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Donna VanBuecken

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How to Identify Trees

January 16, 2019

The Shagbark Hickory tree (Carya ovata) is about the easiest tree to identify in the winter (or anytime) because of its tell-tale shaggy bark.

Have you ever wished you knew more about trees so you could identify their species more readily? I sure have. I’ve gotten to know the trees in our yard and at our hunting property pretty well, but take me away from either of those sites and I’m unable to identify most trees unless I can see their leaves. But that one key element of identification doesn’t help much in the winter time….

Some Resources to Help Identify Trees

I recently ran across an article in the Landscape Management magazine entitled “Step by Step: How to identify trees.” It gave me a couple of resources and I thought I would share what I learned with you.

First, I was surprised to learn there were 23,000 different kinds of trees in the world.

Second, there are a number of on-line resources available:

  • The Arbor Day Foundation has a program to help you identify trees called “What Tree is That?” Unfortunately it relies almost entirely on leaf characteristics which doesn’t help me much during the winter months either.
  • There is a smart-phone resource available called “Leafsnap” developed by researchers at Columbia University, University of Maryland and the Smithsonian Institution which allows you to upload a photo of a leaf. Again not very helpful in the winter months — and I don’t have a smart-phone.
  • There is an Andriod-phone app developed by researchers from the College of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech called “Virginia Tech Tree Identification.” It goes beyond a leaf and allows you to input info about the trees’ twig. I checked out the companion website and found it to be helpful, but a little overwhelming.

Other Resources

The article intrigued me, of course, so I did some websurfing and found an on-line course on “Identifying Trees by Bark and Buds” by Jay Hayek from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences. It is an excellent resource and his photos are awesome.

Finally, I found one I could handle offered by Tree Bark Identification. It helps you identify trees by keying out the bark and the branching, but it only covers the states east of the Mississippi.

And, then of course, there’s always our friendly WDNR. They have a number of great resources listed, including some of the ones I’ve listed above. The UW-Green Bay’s Herbarium at the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity’s key to the Trees of Wisconsin is the one for me.

All in all, I had a pretty educational morning and I feel really good about what I’ve learned. ‘Hope you will, too.

 

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Winter Soltice 2018

December 21, 2018

This is one of my favorite photos from the hunting property. My niece was only about four years old then.
This is one of my favorite winter photos from the hunting property. My niece was only about four years old then. Predominant evergreens in the area are Balsam Fir, Black Spruce, White Spruce, Hemlock and Northern White Cedar, all of which make great Christmas trees.

Today is the first day of winter which means Christmas day will soon be here. Hopefully you’ll be celebrating the Christmas holiday with family and friends, sharing delicious food and awesome presents. Here in Wisconsin this winter will definitely be bringing us a “white Christmas.” A reminder to be thankful for the four seasons and the joy they bring to our lives. Where would we natural landscapers be without the four seasons in which to play?

My wish for you is a wonderful Christmas celebration and some quiet time to reflect on the happenings of the past year.

In the words of Stephen Colbert “may your winter feast be an orgy of delight!“

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Non-Native Plants reduce Food availability for Birds

November 26, 2018

Doug Tallamy, Desiree Narango and Peter Marra* have provided more definitive data about the importance of native trees and shrubs for the livelihood of insect-eating birds. In this case, their research focused primarily on the Caroline Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis). In their report Nonnative plants reduce population growth of an insectivorous bird printed in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS) Doug and his team concluded:

Doug Tallamy says a Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) pair brings 390-570 caterpillars to their young per day for 16 days. Photo by Doug Tallamy.

“We monitored reproduction and survival of Carolina chickadees within residential yards and found that when nonnative plants increased, both insect availability and chickadee population growth declined. We also found that populations could only be sustained if nonnative plants constituted <30% of plant biomass. Our results demonstrate that nonnative plants reduce habitat quality for insectivorous birds and restoration of human-dominated areas should prioritize native plants to support local food webs.” (PNAS) [Read more…]

Thanksgiving Day 2018

November 21, 2018

Sugar Maple (Acer Saccharum) dropping a blanket of leaves over our yard.

Tomorrow is “Thanksgiving Day.” A holiday set aside to give thanks for the harvest and for the blessings we have, starting with the Pilgrims in 1621. Even though the future of our harvests seems a little uncertain these days because of the undoing of legislation our federal government is undertaking with respect to the safety of our environment and our protected lands, there is still much to be thankful for in our personal lives. For me, the plentiful summer harvest I was allowed to reap is something for which I am very thankful. Another is the health and happiness of not only my husband and myself, but also our family and friends. May this Thursday find you able to be thankful for many things as well, and looking forward to better things in the future.

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Donna VanBuecken