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Aspen Trunk Rot
Aspen trunk rot is a fungal disease that causes stem decay heart rot of living aspen trees. The pathogen that causes this disease is the fungus ''Phellinus tremulae''. Most of the symptoms of this disease are internal, with the only external signs of a diseased aspen being fruiting bodies called conks. A single conk found on an aspen can indicate advanced decay of up 82% of the tree volume. Internal decayed wood of freshly cut aspens is spongy, yellow/white colored, surrounded by black zones of discoloration, and contains a distinct wintergreen smell. The fungus is spread via airborne spores released from the fruiting body which can infect through dead branches, branch stubs, or wounds in the tree. Although no direct management control is known, harvesting aspen stands that have been damaged or harvesting stands before decay becomes advanced minimizes tree loss. Aspen wood is white, malleable but strong, and heat-tolerant and therefore has many commercial uses including matches, pack ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heart Rot
300px, The bracket fungus '' Fistulina hepatica'' is one of many that cause heart rot. In trees, heart rot is a fungal disease that causes the decay of wood at the center of the trunk and branches. Fungi enter the tree through wounds in the bark and decay the heartwood. The diseased heartwood softens, making trees structurally weaker and prone to breakage. Heart rot is a major factor in the economics of logging and the natural growth dynamic of many older forests. Heart rot is prevalent throughout the world affecting all hardwood trees and can be very difficult to prevent. A good indication of heart rot is the presence of mushrooms or fungus conks on the tree. Biological cause Heart rot is caused by fungi entering the trunk of the tree through wounds in the bark. These wounds are areas of the tree where bare wood is exposed and usually, a result of improper pruning, fire damage, dead branches, insects, or even animal damage. The fungal spores enter the exposed wounds, germinat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in the southwestern United States. Depending on differing definitions between Canada and the U.S., its northern terminus is located either in northern British Columbia's Terminal Range south of the Liard River and east of the Trench, or in the northeastern foothills of the Brooks Range/ British Mountains that face the Beaufort Sea coasts between the Canning River and the Firth River across the Alaska- Yukon border. Its southernmost point is near the Albuquerque area adjacent to the Rio Grande rift and north of the Sandia–Manzano Mountain Range. Being the easternmost portion of the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are distinct from the tectonically younger Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada, which both lie farther to its west. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microclimate
A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square meters or square feet (for example a garden bed or a cave) or as large as many square kilometers or square miles. Because climate is statistical, which implies spatial and temporal variation of the mean values of the describing parameters, within a region there can occur and persist over time sets of statistically distinct conditions, that is, microclimates. Microclimates can be found in most places but are most pronounced in topographically dynamic zones such as mountainous areas, islands, coastal areas. Microclimates exist, for example, near bodies of water which may cool the local atmosphere, or in heavy urban areas where brick, concrete, and asphalt absorb the sun's energy, heat up, and re-radiate that heat to the ambient air: the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bufflehead
The bufflehead (''Bucephala albeola'') is a small sea duck of the genus ''Bucephala'', the goldeneyes. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Anas albeola''. The genus name is derived from ancient Greek ''boukephalos'', "bullheaded", from ''bous'', "bull", and ''kephale'', "head", a reference to the oddly bulbous head shape of the species. The species name ''albeola'' is from Latin ''albus'', "white". The English name is a combination of buffalo and head, again referring to the head shape. This is most noticeable when the male puffs out the feathers on the head, thus greatly increasing the apparent size of the head. Description The bufflehead ranges from long and weighs , with the drakes larger than the females. Averaging and , it rivals the green-winged teal as the smallest American duck. The bufflehead has a wingspan of 21.6 in (55 cm). Adult males are striking black and white, with iridescent gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boreal Owl
The boreal owl or Tengmalm's owl (''Aegolius funereus'') is a small owl in the "true owl" family Strigidae. It is known as the boreal owl in North America and as Tengmalm's owl in Europe after Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm or, more rarely, Richardson's owl after Sir John Richardson. Due to the boreal owl's shyness and evasive reaction to human activities, nocturnal habits and preferred inaccessible taiga forest habitat, it is rarely seen by humans. Taxonomy The boreal owl was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Linnaeus placed it with all the other owls in the genus '' Strix'' and coined the binomial name ''Strix funerea''. The Eurasian scops owl is now placed in the genus '' Aegolius'' that was introduced in 1829 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup with the boreal owl as the type species. The genus name is Latin for a screech owl, the word came from the Ancient Greek ''aigōli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-naped Sapsucker
The red-naped sapsucker (''Sphyrapicus nuchalis'') is a medium-sized North American woodpecker. Long thought to be a subspecies of the yellow-bellied sapsucker, it is now known to be a distinct species. Systematics The red-naped sapsucker is one of four North American woodpeckers in the genus ''Sphyrapicus''. It has no subspecies. First described by Spencer Fullerton Baird in 1858, it was initially thought to be a subspecies of the yellow-bellied sapsucker. However, there are significant genetic differences between this species and the yellow-bellied sapsucker, and the American Ornithologists' Union recognized it as a distinct species in the seventh edition of its North American birds checklist, published in 1998. Genetic analysis has shown that the red-naped sapsucker is a sister species with (and very closely related to) the red-breasted sapsucker, and that these two species form a superspecies with the yellow-bellied sapsucker. All three species are known to hybridize wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Squirrel
The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus '' Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent. In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbers have decreased drastically in recent years. This decline is associated with the introduction by humans of the eastern grey squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis'') from North America. However, the population in Scotland is stabilising due to conservation efforts, awareness and the increasing population of the pine marten, a European predator that selectively controls grey squirrels. Description The red squirrel has a typical head-and-body length of , a tail length of , and a mass of . Males and females are the same size. The red squirrel is somewhat smaller than the eastern grey squirrel which has a head-and-body length of and weighs between . The long tail helps the squirrel to balance and steer when jumping from tree to tree and runn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flying Squirrel
Flying squirrels (scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini) are a tribe of 50 species of squirrels in the family Sciuridae. Despite their name, they are not in fact capable of full flight in the same way as birds or bats, but they are able to glide from one tree to another with the aid of a patagium, a furred parachute-like skin membrane that stretches from wrist to ankle. Their long tails also provide stability as they glide. Anatomically they are very similar to other squirrels with a number of adaptations to suit their lifestyle; their limb bones are longer and their hand bones, foot bones, and distal vertebrae are shorter. Flying squirrels are able to steer and exert control over their glide path with their limbs and tail. Molecular studies have shown that flying squirrels are monophyletic and originated some 18–20 million years ago. The genus Paracitellus is the earliest lineage to the flying squirrel dating back to the late Oligocene era. Most are nocturnal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woodpecker
Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known that live in treeless areas, such as rocky hillsides and deserts, and the Gila woodpecker specialises in exploiting cacti. Members of this family are chiefly known for their characteristic behaviour. They mostly forage for insect prey on the trunks and branches of trees, and often communicate by drumming with their beaks, producing a reverberatory sound that can be heard at some distance. Some species vary their diet with fruits, birds' eggs, small animals, tree sap, human scraps, and carrion. They usually nest and roost in holes that they excavate in tree trunks, and their abandoned holes are of importance to other cavity-nesting birds. They sometimes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gall
Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external Tissue (biology), tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or warts in animals. They can be caused by various parasites, from viruses, fungi and bacteria, to other plants, insects and mites. Plant galls are often highly organized structures so that the cause of the gall can often be determined without the actual agent being identified. This applies particularly to some insect and mite plant galls. The study of plant galls is known as cecidology. In human pathology, a gall is a raised sore on the skin, usually caused by chafing or rubbing. Causes of plant galls Insects and mites Insect galls are the highly distinctive plant structures formed by some Herbivore, herbivorous insects as their own microhabitats. They are plant tissue which is controlled by the insect. Gal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canadian Journal Of Botany
''Botany'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Canadian Science Publishing. It was established in 1935 as the ''Canadian Journal of Research, Section C: Botanical Sciences'' and renamed in 1951 as ''Canadian Journal of Botany''. It covers research on all aspects of botany. The journal was selected as one of the DBIO 100, the 100 most influential journals in biology and medicine over the last 100 years, as voted by the BioMedical & Life Sciences Division of the Special Libraries Association on the occasion of its centennial. The are [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frost Crack
Frost crack or Southwest canker is a form of tree bark damage sometimes found on thin barked trees, visible as vertical fractures on the southerly facing surfaces of tree trunks. Frost crack is distinct from sun scald and sun crack and physically differs from normal rough-bark characteristics as seen in mature oaks, pines, poplars and other tree species. Normal bark formation The sloughing or peeling of the bark is a normal process, especially in the spring when the tree begins to grow. The outer layers of the bark are dead tissue and therefore they cannot grow, the outer bark splitting in order for the tree to grow in circumference, increasing its diameter. The inner bark cambium and phloem tissues are living, and form a new protective layer of cells as the outer bark pulls apart. Normal furrowed bark has a layer of bark over the wood below, however bark may peel or fall off the tree in sheets (river birch), plates (sycamore and pine), strips (cedar) or blocks (dogwood). Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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