3 ms·

Hmm. That's a pretty broad list. I live right outside the Smokies for example, and hike quite a lot in and around the park. Old growth trees are rare enough tha

by cwal37 10y ago

Hmm. That's a pretty broad list. I live right outside the Smokies for example, and hike quite a lot in and around the park. Old growth trees are rare enough that individuals get called out in trail guides, let alone the quite unique entire stands that are at least pre-colonization. Maybe I'll try to add some specificity to that section.

MiguelVieira 10y ago
> hike quite a lot in and around the park I've hiked there a bit myself! https://www.flickr.com/photos/miguelvieira/6142136271/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/miguelvieira/6142136271/ Most of my data came from Eastern Old-Growth Forests by Mary Bird Davis. She defined old growth as forests that were never logged or that are so old that there is no longer any evidence of logging. The thing with many eastern forests is that because of either their species composition or their site conditions (soil, climate, etc), their trees will never get very large. What I remember about the Smokies is that no one knew exactly how much they were logged, but the National Park Service estimated about 60 to 70 percent. Most of the remaining unlogged forests won't really have huge trees. In fact, some huge tulip trees that are popular hiking destinations are less than two hundred years old, while small hemlocks on ridges can be over three hundred years old.
- cwal37 10y ago
  Oh, awesome! And yeah, I know plenty of them don't get that big as they age, not every tree can rely on being fed the way the giants out west are haha. It's an unfortunate situation here these days, pollution, disease, and invasives have really damaged things, and it's pretty clear to see. I guess I was mostly thinking about the general conception a lot of people tend to have that when they go to something like a national park (particularly in the east), that it's been completely untouched by time, when in fact we had fairly indiscriminate industry and war that giant swathes of places that were only received protections in the early 20th century and beyond. Oh, and if we're sharing pics of big/interesting trees I would be remiss to skip the road trip where I was fortunate enough to see fat trees[1], dead trees[2], and rare trees[3]. [1] https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/26863377690/in/dateposted-friend/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/26863377690/in/da... [2] https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/26863377830/in/dateposted-friend/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/26863377830/in/da... [3] https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/27069305001/in/dateposted-friend/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/27069305001/in/da...

by cwal37 10y ago

MiguelVieira 10y ago

> hike quite a lot in and around the park I've hiked there a bit myself! https://www.flickr.com/photos/miguelvieira/6142136271/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/miguelvieira/6142136271/ Most of my data came from Eastern Old-Growth Forests by Mary Bird Davis. She defined old growth as forests that were never logged or that are so old that there is no longer any evidence of logging. The thing with many eastern forests is that because of either their species composition or their site conditions (soil, climate, etc), their trees will never get very large. What I remember about the Smokies is that no one knew exactly how much they were logged, but the National Park Service estimated about 60 to 70 percent. Most of the remaining unlogged forests won't really have huge trees. In fact, some huge tulip trees that are popular hiking destinations are less than two hundred years old, while small hemlocks on ridges can be over three hundred years old.

cwal37 10y ago
Oh, awesome! And yeah, I know plenty of them don't get that big as they age, not every tree can rely on being fed the way the giants out west are haha. It's an unfortunate situation here these days, pollution, disease, and invasives have really damaged things, and it's pretty clear to see. I guess I was mostly thinking about the general conception a lot of people tend to have that when they go to something like a national park (particularly in the east), that it's been completely untouched by time, when in fact we had fairly indiscriminate industry and war that giant swathes of places that were only received protections in the early 20th century and beyond. Oh, and if we're sharing pics of big/interesting trees I would be remiss to skip the road trip where I was fortunate enough to see fat trees[1], dead trees[2], and rare trees[3]. [1] https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/26863377690/in/dateposted-friend/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/26863377690/in/da... [2] https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/26863377830/in/dateposted-friend/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/26863377830/in/da... [3] https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/27069305001/in/dateposted-friend/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/27069305001/in/da...