Helping Forests Walk 04 B - Is this an Old Growth Pawpaw Patch? (Michigan, 2021) @ghostsofevolution

ghostsofevolution The previous episode in this series is titled, "Helping Subcanopy Trees Migrate." There Connie Barlow suggests that a wild pawpaw patch she explored two months earlier has characteristics of "old growth." This video is therefore offered as a supplement, showing raw footage of that fruited patch along the Saline River near Milan, Michigan. It is a way for viewers to "explore" this same patch and then make their own interpretations. Do you think this patch may, indeed, be old growth? (Post your views in the comments.)

What are the signs of old growth? Connie didn't recognize these signs while she was exploring the patch — only later while editing the video. The key old growth characteristic she suggests in her subcanopy Episode 04 video is that, while pawpaw grows no taller than 30 feet, in the core of this particular patch there are no overstory trees shading them. Indeed, the amount of sun reaching the patch is strong enough to yield a total of 60 fruit visible from ground-level.

The way that subcanopy pawpaw can ultimately out-compete the overstory tree species and thereby assume the "canopy" position itself is a two-fold process. First, pawpaw spreads clonally by sending near-surface stems (rhizomes) laterally, which then pop up new vertical stems distant from the original. Pawpaw can grow vegetatively very well while shaded by a deciduous overstory; it just can't produce much fruit. But this species is very patient about reproducing. Overstory trees such as walnut and maple and hackberry eventually succumb to death by old age or windfall. But any of their own seeds that germinate and attempt to establish from their former sites will now be challenged by pawpaw putting the ground level into deep shade — too much shade for the overstory species to establish. Henceforth, the patch remains as the canopy itself. Patch stems last only half a century, max. But the cloning ability keeps popping up young ones within the patch's own shade.

Connie might not have arrived at this hypothesis had she not created a video a few months earlier that aggregated raw footage of native yew (Taxus) species in North America that she had filmed in previous years: HFW 03 - "Thinking Like a Yew" youtu.be/Tp4tfbNmGdQ

Go to timecode 40:36 of the yew video to see Connie talking about USDA information on Pacific Yew's "vegetative regeneration" whereby the yew "expresses climax sociological dominance over tall conifers." The method is similar to that of pawpaw, except yews do not produce lateral stems (rhizomes). Instead, they are masters of bending without breaking. So when a canopy tree or windfall branch smashes onto, say, a 25-foot-tall yew and pushes it over, the formerly vertical stem now stretches some 20 feet horizontally. Moreover, in the consequent sunlight, new "branches" emerge and grow upward, ultimately becoming new leaders themselves, while the original fallen trunk may itself sprout roots wherever it is in full contact with the soil.

Pawpaw's ability to send rhizomes laterally without requiring overstory treefall offers an even more assured opportunity for working toward "climax sociological dominance." And as Connie mentions in the previous (04) episode, it appears that the only place that the overstory tree species can keep re-establishing from seed is in the forest sections too often flooded with ephemeral pools for tap-rooted pawpaw to survive. But Black Willow, Cottonwood, Silver Maple, and perhaps Black Walnut can tolerate periodic flooding. So do look for that phenomenon when watching this video.

UPDATE Oct 2022: I've been editing the wikipedia page on Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) and learned that the same USDA site as for yew (above) confirms that pawpaw can dominate the "canopy": "Pawpaw creates heavy shade that reduces seedling recruitment of white oak (Quercus alba) and shagbark hickory (Carya ovata). In southwestern Illinois, an increase in pawpaw cover was attributed to defoliation of overstory trees by the linden looper. The pawpaw canopy suppressed seedling establishment of less tolerant species." The USDA webpage: web.archive.org/web/20110628001600/http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/asitri/all.html

Connie's interest in posting and linking to key documents and scholarly papers about THE ECOLOGY OF PAWPAW and its reproductive habits (and especially the mysteries of pollination and pollinators) has led to a very long and illustrated webpage, which she will continue to update: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/pawpaw-pollinator-watch.html

Previous episode in this "Helping Forests Walk" playlist is HFW 04 - "Helping Subcanopy Trees Migrate": youtu.be/CECtuThdiig

An annotated, topic-organized version of this playlist (and playlists focused on single tree species (including Joshua Tree, Alligator Juniper, Coast Redwood) is here:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaXYUr_1HyB5xMtPqCI7V33l

updated 2 years ago

Helping Forests Walk 04 B - Is this an Old Growth Pawpaw Patch? (Michigan, 2021)

ghostsofevolution 2021-12-03 | The previous episode in this series is titled, "Helping Subcanopy Trees Migrate." There Connie Barlow suggests that a wild pawpaw patch she explored two months earlier has characteristics of "old growth." This video is therefore offered as a supplement, showing raw footage of that fruited patch along the Saline River near Milan, Michigan. It is a way for viewers to "explore" this same patch and then make their own interpretations. Do you think this patch may, indeed, be old growth? (Post your views in the comments.)

What are the signs of old growth? Connie didn't recognize these signs while she was exploring the patch — only later while editing the video. The key old growth characteristic she suggests in her subcanopy Episode 04 video is that, while pawpaw grows no taller than 30 feet, in the core of this particular patch there are no overstory trees shading them. Indeed, the amount of sun reaching the patch is strong enough to yield a total of 60 fruit visible from ground-level.

The way that subcanopy pawpaw can ultimately out-compete the overstory tree species and thereby assume the "canopy" position itself is a two-fold process. First, pawpaw spreads clonally by sending near-surface stems (rhizomes) laterally, which then pop up new vertical stems distant from the original. Pawpaw can grow vegetatively very well while shaded by a deciduous overstory; it just can't produce much fruit. But this species is very patient about reproducing. Overstory trees such as walnut and maple and hackberry eventually succumb to death by old age or windfall. But any of their own seeds that germinate and attempt to establish from their former sites will now be challenged by pawpaw putting the ground level into deep shade — too much shade for the overstory species to establish. Henceforth, the patch remains as the canopy itself. Patch stems last only half a century, max. But the cloning ability keeps popping up young ones within the patch's own shade.

Connie might not have arrived at this hypothesis had she not created a video a few months earlier that aggregated raw footage of native yew (Taxus) species in North America that she had filmed in previous years: HFW 03 - "Thinking Like a Yew" youtu.be/Tp4tfbNmGdQ

Go to timecode 40:36 of the yew video to see Connie talking about USDA information on Pacific Yew's "vegetative regeneration" whereby the yew "expresses climax sociological dominance over tall conifers." The method is similar to that of pawpaw, except yews do not produce lateral stems (rhizomes). Instead, they are masters of bending without breaking. So when a canopy tree or windfall branch smashes onto, say, a 25-foot-tall yew and pushes it over, the formerly vertical stem now stretches some 20 feet horizontally. Moreover, in the consequent sunlight, new "branches" emerge and grow upward, ultimately becoming new leaders themselves, while the original fallen trunk may itself sprout roots wherever it is in full contact with the soil.

Pawpaw's ability to send rhizomes laterally without requiring overstory treefall offers an even more assured opportunity for working toward "climax sociological dominance." And as Connie mentions in the previous (04) episode, it appears that the only place that the overstory tree species can keep re-establishing from seed is in the forest sections too often flooded with ephemeral pools for tap-rooted pawpaw to survive. But Black Willow, Cottonwood, Silver Maple, and perhaps Black Walnut can tolerate periodic flooding. So do look for that phenomenon when watching this video.

UPDATE Oct 2022: I've been editing the wikipedia page on Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) and learned that the same USDA site as for yew (above) confirms that pawpaw can dominate the "canopy": "Pawpaw creates heavy shade that reduces seedling recruitment of white oak (Quercus alba) and shagbark hickory (Carya ovata). In southwestern Illinois, an increase in pawpaw cover was attributed to defoliation of overstory trees by the linden looper. The pawpaw canopy suppressed seedling establishment of less tolerant species." The USDA webpage: web.archive.org/web/20110628001600/http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/asitri/all.html

Connie's interest in posting and linking to key documents and scholarly papers about THE ECOLOGY OF PAWPAW and its reproductive habits (and especially the mysteries of pollination and pollinators) has led to a very long and illustrated webpage, which she will continue to update: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/pawpaw-pollinator-watch.html

Previous episode in this "Helping Forests Walk" playlist is HFW 04 - "Helping Subcanopy Trees Migrate": youtu.be/CECtuThdiig

An annotated, topic-organized version of this playlist (and playlists focused on single tree species (including Joshua Tree, Alligator Juniper, Coast Redwood) is here:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaXYUr_1HyB5xMtPqCI7V33l

In Praise of Ferns (western North America) - photos by Connie Barlow

ghostsofevolution 2023-09-12 | This 13-minute video entails 110 of Connie Barlow's best photos of ferns living under (and on) California's inspiring Coast Redwood trees. Using the smooth movement of, what has come to be called, the Ken Burns effect creates a gentle dynamic and flow that is ideal for experiencing a variety of fern species in their glory. Recommendation: turn down the audio scrollbar at the bottom left of the picture screen and listen instead to music of your choice.

All photos were taken onsite in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties of northern California in 2017, 2019, and 2020. The majority of photos record ferns near Freshwater Creek, along Pacific Lumber Camp Road and upstream. The gigantic redwood trunks and bases are mostly within Prairie Creek State Park or other portions of the Redwood National Park system.

The strikingly curved bases of ancient Sitka Spruce (at the start of the loop trail for Fern Canyon) are near sea level and dominate the salt-spray landscape where Sequoia fears to tread. That begins a series featuring a kind of fern only found up on trunks and canopy — or, as seen in some photos, where a canopy branch has fallen. The penultimate 6 slides are a sequence in "Fern Canyon". The last, horizontally moving slide is along Graham Gulch, across from the old PLC camp park.

Connie's photos of diverse ferns in the eastern states were already compiled by her into the video: youtu.be/evmIGq4foVM?si=-SDSJydu8OFZ-5Zl

She has also posted a 9-episode video series on youtube that educates about and advocates for "assisted migration" poleward of California's two most famous trees: Coast Redwood and Giant Sequoia: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaV4pJEyJGOZ4FQeIByjMGbJ

And, of course, the totem ground-dwelling animal of redwood forests is the Banana Slug. Connie posted a 6-part educational video that begins here: youtu.be/16pJrak_irY?si=8aANvGMbtwfavwm3 and can also be found in her playlist titled youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaUc1CAl14iD99JTilZoHLv9

Michigan welcomes endangered trees from Florida (2023)

ghostsofevolution 2023-08-22 | August 2023 Connie Barlow videoed the Florida Torreya (Torreya taxifolia) and Florida Yew (Taxus floridana) plantings in the 45-acre forest at Paul Camire's farm in Capac, Michigan. Since his earliest plantings in 2017, Paul has witnessed no evidence of winter kill on leafy branches or buds and no disease. Instead, the main problems are herbivory episodes — rarely by rodents, but massively whenever the protective cages are breached by a falling branch or a winter-starved deer. Even so, Torreya recovers again and again, putting forth new leaves and even new leaders.

TIMECODED table of topics is below, and a full chronology (with photos) is found on the Capac Michigan webpage of the Torreya Guardians website:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/mi-capac.html

This is episode 36 in the Torreya Guardians video series. Access the full set at this playlist url: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaXwOH416C7okxBeo358sn1o

00:03 Introduction by Connie Barlow, with maps.

01:13 Close-up look at seedling planted in 2017. Two flushes of growth yearly. Compare with video from 2019, after leaves sunbleached when a canopy ash tree fell in 2018.

03:34 Visit a second seedling planted in 2017. Compare today's growth with extreme herbivory by deer filmed in 2019.

05:54 Visit a third seedling from 2017; the only one that escaped herbivory. Canopy tree species shown.

07:49 Visit fourth seedling from 2017; recovery from severe deer damage.

08:55 Newest planting: Clint Bancroft in TN donated a potted seedling to Paul Camire in 2018. Paul planted it in his forest during a warm spell January 2023. Protected by the sturdiest, tall cage. No amount of hunting reduces the deer population.

10:52 Visit the FLORIDA YEW, also planted January 2023. No winter-cold damage. At 12:20 there is an overlay of several pages of the List of Florida Yew "ex situ specimens" that Paul compiled and posted here: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/florida-yew-list.pdf

13:17 Paul shows one of the American Chestnut seedlings he planted from an organization that breeds from only native specimens. Overlay compares with Liriodendron's height.

14:37 This torreya was severely eaten by rodents; grown from the 2016 harvest of Medford, Oregon seeds.

16:18 First of 4 seedlings that Paul and Connie planted from pots in 2019.

17:44 Second of the 4 seedlings planted in 2019. Tremendous growth. At 18:17 an overlay of Paul's publication in 2018 of "Ex-situ specimens of Torreya taxifolia". The 27-page PDF is here:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/historic-list.pdf • Typical growth spurts are leader upward in May, then laterals end of July.

19:01 Third of the 2019 set; shadier spot so slower growth. At 19:44 are photo overlays of Paul's torreyas in a winter snow. "Zero frost damage" in Michigan, but rarely some winter wind dessication of leaves, except within south side of forest. At 20:18 overlay of Fred Bess's torreyas in Cleveland OH, where experienced needle dessication during first winter.

20:27 Fourth and fullest of the 2019 plantings (in a set of beech trees). At 21:54, overlay of an aerial map of Paul's forest and nearby Mill Creek.

22:00 Surprise! A severely rodent-damaged seedling, assumed to be dead, shows new growth. This is another plant that Paul had germinated from 2016 Medford Oregon seeds.

23:18 A full-sun experiment planting: Torreya in the meadow by the South Branch of Mill Creek. 26:00 Map overlay of Black River watershed, into Lake Huron.

26:12 Location shifts to Paul Camire's home in Capac, where he nurtures potted seedlings of Torreya before ready to plant. Four new seedlings from Fred Bess seeds (overlay photos at 26:38). One new sprout from Highlands, NC seeds (overlays 26:56). As usual, 2 winters passed before seed germinated. Spring-germinated seeds do not show above ground till late June, early July.

28:56 South-facing side of house nurtures 30 potted Torreya seedlings. Provenances: Fred Bess, Jack Johnston (Highlands), and Clint Bancroft (TN).

31:18 Closing slides begin: Photo of TorreyaGuardians homepage • photos of Torreya videos 32a and 32b: Capac Michigan 2019 • photos of Paul and Connie, 2019 and 2023.

32:12 Conclusion: Connie voice-over, followed by a moving list of all the previous Torreya Guardians "assisted migration" videos.

Citizen Science discovers Pawpaw Pollinators in Michigan

ghostsofevolution 2023-04-13 | "Citizen Science discovers PAWPAW POLLINATORS in Michigan": Assembled by Connie Barlow in 2023, from video and photo documentation of fieldwork in southern Michigan: 2021–2022. Text and image resources: "Pawpaw Ecological Survey in Michigan, with Background Information, Excerpts of Scholarly Papers":
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/pawpaw-ecological-michigan.html

01:14 Summary of Results (90 seconds)

02:45 List of fieldwork sites and dates of observations (May 2021, 2022)

03:39 May 2, 2021 at Draper-Houston Meadows Preserve: Introduction to the phase development of pawpaw flowers (from female to male), historic range of Asimina triloba in eastern USA.

07:11 Continuing at Draper-Houston: full set of observations

10:46 May 7, 2021 at Pawpaw orchard of Marc Boone: Introduction

12:28 May 16, 2021 Marc Boone orchard observations (with Dallas Ford). First documentation of two tiny nitidulid beetles that will prove to be the dominant effective pollinators observed at all sites: Glischrochilus quadrisignatus and Stelidota geminata.

17:09 May 16, 2021 Draper-Houston Preserve (with Dallas Ford). Spiders, flies, and other insect visitors documented. Forest floor herb, Asaram (wild ginger), is abundant in the pawpaw patch and has flowers strikingly similar in form and color to the pawpaw flowers. Old growth pawpaw patches create their own canopy, as documented by Barlow on youtube from site visit to this preserve in September: youtu.be/S7u8opsHy5o

24:15 May 17, 2021 Ypsilanti home of Monica King (2 planted pawpaws). More flower and insect observations.

27:19 May 19, 2021 Ypsilanti home observations

32:58 May 20, 2021 Ypsilanti home observations

44:44 May 21, 2021 Ypsilanti home observations (with Dallas Ford)

48:40 comparing mite on back of pollinator beetle with previous video documentation of mites on other nitidulid beetles: carrion beetles and a burying beetle.

50:58 May 21, 2021 conclude observations at Ypsilanti home

54:41 One day of observations at Ypsilanti home in 2022 (May 14)

56:14 November 2022: Discovery of the same Glischrochilus beetle while sorting pawpaw seeds from rotting unharvested fruit from Marc Boone's orchard. Discovering larvae of the same beetle species in some of the rotting fruit.

57:22 Conclusion: "Reciprocity in nature" as exemplified by the beetle's give-and-take relationship with American pawpaw, Asimina triloba.

UPDATE SEPT 2023: I just watched the new 3-minute video of Pawpaw's local "Ambassador" on a Pittsburgh TV station, posted on youtube. Gabrielle Marsden is the guest, and she is the local person who has been planting pawpaws along the Allegheny River in places where industrial collapse now makes it possible for riverside forests to regrow. For Gabrielle, planting pawpaw is not an end in itself: She does it in order to make it possible for the Zebra Swallowtail to naturally return to Pittsburgh, as its caterpillar feeds uniquely on pawpaw leaves. Watch the fun video here: youtu.be/PfOfbZs1X60?si=3AUDa4M46jz71HO2

Torreya Guardians - 2022 reflections by Connie Barlow (2 decades of citizen action)

ghostsofevolution 2022-11-15 | Torreya Guardians is internationally known for conducting the first "assisted migration" action for a climate-endangered plant, Florida Torreya. Advocacy began in 2004, with actions ramping up in 2008. This network of engaged citizens, however, relied on an "exception" (just for plants) in the Endangered Species Act in order to do so legally. Finally, in 2022 the federal agency in charge of endangered species proposed updating the regulations pertaining to "experimental populations" in order to facilitate its use for climate adaptation: helping species move to cooler habitats. Time-coded list of topics:

00:04 - Introduction and early history: Barlow and Martin 2004 advocacy
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/barlow-martin.pdf
01:15 - Why a deep-time perspective is vital (Torreya is a "glacial relict")
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/assisted_migration_paleoecology.html
04:56 - "Helping forests walk" is an Indigenous term for "assisted migration"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America#Indigenous_people's_perspectives_and_actions
05:25 - Native Americans helped pawpaw track climate change in the past
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/a/g/agl/AbramsNowacki%20Holocene.pdf
05:58 - Federal government and botanic gardens oppose Torreya Guardians
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/guardians.html
06:44 - History of 1984 ESA listing of Torreya and the official recovery plan
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/save.html#official
07:00 - First recovery plan lists a dozen native diseases as cause of decline
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/1986-usfws.pdf
07:40 - U FL pathologist names "Fusarium torreyae" as singular cause
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/extinction.html#symposium
08:40 - Old horticultural plantings show that torreya resists diseases in north
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/historic-groves.html
08:47 - Torreya species in California migrated on mountains to stay healthy
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/california.html
09:31 - Biltmore Gardens (NC) donated seeds to Torreya Guardians in 2005
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/biltmore.html
10:01 - Endangered Species Act has an "exception" for plants (not animals)
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/shirey-2013-excerpts.pdf
11:20 - "It is now 2022 and we are still the only ones moving Torreya north."
12:01 - Citizens documented torreya naturalized in North Carolina gardens
12:47 - Citizens documented slow dispersal rate: just 40 yards per century
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/highlands.html
13:21 - Climate-stressed trees in western states are killed by native beetles
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaXEORtQX-UYQ0VyDbcIodhu
15:00 - Eastern USA needs a deep-time perspective for assisted migration
thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html#pigeon
16:10 - Examples of Torreya Guardians gathering, sorting, distributing seeds
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/clinton-bullard.html
20:11 - Agency and botanic gardens in charge become hostile to T Guardians
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/case-study-2021.html
21:36 - History of official program launch: branchlets cut and rooted early 90s
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torreya_taxifolia#Ex_situ_genetic_safeguarding
23:13 - Success with rooted branchlets led to ex situ plantings in N. Georgia
24:50 - Abundant seed production ex situ — but not counted, not distributed
25:45 - Barlow launched FOIA seed query 2018; result was no documentation
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/foia.html
26:58 - T Guardians website documents actions, results, learnings
27:49 - Northern botanical gardens officially discouraged from "assisted migration"
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/barlow-to-usfws-sept-2021.pdf
28:32 - TG documents controversies: "Case Study" and "Endangerment" webpages
30:27 - U FL Fusarium communications foment disease fear — absent peer review
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/extinction.html#fusarium
35:37 - Fusarium is found at north gardens but not lethal there; conflict remains
http://blogs.tallahassee.com/community/2021/11/09/the-endangered-florida-torreya
38:32 - Encourages viewers to try to access protocols, look for peer reviews
39:10 - Endangered Species Act regs may soon authorize assisted migration (A.M.
doi.gov/pressreleases/department-interior-proposes-expanding-conservation-technique-climate-change-threatens)
41:57 - Barlow advocates simpler protocols for A.M. of PLANTS than for animals
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/esa-reg-comments-2022.pdf
43:22 - Barlow ends: "May the forest be with you."

This video is Episode 35 in the "Torreya taxifolia assisted migration" PLAYLIST:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaXwOH416C7okxBeo358sn1o

Annotated version of the playlist: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

WEB LINKS:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torreya_taxifolia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torreya_Guardians
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

Five Frisky Snakes in Michigan (April 2022)

ghostsofevolution 2022-04-22 | On the first really warm day in spring of southern Michigan (though it would snow a week later), Connie Barlow encountered these 5 garter snakes in a deciduous forest, near logs, and very near the Huron River of Ypsilanti, Michigan. The day was 10 April 2022 (the video end slide conveys the wrong date).

More nature videos by Connie Barlow can be accessed through this playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaUc1CAl14iD99JTilZoHLv9

In Praise of Ferns (eastern North America) - photos by Connie Barlow, music by Sydney Jill Lehman

ghostsofevolution 2022-04-03 | "In Praise of Ferns" aggregates photos by Connie Barlow from her 18 years of living on the road in North America (Turtle Island) with husband Michael Dowd. This video entails ferns only in eastern North America; a separate video of ferns on the west side of the continent is forthcoming and will be linked in the caption below.

The music is courtesy of musician and composer Sydney Jill Lehman (now, Rev. Sydney Lehman Steen). There are a total of 134 images. Timecodes of the 5 sections:

00:10 OVERVIEW COLLAGE

04:02 NEW ENGLAND and MARITIME PROVINCES - Early to Late Spring

08:39 GREAT LAKES (MI, WI, OH) - Summer

16:35 SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS (GA, AL) - Winter

18:54 SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS (AL, GA, NC) - Spring, Summer

A similar music/photo video (22 minutes), "In Praise of Lichens," was also created by Connie in 2022 and posted here: youtu.be/PpU8s3sopFo

Watch 9 more nature videos on this PLAYLIST by Connie Barlow:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
(Videos of Monarch butterflies, Banana Slugs, Burying Beetle, Sandhill Cranes, Migrating Swifts, Michigan Mayflies, and Deer.)

In Praise of Lichens - photos by Connie Barlow, music by Sydney Jill Lehman

ghostsofevolution 2022-02-22 | The earliest life form to grace Earth's land masses can be trusted to carry forward long after our own bumbling species passes into dust. "In Praise of Lichens" aggregates photos by Connie Barlow from her 18 years of living on the road in North America (Turtle Island) with husband Michael Dowd. Whenever it was Connie's time to drive, she would opt for one of the albums by musician Sydney Jill Lehman (now, Rev. Sydney Lehman Steen) — whom we first experienced at the piano in a church in Portland, Oregon, where Michael was serving as guest minister/speaker. Following is a timecoded list of landscape sites:

00:10 INTRODUCTORY COLLAGE of photos. Lichens grow naturally on open bedrock, boulders, gravestones, tree trunks and branches, and rarely on special ground conditions. Some of the most spectacularly shaped and soft (foliose) lichens only grow high up on the upper surfaces of tree branches — so we groundlings see them only when a branch breaks and falls or a creature scuffles it off its perch. In the introductory section, you will see examples of the latter, resting upon autumn fallen leaves, at timecodes 01:43 and 02:03, as well as in many of the images in the site list below.

02:45 Lookout Mountain (NE Alabama) 2X
02:57 Eureka Springs, Arkansas
03:05 Buffalo Head (near Denver, Colorado)
03:12 Lichen LIZARD - Ghost Ranch ( N. New Mexico)
03:18 Pink Pegmatite mountains (west of Colorado Springs) 2X
03:32 Florida Panhandle 4X
04:02 Durango, Colorado
04:07 Lookout Mountain (NE Alabama) 3X
04:26 Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee 2X
04:39 Highlands, North Carolina (rainforest of the S. Appalachians) 7X
05:28 Lake Superior south shore (Michigan) 3X
05:48 Rainforest of Olympic Peninsula (Port Angeles, WA)
05:56 Lookout Mountain (NE Alabama) 2X
06:08 Lichen LIZARD - Ghost Ranch ( N. New Mexico)
06:15 Bigleaf Maple amid Coast Redwoods (Eureka, California)
06:23 Durango, Colorado 4X
06:51 Durango, CO 3X
07:12 Whidbey Island (Salish Sea, Washington)
07:19 Mojave National Preserve (S. California, which burned in 2020) 2X
07:35 Anasazi Trail Petroglyphs (SW Utah) 8X
08:30 Pink Pegmatite mountains (west of Colorado Springs) 12X
09:47 Wolf Lichen Wallowa National Forest (Oregon) 2X
10:00 Wolf Lichen, Icycle Creek (Leavenworth, WA) 3X
10:21 Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee
10:28 Lookout Mountain (NE Alabama) 16X
16:16 Prescott, Arizona
12:23 Deep limestone ravine (Woodsfield, Ohio) 2X
12:30 Cullowhee, North Carolina 4X
12:36 Lookout Mountain (NE Alabama) 17X
15:03 S. Appalachian Mountains (NW Georgia) 7X
15:43 White Mountains, New Hampshire 2X
16:03 Florida Panhandle
16:10 Pink Pegmatite mountains (west of Colorado Springs) 3X
16:31 Campus boulder, Nova Scotia Canada 2X
16:43 Lake Superior south shore (Michigan) 2X
16:59 Buffalo Head (near Denver, Colorado) 3X
17:19 Rainforest of Olympic Peninsula (Port Angeles, WA) 13X
18:52 Columbia River (inland, Oregon)
18:59 Whidbey Island (Salish Sea, Washington) 4X
19:27 Lookout Mountain (NE Alabama)
19:33 Whidbey Island (Salish Sea, Washington) 2X
19:46 Coastal Humboldt County (N. California) 8X
20:34 Durango, CO 2X
20:47 Graveyards in (Ypsilanti MI 3X, Connecticut, Ashland OR)
21:22 Lichen LIZARD - Ghost Ranch ( N. New Mexico)

Watch more nature videos this PLAYLIST by Connie Barlow:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaUc1CAl14iD99JTilZoHLv9
(Videos of Monarch butterflies, Banana Slugs, Burying Beetle, Sandhill Cranes, Migrating Swifts, Michigan Mayflies, Deer, and another music video: "In Praise of Ferns")

CTL 5d - 7 Conifers of Colorado (why topoclimate matters for range projections)

ghostsofevolution 2022-02-05 | Connie Barlow filmed wild populations of 7 conifer tree species in 2017 — all within a few hundred yards of one another. The concept of "topocliimate" is introduced, as described in a 2021 paper by James Worrall and Gerald Rehfeldt, and why it is a crucial consideration in highly complex topographies, such as this site in the Colorado Rockies, 9400-feet elevation. Timecoded table of topics:

00:05 Introduction by Connie Barlow, May 2017, at 9,400 ft elevation, west of Colorado Springs.

02:15 Seven conifers all within a few minutes walk: Engelmann Spruce, Limber Pine, Bristlecone Pine, Douglas-fir, Ponderosa Pine, Rocky Mountain Juniper, Pinyon Pine.

03:21 Intro by Connie Barlow, February 2022, of a new forestry concept important for climate adaptation: "TOPOCLIMATE." Latitude, elevation, slope, and aspect all contribute to "topoclimate" distinctions in topographically complex mountains.

05:04 Image comparing branchlets and cones of all 7 conifers onsite.

06:06 Forestry paper, "Strategic Application of Topoclimatic Niche Models in Managing Forest Change," 2021, by James Worrall and Gerald Rehfeldt. Also, the 76 western tree species project of Rehfeldt and Crookston: "Plant Species and Climate Profile Predictions."

07:06 Field survey of all 7 conifer species within a few minutes walk at 9,400 foot ridgetop, owing to strong topoclimate diversity.

21:57 Tabletop comparison of branchlets and cones of all 7 conifers, plus Juniperus communis and Blue Spruce.

28:17 BRISTLECONE PINE - field observations of more specimens at two sites.

38:35 BRISTLECONE PINE - map of all locales, plus photos of the final site: the biggest trees.

39:38 MAPS of current distributions of all 7 species, with Bristlecone Pine doomed by climate change — unless "assisted migration."

42:40 Bristlecone pine shifting range suitability modelled for years 2030, 2060, 2090 shows likely extinction — so the need for "assisted migration" poleward.

44:54 History of Barlow's advocacy for "assisted migration" of an endangered "glacial relict" conifer trapped in Florida, Torreya taxifolia, began with her 2021 book, "The Ghosts of Evolution" and continues with her founding in 2005 of the citizen-led group "Torreya Guardians." (California torreya will also need help moving poleward.) Maps and images of Torreya Guardians actions: the group achieved seed production in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2018. Their website: http://www.torreyaguardians.org

47:09 Information and more videos on "assisted migration" of native trees in the USA are at: "Climate, Trees, and Legacy" webpage: thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

OTHER REFERENCES:

• "The future of subalpine forests in the Southern Rocky Mountains: Trajectories for Pinus aristata genetic lineages," 2018, by Malone, Schoettle, and Coop. Mentions "assisted migration" as a management tool for genotypes most resistant to White Pine Blister Rust. Portrays that competition with other tree species is the biggest risk during climate change because, "To understand the potential for bristlecone pine forests to be replaced by other forest types, we merged the suitable climate space for the dominant tree species of important forest types or zones.... Douglas fir, subalpine fir, and Englemann spruce constitute the upper subalpine forests. Limber pine and lodgepole pine were used to define the lower subalpine forests. Ponderosa pine and quaking aspen (i.e., lower elevation species) are grouped to represent species encroachment from the montane zone, and pinyon-juniper was evaluated to quantify southwestern lower elevation woodland species encroachment... Under current conditions, the climate space for upper subalpine forests has the greatest overlap with the bristlecone pine climate space (81%), followed by the climate space for lower sub- alpine forests (68%), species from the montane zone (67%) and pinyon pine woodlands (6%).... By 2090 the bristlecone pine climate space is entirely shared with the climate space of other forest types. The distribution for lower elevation species’ climate space shifts up in elevation, while bristlecone pine climate space is not present and overlap declines for all forest types climate space except for pinyon pine (+21%). The 2090 climate space for lower elevation species is more frequent between 3000m and 3500m, which coincides with declines in 2090 bristlecone pine climate space." doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0193481

• "The Oldest Known Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pines (Pinus aristata Engelm.)", 1992, by Brunstein and Yamaguchi
tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00040851.1992.12002955

• Ecological differences between Limber Pine and the Great Basin species of Bristlecone Pine are explored in, 2017, by Smithers et al., "Leap frog in slow motion: Divergent responses of tree species and life stages to climatic warming in Great Basin subalpine forests"
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.13881

Helping Forests Walk 04 - Helping Subcanopy Trees Migrate

ghostsofevolution 2021-11-22 | Subcanopy trees, Pawpaw and Florida Torreya, of the eastern USA are the subjects of this November 2021 exploration by Connie Barlow of "assisted migration" — citizen style. Timecoded table of topics are below a short list of key web resources.

• Video series "Helping Forests Walk": thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

• "Torreya Guardians" website: http://www.torreyaguardians.org

• "Pawpaw Ecological Survey in Michigan": http://www.torreyaguardians.org/pawpaw-ecological-michigan.html

• "Finding Good Redwood Habitat in Coastal Pacific Northwest":
thegreatstory.org/redw/redwood-habitat.html

• Wikipedia: "Assisted Migration of Forests in North America": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

00:05 - Introduction to Pawpaw (Asimina triloba); Michigan as northern range — fruit likely carried there by Indigenous as glaciers retreated.

02:15 - "I wonder why everyone isn't doing this." Need for helping plants walk during climate change.

04:18 - Barlow sorts seeds out of surplus pawpaw fruits gathered at Marc Boone's pawpaw and persimmon orchard.

06:12 - Traditional Indigenous value pawpaw for fiber as well as fruit. Pawpaw ideal for organic horticulture (no pesticides needed). "Even if you don't own property, why isn't everybody doing this?"

08:30 - "I'm a collapsitarian. I've already experienced governmental collapse with an endangered species that I work with, Torreya taxifolia: Florida torreya." Loophole in Endangered Species Act permits citizens to lead. Torreya is a "glacial relict." Collapsitarian means, we're not getting back to normal. Rise and fall of civilizations, as presented by William Ophuls. "This civilization needs to go down."

10:45 - History of Anishinaabe people in Great Lakes region. Robin Wall Kimmerer recovers traditional values and communicates those widely. Sustainable cultures. Also, Kyle Whyte. "These are people living in two worlds. The fear of collapse: that's settler culture. They've experienced collapse — worse than we're going to experience it."

13:45 - "I live in two worlds, and it's a shocking two worlds" — since 2013, when woke up to climate change.

14:16 - Three kinds of "ecological knowledge": traditional, scientific, local. Barlow's 4 science books; "The Ghosts of Evolution" includes pawpaw. Scientific creation story: the "epic of evolution" expands one's sense of identity, beyond our species and this time. 5 mass extinctions. "If our species makes it through, this has got to be recorded mythically, saying, 'You don't do this again!'" Instead, recover Indigenous values. "It's a worldview shift — living in two worlds." Indigenuity must be recovered.

18:00 - Western science needs to recover "natural history." Paul S. Martin, Pleistocene ecologist: "I'm a naturalist first, a scientist second." Example by Barlow of natural history observation is in her 2021 Michigan video of field work: "Is this an Old Growth Pawpaw Patch?" youtu.be/S7u8opsHy5o

24:12 - Early scientists, notably Charles Darwin, used natural history observations for discoveries. "We don't need high technology to be able to continue working at that level."

26:12 - Traditional ecological values offer "kinship" forms of Earth values: respect, responsibility, reciprocity, reverence.

26:47 - "Living in two worlds" of values and modes of observing ecological change — along with expectations of whether science and civilization will continue. "Everything that we call public lands used to be ancestral Indigenous lands."

28:30 - Story of how Torreya Guardians' focus on private lands for planting this endangered species falters when ownerships change: the plantings may not be preserved. Two examples of private owners altering landscapes.

32:08 - Barlow "outs" herself in moving into guerrilla rewilding: she plants seeds on non-private properties. Whether our species continues or not, "at least the trees will carry on."

33:41 - Barlow visited the Torreya species in California to learn best habitats for planting the Florida species. Map of the southward river route that floated seeds from Appalachians to glacial refuge in Florida. Advocates moving California torreya north, too, and for helping every native tree whose seeds are not wind-blown. "Learn as much as you can." Use Google scholar.

36:44 - "There's no reason to go into despair and feel that you can't do something. Anybody here in the United States can help native plants move north." Barlow's video series: "Climate, Trees, and Legacy," renamed to "Helping Forests Walk."

41:00 - Steps for beginning to help forests walk. Importance of "indicator plants" for finding best habitats.

44:41 - Pawpaw has "recalcitrant" seeds; cannot be stored. "Use it or lose it."

46:05 - Live video of Huron River field site where Barlow discovers an ideal "indicator plant" for guerrilla rewilding the river slope with Florida Torreya.

Helping Forests Walk - 03 Thinking Like a Yew (Connie Barlow, June 2021)

ghostsofevolution 2021-06-27 | Connie Barlow uses video documentation at 8 sites in North America, along with natural history observations, to arrive at lessons for selecting wild sites for assisted migration of native species of wild yew: genus Taxus. Time-coded topics list below:

00:00:02 - Introduction to "Helping Forests Walk" video series. Quote by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Title of episode 3: "Thinking Like a Yew." Goal: To inform others to begin helping yews migrate poleward in North America, Europe, and China — and for selecting the best habitats. UPDATE: In a June 30 email, Robin told me the naming story: "Those words actually came to us from a respected Haudenosaunee elder, Henry Lickers, as we worked together on a climate change education project; he gave us that term for the project." As well, two colleagues pointed out that the yew hedge I stand along is likely not the European yew (T. baccata) but the Japanese yew (T. cuspidata) or a hybrid of the two.

00:04:38 - Maps of native range of Pacific Yew and Canadian Yew; but actual populations are highly "disjunct". (Detailed map example of n. California.)

00:06:21 - PACIFIC YEW - Introduction to the 3 video sites and USDA information.

00:08:43 - SITE 1 - Sahalie Falls, Oregon; McKenzie River. Associated canopy trees: Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and Western Red Cedar (Taxus plicata).

00:14:51 - SITE 2 - Olympic Peninsula, Washington state. Canopy trees are same as at Site 1 but also Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii).

00:19:29 - SITE 3 - Icycle Creek, WA, east side of Cascade Mtns. Canopy trees are same as at Sites 1 and 2, but also Engelmann Spruce (Picea engelmannii) and Grand Fir (Abies grandis). Also along trail but not associated with the yew are Western White Pine (Pinus monicola), Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta), and Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa).

00:40:36 - USDA information on Pacific Yew "vegetative regeneration" whereby the yew "expresses climax sociological dominance over tall conifers."

00:42:30 - SITE 3 continues. 00:45:04 - yew pollen cones

00:47:43 - EASTERN USA yew species begins with map of North America under Pleistocene glaciation.

00:48:55 - FLORIDA YEW (Taxus floridana), a glacial relict, at 1 site in Florida, where Torreya taxifolia also is relictual.

00:55:51 - CANADIAN YEW (Taxus canadensis) introduction to 4 sites. Site 1 is in Nova Scotia, where common name is "Ground Hemlock." Maps showing similar native ranges of Canadian Yew and Eastern Hemlock. UPDATE: This 2011 article is highly recommended (and offers helpful ideas for Pacific Yew, too): "The ecology of Canada Yew (Taxus canadensis Marsh.): A review" by Steve Windels and David Flaspohler - cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/b10-084

00:58:09 - SITE 2 of Canadian Yew at waterfalls, border of NY and MA. Canopy is Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) plus smaller deciduous trees.

01:00:53 - SITE 3 is relict site s. Virginia, steep cliff.

01:01:47 - SITE 4, Keeweenaw Peninsula, n. Michigan. Canopy fully deciduous: Red Oak, Sugar Maple, Yellow Birch. Range map of Eastern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis).

01:06:00 - 7 LESSONS for "Thinking Like a Yew"

1. Cool, dark, moist — but well drained (slopes)
2. Slope of a ravine or the north side of a mountain
3. Fires: none or rare over centuries
4. Deer rarely venture into the site because forest is dense, slope is steep, big carnivores in the ravines, falls and rapids are loud. SUGGESTION: rewild the carnivores. UPDATE: Following the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone in the 1990s, ecologists started calling natural deer-free areas (owing to topography and/or carnivore presence) "LANDSCAPES OF FEAR", which Barlow agrees is a superb metaphor.
5. Slope and winds encourage tree-falls.
6. Help the relict populations move north first.
7. Seek out Tsuga and Thuja canopies (rewild to Europe).

A terrific illustrated page of champion Pacific Yews is here:
bctreehunter.wordpress.com/2019/08/23/hiding-in-plain-sight-the-elusive-pacific-yew

"Helping Forests Walk" playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaXYUr_1HyB5xMtPqCI7V33l

Torreya Guardians website: http://www.torreyaguardians.org

Helping Forests Walk - 01 Introduction (by Connie Barlow, June 2021)

ghostsofevolution 2021-06-07 | Introduction to Connie's new video series as an advocate of a controversial climate adaptation tool: assisted migration poleward of native plants. Connie's previous video series on this topic was titled "Climate, Trees, and Legacy." It included field experience and learnings derived from this set of trees: Torrey Pine, Joshua Tree (5 vids), Arizona Cypress, Rocky Mountain Trees (10 species), Engelmann Spruce (2 vids), "Becoming Passenger Pigeon" (eastern USA large-seeded trees), Alligator Juniper (9 vids), Redwoods and Sequoias (9 vids), and Barlow lecture on assisted migration at Michigan Tech 2015. http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

00:05 Introduction by Connie Barlow, 6 June 2021, Ypsilanti, MI). Topics include returning to s. Michigan as an elder (where she is 6th generation of colonizers) and appreciation for the original inhabitants - Potawatomi. Barlow credits botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer with the term "helping forests walk." Kimmerer, a botanist at State University of New York, is a role model for using both modern science and indigenous ways of knowing and observing for understanding plants and their ecologies. UPDATE: In a June 30 email, Robin told me the naming story: "Those words actually came to us from a respected Haudenosaunee elder, Henry Lickers, as we worked together on a climate change education project; he gave us that term for the project." Note: Kimmerer speaks of her approach in botany and ecology here: youtu.be/2WRY3GoKYPc

02:19 This series will feature traditional natural history ways of observing and interpreting as a possible bridge between indigenous and modern science. Credits Charles Darwin and her mentor, Pleistocene ecologist Paul S Martin, as her role models in natural history.
Barlow's previous 18 years of living on the road, and the past 7 with a hand-held video camera, enabled her to film native trees in wild locations, across the USA.

06:00 Closing of introduction: "So let us remember the ancestors of our own species, of trees, and let us think of the descendants, who may or may not have an opportunity to follow us."

06:34 PREVIEW, followed by an updated and remixed video of a presentation Barlow delivered in 2014 in Prescott, Arizona, titled: "Forest Trees in Climate Peril."

07:28 Walt Anderson, naturalist and teacher at Prescott College, introduces Barlow as a science writer and advocate for "assisted migration" of trees facing climate change.

08:58 Barlow begins talk by speaking of the 2014 Climate March across USA, and the pilgrimage she took (led by Walt Anderson) a few days earlier to the Alligator Juniper champion tree — and how it was saved from a wildfire by the Granite Mountain hotshots, just a week before 19 of them died in the Yarnell fire.

11:45 "Ecological anachronisms" (subject of her 2001 book) and "deep time eyes" (knowledge of paleohistory and glacial refuges). Barlow and Paul S. Martin 2004 paper, "Bring Torreya taxifolia north now." Role of (extinct) megafauna in dispersing seeds of fruited plants.

17:31 "What I'd like to do here is take you through a worldview shift... with climate changing really fast." 2014 IPCC chart shows trees are slowest of all life forms to shift ranges.

21:11 Joshua Tree as local example of a tree missing its megafaunal seed disperser; map of its paleoecological range v. future range shift. (Example of Glacier National Park losing its glaciers.) JT as "poster plant of climate change for the American west."

26:51 Florida Torreya as poster plant for the American east. Barlow founded the citizen-naturalist group that accomplished the first "assisted migration of a tree endangered by climate change." Eastern USA trees lost Passenger Pigeon acorn disperser. Anthropocene is here. Now, "nature can no longer take care of itself." Examples: beech, oaks, juniper, torreya. Climate change elevates virulence of native pests.

30:13 Barlow story of using loopholes in USA Endangered Species Act to recruit citizens to move Torreya taxifolia north — because the officials in charge refused to do so.

32:46 "You all have no idea how far north your Joshua Tree can grow.... Do you see the amount of science and natural history that needs to be done in order for us to do a responsible job [in helping forests walk]? ... Who's going to take care of the trees?"

33:30 Continues story of Torreya Guardians actions and website: http://www.torreyaguardians.org

41:07 Importance of training students in natural history and paleoecology. "There's something to be gained from breadth and experience." Paul Martin, Dan Janzen, and E.O. Wilson "they would say, 'I'm a naturalist first and a scientist second.'" Importance of field experience of California torreya and "recording associated species."

46:17 "The Man Who Planted Trees" - Jean Giono 1980s video as the mythic story for tree planters.

Rest of topics in pdf: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/hfw-01-video-caption.pdf

California Banana Slugs - 6 of 6 - Mating Crescendo

ghostsofevolution 2021-02-08 | CALIFORNIA BANANA SLUGS: Video series by Connie Barlow
Filmed Summer of 2020, Humboldt County CA. Titles & times for 6 parts:

Part 1 - Introduction to Wild Slugs and This Series (12 mins)
youtu.be/16pJrak_irY

Part 2 - Watching Slugs Eat and Poop (13 mins)
youtu.be/3pkCzRDnGqs

Part 3 - Move Fast and Squeeze into Cracks (9 mins)
youtu.be/Jv1uefbyL7w

Part 4 - Two-Spot Finds a Mate (12 mins)
youtu.be/p0dz3jQlW6M

Part 5 - Spotify Finds a Mate (34 mins)
youtu.be/vSeOmp2YmOo

Part 6 - Banana Slug Mating Crescendo (16 mins)
youtu.be/H6hs5kI_jCI

See also: Connie's 9-part video series for assisting Redwood Trees
in moving north: http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html#redwood

See also: Connie's various videos in her "Nature" playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaUc1CAl14iD99JTilZoHLv9

California Banana Slugs - 5 of 6 - Spotify Finds a Mate

ghostsofevolution 2021-02-07 | CALIFORNIA BANANA SLUGS: Video series by Connie Barlow
Filmed Summer of 2020, Humboldt County CA. Titles & times for 6 parts:

Part 1 - Introduction to Wild Slugs and This Series (12 mins)
youtu.be/16pJrak_irY

Part 2 - Watching Slugs Eat and Poop (13 mins)
youtu.be/3pkCzRDnGqs

Part 3 - Move Fast and Squeeze into Cracks (9 mins)
youtu.be/Jv1uefbyL7w

Part 4 - Two-Spot Finds a Mate (12 mins)
youtu.be/p0dz3jQlW6M

Part 5 - Spotify Finds a Mate (34 mins)
youtu.be/vSeOmp2YmOo

Part 6 - Banana Slug Mating Crescendo (16 mins)
youtu.be/H6hs5kI_jCI

See also: Connie's 9-part video series for assisting Redwood Trees
in moving north: http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html#redwood

See also: Connie's various videos in her "Nature" playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaUc1CAl14iD99JTilZoHLv9

California Banana Slugs - 4 of 6 - Two Spot Finds a Mate

California Banana Slugs - 3 of 6 - Move Fast and Squeeze into Cracks

California Banana Slugs - 2 of 6 - Watching Slugs Eat and Poop

California Banana Slugs - 1 of 6 - Introduction to Wild Slugs and This Series

Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus) - Wild Action with Shrew Mole Carcass (California)

ghostsofevolution 2021-01-13 | Connie Barlow filmed this Nicrophorus burying beetle struggling to bury a dead Shrew Mole in Humboldt County, California. The beetle was frustrated by finding the carcass in the center of an old logging road. The compacted gravel would not yield. The film begins with initial discovery and awe. Barlow and her husband, Michael Dowd, struggle to figure out what was going on — noticing mites on the beetle and the arrival of flies, while confused by whether the carcass was that of a shrew or a mole. Voice over during editing, along with text addition, enables Barlow to make corrections and add what she learned about the species and its remarkable mode of co-parenting underground reproduction and larval nurturance. Filmed May 2020. Short video and stills are appended from previous instances in which Barlow encountered eastern species of carrion beetles (some, burying beetles) whilst they were feasting on mushrooms.

As of 2020 there are a total of 7 videos on my NATURE VIDEOS PLAYLIST:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJvRBS695TaUc1CAl14iD99JTilZoHLv9

Subjects include: Sandhill cranes, Monarch butterflies, Michigan Mayflies, Vaux swifts, and twin deer fauns.

May the forest be with you.

Florida Torreya Experiments in New Hampshire (2019)

ghostsofevolution 2020-07-31 | Four years of Florida Torreya assisted migration experiments on forested property in southern New Hampshire at the home of Daein Ballard. Video recorded onsite by Connie Barlow, founder of Torreya Guardians, on 18 May 2019.

Ballard has a variety of woodland habitats on his property, running from Hemlock Tree Swamp to groves of White Pine, mixed hardwoods on the lower reaches of a slope, dry oak mini ridge top, and open landscapes of lawn and roadway edges. A key part of his onsite experimentation was outplanting potted seedlings near a variety of distinct canopy species. These species included hemlock, red maple, striped maple, white birch, yellow birch, white pine, red pine, red oak, white ash, black cherry, white oak, chestnut oak, American Beech, and American Elm.

As is generally known, genus Torreya needs a well-drained landscape — so hemlock swamp (with moss and ericoid shrubs dominant) offered no signs of ability to thrive. The seedlings that perished in New Hampshire's driest summer on record were in the driest habitats. And the seedlings severely pruned back or killed by icing during the winter of 2018/19 were in open areas highly exposed to what Ballard regards was the warmest winter in his experience, but a crazy mix of unusually warm and rainy episodes suddenly followed by a crashing into freezing cold. Might that mix owe to jet stream swings beyond the norm — itself caused by Arctic heating and loss of summer sea ice?

At the conclusion of this video, Ballard reflects on the suitability of Florida Torreya for assisted migration as far north as southern New Hampshire. He surmises, "Torreya is probably not going to do well here for now, unless you put it in very particular areas."

The webpage on the Torreya Guardians website that provides details and a running report on Daein Ballard's experimentations in southern New Hampshire is: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/new-hampshire.html

Future year updates will continue to be added to that webpage.

For an annotated list of all the videos pertaining to assisted migration of Florida Torreya: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

The homepage of Torreya Guardians links to information on the natural history of this rare tree, the history of conservation efforts, the controversy over assisted migration of an endangered glacial relict plant, the history of Torreya Guardians actions and experiments, a state-by-state documentation of many of these experiments, as well as a photo-rich tally of what can be learned by onsite examination of horticultural plantings nearly a century old. http://www.torreyaguardians.org

CTL 9i - Coast Redwoods Assisted Migration - Collecting,Testing, and Dispersing Seeds Northward

ghostsofevolution 2020-03-12 | This is the 9th (and possibly final) installment in Connie Barlow's video series advocating human assistance in helping the Coast Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, advance some 300 miles northward to track ongoing climate change. Here she includes video of collecting fresh cones October 2019 at one site in California and two horticultural plantings in Oregon — north of the tree's current range in the wild. Next comes the seed germination experiments, which suggest that cones gathered from the horticultural planting in Portland Oregon contained far more viable seeds (10 to 13%) compared to cones gathered from Medford Oregon (2%) and near Orick CA (1%).

The rest of the video analyzes results, along with a summary of practical information gathered in the field and online, thus encouraging development of "best practices" for large-scale interventions in moving this ancient, relict tree species poleward — into zones of coastal Washington that mimic the fog-rich habitats of northern California where redwoods are currently native.

Surveys of existing northward horticultural plantings, along with Barlow's own experience (1) in forests of coastal Washington, (2) in Redwood old and regrowth forests of northern California, and (3) in undertaking poleward translocation of an endangered conifer in the eastern USA (Florida Torreya), have led her to hypothesize that casting redwood seeds into patches of Sword Fern may offer an easy technique and ideal micro-habitat for "free-planting" seeds directly into regrowth forest. This hypothesis draws from the paradigm of rewilding, as well as the deep-time perspective (paleoecological science) that reminds us that redwoods have been transiting north and south for tens of millions of years in accordance with the slow pace of natural climate shifts. See Barlow's 1999 essay "Rewilding for Evolution" and her 2009 chapter "Deep-Time Lags: Lessons from Pleistocene Ecology" accessible here: http://thegreatstory.org/CB-writings.html

As always, Barlow grounds quantitative results within a systems (rather than mechanistic) frame of ecological science. Observations, hypotheses, and hesitations emerge from Barlow's natural-history-style encounters with the species in its wild native habitats, poleward horticultural plantings, and (in two Seattle-area examples) "recipient" regrowth forests into which horticultural plantings have successfully launched a next generation — with no additional human help.

The last quarter of the video overlays Barlow's audio presentation of information with video and photos she collected over the years of (a) Coast Redwood in natural and horticultural settings and (b) glimpses of actual seed-casting dispersal of the newly gathered seeds into regrowth forested areas (rich in sword ferns and under deciduous canopies) at the south end of Whidbey Island, northwest of Seattle.

UPDATE: In Week 6 of the final seed germination experiment, Portland Tree #2 germinated 3 more seeds, bringing its total germination rate from 13% to 15%.

October 2021 Barlow collaborated with the Seattle-based "1000 Redwoods Project" in producing a photo-rich webpage to help Pacific NW planters of donated Coast Redwoods find the best habitats and microsites: "Finding Good Redwood Habitat in Coastal Pacific Northwest" at thegreatstory.org/redw/redwood-habitat.html

Also in 2021 Barlow collaborated on a new wikipedia page rich in background and linked sources: "Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

Access annotated list of the full "Climate, Trees, and Legacy" video series by Connie Barlow, in which she advocates for assisted migration poleward of native trees in the USA, region by region: http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

The citizens helping Florida Torreya move north volunteer as Torreya Guardians. Fifteen years of advocacy, actions, results, and recognition are documented at this website (for which Connie Barlow serves as webmaster): http://www.torreyaguardians.org

One immense webpage on that site is where Barlow has been documenting (for 12 years) the scholarly papers and news articles that initially debated the "assisted migration" controversy. In recent years, scholarship has trended toward practical action rather than abstract argument. This is especially true for the fields of forestry and urban landscaping. Learn more and do internal "Finds" to access sections of this vast annotated list of entries that best suit your educational needs: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/assisted-migration.html

Post-Doom Death of Expectations - Connie Barlow guest sermon Dec 2019

ghostsofevolution 2020-02-20 | Connie Barlow is co-developer and video editor of the "Post-Doom Conversations" series on youtube. In this guest sermon, delivered 29 December 2019, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Whidbey Island (WA), Barlow offers five patterns that she has detected among the guests telling their stories and describing their outlooks and sources of equanimity — despite a shared recognition that the future portends serious decline in many ways. The five patterns are:

(1) Diversity of outlooks
(2) Find a peer group
(3) Share stories
(4) Identity shift / myth
(5) Generational distinctions

Along the way she highlights lessons and stories from conversations hosted by Michael Dowd of these early guests to the ongoing series (all posted on youtube): Shaun Chamberlin, Joanna Macy, Dougald Hine, Rupert Read, LaUra Schmidt, Aimee Lewis-Reau, Richard Heinberg, Carolyn Baker, Ganga Devi Braun, Stephen Jenkinson, and Terry Patten.

All of the Post-Doom videos can be accessed through postdoom.com

Or go directly to the youtube post-doom playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcAlqMeyeaW91q0fUuOWHKEaGTCL41ItE

Connie Barlow's biography and list of publications:
http://thegreatstory.org/CB-writings.html

CTL 9H - Coast Redwoods - Is climate change already stressing cone production?

ghostsofevolution 2019-11-29 | Connie Barlow visits Humboldt State University, Arcata CA, and video-documents evidence that cone production of Coast Redwoods on campus is strongly linked to the presence of artificial water sources: watered lawns, outflow of roof gutters, and sloped parking pavement.

Tree-by-tree video-documentation occurred Sept 17 and 26, 2019.

At the end of this video (timecode 56:12), Barlow adds an October 4 video documenting that red squirrels in Laurelhurst Park of Portland Oregon were busily harvesting green cones. Hence a cautionary note: Documenting presence or absence of green cones must occur prior to squirrel activity — if, indeed, red squirrels are present in the locale. As well, even though old cones remain on the tree for a year, they will be absent if squirrels harvested them the previous year.

00:08 - Barlow introduces this video as the 8th installment in the Redwood series
01:12 - Do campus redwoods produce cones only in locations with access to artificial water?
03:12 - First evidence of differential cone production on campus
07:04 - Distinction bt past year (brown) and new (green) cones
07:36 - 45-minute video-documentation of coning and nonconing redwoods on campus
52:48 - Barlow offers 3 suggestions for campus landscapers to maintain redwood health as climate deteriorates.

56:12 - Evidence of squirrels harvesting green cones in Laurelhurst Park, Portland OR

October 2021 Barlow collaborated with the Seattle-based "1000 Redwoods Project" in producing a photo-rich webpage to help Pacific NW planters of donated Coast Redwoods find the best habitats and microsites: "Finding Good Redwood Habitat in Coastal Pacific Northwest" at thegreatstory.org/redw/redwood-habitat.html

Also in 2021 Barlow collaborated on a new wikipedia page rich in background and linked sources: "Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

Access annotated list of the full "Climate, Trees, and Legacy" video series by Connie Barlow, in which she advocates for assisted migration poleward of native trees in the USA, region by region: http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

Barlow also founded 15 years ago the first citizen group to undertake assisted migration in behalf of a climate-endangered tree (Florida Torreya, a glacial relict). Access the "Torreya Guardians" website:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org Barlow's citizen science and practice actions with Florida Torreya are highlighted in a 2020 book: "The Journeys of Trees: A Story About Forests, People, and the Future," by Zach St. George. Publisher: W.W. Norton

CTL 9F - Coast Redwoods Thrive and Multiply at Seabeck, WA 2019

ghostsofevolution 2019-11-07 | Crucial documentation of a mid 1980s planting of Coast Redwoods into a Douglas-fir regrowth forest west of Seattle. Site visit by Connie Barlow October 2019 shows thrival of the in-forest plantings plus multiple age groups of evident offspring: seedlings and saplings dispersing beyond the original plantings. This video is part 6 of a 9-part video series advocating "assisted migration" northward of California's Coast Redwood and Giant Sequoia trees.

CORRECTION: In the video Connie incorrectly reports that the redwoods were planted in the 1970s. The current director of Seabeck Conference Center, Charles Kraining, contributed this correction in a 7 November 2019 email to Connie:

"I think the redwoods were planted in the mid 1980s. The Director that planted them started here in 1984. He did it early in his tenure here. I would guess that like most of our trees, the deer made quick work of many. I think the video is a great asset to have for future generations and us."

Access Barlow's full series of documenting Coast Redwoods and Giant Sequoia horticultural plantings in the Pacific Northwest here:
http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html#redwood

October 2021 Barlow collaborated with the Seattle-based "1000 Redwoods Project" in producing a photo-rich webpage to help Pacific NW planters of donated Coast Redwoods find the best habitats and microsites: "Finding Good Redwood Habitat in Coastal Pacific Northwest" at thegreatstory.org/redw/redwood-habitat.html

Connie also created a long, photo-rich webpage of technical details on "Growth Capacities of Coast Redwood" that she posted on the Torreya Guardians website here: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/redwood-2019.html That page utilizes photos from this site in Pacific NW, along with a lot of photos from an old second-growth site along Freshwater Creek east of Eureka , California.

Also in 2021 Barlow collaborated on a new wikipedia page rich in background and linked sources: "Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

October 2022 the Canadian Forestry Service published a 39-page report by Richard S. Winder et al., titled, "Potential for Assisted Migration of Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) to Vancouver Island: Problems and Prospects." I have excerpted and linked the report here: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/assisted-migration.html#winder-2022

UPDATE JANUARY 2023: I just learned of a second Coast Redwood forest planting that took place in the 1990s by Hama Hama Logging Company (a subsidiary within the family owned Hama Hama Oyster Company): hamahamaoysters.com/pages/forestry
The company is located in the village of Hama Hama on the Hood Canal side of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. Its redwood forest is about 15 miles southwest of the within-forest redwood planting at Seabeck WA portrayed in this video.

NEW WEBPAGE REDWOOD INFORMATION IN 2023: This youtube channel owner, Connie Barlow, is corresponding with citizens in the Seattle area who are planting Coast Redwood (and Giant Sequoia) in their area. Their website is propagationnation.us

To support their effort, I created a 6-part photo-essay series on a new webpage of mine, titled, "Growth Capacities of Coast Redwoods" here: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/redwood-2019.html
The 6 sections are: (1) Redwood Lignotubers, (2) Redwoods sprout from Lignotubers, (3) Fallen Branches sprout by Layering, (4) Trunk Reiteration, (5) Propagation from Cuttings (obtaining vertical orientation) and (6) Bark Beetle Evidence (on fallen redwood branch).

VIDEO SERIES: "Climate, Trees, and Legacy" (a.k.a., "Helping Forests Walk") is
Connie Barlow's multi-part advocacy for "assisted migration" poleward of trees native to North America. As of 2023, there are 34 videos in this series, which are listed, linked, and annotated here: http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

Barlow's advocacy for "assisted migration" of native trees began in 2004 with advocacy for a glacial relict conifer, left behind in its peak glacial refuge in Florida, Torreya taxifolia. Visit the Torreya Guardians website for more information on the tree and advocacy for moving it poleward: http://www.torreyaguardians.org

CTL 9G - Coast Redwoods at Chetco River Oregon - 2019 site visit

ghostsofevolution 2019-11-07 | September 29, 2019 Connie Barlow video-documented her site visit to the northern-most wild (unlogged) grove of Coast Redwoods in America. While it lacks the immense tree sizes for which Redwood National Park (at various sites in northern California) is justifiably famous, this site in southwestern Oregon offers great hope for those of us weary of climate bad news. For it is here where one finds site evidence of this tallest tree species in the world still producing lots of offspring, which then head for the canopy themselves.

This is the 7th episode in the Redwood / Giant Sequoia branch of Connie Barlow's "Climate, Trees, and Legacy" video series posted on youtube. Access the webpage with links and summaries of all episodes here: http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

October 2021 Barlow collaborated with the Seattle-based "1000 Redwoods Project" in producing a photo-rich webpage to help Pacific NW planters of donated Coast Redwoods find the best habitats and microsites: "Finding Good Redwood Habitat in Coastal Pacific Northwest" at thegreatstory.org/redw/redwood-habitat.html

Also in 2021 Barlow collaborated on a new wikipedia page rich in background and linked sources: "Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

Access annotated list of the full "Climate, Trees, and Legacy" video series by Connie Barlow, in which she advocates for assisted migration poleward of native trees in the USA, region by region: http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

UPDATE 2022: Canadian forestry research Richard Winder is lead author of a 39-page report titled, "Potential for Assisted Migration of Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) to Vancouver Island: Problems and Prospects". I excerpted the most important parts on another webpage, including the map of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where the team identifies the best coastal areas for moisture, fog, but protected against stormy salt spray:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/assisted-migration.html#winder-2022

Florida Torreya Loves Tennessee - March 2019 in Ocoee Watershed

ghostsofevolution 2019-08-23 | Clint Bancroft is one of the lead volunteer "assisted migration" planters of America's most climate-endangered tree: Florida Torreya. Connie Barlow video-documents Clint's skills in siting this species into his regrowth deciduous forest of Tennessee's southern Appalachian mountains. Because Torreya is a well-known "glacial relict" that was left behind in its peak glacial refuge after the last Ice Age, it is best adapted today for the climate not of Florida but of the southern Applachian Mountains. Other videos in the Torreya Guardians series show that this species thrives even in more northern states: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

Linked time-coded topics within the video:

00:14 - aerial and topo maps of forest site along Greasy Creek, Tennessee
00:53 - overview of the forest sites where Torreya seedlings have been planted
03:24 - highest slope Woodlanders Tree A 2019 view; perfect shape, no herbivory
04:00 - no herbivory on any outplantings (rural deer hunters) v. Torreya State Park
05:12 - photos of diseased trees in Florida's Torreya State Park
05:42 - highest slope Tree A close-up 2019 compared to 2015 video
07:30 - deciduous trees in surrounds/canopy (beech, hickory, oak)
08:25 - highest slope Woodlanders Tree B 2019 v. 2014 vids (cutting-grown; apical leader)
09:57 - begin highest slope tour of new seedlings from 2014 seeds
10:12 - video flashback to March 2015 when Connie Barlow delivered 40 seeds
10:30 - two little seedlings already outplanted from 2014 seeds; very healthy
16:04 - go downslope to set of 3 plantings from Woodlanders across from cabin
16:19 - Tree 1 of 3: excellent growth and form (2014 video compared to 2019)
18:17 - Tree 2 of 3: its leader has 4 laterals + apical ready to burst; compare to 2014
19:54 - Tree 3 of 3: healthy but strangely leaning growth form; but now good leader
21:36 - Cabin tree 1 of 2: biggest, oldest of all; donated by a friend in Pensacola
27:36 - Cabin tree 2 of 2: another of the original 10 potted seedlings fr Woodlanders
29:36 - upslope from cabin Tree 1 of 3 (Woodlanders):
30:08 - upslope from cabin Tree 2 of 3 (Woodlanders)
31:39 - start journey deeper into forest to "The Torreya Bowl"
33:03 - at Torreya Bowl, co-created with Jack Johnston, intended as seed orchard
34:14 - importance of maximizing gene diversity at Torreya Bowl; Florida yew too
34:56 - four seed sources thus far: Lee FL, Blairsville GA, Clinton NC, Medford OR
37:08 - Jack Johnston's long volunteer work in planting Torreya north of Florida
37:52 - map of seed sources from "Historic Groves" webpage:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/historic-groves.html
38:07 - role of Torreya Guardians in proving Torreya is "subdioecious"
38:35 - closing with video of many potted seedlings, fenced, waiting outplanting
39:04 - map of 3 primary "peak glacial refuges" along southeastern coast
39:13 - Torreya seeds floated down Chattahoochee River as glaciers advanced
39:20 - now Torreya needs humans to "float" seeds back north
39:26 - homepage of Torreya Guardians, including more videos
http://www.torreyaguardians.org

Access all VIDEOS in the Torreya Guardians series: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video...

Two WIKIPEDIA pages put the citizen efforts of Torreya Guardians in context of the overall need for "assisted migration" poleward of native trees:

"Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

"Torreya Guardians" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torreya_Guardians

Florida Torreya in Michigan Survives Deer Herbivory (Part 2 of 2)

ghostsofevolution 2019-07-15 | Part 2 of 2 of PAUL CAMIRE's in-forest plantings of potted seedlings and also seeds from the 2016 fall harvest in Medford Oregon of Florida Torreya. His 50-acre regrowth forest/woodlot is surrounded by farm fields in the thumb of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, near the town of Capac. Webpage that accompanies this Michigan Torreya video: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/mi-capac.html

Click on blue timecodes for direct access to each topic:

00:21 Florida Torreya video-documentation continues on the south side of forest
00:50 Seeds planted 3.5 to 5 inches deep; no cages until above-ground growth
01:12 Seeds donated from Fall 2016 harvest by a grower in Medford, Oregon
01:23 Overview of germinations, followed by deer herbivory, despite cages
01:53 Seedling #5 (continuing from #1 – 4 in Video 32a; Part 1 of this series)
02:09 Seedling #5 germinated late summer 2018; no herbivory, 3 lateral buds
03:50 Seedling #6 winter herbivory destroyed entire above-ground growth
04:35 Seedling #7 nipped off twice in 2017-18, then eaten entirely winter 2019
05:19 Seedling #7 video of regrowth from 9 months earlier (27 September 2018)
06:21 Seedling #7 return to June 2019
06:42 Seedling #8 entirely eaten overwinter; video of 9 months earlier added
07:21 Seedling #9 began to sprout September 2018
07:50 Seedling #10 video of September 2018 shows branch fall did severe setback
08:20 Return to 24 June 2019
08:23 Seedling #11 June 2019 video shows it is entirely eaten to the ground
09:23 Seedling #11 September 2018 video shows a short plant (sprouted in August)
10:41 Seedling #12 June 2019 video shows good recovery from 2018 herbivory
12:20 Seedling #13 "Discovery Tree" destroyed by deer 2019; Sept 2018 video shown
13:33 Seedling #14 as it was filmed in September 2018 video (had a basal)
14:17 Seedling #14 in June 2019: no winter herbivory; teepee of branches protected it?
15:22 Begin new section: Four individuals show amazing herbivory recovery (2019)
15:25 Seedling #15 has only a leafless stem, but green buds all along it
15:51 Big cottonwood is property boundary tree
16:06 Seedling #16 only a leafless stem remains, but new leaves near the top
16:20 Seedling #17 best visual of recovery buds and leaf-out
17:17 Seedling #18 excellent visual of near-top bud recovery (the last seedling)
17:58 Paul shows 2 sets of potted torreyas in the back of his truck June 2019
18:01 Paul explains how 2 potted seedlings bleached in sunlight, but will recover
19:13 Four potted seedlings from Niche Gardens will be planted that day
20:10 Liriodendron (tulip-tree) from n. Georgia will be planted
20:24 All the potted seedlings (in truck) spent winter partly buried, S. side of house
20:42 Planting of 3 of the 4 all-green potted torreyas ends the June 2019 video
27:42 Photo and text of one new germination 2 weeks later (8 July 2019)
28:03 various end slides, including Torreya Guardians videos and homepage:

Complete list of Torreya Guardians videos on youtube:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

Complete information (including state-by-state planting reports) here:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org

Part 1 of 2 video: youtu.be/LOkqPxNFkHE

Florida Torreya in Michigan Survives -45 Degree F Windchill (Part 1 of 2)

ghostsofevolution 2019-07-15 | First Torreya Guardians video of PAUL CAMIRE's in-forest plantings of potted seedlings and also seeds from the 2016 fall harvest in Medford Oregon. His 50-acre regrowth forest/woodlot is surrounded by farm fields in the thumb of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, near the town of Capac. Florida Torreya has been documented surviving (with little or no damage) subzero temperatures before (and in other states). But this is by far the worst condition: -45 degrees F windchill during Winter 2019. And yet none of the existing evergreen leaves and overwintering vegetative buds appeared to be damaged in any way.

Connie Barlow visited 24 June 2019. This 2-part video series of that visit includes inserts of video footage Connie captured at the same site 9 months earlier: 27 September 2018.

The last half of the video features a species-by-species look at the kinds of trees growing in Paul's forest, which is entirely deciduous and full canopy. A tally of plants as indicator species where Torreya grows well will help us discern best habitats for further plantings (assisted migration) of Florida Torreya (a glacial relict) northward in this fast-warming climate.

Click on blue timecodes for direct access to each topic:

00:25 Pictures & details on the tall seedling (#1) unharmed by -45 F
02:13 Snow did not protect leaves and buds, yet new growth is vibrant
02:22 Map of Michigan, its plant zones, and locale of Capac
02:30 Close-up of the same torreya with growth details
04:31 Cold survival, with story (and photos) of Cleveland OH torreyas
05:18 Seedling #2: severe herbivory by deer, but excellent regrowth
07:29 Seedling #3: ash treefall, sudden sunlight bleached the leaves; regrowth
10:01 Insert of Cox Garden Torreya (n. Georgia) that lost leaves
10:46 Seedling #4: new growth recovery from two episodes severe herbivory
12:20 Winter-hungry deer will browse even the sharp, hardened needles
13:08 Seedling #4: Video from 9 months earlier, Sept 2018
13:28 View upward, fully deciduous canopy; intro to tour of tree species
14:33 List of tree species we visit in final half of this Part 1 video
14:52 Colony of wild American Ginger, with close-up of its flowers
15:57 Red Oak and a single trillium that escaped deer herbivory
16:40 American Beech (several mature trees; no scale insect damage yet)
17:24 Beech resprouting from basal shoots; repetitive browsing
18:08 Pignut Hickory, Witch Hazel,
18:51 Swamp White Oak, Basswood, Elm
20:10 View of the small, muddy swamp: Red Maple and Swamp White Oak
20:49 Zoom in on a resting fawn, within safety of the swamp
21:03 More views of the swamp, with standing water and sedges
22:00 A giant Swamp White Oak, with red trilliums caged alongside
23:01 White Oak on higher ground, with white trilliums caged alongside
23:33 Basswood at forest edge on eastern side of woodlot
24:40 Shagbark Hickory, on elevated "tip-up" mound
25:15 Multi-stemmed Sugar Maple ("coppiced" from original cut stem)
25:58 Paul's hypothesis: Botanists saw coppiced torreyas, not wild form
26:41 Paul's online historical research of older ex-situ torreya plantings
See early botanical Torreya writings: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/torreya.html
27:14 American Chestnut seedlings: offspring of purebred survivors, not cross-bred
30:23 Continue to Video 32b, Part 2 of 2: youtu.be/H840FINJKkc

Complete list of Torreya Guardians videos on youtube:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

Complete information (including state-by-state planting reports) here:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org

Freeplanting Torreya Seeds - Shoal Sanctuary FL pt 2 of 2 (2019)

ghostsofevolution 2019-02-26 | Last half of January 2019 video documentation of 9 seedlings born of 40 "freeplanted" seeds in cool, shady habitats of Shoal Sanctuary, west of Defuniak Springs in northern Florida. List of timecoded topics:

00:33 Chris Larson speaks of creeks and ravines beyond Grotto Ravine
02:01 Chrysemys Creek and beyond show 4 seedlings from 20 seeds freeplanted
02:30 "Tarantula" Torreya site observations; no herbivory
03:50 "Tarantula" Torreya detailed observations; 3 lateral branches
06:51 Site overview headed toward "Trek" Torreya
08:01 "Trek" Torreya detailed observations
09:10 Site observations enroute to final two torreya seedlings
10:33 "Cephus" Torreya detailed observations at ravine rim; recovered from drought
13:18 "Grow Tall" Torreya detailed observations; Christmas ferns on both sides
16:08 Summary of results of all 9 seedlings in both 31a and 31b videos; 25% success
17:25 New learning: No herbivory! This is the first freeplanting site with none
17:51 Further Study Q#1: Why does this site escape seedling herbivory?
18:12 Q#1 hypothesis 1A: Steep, narrow ravines dangerous for deer
18:55 Q#1 hypothesis 1B: Rural hunters keep deer population very low
19:30 Q#1 hypothesis 1C: Shiny pinwheels scare away the herbivores
20:00 Further Study Q#2 (longterm experiment): Habitat differences in future health?
21:07 Q#2 hypothesis: Climate change will hurt Grotto Ravine torreyas last
21:40 Further Study Q#3: Can Christmas Ferns serve as indicator species?
23:01 Christmas Fern may benefit Torreya in two additional ways:
23:14 Further Study Q#4: how to benefit from existing mycorrhizal networks?
23:22 Christmas Fern "endo" mycorrhizae soil symbionts are same for Torreya
24:20 List of other "endo" utilizing plant species shown in the Shoal videos
24:50 Christmas Fern offers Torreya seedling evergreen camouflage in winter
25:20 "Freeplanting Seed Experiments" webpage on Torreya Guardians website
25:33 Photo-essay closing: "In Praise of Polystichum" (Christmas Fern genus)
26:05 Christmas Fern helps Torreya by: camouflage, mycorrhizae, indicator species
27:12 Photos of Polystichum Fern mixing with Torreya plantings in eastern USA
28:59 Photos of Polystichum "Sword Fern" species with redwoods in western USA
30:15 Photo of Sword Ferns by a champion Torreya californica (Santa Cruz)
30:44 "May the forest be with us all."

Torreya Guardians website (including list of all videos):
http://www.torreyaguardians.org
Video 31a (first half of 2019 Shoal Sanctuary documentation:
youtu.be/rjDmcDB3LLU

Shoal Sanctuary Torreya page: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/florida.html
Shoal Sanctuary website: http://www.shoalsanctuary.com

Freeplanting Torreya Seeds - Shoal Sanctuary FL pt 1 of 2 (2019)

ghostsofevolution 2019-02-25 | Shoal Sanctuary is due west of the peak glacial refuge habitat of Florida Torreya. 40 seeds were planted Spring 2015, by placement directly into forest soil in the coolest, moistest part of the land. A total of 5 of 20 seeds had produced seedlings, still thriving in January 2019 in "Grotto Ravine" (best habitat). Those five seedlings are examined in detail in this video. A separate, Part 2, video examines the 4 seedlings of 20 originally planted in other ravine or near-creek locales at Shoal. Timecoded topics for direct access:

00:09 Chris Larson introduces the seed planting project
02:00 Connie Barlow speaks on video clip intro filmed in 2015
02:31 map of Florida Panhandle: Shoal and Torreya native range
02:36 why Shoal's "Grotto Ravine" could be Torreya's last stand in FL
03:19 tally: 5 of 20 original seeds freeplanted = seedlings
03:30 survey of fern gametophytes on dripping sandstone
04:07 giant Southern Magnolia tree in ravine bottom
05:04 deciduous canopy arching over Grotto Ravine
05:52 evergreen ferns (Christmas Fern)
06:12 "Isaiah" Torreya - detailed observations (has a basal)
08:15 Redbay (Persea borbonia) understory
08:33 evergreen ferns: Polystichum acrostichoides
08:45 "New Hope" Torreya detailed observations
10:59 "Evan" Torreya introduction (2 stems, so 2 seeds)
12:08 Grotto, waterfall, pool, and a moisture-loving delicate fern
13:08 2015 survey of Christmas ferns in Grotto Ravine
13:32 "Evan" Torreya close-up observations (far leaning)
16:44 summary of the first 3 seedlings observed
16:54 introduction to the final 2 seedlings in Grotto Ravine
18:06 "Fossil" Torreya detailed observation
19:50 "Dino" Torreya detailed observation (erosion survivor)
23:58 summary of 5 seedlings

Continue to Part 2 (final) video: youtu.be/9HScD7KDpMs

Access a list of all the videos on Torreya trees posted on this youtube channel at:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

Two WIKIPEDIA pages put the citizen efforts of Torreya Guardians in context of the overall need for "assisted migration" poleward of native trees:

"Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

"Torreya Guardians" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torreya_Guardians

Barlow's VIDEO exploration of "assisted migration" prospects for trees native to different regions of North America is here: thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

Florida Torreya in Louisiana (Pt 2) - Mature Grove with Seedlings

ghostsofevolution 2019-02-09 | Last half of the site visit made by Torreya Guardians in 2018 to the three mature Torreya trees, 68 years old at Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve in Louisiana. Please watch Part 1 youtu.be/uzjo8VBTmt0 before continuing with this video.

01:02 - Map of site visit and intro to Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve, Louisiana
01:48 - Site visit resumes at the Dormon cabin, which is near Torreya Tree #3.
02:24 - This is a mast year for White Oak, with a huge crop of acorns onsite
02:50 - Bigleaf Magnolia and first view of TORREYA TREE #3 (the biggest one)
03:11 - A seedling offspring of Torreya #3 and oral history of first seedling observed
04:46 - A long ground-trending branch; photos of same at Biltmore and Harbison
06:57 - Circumference comparison of Tree #3 v. the smaller Tree #1
07:15 - Q: What habitat differences caused the size differences of the three Torreyas?
07:21 - Detailed observations of the first of two ground-trending branches
09:38 - Connie notices moss on branch and remembers same on Calif torreyas
09:49 - Photos inserted of 2005 visit to Torreya californica growth form in deep shade
11:30 - Photos inserted of California Torreyas growing tall in other locations, 2005
12:27 - Resume detailed look at the long, ground-trending branch in Louisiana
18:00 - LESSON: Never cut off low, living branches of any Torreya species
18:22 - Detailed look at the 2nd ground-trending long branch
19:29 - Summary observations of both ground-trending branches
20:11 - Close look at vegetational buds at tips of ground-trending branches
22:08 - "Why bother to get tall if you can access sun via ground-trending branches?"
23:09 - The beauty of healthy Torreya leaves intermixed with evergreen ferns on ground
23:35 - COLLECTING 3 SEEDS from TORREYA TREE #3
24:37 - Detour to film another seedling that established directly under its parent
25:01 - Seed observation continues, with pointing to seed #2 high up
25:08 - Torreya branches too prickly and limp for squirrels to gather hanging seeds
25:40 - Seed #3 observed — and collected via a long-handled fruit collector
25:49 - Close-up observation and smelling of the first collected seed
LESSON: Torreya seeds will remain hanging on branches long past full ripening
27:31 - Seed #2 collected and compared to Seed #3, possibly way over-ripe
28:51 - Connie reports "success" of common name shift away from "Stinking Cedar"
29:35 - Beauty views of the sunny-side evergreen branchlets on Tree #3
29:46 - Neighboring witch hazel and a big White Oak
30:19 - Oral history of maximal seed production 4 years earlier (14 seeds)
31:50 - Seed #1 collected
32:19 - Tree #3 is still a male tree that recently started to produce a few seeds
33:24 - Seven total seedlings, most of which transplanted 30 feet farther
33:49 - Bigleaf Magnolia youngsters intermix with the transplanted torreyas
34:02 - Discussion (and list) of tree genera using same mychorrizae as Torreya
35:07 - The value of planting Torreyas in this preserve, "a complete ecosystem"
35:25 - Site visit to the biggest pine, a Longleaf Pine, named "Grandpappy"
36:13 - Final question: Why are squirrels not "dispersing" Torreya seeds here?
36:22 - Possible answer: White Oak acorns are abundant and tastier!
Note: - Remaining minutes offer best distant views of TORREYA TREE #3
39:40 - Homepage of TorreyaGuardians.org, including access to videos

See also the Torreya Guardians webpage photo-essay of this site visit:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/louisiana.html

Access titles, links, and summaries of all videos in the Torreya Guardians series here:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

Two WIKIPEDIA pages put the citizen efforts of Torreya Guardians in context of the overall need for "assisted migration" poleward of native trees:

"Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

"Torreya Guardians" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torreya_Guardians

Barlow's VIDEO exploration of "assisted migration" prospects for trees native to different regions of North America is here: thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

Florida Torreya in Louisiana - Mature Grove with Seedlings (2018)

ghostsofevolution 2019-02-09 | Site visit to Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve by two Torreya Guardians 15 November 2018. Of the four long-ago horticultural plantings outside of Florida that produce seeds that have germinated into seedlings nearby (with no human help), this mature grove of Florida Torreya in Louisiana is the first one in which knowledgeable local guides could provide the complete oral history and answer questions posed by Torreya Guardians. This is thus a superb example of why "natural history" observations and inquiry can crucially help the development of best practices for "assisted migration" recovery actions to ensure that this climate-endangered tree does not slide into extinction.

Because wild Torreya ("left behind" in its tiny "peak glacial" refuge in Florida) failed to maintain mature stems beginning 70 or 80 years ago, this set of mature trees outplanted in Louisiana in 1950 offers one of very few opportunities to discern the "natural history" and adaptive forms taken on by this highly endangered species. All it needs is to be given an opportunity to grow in a climate zone outside of Florida that is conducive to good health.

All citizens and scientists who are working toward species recovery and de-listing are encouraged to carefully watch and learn from this 2-part video set. Timecoded topic list:

00:01 - Why Historic Groves of mature Torreyas are crucial for saving the species
01:56 - Summary of the 4 "naturalized groves" of Torreya in NC and Louisiana
04:57 - History and geography of the Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve
06:19 - The 4-person team making a Torreya site visit to the preserve
07:22 - Rick Johnson, preserve guide, describes the legacy of Caroline Dormon
07:55 - Field observations of TORREYA TREE #1 (all 3 were planted ca. 1950)
09:03 - Survey of tree species nearby Torreya #1
10:25 - Detailed observations of Torreya #1 (basals, pollen, thriving canopy)
14:14 - Seedling from Tree #3 was transplanted to be near Tree #1
15:45 - Florida Anise brought into preserve by Miss Dormon is thriving
16:14 - Field observations of TORREYA TREE #2 (which died suddenly in 2017)
16:26 - Observations and discussion re mystery of Torreya #2 death
20:18 - Nearby Bigleaf Magnolia (offspring of original plantings by Dormon)
20:36 - Yaupon and American Holly observed and discussed (Privet weeded out)
21:19 - Nearby Southern Magnolia (native) and Mountain Laurel (Dormon planted)
22:08 - Florida anise is thriving beyond range; photo of its seed structure and map
23:01 - American Osmanthus (slightly beyond range) and Sweetbay (native)
23:37 - Stewartia planted by Jessie Johnson (first generation of Johnson stewards)
24:18 - Connie explains that subcanopy species "like" full sun but adapted to shade
24:51 - Oral history of "Buffalo Trace", salt works, wagon road, cotton plantation
26:26 - Gazebo to honor Caroline Dormon (funded by Daughters American Revolution)
26:48 - Huge old White Ash (39 inches diameter), with bee colony in it
27:52 - List of six books authored by Caroline Dormon and discussion of non-natives
28:14 - Caroline Dormon as "Louisiana's First Lady of Forestry"

CONTINUE TO LAST HALF OF THE VIDEO SET of Lousisiana Torreya taxifolia:
youtu.be/DykEdCu-lFQ

See also the Torreya Guardians webpage photo-essay of this site visit:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/louisiana.html

Florida Torreya to Lake Junaluska NC - 10th Anniversary, 2018

ghostsofevolution 2018-12-27 | The Lake Junaluska locale in North Carolina (planted with 10 potted seedlings in 2008) offers insights for helping endangered species recovery ten years later:

1. ASSISTED MIGRATION - The plants seem to be disease-free at this latitude and elevation some 300 miles north of the historically native range in Florida.

2. ADAPTIVE GROWTH FORMS - If afforded the opportunity to grow in open sunlight, Torreya takes the form of a standard conifer. If the habitat is shaded subcanopy, its form is yew-like and growth is much slower. Because Torreya genus is not a pioneer-sere taxon, only human intervention in cutting back overgrowth shade can maximize Torreya's growth potential and induce an upright form (and early seed production). As of 2018, no reproductive structures have been observed on even the tallest individuals.

3. ROOT-EATING RODENTS - Of the original 10 plantings in 2008, only 4 remain in 2018. All 6 deaths are attributable to tunneling, root-eating rodents. Because the same-age, same genetics Torreya planting at the Waynesville site has not been afflicted in the same way, the rodent problem must be site-specific. The forest garden (Corneille Bryan) is surrounded by pavement and homes, and there are two sources of boom-and-bust foods: (a) the Red and White Oaks have multi-year cycles of acorn masting, and (b) the house in the southwest corner of the garden forest has a birdfeeder overhanging its deck that drops seed only during this seasonally occupied summer community.

4. COMPETITIVE EXCLUSION BY RHODODENDRONS - Rhododendrons and Mountain Laurels are evergreen, subcanopy shrubs. Rhodies easily outpace Torreyas. (The two horizontally growing specimens both have rhodies encroaching.)

5. REWILDING CONSTRAINTS - Unlike animals, plants cannot move to situate themselves in ideal circumstances — so we planters must attempt to find those macro sites (latitude, elevation, slope, aspect, forest type) and micro sites: rhododendron-free, deciduous canopy, extreme slopes. Until hundreds of seeds or seedlings are available for outplanting in each area, human interventions will remain necessary for ensuring speedy development of reproductive populations.
ACTIONS include: wire cages against surface rodents, removal of encroaching Rhododendrons, prompt removal of branch and treefalls. Autumn protection from antler rubbing will be important in deer habitat when a seedling reaches a height of 2 or 3 feet and until the prickly-leaf sapling loses its low branches. (Our planting site at Lake Junaluska shows no evidence of deer herbivory.) Both to deter deer and tunneling rodents, siting plants on extremely steep slopes is advised.
IDEALLY, in every "rewilding" site (distinct from full-sun, tended "orchard" sites), specimens should be numerous enough to have some managed for nearly full sunlight, some placed beneath a deciduous canopy but managed against branch-fall and rhodie intrusion, and others planted in various settings and left largely unmanaged — thus affording opportunities for learning more of Florida Torreya's natural history, preferences, and abilities to withstand and recover from setbacks. Another 2018 video of Torreya Guardians actions showcases the easy and inexpensive method of "Free-Planting Torreya Seeds directly into forest habitat": youtu.be/JojlIslkwsc

FOR MORE DETAIL (and ongoing updates) visit the webpage on the Lake Junaluska torreya plantings: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/waynesville-1.html

Access all VIDEOS in the Torreya Guardians series: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video...

Two WIKIPEDIA pages put the citizen efforts of Torreya Guardians in context of the overall need for "assisted migration" poleward of native trees:

"Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

"Torreya Guardians" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torreya_Guardians

Free-Planting Climate-Endangered Florida Torreya - 2018 Update

ghostsofevolution 2018-12-27 | Given governmental budgetary constraints, it is unlikely that full recovery and delisting of the endangered Torreya taxifolia tree can be accomplished in labor-intensive and costly ways (e.g., producing potted seedlings and later transporting them to and planting them in ultimate destinations northward of their peak glacial refuge in Florida).

Accordingly, it is vital to ascertain best practices for safely, yet inexpensively, introducing seeds directly into forest habitats — without first germinating them in protected settings (such as wire-protected soil beds or pots in botanical gardens).

Since 2013, a growing number of Torreya Guardians have been legally experimenting (beyond the constraints of the governmentally sanctioned recovery plan, which will be updated in 2019) with techniques for skipping the potted seedling step in Torreya propagation. Instead, harvested seeds are being put directly into forest habitats as their ultimate destinations. Torreya Guardians founder Connie Barlow has been the chief proponent of "free-planting" experiments and has been photo- and video-documenting ongoing results. Visit the Torreya Guardians Free-Planting webpage: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/freep...

Access all VIDEOS in the Torreya Guardians series: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video...

Two WIKIPEDIA pages put the citizen efforts of Torreya Guardians in context of the overall need for "assisted migration" poleward of native trees:

"Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

"Torreya Guardians" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torreya_Guardians

Seeds of Florida Torreya Produced in Ohio

ghostsofevolution 2018-10-15 | Fred Bess in Cleveland Ohio set the record in 2017 for the farthest north production of Torreya taxifolia seeds ever documented. When Connie Barlow visited him a year later, she filmed seed production that had expanded 3 or 4-fold.

In this short video, viewers will also learn that:

1. Torreya seeds are only produced when a plant gets a lot of sun — and then only on the sunniest side of the tree.

2. When a potted seedling from the south is out-planted far to the north, its leaves will at first die on the winter windiest side of the tree. But new growth will acclimatize to the cold (each evergreen leaf usually stays on the tree, photosynthesizing, for 5 or even 7 years).

3. Branchlets that are winter-killed will offer a flush of new branchlets in a ring at the base of the dead twig, thus making the tree even more leafy and compact.

4. Because a young Torreya tree is a very prickly evergreen plant, it will be the favored outlet for buck deer scraping velvet off antlers in the fall; so fencing (or stacks of surrounding brush) are crucial in the fall where deer are populous.

5. Fred's experience suggests that a few seeds will sprout after their first winter. Most will sprout after their second winter. None sprout after that. (However, other Torreya Guardians experimenting with "free-planting" seeds directly into the wild are finding that planting seeds as deep as 6 inches is an excellent way to deter rodent predation, but may delay the appearance of above-ground growth.)

Access the full VIDEO series of "Torreya taxifolia assisted migration" at: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

Two WIKIPEDIA pages put the citizen efforts of Torreya Guardians in context of the overall need for "assisted migration" poleward of native trees:

"Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

"Torreya Guardians" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torreya_Guardians

Fawn twins hear moms alert but dont see me 12 feet away

ghostsofevolution 2018-09-23 | After this astonishing encounter with deer twins in Ludington Michigan, I found online that since deer evolved to see at dawn and dusk, they have trouble seeing an absolutely still object right in front of them during the day. Here you will notice that I positioned myself to capture the twins chasing each other in playful circles out in the field — only to have them decide to rest by coming into the shady mowed lawn area, right where I am standing.

I move only slightly to adjust my camera when they are looking away from me. They do hear the click when my camera finishes zooming a bit. But they really hear mom! Mom is hidden off to my right. Watch their muscles twitch whenever mom gives the alert sound. Then when her alerts get intense, they finally move toward her; grasp the correct direction to run and head on out — with mom huffing and displaying her running skills after them.

Sandhill Cranes, Ludington MI, Summer 2018 (filmed by Connie Barlow)

ghostsofevolution 2018-09-22 | Sandhill Cranes, filmed by Connie Barlow during June, July, and August 2018 in Ludington, Michigan (east shore of Hamlin Lake).

Grief and Gratitude in a Time of Climate Change (C. Barlow sermon)

ghostsofevolution 2018-08-28 | Connie Barlow's guest sermon (26 August 2018) for a Unitarian Universalist audience in Michigan conveys the anxiety and suffering of friends in Colorado, California, and Washington who are suffering yet another summer of forest fire danger, smoke, and flash flood warnings. Her message: Environmental damage (and consequent fear and anxiety) out West is clearly "21st Century." But climate change is mostly an abstract understanding in Michigan — where environmental concerns and calamities are still "20th Century".

ORIGINAL TITLE AND SUMMARY: "Michigan, My Michigan". Bedazzled by the mountain states for 48 years, this Michigander gratefully returns to the Great Lake State, bringing along the sad stories of western wildfires, water wars, and life-threatening heat waves.

BIO: Connie Barlow, born and raised in Detroit, spent every summer break during her college years at Michigan State University making beds and cleaning toilets in national parks out west. In 1970 she had her first train ride: from Detroit to Yellowstone. 1971 had her on the train again: this time to Glacier National Park. For her final 3 summers, she made the peak: She travelled by plane, for the first time, all the way up to Alaska, to Mt. McKinley National Park. There, she used her college studies to qualify as a wildlife tour guide on the buses. Since then, she's written 4 books on evolution and ecology themes and actually seen them on the shelves of university libraries. Since 2002 she has lived on the road with her husband, Rev. Michael Dowd, speaking in churches. Mostly retired now, she has ramped up her environmental activism to include climate — specifically the need for "assisted migration" of native trees poleward.

SONG: "Michigan, my Michigan" (1902, first verse)
A song to thee, fair State of mine — Michigan, my Michigan.
But greater song than this is thine — Michigan, my Michigan.
The whisper of the forest tree; the thunder of the inland sea,
Unite in one grand symphony of Michigan, my Michigan.

Note: videos of Sandhill Cranes flying and trumpeting were taken by Connie in Ludington, summer of 2018.

Other celebratory videos of nature in Ludington Michigan by Connie:
• "Michigan Mayfly Madness" - youtu.be/0pgDk5SKbJU
• "Michigan Monarchs Galore" - youtu.be/L00RNqGRKoQ

Rewilding Torreya Trees - Dayton, Ohio (2016-17)

ghostsofevolution 2018-08-20 | Torreya Guardians in Cleveland, Loveland (Cincinnati), and now Dayton Ohio are reporting early success with nurturing Torreya taxifolia in their forests. Florida Torreya has long been regarded as a "glacial relict" — that is, left behind at the downstream end of the Chattahoochee River system at the end of the Ice Age. It was therefore not surprising that 60 or 70 years ago, climate had already warmed well past Torreya's ability to thrive and to fend off disease agents in its small Florida refuge.

Given the rapid additional climate change ongoing now, the tree's future looks especially bleak — unless citizens volunteer to help this member of the yew family move north. That is the role of Torreya Guardians, which has been assisting this species in moving north since 2005.

Considering that the "champion" Torreya tree is in a landscape planting in a cemetery south of Dayton, Ohio seems like a sure bet for doing well in today's climate and perhaps being able to tolerate substantial warming in the decades ahead.

Connie Barlow video-interviews Diana Spiegel (with assistance from Jim Spiegel) during an onsite survey (November 2017) along the couple's forested creek-side slope. Recent deaths of ash trees (owing to the Emerald Ash Borer) is opening up more sunlight on the forest floor. A delight is discovery of a ginkgo seedling 8 feet away from a little Torreya. The ginkgo seed would have been consumed by a raccoon or fox, then pooped out in the Spiegel's forest: thus "naturalizing" on this continent that was its home in the distant past.

Michigan Monarchs Galore! (Ludington, 2018)

ghostsofevolution 2018-08-19 | Connie Barlow raised (and filmed) more than a dozen Monarch Caterpillars into butterflies during the 2018 summer, when the population seemed astonishingly strong and caterpillars were therefore very easy to find. This video is meant to be both educational and celebratory. Such beauty! Such hope for the future!

Assisted Migration of Florida Torreya to Michigan - Leelanau Peninsula

ghostsofevolution 2018-08-03 | Germination success in planting seeds directly into a rich forest habitat is show-cased during a field visit to our northern-most planter in Michigan (near Traverse City). Liana May is a professional botanist who, in April 2017, planted 100 seeds (from the fall 2016 harvest of Torreya taxifolia in Medford OR). She "free-planted" the seeds directly into the conservation easement on her 40 acres of forested property. Thankfully, by the time she received the seeds, other Torreya Guardians had confirmed an ideal way to foil rodent predation: plant the seeds 4 to 6 inches deep. Liana followed those directions, so we are expecting a satisfying proportion of the seeds to produce seedlings by fall of 2019.

October 2018 UPDATE: A total of 12 seedlings had emerged by the end of this growing season.

To access the full set of videos on Torreya Guardians projects, visit the VIDEOS webpage: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

Florida Torreya to Cumberland Plateau (2) - Rewilding an Endangered Tree

ghostsofevolution 2018-04-11 | Last half of the episode 24 of the Torreya Guardians video series. This video was filmed November 2017 and posted on youtube in two parts.

Access the first part at: youtu.be/UtOSX-6uLPM

An annotated list and links for the full video series on assisted migration of Florida Torreya to northward states can be accessed at: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

Timecoded list of sequence of topics:

00:08 Landscape orientation by Chris Anderson onsite
00:34 Topographic map of property where Torreya seeds were planted
01:40 His ravine property borders TN state land, including Cumberland Trail (maps)
02:22 Begin walking down the largest and final ravine via upper trail
03:03 Seedling #18, with identification of ravine trees and shrubs
04:40 Seedling #19 on very steep slope; #20; #21 very steep
06:31 Seedling #22.
07:37 Shift to bottom of actual ravine: #23, #24, #25 all across fr big Liriodendron
09:50 Continue down creek past waterfall: #26, #27 (emerged from rock downhill)
12:53 Seedling #28, then brief walk over to companion, deeper ravine
13:17 View of deepest ravine, very close to property end and Cumberland Trail
14:01 Seedling #29 on slight ridge before head down to deepest ravine
14:09 Chris orients us to deepest ravine alongside the biggest hemlock tree.
14:56 "Stewardship Forest" poster where property meets the Cumberland Trail
16:05 Marks on giant hemlock indicate treatment against adelgids
16:25 Orientation of topography and seed placement up-ravine fr giant hemlock
16:53 Seedling #30
17:17 Video inventory of plants indicative of very healthy moist forest
19:09 Upturn a rock to see long white stem of Seed #31 close to emerging to light
19:50 Chris points out upper ravine area (with seeds) we won't explore
20:00 Chris points to the far, very steep ravine side where he and Michael will go
20:40 Chris and Michael each locate seedlings (#32 and #33) across ravine
21:38 Final view up-ravine and then locate the last seedling we visit (#34)
22:46 End of video documentation; end notes on more information and videos

Access a list of all the videos on Torreya trees posted on this youtube channel at:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

Two WIKIPEDIA pages put the citizen efforts of Torreya Guardians in context of the overall need for "assisted migration" poleward of native trees:

"Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

"Torreya Guardians" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torreya_Guardians

Barlow's VIDEO exploration of "assisted migration" prospects for trees native to different regions of North America is here: thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

Florida Torreya to Cumberland Plateau (1) - Rewilding an Endangered Tree

ghostsofevolution 2018-04-11 | Episode 24a is the first of a two-part series on the assisted migration of Torreya taxifolia to a privately owned "Stewardship Forest" on the east side of the Cumberland Plateau (near Spring City, TN).

November 2015 Chris and Christina Anderson received 400 freshly harvested seeds via Torreya Guardians. As Chris explains in this video (filmed onsite exactly two years later), the seeds were immediately put into the ground in their 232 acre forest (sampling a variety of habitats for experimental purposes, but with the bulk planted in cool, moist, deep ravines. In September 2017 the first above-ground sprouts began to appear. These are featured in this video (filmed November 2017).

Of all Torreya Guardians plantings, this locale is the best example of "free-planting" and thus "rewilding." Each seed was placed 3 inches deep into the forest soil or beneath a rock (to protect from seed-eating rodents). Of the nearly 50 sprouts surveyed by Chris and the Torreya Guardians video team (Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd), only one had its apical bud nibbled off by an above-ground herbivore. More predation may ensue and thus set back early growth. Our experience, however, is that above-ground browsing of young seedlings rarely kills the plant outright. Because the lower leaves are hardened and tipped by some of the sharpest points in the plant realm, initially naive herbivores that sample the upper leaves do not damage the entire plant.

Timecoded sequence of topics:
00:28 Onsite introduction by Chris Anderson; 400 seeds planted two years earlier (2015)
02:00 System of one flag when seed planted, then a second flag when seedling emerges
02:31 Topographic orientation and identification of main canopy trees (deciduous)
04:11 Close-up of one of the largest seedlings marked by flags
04:40 Deciduous canopy gives evergreen Torreya fall, winter, and early spring for photosynthesis
06:15 topographic map of the property and watershed where seeds were planted
06:46 Explore first ravine: video-record seedlings #3 thru #6
12:25 Along jeep trail (firebreak), video-record seedlings #7 thru #11
15:40 Pine pocket, reforested area along jeep trail, seedlings #12 and #13
16:50 Other side of jeep trail is a tall hemlock, treated to repel the woolly adelgid
17:48 Map of eastern USA colored by "year of documented infestation" of hemlock adelgid
19:05 Close-up of a 2nd mature hemlock; explanation of how marked to record treatment
20:05 Seedling #14 across the road from the 2nd treated hemlock
20:46 Swampy, sunny section of jeep trail: #15, #16 (apical nipped off), and #17

Continue to the last half of this 2-part video documentation:
youtu.be/USjIi5Gh3zU

Florida Torreyas California Cousin Has Clues for Ex Situ Plantings - pt 1 of 2

ghostsofevolution 2018-02-13 | Click on timecoded topics below for direct access:
00:29 - endangered species listing of Florida Torreya
00:36 - map of plantings made by Torreya Guardians
00:49 - emphasis on natural history observations
01:03 - map of California Torreya sites visited in 2005
01:36 - paleo history of genus Torreya in n. hemisphere
02:10 - map of 3 "peak glacial refuges" in southeastern USA
02:24 - why natural history observations in Calif help Florida Torreya
02:53 - brief background on Florida Torreya as "left behind"
03:21 - photos of diseased torreyas in native Florida habitat
03:32 - anthropogenic climate change as an additional stress
03:41 - north Georgia is where ESA officials have seed orchards
04:15 - 2004 Barlow & Martin advocacy paper re moving Torreya
04:49 - importance of finding northward limits of species viability
05:03 - goal: "to get this species out of the hospice wing" ("rewilding")
05:56 - "free-planting" seeds directly forest, while avoiding seed predation
06:21 - natural history observations indicate Torreya is a sub-canopy species
07:11 - CALIF SITE 1A - Robert Louis Stevenson State Park
11:43 - CALIF SITE 1B - a mountain ravine near Calistoga
15:15 - CALIF SITES 2 and 3 - Sequoia and Yosemite Natl Parks
21:24 - key conclusions re sun, moisture, and interspecies competition
21:42 - Torreya's big advantage for shade: a very big seed
22:12 - Torreya's ability to shift leaf arrangement based on sun or shade
22:27 - images of seedlings, often sprouting in deep shade
23:10 - genus Torreya often grows as double or triple stems
24:10 - similarity of Torreya and Hemlock (Tsuga) as subcanopy capable
24:36 - need to "reduce expectations" re growth speed in wild forest
25:22 - continue to part 2 for final Calif site: champion size trees

Continue to the final video segment: youtu.be/blpVt8pE8tY

Annotated list of all videos by Torreya Guardians:
http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

Florida Torreyas California Cousin Has Clues for Ex Situ Plantings - pt 2 of 2

ghostsofevolution 2018-02-13 | This is the final segment of a 2-part series by Torreya Guardians.
Be sure to watch part 1 first: youtu.be/dpwFFo6LU7o
Click on timecodes for direct access to each topic:
00:05 - map of the fourth and final site in Calif: Santa Cruz
00:13 - terrain map of Scott Creek watershed north of Santa Cruz
01:46 - site visit team is Connie Barlow, Jim West, and Lee Klinger
02:30 - big, tall Torreyas in full-sun, full-seed at old train station
03:23 - site visit 200 foot elevation; old trees on very steep slope
04:11 - Torreya seedlings benefit from sun when big pine falls over
04:41 - Fallen log is a Monterey Pine, which is rare and dying
05:01 - the pine is one of several struggling "glacial relict conifers" in Calif
05:15 - conservation officials are unwilling to move glacial relicts north
05:33 - example: 1998 paper by Millar on invasiveness of glacial relicts
09:35 - Monterey Cypress example of rare endemic thriving northward
10:52 - Torrey Pine example of struggling endemic helped by landscapers
13:19 - summary of experience with California relict conifers
13:39 - site visit to the giant California Torreyas along Scotts Creek
15:53 - visit to the "champion" Torreya californica
17:53 - ten years later (2015), the champion was declared dead
18:09 - the champion was nominated in 1993 by Frank Callahan
18:18 - 2017 Connie visits Callahan to receive Florida torreya seeds
19:09 - how history of logging helps for interpreting Torreya statures
20:40 - logged redwood stumps regrow with a ring of basal sprouts
21:05 - torreya also regrows ring of basals; example from China
21:21 - torreyas are cut illegally as best wood for "Go" boards
21:39 - California Coast Redwoods thrive in Seattle landscaping
21:48 - series of images of redwood seedlings "naturalizing" in Seattle
22:41 - Connie created video series of California redwoods in Pacific NW
23:14 - Seattle area parks have begun planting California redwoods
23:40 - Seattle kids in "Plant-for-the-Planet" help plant redwoods
23:43 - Connie Barlow teaches the kids about fossil evidence of redwoods
23:58 - summary of redwood plantings by "Moving the Giants to Puget Sound"
24:24 - Connie Barlow, Michael Foster, Philip Stielstra document redwoods in Seattle
24:47 - summary "clues" from this 2-part California Torreya video series
26:23 - list of 23 videos by Torreya Guardians
27:23 - map of state-by-state plantings by Torreya Guardians and seed sources

Torreya Guardians: http://www.torreyaguardians.org
"Moving the Giants to Puget Sound": http://plantagroveoftrees.com
Seattle "Plant-for-the-Planet": climatechangeforfamilies.com/plant-for-the-planet-academy
"Sudden Oak Life" (by Lee Klinger) - suddenoaklifeorg.wordpress.com

Access all VIDEOS in the Torreya Guardians series: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video...

Two WIKIPEDIA pages put the citizen efforts of Torreya Guardians in context of the overall need for "assisted migration" poleward of native trees:

"Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

"Torreya Guardians" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torreya_Guardians

Florida Torreya to SW Ohio - preliminary report (Nov 2017)

ghostsofevolution 2018-01-23 | This is the second installment in video documentation of an assisted migration experiment of the endangered Florida Torreya into southwestern Ohio (Loveland). This video was filmed November 11-12 and documents progress in all 3 elements of this experiment led by Bob Miller:

(1) Free-planting of seeds (shallow burial, no protection) into wild regrowth forest in May 2015 (using seeds from the March 2014 seed harvest.

(2) Shallow burial outdoors in a rodent/deer impenetrable exclosure of 29 seeds planted very soon after harvest in November 2015 (from the fall 2015 seed crop).

(3) Planting into regrowth forest in autumn 2016 of two potted seedlings donated by Jim Cullowhee, grown from seeds harvested fall of 2013.

LEARNINGS: The poor success rate of the May 2015 free-planting into wild forest may owe to any combination of these factors: (1) deterioration or extended stalling of embryo development during the winter that Barlow maintained the Fall 2014 seeds above-ground prior to final distribution; (2) shallow burial accounts for heavy rodent predation of the seeds; (3) seedlings were very difficult to spot amidst the fallen leaves. In contrast, the tremendous success of the rodent-protected seeds planted six months later could be due either to (1) elimination of rodent seed predation or (2) strength of embryos owing to immediate placement in-ground following harvest.

00:05 - Discovery of just one seedling attributed to the shallow-burial free-planting of May 2015.

03:42 - Documentation of tremendous success (22 of 29 seeds) from Nov 2015 planting of seeds in outdoor rodent-protected garden. (Obviously, Bob Miller will later replant these seedlings into his forest.)

10:27 - Next day discovery of one more seedling from the May 2015 free-planting.

12:08 - Close-up look at the previous wild-planted seedling discovered, then scoping to distant view where 2 potted seedlings were planted.

12:49 - Documentation of the two wire-protected out-planted (fall 2016) seedlings that had been initially grown in pots from seeds harvested fall 2013.

Access the VIDEO of the first segment of this series: the seed-planting of May 2015: youtu.be/dJ2e07EfVNE

Documentation of more "assisted migration" experiments of this climate-endangered Torreya tree at: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/video.html

CTL 9E - California Sequoias to Inland Pacific NW: Is it too dry?

ghostsofevolution 2017-09-09 | This is the fifth segment of the video series documenting that California's Sequoia and Redwood trees thrive in Pacific NW — an example of "assisted migration" poleward well underway. Filmed in 2016 and 2017, assembled August 2017. Host: Connie Barlow. Click on timecoded topics:

00:03 - Ashland Oregon: two Sequoias in hill-slope neighborhood
00:43 - Introduction to the Redwood series documenting assisted migration poleward
02:09 - Introduction to this fifth segment exploring whether inland is too dry in Pac NW
03:03 - Current events of climate extreme weather in USA September 2017
05:17 - Connie predicts that current extreme events will elevate public climate concern
05:38 - Introduction to the mapped locales in OR and WA documented here
06:12 - Medford OR: Frank Callahan presents the Redwood in Hawthorne Park
07:20 - Coast Redwood can reproduce by basal sprouts but Giant Sequoia cannot
08:35 - The Medford OR redwood can thrive because it was planted in floodplain
09:16 - Fog is crucial for redwoods, but that moisture is not measured officially
09:49 - Douglas-fir is projected to die out of coastal WA; could redwoods replace them?
13:04 - Hood River OR - intro and map of 2 locations of Sequoias in neighborhoods
13:53 - Hood River OR - Daniel Dancer speaks about several Sequoias
14:44 - Hood River OR - Peter Cornelison speaks of 2 Giant Sequoias at his home
16:47 - Peter tells story of neighbor's Sequoia that lightning blew off the top
17:51 - Walla Walla WA - Intro and maps; importance of low elevations
19:16 - Walla Walla video of 1 Sequoia and 4 Metasequoias in Pioneer Park
21:31 - Bald Cypress (Taxodium) in Pioneer Park; native to southeast USA
22:34 - Lewiston ID - Intro, map, and history of the 6 tall Sequoias
24:01 - Lewiston ID - videos of the row of 6 huge Giant Sequoias
26:07 - Summary of sites visited, with the question: Is it too dry inland?
26:38 - Planting in floodplains may be crucial (Medford and Walla Walla trees)
27:14 - Upper Lake CA - site visit shows inland importance of high water table
28:06 - Upper Lake CA Coast Redwoods planted by Denise Rushing (Connie's intro)
30:09 - Denise Rushing talks about planting redwood "rooted branchlets" v. seeds
31:29 - High water table supports walnut farming with no irrigation & mature redwoods
34:34 - Summary and importance of learning (oral) histories of inland plantings
35:00 - Intro to next video installment: CTL 9F - What the fossils say
35:30 - Closing by Connie Barlow: "May the forest be with you"

Climate, Trees, and Legacy - annotated list of all episodes in video series, with links:
http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

CTL 9D - California Sequoias Thrive in Urban Parks of Seattle and Portland

ghostsofevolution 2017-09-02 | This is the fourth segment of the video series documenting that California's Sequoia and Redwood trees thrive in coastal Pacific NW — an example of "assisted migration" poleward well underway. Filmed in 2016 and 2017, assembled August 2017. Host: Connie Barlow. Click on timecoded topics:

00:38 - Introduction to assisted migration of California's redwood & sequoia trees
02:25 - Laurelhurst Park in Portland, OR: documentation of 3 redwood species (intro)
04:01 - Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron) in Laurelhurst Park
07:38 - Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia) adult and its wild-cast seedling ("naturalized")
11:51 - Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
13:03 - Redwoods (alone) have basal sprouts
13:48 - Examples of regrowth basal sprouts in logged redwoods of n. California
16:14 - A second Coast Redwood in Laurelhurst Park (has cones)
16:43 - Three more Dawn Redwoods in Laurelhurst Park (cones on ground)
17:27 - Close-up of cone distinctions bt the 3 redwood cousin species
18:41 - map of California native ranges v. Portland and Seattle
18:53 - map of 2 locations in urban Seattle where document redwood species
19:19 - Washington Park Arboretum - begin with grove of Sequoiadendron
20:30 - Metasequoia in Washington Park Arboretum
20:57 - Redwood grove in Washington Park Arboretum
23:11 - University of Washington campus trees (all 3 redwood species)
27:50 - Lessons: list of 5 advantages of urban parks and arboretums
30:49 - Preview of CTL 9E - Are inland Pac NW locations too dry?
31:34 - maps and summary of "assisted migration" for trees research
32:04 - Preview of CTL 9F - Fossil evidence of redwood species Pac NW

October 2017 UPDATE: On another visit to Laurelhurst Park this month, along SE Oak St. discovered 3 seedling redwoods naturalized in a shrubby strip between the road and several big old Coast Redwoods.

Climate, Trees, and Legacy - list of all episodes, by species, in video series (including 9 in the Redwood / Sequoia series: http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

• Watch a 2019 documentary on vimeo about an old urban planting of 3 GIANT SEQUOIAS in Portland OR that a developer was trying to have cut down. Residents came out en masse, including a tree sitter. A combination of public sentiment (plus donated money) finally gave the trees permanent protection: vimeo.com/372758676?ref=fb-share&fbclid=IwAR0jMhwPvzj6uk3VnoXTocFBaMJiGr9z3dHv6auvC9YnotULQWmvr-6gqlE

• See state-by-state galleries of photos (with site descriptions) of Giant Sequoia, Coast Redwood, and Dawn Redwood planted far beyond their native ranges. This page goes to the Washington State gallery: giant-sequoia.com/gallery/usa/washington

• Hundreds of locations (with photos) of all 3 redwood species planted in the U.K. here:
http://www.redwoodworld.co.uk/index.html

• October 2022 the Canadian Forestry Service published a 39-page report by Richard Winder et al., which I have excerpted and linked here: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/assisted-migration.html#winder-2022

CTL 9C - Pacific NW Urban Trees Include Californias Giants

ghostsofevolution 2017-08-23 | Filmed in 2016 and 2017, assembled August 2017. Host: Connie Barlow. This is the third segment of a multi-part video series exploring how giant trees of California's redwood clan have already had humans help them with "assisted migration" poleward, thanks to landscapers in the Pacific Northwest who planted them in urban areas decades ago. Click on timecoded topics:

01:00 Giant Sequoia in Portland Oregon
01:21 Introductory narration, Connie Barlow, Aug 2017, in Humboldt County CA
01:52 Why Coast Redwood native range is along coast: summer fog
03:27 Pacific NW as current and future migrated range of California's giant trees
05:10 "Assisted migration" advocacy unique for redwoods and sequoias
05:58 List of focal tree species in previous 8 video themes (Climate, Trees, Legacy)
06:31 Redwoods intro continues: lack of climate projections for fog locations
07:39 How Connie chose urban locations for filming northward trees
09:06 Tacoma WA: 2 Giant Sequoias
11:55 Using online 3D aerial photos via Google Maps to spot Giant Sequoias
12:34 Seattle WA: 1 Giant Sequoia in Capitol Hill neighborhood
13:33 Root distinctions bt 2 species: Part 1 - Sequoia Capitol Hill Seattle
14:45 Root distinctions Pt 2 - exposed cut roots of Redwood along road CA
15:41 Watching the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse above the fog belt (1,200 ft)
17:51 Root distinctions Pt 3 - Humboldt State University CA (parking lot)
19:29 Cone of Giant Sequoia on ground in Seattle (and cross pollination)
20:17 Seattle WA: 6 Giant Sequoias and 4 redwoods (Normandy Park neighborhood)
23:20 Fallen cone of Giant Sequoia shows edges of red winged seeds
28:04 Mukilteo WA: One Giant Sequoia along road to ferry terminal
29:13 Bellingham WA: 2 Giant Sequoias
31:01 Portland OR: SW Parkview Ave. 3 Giant Sequoias + 1 Coast Redwood
32:48 Portland OR: 30+ Giant Sequoias at Valley Catholic High School
33:21 Portland OR: West Hills neighborhood 3 Sequoias and 1 Redwood
35:16 Burl of Coast Redwood "oozing" onto sidewalk (West Hills, Portland)
36:49 Portland OR: Silhouette of Giant Sequoia during first snow of the year
37:21 Portland OR: 3 Giant Sequoias saved in "Save the Giants Park"
38:01 "Monumental Trees" website excellent for finding trees online
38:35 Use Google Maps 3D feature online for finding Giant Sequoias
38:56 Connie urges "citizen scientists" to inventory the sequoias & redwoods
39:42 Importance of gathering 'oral history" of each tree in neighborhood
41:01 Two reasons why city arborists no longer plant the California giant trees
41:31 City of Portland website of recommended tree species for planting
41:54 Pacific NW residents advocate for CA giant trees as "deep-time natives"
42:37 Everett WA: condo developer recently planted a row of redwoods

October 2021 Barlow collaborated with the Seattle-based "1000 Redwoods Project" in producing a photo-rich webpage to help Pacific NW planters of donated Coast Redwoods find the best habitats and microsites: "Finding Good Redwood Habitat in Coastal Pacific Northwest" at thegreatstory.org/redw/redwood-habitat.html

Also in 2021 Barlow collaborated on a new wikipedia page rich in background and linked sources: "Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America

Access annotated list of the full "Climate, Trees, and Legacy" video series by Connie Barlow, in which she advocates for assisted migration poleward of native trees in the USA, region by region: http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html

• Watch a 2019 documentary on vimeo about an old urban planting of 3 GIANT SEQUOIAS in Portland OR that a developer was trying to have cut down. Residents came out en masse, including a tree sitter. A combination of public sentiment (plus donated money) finally gave the trees permanent protection: vimeo.com/372758676?ref=fb-share&fbclid=IwAR0jMhwPvzj6uk3VnoXTocFBaMJiGr9z3dHv6auvC9YnotULQWmvr-6gqlE

• See state-by-state galleries of photos (with site descriptions) of Giant Sequoia, Coast Redwood, and Dawn Redwood planted far beyond their native ranges. This page goes to the Washington State gallery: giant-sequoia.com/gallery/usa/washington

CTL 9A - California Redwoods Thrive in Pacific NW (Intro & Hutt Park)

ghostsofevolution 2017-08-12 | CTL 9a is the first in a 9-part series of videos on how landscapers (beginning a century or more ago) introduced California's Coast Redwood and interior Giant Sequoia to the Pacific Northwest — ranging from Portland to Puget Sound.

Narration in Hutt Park, Seattle, is provided by Connie Barlow (founder of Torreya Guardians), Michael Foster (founder of the Seattle chapter of Plant-for-the-Planet), and Philip Stielstra (founder of "Moving the Giants to Puget Sound"). A special thanks to Jesse Curran, horticulturalist with Edmonds Parks Maintenance, who alerted Philip Stielstra to the naturalizing redwoods of Hutt Park.

00:08 - Introduction by Connie Barlow (in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park)
02:50 - Introduction to naturalized grove at Seabeck WA, which is shown in detail as Episode CTL 9F (2019), accessible here: http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html
04:44 - Hutt Park, north of Seattle, background info
05:41 - Profiles of the 3 Hutt Park explorers on June 25, 2017 (Barlow, Stielstra, Foster)
08:43 - Philip Stielstra speaks alongside the "Mother Tree" in Hutt Park; another original mature redwood is some 50 feet away but wasn't filmed in this video.
09:34 - Philip at the oldest group of younger redwoods
12:01 - Foster speaks by a young redwood where surroundings have been pruned.
Correction: Park Staff confirm that trimmed branches and outer-bark scraping owe to removal of exotic ivy Spring 2017. Ivy removal by Earth Corps and area volunteers continues, with 3 more work sessions scheduled for 2017. Goal: total ivy removal and replacement by native Salal, Oregon grape, ferns, and mulch as ground cover.
15:37 - Michael Foster says redwoods sequester excess carbon
16:48 - Foster photo, as one of 5 climate activist 'valve turners' in 2016
16:58 - Foster & Barlow discuss severe problems caused by introduction of English Ivy
17:35 - Stielstra recounts Ivy removal; a young redwood liberated from ivy
18:47 - Smallest redwood seen before Foster and Stielstra depart; Barlow keeps exploring
19:20 - Barlow returns to the "Mother Tree" redwood; evidence of pollen cone
20:40 - Correction: both spruce trees are Norway Spruce, not Sitka Spruce
21:53 - Redwood, 12-foot-tall, has basal sprouts and nascent burls on stem
23:23 - Close look at a mature native Grand Fir conifer tree
24:15 - Discovery of a very young redwood seedling, alongside path and ivy
26:24 - A second Sitka Spruce, much younger, struggling in shade
26:54 - Discovery of a second invasive species (laurel?) from the original landscaping
27:30 - Views of invasive English Ivy creating dense coverings on mature tree trunks
28:49 - How both the invasive, ivy and laurel(?) is hard to destroy; regrows from roots
29:43 - Difference in bark bt. mature Douglas-fir and Grand Fir
30:18 - Difference in bark bt. mature Douglas-fir and Western Red Cedar
30:53 - Very large specimens of native Bigleaf Maple
31:24 - Another very young redwood seedling by path and ivy
33:12 - Another huge Bigleaf Maple near an old Douglas-fir
33:55 - Connie shows an old native Pacific Yew and how to distinguish from redwood
36:43 - Entering the widest trail, where many seedlings grow right alongside it
37:04 - The only seedling indeterminate as to whether it is redwood or yew
38:06 - back to viewing a number of very small redwood seedlings
41:33 - Western Hemlock tree growing on "stilts" over a decomposing Red Cedar stump
42:14 - Resume survey of young redwoods along widest path
42:29 - Redwood seedlings struggling to rise above the shade of giant Sword Ferns
45:40 - Seedling made a 90-degree turn to find the sun
46:13 - An old Bigleaf Maple, then continue finding redwood seedlings along wide trail
48:35 - Detour on small trail to visit the biggest, oldest Douglas-fir in Hutt Park
50:24 - Discovery of the tiniest redwood seedling, underneath huge fronds of Sword Fern
51:33 - A larger redwood seedling on the opposite side of the wide path.
52:42 - Return to beginning, alongside one of the original two Redwood trees now mature
55:11 - Field videography ends, closing slides and list of affiliated groups

UPDATE ON HUTT PARK REDWOODS, DECEMBER 2019: Apparently 90% of the redwoods onsite were planted, so very few of those shown in this video are indeed evidence of full species "naturaliization." However, even though only a few are in that category, the evidence is still solid that this California native is fully capable of maintaining, reproducing, dispersing, and establishing in fog-laden regions of coastal Pac-NW. As to ongoing invasive species removal, targeted species are English Ivy, English Laurel, and Himalayan Blackberry. Replacement by natives are mostly understory species, with some Sitka Spruce, Grandfir, Shore Pine, and Pacific Madrone trees. Original non-native trees left in place are the 2 tall Redwoods, 1 Deodar Cedar, and Norway Spruce.

List of all 34 videos in "CLIMATE, TREES, & LEGACY" SERIES by Connie Barlow:
http://thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html