Winter 2022-23 Wind-Demise of Multiple Big Oaks on the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge!

March 11, 2023, I bushwhacked with a friend, Bernie Kerecki, MD, through a Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge riparian hardwood forest south of HGH Road mid-afternoon. We enjoyed a splendid spring day…discovering evidence of powerful winter winds.

 

A Shattered Red Oak Giant

 

This three-foot diameter red oak succumbed to one such blast, this one falling to an easterly wind, its fallen mass pointing westward. I could still detect the hearty fragrance of splintered red oak. I wondered what factors determined that the trunk shattered rather than roots yielding to create a windthrow. The answer became apparent (see after the video).

 

I recorded this 4:04 video of the recent forest violence.

 

The answer to my cause query came pretty quickly — a hollow trunk! Roughly three inches of solid wood rind supported the massive oak. An urban tree rule-of-thumb suggests that a yard or street tree is at risk of such shattering failure if its solid wood rind is less than 30 percent of the tree’s radius. This forest giant fell well below the threshold: three inches is only ~17 percent of the 18-inch radius at breast height. Physics rule the day in Nature.

Leonardo da Vinci flawlessly and wisely interpreted Nature’s ways: Nature never breaks her own rules.

Einstein, also of timeless wisdom, observed, The most beautiful gift of nature is that it gives one pleasure to look around and try to comprehend what we see.

Oh, to saunter through our north Alabama forests with the ghosts of Einstein and da Vinci!

The oak’s structural weakness is apparent as it lies prostrate, yet it likely appeared stout, solid, strong, and invincible when standing!

 

However, the astute observer would have spotted the Ganaderma fungal conk on the trunk’s base (below right), a clear indication of internal decay.

 

A Windthrown Red Oak Domino Sequence Nearby

 

A mid-winter westerly gale toppled this equally large oak, but not in the same manner, nor in the same direction. Its structural integrity held firm. Its downfall was a failure of its grasp to the seasonally saturated soils and relatively shallow rooting depth. Bernie and I both wore rubber boots in deference to winter-saturated soils. Water depth ranged from just under the litter layer to several inches above the forest floor.

 

I recorded this 3:12 video at the oak dominoes.

 

Below left the domino sequence began with the falling tree snapping the top from a nearby 15-inch diameter oak. Thirty to forty feet beyond the root ball, a second uprooted oak reveals its own rootball (below right).

 

Here is a closer view of the second oak domino, its pit-water mudied by the action of an unknown animal. A frog? A skunk searching for crawdads? Contrast the muddy water to the clear water in the first tree’s pit.

 

 

A Snapped White Oak

 

 

I saw no evidence of heart rot in this 30-inch white oak that shattered ten feet above its base, crashing to the east from a westerly wind. I can surmise only that its roots held firmly enough that some inherent structural weakness failed before the roots lifted. I cannot solve all of Nature’s mysteries. The white oak snapped the top from a 12-inch maple tree just 25 feet from the crashing oak.

 

 

I recorded this 1:48 video of the white oak.

 

The top smashed all vegetation to the east. As I’ve observed time and again, nothing in Nature is static.

 

The white oak left a large void in the canopy. Adjoining trees will reach laterally to fill the void, even as forest floor vegetation will respond vigorously to the greater sunlight penetrating the overstory.

 

I’ve addressed observations in prior Posts from my Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge photo-essays about large tree windfalls that are common within this 80-100 year old riparian hardwood forest. I will draft and publish a related Post from our March 11, 2023 wanderings. My working title is: What’s Happening in the Old Riparian Hardwood Riparian Forests that I Wander (and Wonder)?

My forest saunters raise more questions than I can answer. Pondering enriches my every entry into these and others forests. I may not see with da Vinci and Einstein-level acuity, yet their spirit accompanies me. Seeking may in the long term exceed that satisfaction of knowing.

 

Thoughts and Reflections

 

I offer these observations:

• Nothing in Nature is static; wind is a powerful agent of forest change.
• The most beautiful gift of nature is that it gives one pleasure to look around and try to comprehend what we see. (Einstein)
• Understanding Nature requires close observation, deep inquiry, and keen insight.

Inhale and absorb Nature’s elixir. May Nature Inspire, Inform, and Reward you!

If only more of us viewed our precious environment through the filters I employ. If only my mission and vision could be multiplied untold orders of magnitude:

Mission: Employ writing and speaking to educate, inspire, and enable readers and listeners to understand, appreciate, and enjoy Nature… and accept and practice Earth Stewardship.

Vision:

• People of all ages will pay greater attention to and engage more regularly with Nature… and will accept and practice informed and responsible Earth Stewardship.
• They will see their relationship to our natural world with new eyes… and will understand more clearly their Earth home.

Tagline/Motto: Steve (Great Blue Heron) encourages and seeks a better tomorrow through Nature-Inspired Living!

 

Steve’s Three Books

I wrote my books Nature Based Leadership (2016), Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading (2017), and Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits: Stories of Passion for Place and Everyday Nature (2019; co-authored with Dr. Jennifer Wilhoit) to encourage all citizens to recognize and appreciate that every lesson for living, learning, serving, and leading is either written indelibly in or is powerfully inspired by Nature.

I began writing books and Posts for several reasons:

• I love hiking and exploring in Nature
• I see images I want to (and do) capture with my trusty iPhone camera
• I enjoy explaining those images — an educator at heart
• I don’t play golf!
• I actually do love writing — it’s the hobby I never needed when my career consumed me
• Judy suggested my writing is in large measure my legacy to our two kids, our five grand kids, and all the unborn generations beyond
• And finally, perhaps my books and Blogs could reach beyond family and touch a few other lives… sow some seeds for the future

 

All three of my books (Nature Based Leadership; Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading; Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits) present compilations of personal experiences expressing my (and co-author Dr. Wilhoit for Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits) deep passion for Nature. All three books offer observations and reflections on my relationship to the natural world… and the broader implications for society. Order any and all from your local indie bookstore, or find them on IndieBound or other online sources such as Amazon and LifeRich.