The word "edgy" now means cool and ultra-modern and "living on the edge" sounds a little dangerous.
And it is. Continue reading beyond the Orange Fuligo Septica for more details about how living on the edge is life-changing and not always for the best.
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Most scientific studies focus on how fragmentation degrades otherwise-majestic forests. I've been watching a much smaller example at the golf course.
This area in the northern Willamette Valley contains high-quality farmland. The area's soils include fertile volcanic soils, mingled with ancient marine sediments and glacier-delivered loess.
Some farmers cultivated walnut orchards. Here is one example.
In this picture's right center the walnut trees form a dense mass. But as the area developed, a new road cut off a dozen trees from the main portion of the orchard, and isolated those walnut trees onto the golf course. The large trees in the central foreground, just to the right of the paved path, are dead walnuts, their leafless branches still reaching into the sullen Fall sky.
When the road separated that handful of trees from the protections of the main grove, the "edge effect" had its literal opening to inflict more wind, more sun, more rain, and different microclimates and a different mix of nutrients onto the smaller group. One by one, the smaller group are dying.
I do not know what, if anything, is killing them. Here's a photo of a different, but nearby group of walnuts. This picture appears to show how the edge effect allows additional soil saturation and more wind exposure could be slowly pushing trees over.
Several trees in this row have already fallen over. I salvaged one for lumber and burls. You can see how the middle walnut leans to the left. In the background, to the right of the cart path, another walnut leans severely. I see the edge effect at work here, that increased exposure to the prevailing wind is pushing on these trees. I am also theorizing than more rain soaks into the ground here than beneath a denser forest, so the ground gets softer and further weakens the tree's ability to stay erect.
Another factor is that several hundred golf balls hit these trees every year, exerting additional forces against their stability.
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Now It's Your Turn What's interesting to you? Please post your own observations and your general location in the comments.
Thank you for reading. I'll work this morning so I'll respond to comments before lunchtime,