So, about that snow load, eh? - Copeland Forest, January 18 2012

It has not been a very wet winter, or even a very cold winter. The local ski hill is hanging on by dint of ski hill life support; namely, snow machines. One can hear their operating budget straining more often than one hears trees cracking int he cold. Snow is on the ground, but there isn't much of it.

There is enough to capture animal prints. On the top left are squirrel prints. In the middle you can see where a bird came down, moved around and then flew off. On the right are human tracks but to the right of those you can see mouse prints. Judging from the spacing of them, the mouse was really hoofing it. One wonders if the bird was doing a victory dance or a frustration dance.

Today was cold. It was about -8 out there as we wandered out to look at the shelter we'd built back in November. The idea was to check if it had held up under the crushing snow load. Given the lack of same, we were pretty confident that it had.

 We were right! Not only had it held up but it could still support the weight of an 8 year old with ease. In the bottom picture you can see the lower side of the shelter, the one we roofed with balsam and fern. Very little snow fell through. That was pretty good roofing job. The winter has been so mild that the fern was still green.

The other side, the one which was more Eeyore-house like had let more snow through. If one were to start a fire in the shelter this would be the best place to do it. Smoke and heat would go up through the sticks and not light the whole shelter on fire. Of course one would have to be mindful of too many sparks, though I would think that most sparks would not have much of a chance in -8 degree weather.

We build quite a cozy little shelter. It looked much more inviting to spend the night back in November than it did today, but I could still see surviving a night in it if I had to. Interestingly, the deer did not share this opinion. There were no animal tracks at all around the shelter until we showed up.

If you are building a shelter in the woods in the snow, remember to keep moving. If you do not then your toes will freeze. At the same time, remember not to move too much. If you do then your perspiration will freeze and raise your risk of hypothermia. Also, note that -8 is the sort of cold that sucks up moisture. You want to have a water source nearby in -8 temps. Eating snow is fun but not a good survival tactic. If you eat snow then you get too little moisture relative to how much body heat you loose. Imagine sucking on ice cubes on a hot day and you'll get the idea.

 It was a lovely day though. We spent about 2 hours outside. The walk to the shelter did not take long and we played there for a while. Then, on the walk back to the cars, we did some penguin style tobogganing.

This should probably be a layman's Winter Olympic sport, right along with rushing to catch a bus in sleet whilst wearing high heels. I mean ski jumping is economy, grace and motion but there are things we do in everyday living in the winter that are also truly athletic - though not always graceful.

One of the penguin run featured trees, open water and a roll of abandoned fencing. The water stays open pretty much year round because it is fast flowing. Amanda fell into a stream last winter and assured us that it is not fun at all.

In the foreground of the top picture on the right is one of our trees. Do you remember which one? It is differnt from the one pictured directly to the right.

Another note about trees, do you remember how similar balsam and hemlock looked? Balsam needles had stems, teeny tiny ones, and hemlock had blisters but they looked very similar. Interestingly enough, they carry snow load differently.

The Bruce Trail is running a heritage tree scavenger hunt. Each tee you find has a code word. The one for Hemlock is HAVEN because in the winter deer often fins shelter under hemlock trees. On the right is a balsam and a hemlock. Supposing you could not build a winter survival shelter if you got lost in the woods, which one looks like safe haven?

Yup. it was a good day and really nice to see our shelter just where we'd left it.If ever we do get a good snowfall I can see it changing into a very cool snow cave.

Just for fun, here's a puzzle picture. Can you identify one tree, or two? Which one (s)?

Oh, and the winter is not very snowy, but is sure is a good one for snow crystals! Me, I'll take it on faith that no two ever repeat.



Here is a link to various snow shelters:

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/shelter/snow/index.html

Classifying Forests - Copeland Forest, December 6th 2011

Turns out our study area contains at least 2 different kinds of forests. Kinds of forests? I hear you cry. What?

Well, this is science for you. Classify, classify, classify. It's important. Even in  the space of an hour or so on a wintry December one can begin to see why.

Since we  live in Simcoe County and since much of the Simcoe County Forest is visible from our local roadways, I already knew we had planted forest and other forest. I even knew that we had mainly hardwood forest when left to its own devices. What I did not know is how to look for clues to help classify a forest. Amanda brought us an exercise to do just that and we sat down and examined 2 forest types.

In order to classify a forest one looks at all parts. The top of the forest is called the canopy. This is the part that sunlight can reach pretty much all of the time. The middle of the forest is where you see saplings and shrubs. This is called the understory. The bottom of the forest is called the forest floor. So, just like rock, forests have strata. We looked carefully at forest stratification to help us classify our forests.

FOREST 1 looked like this. Classification aside, there is a nifty historical note here in that the wall of rocks to the left was put there by a farmer. Most likely the farmer was using horses to haul them. Every now and then along the rock wall we saw a large deciduous tree, usually a maple. These were left to support fences with the stone wall as a base. So, once upon a time the space in which we were walking was under cultivation. Since the understory was sparse, we could see from fence to fence where the fields used to be.

When we looked at the forest we noted that the canopy was mainly comprised of coniferous trees. We learned a new tree type. If you have 2 long needles that swirl together than you are a Scotch Pine. Most of the trees were living. There were few dead ones.

The understory was sparse. There were very few saplings and almost no shrubs. What we did see was mainly beech and hemlock. The understory was alive.

The forest floor did contain ferns and moss but was mainly made up of needles. There was moss and lichen growing on some tree trunks. There was very little evidence of fungus. There were some fallen trees and these were old falls called nursery logs, busy rotting down and providing fodder for new life to grow and thrive.

When we looked for evidence of animal life we found some sapsucker holes. We did not see much else.

FOREST 1 is called a Monotone Forest. I really like Forest 1 because it is exactly the kind of forest in which I always expect to find witches and dragons of the fairly tale type. It is hard to get lost in one. Light filters nicely into his kind of forest and one can see the ground clearly. All of that I like.

However, the drawback to a monotone forest is that it is not at all ecologically diverse. It doe snot support much wildlife. If a bug moves in that likes the type of tree growing there then the forest can get wiped out in a matter of years. This is why we see Emerald Ash Borer alerts all over the place. Monotone forests need management from an outside source. They need to be tended, much like our gardens are tended.

 It was a short hike from FOREST 1 to FOREST II and the border between them was very clear. We stepped from a neat and managed world into something much more tangled.

Forest II looked like this. The canopy consisted of both coniferous and deciduous trees but the vast majority were deciduous. In the mix we saw: poplar, black cherry, birch and white pine. Most of the trees were living. There were very few dead ones.

The understory contained a good number of saplings and shrubs. There was beech and sumac and some pine. In Forest I we could have wandered under the canopy forever. In forest II we would have been glad of a machete and also we would have had to step over fallen logs all over the place. Forest I invited wandering. Forest II strongly advised staying on the beaten path.

The forest floor was leaf covered. There was moss growing on the tree trunks. Junipers sprawled all over the place. We saw shelf mushrooms on the trees. Fallen logs were both newly fallen and nursery logs.

Again, the most noticeable evidence of animal life was the sapsucker holes. We saw spiderwebs.

Forest II is an example of a Deciduous Forest. In Ontario this forest occurs naturally along the shores of the Great Lakes.

In the foreground of the picture above is a deciduous tree with its leaves still on. Do you remember the name of this tree? Do you remember the name of the mushroom in the photos? Is it gilled mushroom or a boletes? Would you eat it if you were starving and lost?

Our natural forest in this region is deciduous. This type of tree is usually hardwood. It takes a long time to grow. If you want good return for your crop and you happen to be farming trees you ought to grow conifers since these are used extensively for construction. Our monochrome forest is a planted and managed coniferous forest but our native deciduous forest has a better chance of survival on its own. 

You can begin to research more about Ontario forests here:
 http://www.ontario.ca/en/about_ontario/004464.html

Simcoe County Forest information is here:
http://www.simcoe.ca/dpt/cf/history/index.htm