invasive species including phragmites, a genus of wetland reed grasses, Russian olive, Japanese knotweed and autumn olive. Pesticides are also used on diseased beech trees to limit their proliferation. The Trust uses both glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, and triclopyr, the active ingredient in multiple brands of pesticides. The Trust argues that “spot treatment” using pesticides in certain cases is “the safest, least environmentally damaging solution.”
In recognition of their rehabilitation forestry efforts, the Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust received the 2023 Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year award from the Maine Timber Research and Environmental Education organization known as Maine TREE.