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Northern Tree Habitats - Geophysical Institute Interior Alaskan forests have only six native tree species: white spruce, black spruce, quaking aspen, balsam poplar, larch (tamarack) and paper birch Northern Canadian forests have all of those, plus jack pine, balsam fir and lodgepole pine Since northern Canada and interior Alaska share the same grueling climate and extremes of daylength, why are the Canadian tree species absent from
Cottonwood and Balsam Poplar | Geophysical Institute The Klukwan giant holds the national record for black cottonwood diameter Its nearest rival, a tree near Salem, Oregon, does hold the national height record The Klukwan giant belies the belief that trees tend to get smaller the farther north one goes Both balsam poplar and cottonwood have value for fuel wood, pulp and lumber
More on Why Tree Trunks Spiral | Geophysical Institute I eventually found a tree with a spiral lightning mark and it followed the spiral grain exactly One tree, of course, proves nothing "But why should the tree spiral? More speculation here: Foliage tends to be thicker on the south side of the tree because of better sunlight
Tree Rings and History | Geophysical Institute A tree's age can be easily determined by counting its growth rings, as any Boy or Girl Scout knows Annually, the tree adds new layers of wood which thicken during the growing season and thin during the winter These annual growth rings are easily discernible (and countable) in cross-sections of the tree's trunk In good growing years, when sunlight and rainfall are plentiful, the growth rings
Trees as Earthquake Fault Indicators | Geophysical Institute Then using tree ring dating methods, it may be possible to date earthquakes occurring before historical records were kept The ability to identify and date very large earthquakes occurring within the past thousand years is important in establishing earthquake risk and for predicting future earthquakes
Witches Broom | Geophysical Institute In interior Alaska and some parts of Canada, witches' broom (an abnormal outgrowth of branches of the tree resembling the sweeping end of a broom), is commonly seen on black and white spruce trees From late fall through the winter, the brooms are dark brown or "dead"looking and are often mistaken for birds' and squirrels' nests
Tree line changes on the Kenai Peninsula - Geophysical Institute The gradual change in tree line is one of many that people have noticed on the Kenai Peninsula in recent years The most obvious is the 1980s-to-1990s Spruce bark beetle invasion, during which the insects killed 30 million mature spruce trees on the Kenai and a wide swath of southern Alaska
Trees for a Cold Climate | Geophysical Institute Back on the ground, I did a little research on why so few tree types grow naturally in the neighborhood Winter's extreme cold easily eliminates some tree species hardy elsewhere Oak, ash, and elm endure occasional severely cold temperatures in the contiguous forty-eight states because they can produce chemicals that serve as natural antifreeze
The largest black spruce in Alaska | Geophysical Institute The tree leans uphill, and its trunk is 45 inches around When I hugged it, I could barely clasp my hands together The largest black spruce in Alaska is a lucky tree, because its neighbors to the north are gone, removed in the mid-1990s during the installation of a power line
Feltleaf willows: Alaska’s most abundant tree | Geophysical Institute The most plentiful moose food in the state — and probably Alaska’s most numerous tree — is the feltleaf willow, which was once called the Alaska willow As its name implies, the feltleaf sprouts canoe-shaped green leaves that feel fuzzy on the underside