One of my summer jobs in college was "blister rust checker" in the Plumas National Forest in the northern Sierra Nevada. The relevant pine there was another five-needle pine, the sugar pine. The blister rust fungus has a complex life cycle between gooseberries, currants, etc. (genus Ribes) and the pine. The spores from Ribes infected the pines but didn't drift far, but those from the pine infected Ribes and did. To break the cycle, the Forest Service contracted the removal of Ribes from stands of sugar pine. The job of the "checker" (me) was to take statistical transect samples of the removal jobs. If the frequency of Ribes fell below a specified level, the contractor got paid (and they often failed). The checker also surveyed sugar pine stands to see if they warranted Ribes removal. It was challenging and fun. Running a straight transect of specified width, with a compass, transect length determined by standardized pacing, and doing this in steep country took some doing, especially since the distance was map distance, not distance walked. You also had to mark your transect by kicking marks in the duff so your work could be checked. This sometimes lead to what some contractors probably considered clever cheating--- they would follow your transect and remove only the Ribes you recorded. Ha! A fresh transect headed that off at the pass.
You mention that "the birds fail to harvest all of their buried seeds." The ranges of many other plants are similarly spread by birds and non-human mammals, as you well know I'm sure, and it's an open question for me how much of this failure is intentional or at least conscious. You were fairly ambiguous in your phrasing, which I appreciated. Often, people speak of animals "forgetting" where all their caches are, but I'm not so sure. Other possibilities are that they knowingly cache more than needed because a) they know some caches will be consumed by other creatures and b) they know some will grow and thus ensure further supply. I'm also open to the idea that the first option, a), is conscious sharing, not just self-interest.
Thanks for your note. I lean toward the idea that overcaching is part altruism (food for others) and part Seventh Generation thinking (planting trees for the future).
Are we not blessed that there are people willing to dedicate their lives to the preservation of species? Thank you to all of you out there who do something similar. ❤️
this gives me hope as I watch more trees in exurbia taken down for subdivisions. We can't stop clear cutting on private land but we can certainly protect our foundation trees wherever possible. Thanks for explaining the process in a way that this ordinary PNWer can understand and respect!
One of my summer jobs in college was "blister rust checker" in the Plumas National Forest in the northern Sierra Nevada. The relevant pine there was another five-needle pine, the sugar pine. The blister rust fungus has a complex life cycle between gooseberries, currants, etc. (genus Ribes) and the pine. The spores from Ribes infected the pines but didn't drift far, but those from the pine infected Ribes and did. To break the cycle, the Forest Service contracted the removal of Ribes from stands of sugar pine. The job of the "checker" (me) was to take statistical transect samples of the removal jobs. If the frequency of Ribes fell below a specified level, the contractor got paid (and they often failed). The checker also surveyed sugar pine stands to see if they warranted Ribes removal. It was challenging and fun. Running a straight transect of specified width, with a compass, transect length determined by standardized pacing, and doing this in steep country took some doing, especially since the distance was map distance, not distance walked. You also had to mark your transect by kicking marks in the duff so your work could be checked. This sometimes lead to what some contractors probably considered clever cheating--- they would follow your transect and remove only the Ribes you recorded. Ha! A fresh transect headed that off at the pass.
Tough life!!
You mention that "the birds fail to harvest all of their buried seeds." The ranges of many other plants are similarly spread by birds and non-human mammals, as you well know I'm sure, and it's an open question for me how much of this failure is intentional or at least conscious. You were fairly ambiguous in your phrasing, which I appreciated. Often, people speak of animals "forgetting" where all their caches are, but I'm not so sure. Other possibilities are that they knowingly cache more than needed because a) they know some caches will be consumed by other creatures and b) they know some will grow and thus ensure further supply. I'm also open to the idea that the first option, a), is conscious sharing, not just self-interest.
Thanks for your note. I lean toward the idea that overcaching is part altruism (food for others) and part Seventh Generation thinking (planting trees for the future).
"altruism" -- yes, thank you, that was the word I was looking for!!
We just camped at Lake Ida. Whitebark Pines, and Clarks nutcrackers swooping around. It was glorious.
Lucky you.
Interesting. Thanks
Thanks for sharing TR's song.
Reminds me of the fabulous tune “Whitebark Pine” written by the late TR Ritchie. I tried to post a link to the song but was unable. Find it on YouTube
Are we not blessed that there are people willing to dedicate their lives to the preservation of species? Thank you to all of you out there who do something similar. ❤️
this gives me hope as I watch more trees in exurbia taken down for subdivisions. We can't stop clear cutting on private land but we can certainly protect our foundation trees wherever possible. Thanks for explaining the process in a way that this ordinary PNWer can understand and respect!
Thanks for more understanding of plaques and odd green containers in service of beloved white bark pines and their neighbors!
Link to the song:
https://www.google.com/search?q=tr+ritchie+whitebark+pine&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:14855698,vid:Y0_snNUM_L0,st:0