Humpty Dumpty said a word means only what he wants it to mean. Socrates, a great philosopher, said, just tell us what you want your word to mean. And Voltaire, another great thinker, said, when we know what you mean by your words, arguments and misunderstandings will seldom happen. So be it (SHIGO, 2000). One more thing, to consider. Consider poor Joe who liked alcohol. Drank methanol rather than ethanol. He then quickly learned, as his brain got burned. That words are important after all (SHIGO, 1999).
There is great misunderstanding with the terms used to promote the "Burn and Clearcut Project"." Many are empty words, which specifically, often, the USFS refuse to define. These words need to be unpacked. I am pleased to define my terms for this discussion. You do not have to agree, but, you will know what I mean.
It will be very difficult to grasp the parts of the tree, without doing dissections and autopsies.
A
Ability - Ability is what you are doing with what you have; a dynamic or kinetic process. A parenchyma cell always has the capacity to divide and differentiate but not the ability until commanded. E.g., Parenchyma packed within fibers and tissues have the capacity but not the ability. When a wound creates space, then the ability is there, and exercised, and a sprout forms as those cells divide.
Abiotic - Abiotic are Forces, E.g., lightning, tornados, fire, etc. Biotic agents, E.g., insects, fungi, bacteria, etc. Light connects the biotic and abiotic.
Abiotic and Biotic - Light connects the biotic and abiotic
Acids - Humic and fulvic acids buffer pH swings in the soil.
Actinomycetes - The actinomycetes are microorganisms that have some characteristics of fungi and bacteria. Soil actinomycetes are very tolerant of water stress. Actinomycetes often give that "good earth " aroma after a rain. Some benefits of the latter for trees; 1) Convert nitrogen in air to a usable form (fix nitrogen) - bacteria and actinomycetes; 2) Hold water - actinomycetes, bacteria, (cell coatings).
Actinorhizae - Actinorhizae are organs composed of root tissue and actinomycetes. The actinorhizae fix nitrogen, which means that nitrogen in the air is converted to a form that can be used by the plant. In other words, the actinorhizae fix atmospheric pure nitrogen to ammonia, which can be chemically altered by some bacteria to nitrate ions. Actinorhizae are common on trees in many genera, Alnus, Elaeagnus, Casuarina, to name a few. The actinomycetes are microorganisms that have some characteristics of fungi and bacteria. Actinomycetes give soil that "good earth smell". Bacterial nodules are common on many plants in the legume family. Nitrogen is fixed by bacteria in the nodules.
Aerial Roots - Aerial roots become prop roots when they anchor in the soil.
Aerobes, Obligatory - Organisms such as some decay causing organisms, that we say are obligatory aerobes, means they must have free oxygen for their growth.
Airplanes - Airplanes are most efficient just before they run out of fuel.
Alkaloids - Trees produce many substances humans use for medicines. Some tree substances that contain nitrogen as a base are called alkaloids.
Ameliorates – To make or become better: improve.
American Soil – A term used by people who do not clearly define their terms. The soil of America is in serious trouble, i.e., by the demons of D. "see Demons of D"
Amino Acids - Any organic compound containing and amino (-NH2) and a carboxyl
(-COOH) group. We call amino acids building blocks. Amino acids are going to be parts of substances that help to build. There are 20 known amino acids. When nitrate goes into the tree it is changed to other nitrogen compounds including amino acids. The nitrogen seldom moves in trees as nitrates. The amino acids form proteins and proteins are major parts of the living substances, especially protoplasm. Life's amino acids are mostly left handed. Amino acids have a central carbon that has connected to it an NH2 group, a hydrogen, a chain or ring of carbon groups, and a COOH group. The COOH, or carboxyl group, makes it an acid.
Ammonium Cation - Ammonium cation has a single positive charge. If clay is around, the cation usually bonds with the negative sites on the crystals.
Ammonium ion - Ammonium ion has a molecular weight of 18 and potassium is 39, yet they are about the same size. This is important because they compete for space in some clay crystals.
Ammonium Nitrate - Ammonium ion is the same as a wild red sports car. Nitrate ion is the same as an eighteen-wheeler. When the sports car can break away from the eighteen-wheeler, it moves rapidly. That is called an explosion. Many people poorly understand, the chemistry involved with applying Ammonium nitrate. Imagine this - take the ten biggest Fourth of July Grand Finales you have ever seen, cannons and all and put them together. This is what is happening when just a pinch of ammonium nitrate hits the soil. Certain doses of ammonium nitrate can blow the mycorrhizae.
Ammonium Nitrate / Internal Regulating System - The addition of ammonium nitrate will increase growth in girth, of plant, however, with increased mass of symplast, comes increased requirements for sunlight energy for defense, thus increasing the demands on non-woody roots and mycorrhizae, for starters, for water and the other 16 essential elements in which, they are responsible for absorbing. It is working against the internal regulating system of the tree or plant, i.e., the increase in mass. They say it makes bigger leaves, yet one chlorophyll molecule cost 54 carbons to 4 nitrogen. (see chlorophyll) Yes, additional nitrogen, does not increase the biological health of the tree while tree trunk increases growth. Trees require at least 17 essential elements. (see essential elements) (See NEW TREE BIOLOGY DICTIONARY, page 45, SHIGO, 1986)
Amoebae - The fungi play a major role in recycling essential elements from dead organic matter. The fungi often do this in association with many other organisms in the soil: bacteria, insects, worms, amoebae, nematodes, and small animals. Many of the fungi associated with mycorrhizae have mushroom fruit bodies. Others have a variety of fruit bodies above ground and below ground. The major point is that the members of the natural system are all connected. When the connections begin to be broken, the system will suffer. You can kill soil. You can kill a forest. You can kill many living things that depend on a healthy forest. How? By breaking connections. Bacteria often live in tunnels left behind as hyphae of soil fungi die. Amoebae are not able to attack the bacteria in the minute- diameter tunnels in the soil.
Amylase - Amylase is an enzyme that can change the starch chains back to glucose molecules. Amylase plays a key role in the beautiful process of starch being changed back to glucose in the base of buds.
Anaerobes - The anaerobes can live in the absence of free oxygen.
Anaerobics - Anaerobics-live with little or no free oxygen.
Anatomy - Anatomy is the science of the orderly structure, shape, or construction of an organism and its parts. How an organism is built up or formed. The basic unit of tree construction is the cell with a definite boundary. Wood cells have a tough boundary made up of cellulose and lignin mostly. The tough wood cells give the tree strong mechanical support. Anatomy must precede physiology.
Angiosperms - Angiosperms - plants that have covered seeds such as oaks and maples. And have vessels. Angiosperms have phenol-based substances mostly as protection compounds. Gymnosperms have isoprene or terpene-based substances mostly as their protection compounds.
Animal Cells - Cells are the basic unit of life. Many processes and parts of human cells are not so different from those in trees. Yet, animal cells have thin boundaries. Tree wood cells have thick, tough boundaries or walls. Animal tissue will not support itself. Animals require skin and bones to keep cells in place. Every splinter of wood is self supporting. Cell walls of wood are made of cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses. Thin boundaries of animal cells allow them to move. Animals move away from agents and situations that threaten their survival. Trees cannot move. Trees grow where they find themselves, adapt or die. Trees planted incorrectly are sentences to an early death. Animal cells are like jelly bags. So long as your jelly bags jiggle, you are alive and well. (See "Apoptosis")
Animals / Benefits - Some of the benefits to trees: Break down organic and inorganic materials - bacteria, fungi, insects, animals; Aerate soils - worms, insects, fungi, animals; Disseminate seeds - birds, animals, insects; Pollinate flowers - insects, animals, especially birds and bats.
Anion - An anion is a negatively charged particle. For an anion to move into a non-woody root, an anion must exude from the root. The most common anion going in is nitrate and the most common anion going out is bicarbonate, and to a lesser amount, hydroxyl.
Anthracnose - Natures way of pruning.
Ants - Ants live in trees and eat elsewhere. Ants control the environment inside the tree. If ants in their present form grew to the size of elephants, their bodies would be crushed by gravity. More on the topic: Ants are social insects that live in colonies, live in the soil, or in trees and timber, have 3 distinct body parts and a strong constriction or "waist" between the thorax and abdomen, and when wings form, they are of unequal size. The castes include females, males, and workers. Females are generally winged, but the wings fall off after mating. Males are usually smaller than females and generally retain their wings until death. Workers are wingless and usually smaller than the males and females. Ants eat other small animals, plant sweet fluids such as sap from wounds, nectar, and honeydew produced by other insects. Ants and aphids are often seen together on plants. Three types of ants are potential problems for trees. The leaf cutting ants such as the Texas leaf-cutting ant can remove many leaves from a tree, especially young pine seedlings, and young orchard trees. The Allegheny mound ant can injure or even aid to the death of the symplast of young pines by wounding the trunks and by injecting formic acid into them. The ants aid to the death of the symplast of trees that shade their nests, but they do not remove the wood out of the forest. (See "Kill and Die") The carpenter ants receive the most attention because they are seen commonly in trees and poles. Many trees and utility poles that had carpenter ants and other species have been dissected, and we doubt very much that the ants were causing the decay columns to increase. (See NEW TREE BIOLOGY DICTIONARY, SHIGO, 1986) Instead, we believe they regulate the development of the column, and if anything, decrease its rate of development. Ants live in the tree; the galleries are their homes. They keep the galleries clear of debris and allow air to circulate. Such conditions are not best for the growth of decay-causing fungi. Do not blame the decay on the ants.
Apoplast - Apoplast is a dead framework. It is a highly ordered connection of dead cells and cell parts that act as a tough framework for the symplast. The apoplast stores water, mostly as bound water, which, unlike free water, is chemically bound to cellulose and does not flow. The apoplast is the framework of non-living cells and cell walls in wood and bark. The apoplast was born alive but does not function until it dies, e.g., vessels. Vessels are enlarged, once alive, parenchyma cells which do not function until after death.
Apoptosis - Apoptosis is programmed cell death. In animals, the dead cells are lysed - broken down -and new cells are formed in the same places. In trees, the dead cells stay in place and act as storage places for bound water and for structural support.
Arachnid - Ticks, mites, and spiders are not insects. They are arachnids. They have eight legs.
Art - Art is a process requiring skills to produce a product or performance considered attractive or pleasing. Art is doing. Art is muscle. See "Science, Art, And Common Sense 1 + 2"and (ARBORICULTURE IN THE 21ST CENTURY, SHIGO, 1997)
Arthropods - The exoskeletons of arthropods contain chitin.
Aspirin - Extracts from the bark of Salix alba were used by early humans to relieve pain. A much more purified form of the compound is called aspirin, one of the most commonly used analgesics in the world.
Athlete's Foot - Athlete’s foot is caused by bacteria. Later the fungi come. If you treat only the secondary agent, the problem will not go away. Treating secondary agents associated with tree problems is legion.
Atom - Atom was the name given to the smallest bit of matter. The word means uncuttable. Of course we know now that atoms can be reduced or cut further. There are 92 naturally occurring kinds of atoms. In elaborate laboratories, scientists have increased that number to 110 as of Feb 2001.
ATP - ATP means "Adenosine Triphosphate". ATP is the living, international currency. ATP is the "money" that runs people and trees. First recognized manufactured energy, before glucose.
Autopsy - Autopsy, which comes from the Greek word autopsy, means to see for yourself. It is often mistaken for the word for necropsy, which means the study of the dead.
Autotrophs - Autotrophs make their own food. Heterotrophs have to have it made for them.
Axial Parenchyma - The symplast is the network of connected living cells; axial and radial parenchyma in wood, the cambial zone, living cells in the inner phloem, phloem rays, and the phellogen. Axial parenchyma are cells aligned vertically.
B
Bacteria - Microscopic organisms that are single-celled, increase is by binary fission where the mother cell divides to form two like daughter cells, or in some cases by motile bodies called gonidia. Most bacteria are spherical or rod-like, but some are curved or twisted, and some are filaments, as the individual cells join to form long chains. Some forms have branching of the filaments and they are called Actinomycetes. Many forms are motile. The organism is contained by a membrane and the cell is nucleated, but the nuclear apparatus is not constant, or often not well defined. Bacteria may obtain their food from living or dead organic materials and also obtain energy by the oxidation of different substances such as compounds containing nitrogen, iron, and sulfur. Bacteria can be found everywhere on and in earth where conditions are such that life can be supported.
More on the topic: Bacteria have no membrane-bound nucleus. Bacteria are very small. They do big things. If a three micron long bacterium were enlarged to the size of a six-foot, tall person, and then the person was enlarged the same way, the person would be about 700 miles tall. Yes, bacteria are small. Bacteria often live in tunnels left behind as hyphae of soil fungi die. Amoebae are not able to attack the bacteria in the minute- diameter tunnels (SHIGO, 1999).
The fungi play a major role in recycling essential elements from dead organic matter. The fungi often do this in association with many other organisms in the soil: bacteria, insects, worms, amoebae, nematodes, and small animals. Many of the fungi associated with mycorrhizae have mushroom fruit bodies. Others have a variety of fruit bodies above ground and below ground. The major point is that the members of the natural system are all connected. When the connections begin to be broken, the system will suffer. You can kill soil. You can kill a forest. You can kill many living things that depend on a healthy forest. How? By breaking connections.
Bacteria / Benefits - Some of the benefits to trees: Break down organic and inorganic materials - bacteria, fungi, insects, animals; Detoxify harmful substances - bacteria and fungi; Help adjust pH - bacteria and fungi; Convert nitrogen in air to a usable form (fix nitrogen) - bacteria and actinomycetes; Protect roots against pathogens - bacteria, fungi, (mycorrhizae); Regulate slow-release fertilizers - bacteria; Resist decay - anaerobic bacteria (wetwood), non-decay causing fungi (discolored wood); Protection against wound infections by decay-causing fungi - bacteria, non-decay-causing fungi. Less than 1% of the fungi and bacteria are harmful to the tree system.
Bacteria, Fungi and Insects - Many insects, fungi, bacteria, and other organisms are thought to be harmful, yet very few of them are. It is a pity when we use treatments that are designed to kill everything. So along with the few "bad guys" go all the "good guys." Then we want to buy the "good guys" and put them back. The insects and microorganisms have a job to do on earth. Many are "clean up" experts such as the fungus parasitizing the mushroom fruiting body of another fungus page 105 TREE PITHY POINTS, SHIGO, 1999. These organisms break down dead organisms to release or recycle elements essential for new life. Some organisms attack others that no longer have a defense system. A few attack living organisms that are healthy.
Bacterium - If a bacterium multiplied under optimum conditions for three days, its mass would be greater than that of the earth.
Bark - Growing trees, trees with symplast, have two basic types of bark. Bark is made up of an outer periderm and an inner phloem. This is above as well as below ground. Bark keeps moisture and gases in and resists attack by insects and microorganisms. Trees have many bark diseases that are poorly understood. Think how many communities of life live on and in tree bark.
Bark, inner (phloem) - Phloem, or inner bark, is a transport tissue. It transports energy-containing substances made in leaves toward non-woody absorbing roots. Inner bark is made up of living and dead cells. (see TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO)
Bark, outer (periderm) - Outer bark or periderm is mostly dead cells lined with a fatty substance called suberin or cork. Cork resists breakdown by microorganisms. Outer bark is the protective covering of trees with symplast. (see TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO)
Bats - Some of the benefits to trees: Pollinate flowers - insects, animals, especially birds and bats.
Batteries - Even the best batteries run down and need to be recharged.
Bicarbonate Anion - Respiration in roots produces carbon dioxide and water. Carbon dioxide in water forms some carbonic acid. Carbonic acid dissociates to form a hydrogen proton and hydrogen carbonate or bicarbonate anion.
Bicarbonate Anion Exchange of Trees - For an anion to move into a non-wood root, an anion must exude from the root. The most common anion going in is nitrate and the most common anion going out is bicarbonate, and to a lesser amount, hydroxyl.
Binomial - A binomial means two names, a genus and a species. (See "Taxonomy")
Bioindicator - A bioindicator, would be a living indicator of the health of the system. E.g., CWD is an bioindicator, as the CWD is the substrate for the base of the food web, therefore its presence would indicate a level of health of soil and system.
Biomass - Mass that contains some form of living cells.
Biotic - Agents, E.g., insects, fungi, bacteria, etc. Light connects the biotic and abiotic.
Biotic and Abiotic - Light connects the biotic and abiotic.
Birds - Some of the benefits to trees: Disseminate seeds - birds, animals, insects; Pollinate flowers - insects, animals, especially birds and bats.
Bonogens - The good guys. In the beginning all organisms had "white hats." We thought all life forms were good or beneficial. As space and energy sources became limiting, some of the " good guys," the bonogens, took out the weaker members of the group. Because of the bonogens, the group survived. As humans came on the scene, the bonogens soon became the pathogens. The bonogens took out the London Plane leaves that grew from buds that had very little stored energy reserves. Now we call these fungi pathogens because "they cause" a disease we call anthracnose.
Boss - Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding humans that they are not the boss.
Boundaries - Boundaries define the limits of things. Boundaries resist, not stop, the spread of things. Boundaries keep things together. Without them we would be blobs.
Bound Water - Trees load water in the form of free water (flowing). As vessels or tracheids are loaded and then plugged, the water is moved, by means of apoplastic movement, to where it is bound to cell walls of cellulose. The S2 layer to be specific. When water is bonded to the cellulose, the water is called bound water. Because it is bonded to the cellulose it does not freeze as liquid water does. Remember, the bonding power of the hydrogen bond is very weak. It takes little to pull it apart. The bound water not only prevents freezing and acts to prevent pathogens from invading; the bound water also is a unique way for trees to store water. Trees supercool. (See WATER AND TREES, SHIGO, 2001)
Brown Rot - Brown rot - cellulose digested, lignin altered. Some mycorrhizae grow between old, dead leaves, and in brown-rotted wood suggesting that the fungi may be able to digest lignin.
Bryophyte - Bryophytes are plants that propagate from spores, comprising the mosses, the scale mosses and the liverworts. Plants that do not have true flowers.
Buffer - Agronomy - organic matter or a carbonate and phosphate compound in the soil that preserves hydrogen-ion concentrations and resists change in pH value. Natural systems come with many buffers. But, there are limits to those.
Bumble Bees - According to the laws of aerodynamics, bumble bees cannot fly.
Buds - Buds are preformed organs. Buds are structures that are made up of embryonic shoots. On some trees, smaller buds form to the sides of larger buds. The smaller buds may remain dormant for several growing periods. Starch is stored behind buds during the end of the growing season. On some trees, smaller buds form to the sides of larger buds. Do not confuse with meristematic points.
C
Callose - Callose is a phloem polysaccharide. It is important not to confuse "Callus" with "Callose" and or "Callous".
Callous - Callous means hardened. It is important not to confuse "Callus" with "Callose" and or "Callous".
Callus - Callus is a soft, non-woody tissue that forms about the edges of fresh wounds. Callus is undifferentiated, meristematic tissue, which has very little lignin. After several weeks to a few months, during which period, it is then replaced by woundwood. After wounding, callus forms first about the margins of the wound; Woundwood forms later as the cells become lignified. It is important not to confuse "Callus" with "Callose" and or "Callous".
Cambial Zone - The Cambial Zone is a cell generator that is between the wood or xylem (depending on the phenological stage) and inner bark. The cambial zone produces cells on its outer side, that mature to form phloem. The cambial zone produces cells on its inner side, that mature to form xylem (Not wood)! The cambial zone is sometimes called the vascular cambium. It is not green! It is rarely made up of a single layer of cells. The cambial zone is a meristem. The cambium zone is like an accordion - during the resting period it is closed and during the growing season it is open. The cambial zone is the same as the queen bee. Both must be fed by others and their job is to pump out new living cells. The symplast is the network of connected living cells; axial and radial parenchyma in wood, the cambial zone, living cells in the inner phloem, phloem rays, and the phellogen. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Capacity - Capacity is the potential to do something. E.g., parenchyma cells always have the capacity to divide and differentiate, but, when they are packed in there tightly by fibers and tissues, they do not have the ability because there is no space to exercise the capacity. Now, a wound to the truck opens space. Now there is the ability and sprouts form by the differentiation of cells. Capacity is what you have as a result of your genetic code; a potential source for some future action or product.
Carbon - Carbon is friendly -the mother element of life. Carbon is one of the six basic chemicals of life. Six chemicals - carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S) and phosphorus (P) - make up about 98 percent of the weight of people and trees.(see Essential Element, Nitrate, Fertilizer and IRS)(See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996)
Carbon Atoms - A hundred million carbon atoms in a line would measure about three centimeters. Carbon is the central chemical of life. The term "organic" means that carbon is part of the molecule.
Cell - Cells are the basic unit of life. All living things are made up of cells connected by electrical current. Many processes and parts of human cells are not so different from those in trees. Yet, animal cells have thin boundaries. Tree wood cells have thick, tough boundaries or walls. Animal tissue will not support itself. Animals require skin and bones to keep cells in place. Every splinter of wood is self - supporting. Cell walls of wood are made of cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses. Thin boundaries of animal cells allow them to move. Animals move away from agents and situations that threaten their survival. Trees cannot move. Trees grow where they find themselves, adapt or die. Trees planted incorrectly are sentences to an early death. See "ecosystem" and "wood cells."
Cell Division - Division of cells is when we have one cell; it splits (divides), now we have two cells. Now the two divide, and we have four. Now the four divide, and we have eight cells and so on. The process is called cell division.
Cellulose - Cellulose is a substance made up of long, twisting chains of glucose molecules. Hemicelluloses are substances made up of shorter chains of sugars. Cellulose is the most abundant natural substance in the world. Cellulose is sugar for the fungi.
Chemicals - If you think all chemicals are bad, don't drink water or eat food.
Chemicals and You - Think about it! You are made up of chemicals that were parts of millions of other plants and animals. A product of recycling!
Chemistry - Chemistry is the science of the arrangement and resulting properties of atoms. As the science of tree care develops, chemistry will become more important. Chemistry connects anatomy and physiology.
Chitin - Chitin is a slightly altered form of cellulose. Chitin contains nitrogen Chitin is exactly the same as cellulose except in place of the OH group on the second carbon, there is an NH(CO)CH3 group. The exoskeletons of arthropods contain chitin. Fungi have chitin in their boundary walls.
Chlorophyll - Chlorophyll is the substance that can trap the energy of the sun in a process called photosynthesis, it is green. Leaves are organs uniquely constructed for trapping the energy from the sun. As young leaves begin to grow they use stored energy that was made by mature leaves the previous growth period. As leaves grow and mature, chlorophyll is formed in the living cells. To form one molecule of chlorophyll, 54 carbon atoms connect with 4 nitrogen atoms, one central magnesium atom, and 72 hydrogen atoms. As chlorophyll is formed the first time, the elements must come from stored reserves. Before chlorophyll forms in a leaf, the leaf could be a color other than green depending on the first pigments that formed. As leaves die, chlorophyll is no longer produced, and the leaf takes on colors of the other pigments present. Chlorophyll is abundant in living parenchyma cells in young trees of most species. Green, cortex-like tissues are common under the periderm in young trees of many species. Chlorophyll is usually abundant in the cortex, pith, or other living tissues in young twigs.
CHO - Nature connects CHO in tens of thousands of compounds that all have different properties.
Clays - Clays are crystals of aluminum, silicon, and oxygen mostly. Clays are like sandwiches. Some are two layered and some are three layered. Some clays, especially the two layered clays, increase or decrease their charges as pH increases or decreases. Two to one clays or the three-layered clays have a permanent charge not affected by pH. Ammonium ion has a molecular weight of 18 and potassium is 39, yet they are about the same size. This is important because they compete for space in some clay crystals. Ammonium cation has a single positive charge. If clay is around, the cation usually bonds with the negative sites on the crystals. Clays are party centers. They have lots of negative spots that attract the wandering positive ions. Fun!
Clearcut - Clearcut terms, many clever names are used to buffer the publics awareness of the timber sales (logging) taking place. E.g. Shelterwood, reforestations, etc., which are planned clearcuts over several years. Cutting the wood out of the once fertile forest.
Closure – Wound closure is the closure of a wound to the stem on root of the tree. It is a result of the trees response to the wound. It is the tree putting new parts in new places. Not healing. Generating, not regenerating. See "healing." Closure is not CODIT. CODIT is the compartmentalization of decay in trees while closure is the closing of the wound. As callus differentials to become woundwood if conditions are suitable there will be closure. Soil conditions such as properly mulched or not, water and elements will play a role in quality of woundwood formed. When the wound in completely closed, normal wood is formed again. When a tree is wounded, you should not treat only the wound, but the entire tree. Wound dressing is not a suitable treatment.
Closure, Rapid - When wounds close rapidly, the woundwood often curls inward and forms internal cracks.
Coarse Woody Debris - Coarse Woody Debris - wood pieces more than ten centimeters in diameter and more than one meter in length. This material reduces erosion and affects soil development, stores nutrients, essential elements and water, provides a source of energy and nutrient flow, serves as seedbeds, and provides habitat for decomposers and heterotrophs (Harmon and Hua, 1991). Coarse Woody Debris - any symplastless standing or fallen tree stem at least 4 inches in diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) on snags and at the large end on fallen trees. (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
CODIT - CODIT means Compartmentalization Of Decay In Trees. Codit is a model of compartmentalization.
Common Sense - Common sense is the innate ability to know what is best, or what is right, or how to do a task the best way, or to make the best decision. Common sense grows from experience and attention given to a subject or any living or nonliving thing. Common sense is a built in survival system. Common sense grows in a person as they send signals out, receive them back- feedback mechanism - and then rapidly make any correction or adjustment that is needed. Some people do this so fast that it appears as if the feedback and correction process never happened; but it did. Common sense is also similar to what is constructive philosophy; thinking in a way that results in a worthwhile answer or practical application and solution to a question or problem. Constructive philosophy can result in doing something that will help rather than hurt a person, an animal, or a tree. Common sense and constructive philosophy are entwined. See (Science, Art, And Common Sense 1 + 2)
Communication - Communication is the ultimate connection. Communication is the transmission of a message. You can communicate with nature if you understand the language.
Compaction - Many mycorrhizae grow in micro cavities in the soil. Compaction destroys the micro cavities.
Compartmentalization - Compartmentalization is the tree's defense process where boundaries form that resist spread of infections and that defend the liquid transport, energy storage and mechanical support systems. As trees compartmentalize infected wood, storage space for energy reserves is reduced. Strong compartmentalization "keeps" the lost space to a minimum. Wounded wood is compartmentalized in trees. Wounds are compartmentalized in tropical trees, including palms. Compartmentalization is similar to damage control on a ship. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Compartmentation - Compartmentation means the subdivision of unit space. Compartmentation also means that there are "doors" between the "rooms" and "communication lines" connecting the "rooms." Compartmentalization means the "doors" are closed and the "communication lines" are broken.
Compartmented - Compartmented means made up of many compartments.
Complex Scientific Theories - Most so-called complex scientific theories and principles can be easily understood if someone, who really understands them, explains them.
Compound - A material made up of two or more elements.
Compression Wood - Wood, that is strengthened on the lower side of the lean or the problem. (Because it is on the compression side.) Conifers have compression wood. Reaction wood forms when trees lean. Compression wood forms on the lower side of the lean in conifers. Tension wood forms on the upper side of the lean in woody angiosperms.
Conductivity - Conductivity is the ability for ions to move through a solution.
Confusion / False Premise - When you start with a false premise, you will always end with confusion!
Conifers - Conifers are gymnosperms such as pine, hemlock and spruce and they do not have vessels. They have tracheids. There are two types of conifer wood: resinous and non-resinous.
Conifer wood is made up mostly of tracheids and fiber tracheids, from a volume basis.
Conifers have tracheids with pits. There are four basic types of wood, ring porous, diffuse porous, (simi-diffuse), conifer without resign ducts and conifers with resign ducts. And then there are palms.
Connections - We are made up of many little things that, taken separately, are not so important. But, when they are all connected, they become you, and that is important. The same with trees.
A brick will float when it has a wood board under it. Think what you can do when you make the right connections.
The fungi play a major role in recycling essential elements from dead organic matter. The fungi often do this in association with many other organisms in the soil: bacteria, insects, worms, amoebae, nematodes, and small animals. Many of the fungi associated with mycorrhizae have mushroom fruit bodies. Others have a variety of fruit bodies above ground and below ground. The major point is that the members of the natural system are all connected. When the connections begin to be broken, the system will suffer. You can kill soil. You can kill a forest. You can kill many living things that depend on a healthy forest. How? By breaking connections.
Knowledge is collections. Wisdom is connections.
Contact Parenchyma - Contact parenchyma connect axial and radial parenchyma. The cells that have pit connections with the transport cells and with the radial parenchyma are called contact parenchyma. Contact parenchyma, are usually axial parenchyma.
Core-Skin Hypothesis - Dr. R.C. Hardwick termed the core-skin hypothesis, which states that as new growth increments or "new trees" grow over old increments or "old trees," the "young trees" become "skin" over the aging "core." As trees age, the ratio of "core" to "skin" increases. Hardwick is a must reading, for anyone really interested in trees.
Cork - Outer bark contains suberin, which is cork. Cork resists breakdown by microorganisms. Cork is made up of suberin which is long chains of fatty acid.
Cortex - The cortex is a layer inside the thin outer bark on young stems. It mostly contains parenchyma cells that have chlorophyll. Cortex with chlorophyll is an energy trapping tissue. Also found in bark fissures of some mature trees. Cortex is a tissue in the bark of young trees and in some old trees that contains chlorophyll, the substance that can trap the energy of the sun in a process called photosynthesis. Chlorophyll is usually abundant in the cortex, pith, or other living tissues in young twigs.
Cortex – Trunk - Trunk cortex is green in young trees and can photosynthesize when conditions are proper, even when leaves are gone.
Cracks - Cracks that start from the outer bark inward are usually very shallow. Large internal cracks start from weakened spots such as wounds, branch stubs, dead spots between co-dominant stems or roots, and insect wounds.
Cracks will never be understood from the transverse plane only. Longitudinal radial dissection must be made not only to understand cracks but other internal defects.
Credentials - If a person says he or she understands trees, ask them how bark forms! People who haven't dug out tree roots or dissected trees should not be allowed to talk about trees.
Cure-Alls - If all the magic wonderful cure-alls work, why do we still have the same problems after their use?
D
Damage - Damage is an economic disruption, injury is a physiological disruption.
Injury harms the tree. Damage lowers the quality of the wood. E.g., a tree may have vascular wilt and die, but no damage to the wood. When an insect like a cambium miner may do little harm to the tree, yet can do great damage to the wood for product.
Cambium miner tracks in paper birch cause very little injury to the tree, but a great amount of damage to the veneer. Some diseases cause serious injury to trees, but the trunks can be salvaged for high quality products, and little damage results. Something to think about for future tree farms, I.e., when people finally except the fact we need to separate the forest from the tree farms and leave the wood in the forest and fields.
Dead wood - At least a half-truth. It would be unusual to find a mass of wood in a forest that does not contain some form of living cells, basically speaking. Biomass.
Death - Death is a state where parts and processes requiring energy become so disordered that they do not repeat. Life is a journey, powered by the sun, of a highly ordered and connected group of chemicals borrowed from the earth. Death is the end of the journey where the borrowed chemicals are returned to the earth to be used again for new life.
Decay - Decay is a process. Decay is the breakdown of cellulose. Decayed wood is the product of the process. Decaying is the kinetic state of the process. Decay is a process where highly ordered substances become disordered. As order goes to disorder, energy is released. As disorder goes to order, energy is consumed. If decay developed at will in trees, few infected trees would stand up. (See "Water And Decay" and "Tree Decay")
Defense - Defense means building a wall. Protection is the wall after it is built. The protection system of yaks that worked for them for millions of years worked against them when man and guns came. Yaks circle their young when threatened. They were easy targets for the pioneers. How many other long-standing natural protection systems has man destroyed? Defense is a dynamic process. PROTECTION AND DEFENSE - Protection is a static condition designed to prevent injury. Defense is a dynamic condition to survive after injury and infection. These words and their meanings are often confused and misunderstood. Trees have protection features: bark with waxes and suberin, aged wood with low amounts of nutrients and water (and with biological wood preservatives called extractives), arrangement of wood cells in a constant crisscross pattern as longitudinal and radial cells abut. Trees also have defense systems: chemical changes that produce antimicrobial substances, chemical and anatomical changes that form strong boundaries. After injury and infection, the still living cells near the wound respond by beginning to form a great variety of materials that resist inward spread of pathogens. The new materials may be just as harmful to the tree cells as they are to the pathogens. Some individual trees of a species respond to injury and infection rapidly, and the pathogens spread very slowly. It appears that this ability to respond rapidly is under moderate to strong genetic control. Some tree species have much stronger protection features than other species. Consider some of the species of Eucalyptus that have high amounts of extractives that prevent rapid spread of pathogens. Other tree species have weak protection features, and these trees usually do not live long.
Demons of D - In any system, the demons of D, can, and often do, bring about death to greater parts of the entire system. Demons of D, are the D-words, that bring about the big D word, Death. I have learned, that some are Depletion, Dysfunction and Disruption.
E.g., When you remove a part such as a tree trunk, it no longer functions as a contributor for that system, thus now dysfunctioning, thus a depletion of needed functions as well as material exist. Now many methods and types of logging cause disruption as well. Thus the sum of the latter represents some of the Demons of D.
Depletion - Depletion means that the basic substances for life begin to decrease to the point where injury and death are certain. One of the ways depletion injures organisms is by starvation. Depletion means that energy decreases to the point where disorder increases and the survival of the system is threatened. Examples are infections and starvation. Consider water.
Dicots - Monocots have one seedleaf. Dicots have two seedleaves. Monocots are a member of a group called monocotyledones. The seed has a single cotyledon of seed leaf. Palms have only an apical meristems that extend their axial growth. As always in nature, there are exceptions. Some members of the monocots do have a type of secondary growth that expands their girth - Cordyline
Die / Kill - Die and kill are not the same. As trees die slowly, they increase the amount of exudates into the rhizosphere. When trees are killed suddenly and taken away, this does not happen. More on the topic: The review of Samuelsson et al. (1994) on CWD states that distinct Succession of bryophyte and lichen communities occurs as trees die, fall, and decay.
Differentiate - When a cell changes its structure, such as when a parenchyma cell becomes enlarged to form a vessel, it is no longer a parenchyma cell it is a vessel. We say this cell differentiated. We call the process differentiation of cells.
Differentiation - When a cell changes its structure, such as when a parenchyma cell becomes enlarged to form a vessel, it is no longer a parenchyma cell it is a vessel. We say this cell differentiated. We call the process differentiation of cells.
Diffuse-Porous - Diffuse-porous trees (trees with diffuse porous wood) such as maple, birch, poplar and cherry, are angiosperms which have vessels of about equal size and diameter arranged at about equal distances from each other throughout the growth increment. Diffuse-porous wood has vessels, parenchyma, and fibers of about the same size arranged equally throughout the entire growth increment. Such vessel anatomy permits moderate loading throughout the entire growing season, i.e., loading of free water and essential elements dissolved in it. There are four basic types of wood, ring porous, diffuse porous, (simi diffuse), conifer without resign ducts and conifers with resign ducts. And then there are palms. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Dignity - Dignity means to command respect.
Dihydrogen Oxide - Did you hear about the people who wanted to ban dihydrogen oxide because they were told it caused many problems? Has caused burns, deaths. Alas, they wanted to ban water!
Dirt - People who call wonderful soil dirt need help.
Disaccharide - Sucrose is a disaccharide made up of glucose and fructose. About 65% of the sugars in maple sap are sucrose. That is why humans like it.
Discolored Wood - Discolored wood is wood that is chemically altered as a result of a wound or injury. Discolored Wood -cell contents and walls altered, color change. Not really discolored as meaning further from color. Often color increases. Discolored wood is wood infected by non-hymenomycetous, or non-decay causing fungi. In the early stages, discolored wood is a protection wood, but in later stages, as more organisms infect, the wood may lose its protection properties. As this happens, the discolored wood may take on the characteristics of soft rot where the S2 layer of the secondary layer of fibers is infected and altered. Discolored wood is initiated by wounds and the death of branches and roots that are not effectively walled off. Bacteria and fungi that are not capable of decaying wood usually infect the wounds and the tissues associated with branches and roots that are not effectively walled off.
Discoloring Fungi - Discoloring fungi are fungi associated with the coloring of wood. Discoloring is a poor term, when often there is an increase or change in color. More on the topic: Most fungi that are able to grow in wood in living trees are associated with colored or discolored wood. Most decay causing fungi will alter the color of the wood. However, the fungi in the Fungi Imperfecti and the Ascomycetes are often called the discoloring fungi or the wood-staining fungi. Much of the original work on the wood-staining fungi was done on those species in and near the genus Ceratocystis (then Ceratostomella, and later Ophiostoma, and now again back to Ophiostoma). The imperfect genera were Graphium (mostly Ceratocystis) and Leptographium (which has been split into several other genera). Some other genera of staining fungi were Phialophora, Trichocladium, and Torula. The wood-staining fungi were studied mostly on wood products. The staining fungi were considered contaminants when isolated from living trees. The medium used for isolating organisms from wood in living trees was selective for the decay fungi. When bacteria and non decay-causing fungi were isolated, they were considered contaminants. Now we know that many species of fungi and, bacteria grow in wood exposed by wounds. The organisms that are first to infect wounds may actually stall the spread of the decay fungi.
Disease - A disease is a process that decreases the order and energy of a living system to the point of strain. A disease is an abnormal physiological process that causes injury or death. A disease must be based on the entire organism and not just its parts. Pathogens are disseminated. Diseases are transmitted. A disease is a process that causes anatomical disruptions, physiological dysfunctions, and energy disruptions, that lead to strain or death of an organism, or its parts. More on the subject: A hereditary disease may cause anatomical or morphological abnormalities, or dysfunctions of systems, and no specific pathogen would be involved. An abiotic agent such as a pollutant may cause a disease. A disease is an intrinsically controlled process that threatens the survival of an organism. A disease may also be the interaction between intrinsic and extrinsic agents that threaten the survival of the host. When living pathogens infect an organism-the host-the pathogen begins a process of energy transfer that benefits the pathogen and harms the host. Animals can restore strained parts that result from disease. Trees wall off the strained parts. As pathogens continue their activities, energy is depleted and starvation may begin. As an organism approaches death, more and more factors enter the disease processes. In many cases, the pathogens that started the process are not the ones that cause the death of the host. When a host can no longer mount a defense system, it is just a matter of time before death.
Diseases / Pathogens - Pathogens are disseminated. Diseases are transmitted.
Disruption - Disruption means that the highly ordered structure of a system is disordered to the point where survival is threatened. Some examples are storm injuries and wounds inflicted by large machines. Disruption is when you get hit by a tractor trailer, and your head is over there, your arm is over there and your other parts are scattered somewhere else. Disruption means wounding, severe mechanical impacts and fracturing. See "Demons of D."
Disseminated - Pathogens are disseminated. Diseases are transmitted.
Divide - When a cell divides, it splits and becomes two new functioning cells.
Division of Cells - Division of cells is when we have one cell; it splits (divides), now we have two cells. Now the two divide and we have four. Now the four divide and we have eight cells and so on. The process is called cell division.
Doctors - Humans – Trees - All large organisms in a doctor's waiting room will be the same genus and species -Homo sapiens. Tree people must deal with many genera of trees and in this project many fauna and flora.
Dormant Buds - On some trees, smaller buds form to the sides of larger buds. The smaller buds may remain dormant for several growing periods. Do not confuse with meristematic points.
Drought - There are four basic types of drought. 1. Agricultural 2. Climatical 3. Biological 4. Meteorological
Dry Rot - Dry rot does not advance in dry wood.
Dumb Animals - Why do we call them dumb animals when they know how to survive in the wild ? Could you ?
Dieing - Die and kill are not the same. As the symplast portions of trees die slowly, they increase the amount of exudates into the rhizosphere. When trees are killed suddenly and taken away, this does not happen. Also the functionality of the CWD is removed when CWD is removed. In addition: The review of Samuelsson et al. (1994) of CWD states that distinct Succession of bryophyte and lichen communities occurs as trees die, fall, and decay.
Dynamic Mass - We define the dynamic mass, as the mass, which contains living parenchyma. The mass which contains a symplast. A young tree is 100% dynamic mass. This means that there are living parenchyma cells every place there can be a living cell. See "Dynamic to Static Mass" and "Static Mass". (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Dynamic to Static Mass - Ratios of dynamic mass to static mass should be the basis for dose of fertilizers and pruning.
Dysfunction - Dysfunction means some parts and processes of the living system have developed problems that retard or prevent their functioning and growth.
Dysfunction means that highly ordered parts and processes begin to become disordered to the point where survival is threatened.
E
Earlywood / Springwood - In cross section, earlywood or springwood is the xylem which has become lignified (has become wood) in the spring. It precedes the Late or Summerwood. It is the first wood to be formed in the current growth increment. In girth we break down the current growth and lignifications into two periods - Early and Late, or as some label it - Spring and Summer. Remember the cambium zone does not produce wood on the inside, but, xylem. The new born material is not correctly termed wood until it is lignified. "See Late or Summer Wood". (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Economics - Changes and adjustments that lead to improvements will seldom occur unless you can show the client that there will be a saving of time or money. The practitioner will seldom make changes or adjustments unless you can show that there will be a saving of time and an increase in profit. There are always exceptions, but economics usually determine what changes and adjustments will be made. The greatest resistance to the new tree biology and the adjustments it brings has been the fear that profit will be decreased. Fear and faith are the 2 greatest motivators. Fear means something bad will happen, and faith means something good will happen. The new biology aims at faith in health. If an organism is healthy, more good things than bad things will likely happen. The classic tree care focuses on crisis management and fear; wait until bad things happen and then "fix" them. The tree clients in homes, cities, orchards, and even forests are beginning to realize that that kind of crisis management is costly; poor economics. We get back to money very quickly. Why pay good money for a treatment that will hurt the tree? As the tree clients become more aware of what constitutes sound tree care, the older, more costly and injurious treatments will begin to decrease. Why pay for flush cut pruning when such a treatment starts at least 14 serious tree problems? Why pay for wound paints and for the great time to apply them, when research by many scientists shows that they do not stop decay? The practitioners are learning that health not only profits, the tree, but also the tree worker. Health care is a long-term job, not a single-visit activity. The economics of health care is good for the tree owner and the practitioner. Here is a case where changes can benefit all three; the tree owner, the practitioner, and the tree. In the tree farms, management for high quality trees will be economically sound. A few veneer grade trees will yield more profit than acres of chip-grade trees. It will also be economically sound to transport high quality trees long distances. It is not economically sound to transport low quality trees even short distances. In the end, economics will guide many future tree programs in the cities and forests.
Ecosystem - Cells are the basic unit of life. All living things are made up of cells connected by electrical current. A tissue is a group of cells, all of the same kind, and closely connected. When we have many tissues that are connected to do a similar function, that is called an organ. When we have many organs that are all connected, we call that an organism. When we have many organisms connected, we call that an ecosystem.
Ectendomycorrhizae - Ectendomycorrhizae are those structures, organs (mycorrhizae), that have characteristics between endomycorrhizae and ectomycorrhizae. As is the case most of the time in natural systems, gradations from one extreme to another usually exist.
Ectomycorrhizae - There are two basic types of mycorrhizae: those in which fungal cells infect the outermost cells of the mycorrhizae and those in which fungal cells infect all the cells of the mycorrhizae internally. Those that have infections primarily in the outermost cells are called ectomycorrhizae. Those that have all cells infected internally are called endomycorrhizae. As is the case most of the time in natural systems, gradations from one extreme to another usually exist. Those structures that have some characteristics between the two types given are called ectendomycorrhizae. Ectomycorrhizal fungi often are the major inhabitants of conifer forest soils.
Education - Education is a learning process. Learning leads to increased knowledge. Knowledge is the amount of information gained. Intelligence is the capacity to gain information. Wisdom is the use of information in ways that ensure continued high-quality survival. Education is a process not a product.
Electron - Atom was the name given
to the smallest bit of matter. The word means uncuttable. Of course we know
now that atoms can be reduced or cut further.
There are 92 naturally occurring kinds of atoms. In elaborate laboratories,
scientists have increased that number to 110, as of this writing.
An atom contains at least one central, positively charged body and one circling,
negatively charged body. Every atom is unique in that the number of positive
charges normally equals the number of negative charges. The positive bodies
are protons, and the negative bodies are
electrons. The circling nature of the electrons is often referred to
as a negative cloud. All atoms except hydrogen have at least one neutron
in their nucleus. The neutron has mass, but no charge. The hydrogen atom
has one proton and one electron, but no neutron.
If the nucleus of an atom could be enlarged to about the size of a dime,
the circling cloud of the electron or electrons would be nearly the size
of a football field. Think about it. A half -inch cube of nuclear material
would weigh about 10 million tons. The figures lose their meaning because
it is difficult for our minds to grasp these facts. In the end, we must remember
the energy and matter are concepts, and that they are interchangeable.
Elements – See "essential elements".
Embryonic shoots - Buds are structures that are made up of embryonic shoots.
Empiricism - Empiricism is knowledge gained from experience. But, when empiricism repeats at a high level, then we begin to approach the same results that may come from science with an experiment.
Endomycorrhizae - There are two basic types of mycorrhizae: those in which fungal cells infect the outermost cells of the mycorrhizae and those in which fungal cells infect all the cells of the mycorrhizae internally. Those that have infections primarily in the outermost cells are called ectomycorrhizae, e.g., beech, oak, hemlock, pine, American Chestnut and hickory. Those that have all cells infected internally are called endomycorrhizae, e.g., magnolia, maples, apple, birch, ash, American Elm. As is the case most of the time in natural systems, gradations from one extreme to another usually exist. Those structures that have some characteristics between the two types given are called ectendomycorrhizae, e.g., beech and hemlock.
Some endomycorrhizae form vesicles and other types of structures in the non-woody root cells. These mycorrhizae are called vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae or V A mycorrhizae. The roots infected by the V A fungi appear similar to normal, non-infected non-woody roots. To see the fungi, sections must be stained and examined under the microscope.
Energy - Energy is a concept of forces that do work. Photosynthesis and respiration are two sides of the same coin. No system or machine will start itself and continue to operate or function without a continuing supply of energy. A tree starts life from energy stored in a seed. Or a tree can start from a cutting that contained stored energy. As the tree system reaches a rest period, energy must be stored to fuel the beginning of new growth at a later period. Stored energy is required for development of new leaves. When energy reserves decrease, meristematic points form sprouts. Potential energy, in a sense, is like money you have in the bank but can not touch. It is energy that is present, however, it is not available at the present time for use. It is in storage. (See MODERN ARBORICULTURE, SHIGO, 1991, pg191) Trees use energy produced by the sun (Glucose) in five basic ways: Growth; Maintenance; Root Exudates for soil associates; Reproduction; Storage and Defense.
Environment - Environment is a collection of things around you. Natural systems are collections of things so highly ordered that they repeat.
Environment -Humankind - Never in the history of humankind have so many people talked and written so much about what they know so little - the environment.
Epidermal Cells - Epidermal means skin, a cell is the basic unit of life. Cells of the skin.
Non-woody roots shed dying and dead root hairs and epidermal cells. The shed cells are digested by soil microorganisms. They recycle elements essential for life.
Epidermis - Current growth has a thin covering of epidermis. The one-year-old twigs have a thin covering called a primary periderm.
Essential Elements-1 - With respect, the USFS uses the word fertilize which is a word that represents 17 elements which trees and connections such as fungi, require from the soil, yet only apply 1 of the 17? While extracting a major source of many of these, the store house for nutrients and essential elements, i.e., the CWD. The Law of the Minimum needs to be considered. There are 17 chemical elements essential for healthy growth of trees: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous, calcium, and copper. The first 3 come from water and air. They are often written in short from as CHO. The other - 14 - come from the soil. CHO makes up he carbohydrates that carry and supply energy. The energy comes from the sun. Elements are not tree food. Bags of fertilizer is not plant food. When we fertilize we are not providing food. We are adding elements that are essential for life. That is all we are doing. (See NEW TREE BIOLOGY DICTIONARY, SHIGO, 1986 pg 45)
Essential Elements-2 - "The biggies are N+P+K; Nitrogen + Phosphorus + Potassium; Calcium; Sulfur; Magnesium; They are required for life in higher amounts. Then we go to the group called micro-elements--please do not call them miner, they are not miner. They are required in very very low amounts. Copper, Chlorine, Boron, Nickel, Molybdenum, Zinc, Iron, Manganese. You should know just a little about what each does. Just to be on the safe side. There is a few plants that we think may be able to use some others. They are rare in the Southern USA - Selenium, Silicon and Cobalt. Some of the above are required by the fungi and not so much by the tree.
Essential Elements-3 - Minute amounts of microelements can cause big changes in the ways fungi grow. When trees are fertilized heavily the fungi may not interact with the non-woody roots to form mycorrhizae. Before elements can be absorbed by roots, they must be in the form of ions that are soluble in water. This is good news and bad news because soluble ions can also be leached from the soil. (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996) (See TROUBLES IN THE RHIZOSPHERE, SHIGO, 1996)
Essential Elements-4 - Elements are too often mistakenly called "nutrients". To make this clear, please allow me to share this with you. Essential elements. Look at your chart of Atomic Properties of elements. (Not the Atomic Properties of nutrients) That’s where you will find your elements. Look at mycorrhizae. Is it fungus or is it tree? YES, mycorrhizae is a composite structure made up of root and fungus tissues.
But if you have the fungus and no tree, do you have mycorrhizae? NO, you do not have the composite structure made up of root and fungus tissues. You only have fungus.
If you have a bag of fungi to place on the soil, to establish mycorrhizae, do you have mycorrhizae in the bag? NO
Take a lichen, is it algae or fungus? YES (People do not like these kinds of answers)
But if you have a bag of algae, do you have lichens. NO
If you have a nutrient, is it an element or energy? YES
If you have a bag of elements do you have a nutrient? NO
Do you have a bag of food? NO
You say oh, word games?
With respect: Consider poor Joe who liked alcohol. Drank methanol rather than ethanol. He then quickly learned, as his brain got burned. That words, are important after all.
Ethics - Ethics mean human behavior. Just as quality, ethics could be bad, or good.
Extractives - Extractives are substances that can be extracted from the wood by using various solvents. As cells age and die in some species, the cell walls and lumens are impregnated with extractives that impart a protective feature to the wood.
Extremes - Extremes cause rapid death. Living at the limits causes slow complicated death.
Exudates - Exudates are substances that contain photosynthate, and other substances made by the tree. Percentages of photosynthate, and other substances made that can leave the roots as exudates range from 5% to 40%. The exudates leave by way of the rhizoplane to feed many of the living organisms of the soil. Trees pay their taxes, in a sense, with exudates. As the symplast declines the amount of exudates increases. Again, the rhizoplane is the site of the exudates.
F
False Heartwood - False heartwood is protection wood. False heartwood is wood so depleted of elements essential for life that few organisms can grow in it. False heartwood is often trunk wood associated with dying and symplastless branches. As the symplast of the branches die, the trunk wood associated with the branches deplete their supply of elements, especially nitrogen-based molecules, that are essential for life.
False heartwood is wood altered to a higher protective state than sapwood as the symplast of branches die and are shed. The wood in the trunk associated with the symplastless branches loses its energy reserves and nitrogen-based substances. The moisture content also decreases. False heartwood may or may not take on a change of color. An example of a false heartwood forming tree is tulip poplar - Liriodendron tulipifera . (See A CLOSER LOOK AT TREES, SHIGO "video")
False Premise - Magicians convince you that the hat is empty. They start with a false premise.
When you start with a false premise, you will always end with confusion!
The heartrot concept is based on the "assumption" that wood is dead. And, that is not so. A false premise. Myths start with a false premise.
Feeder Roots - I do not have that answer. We have not found any roots feeding under the microscope as of yet, i.e., in New Tree Biology Workshops. We are still looking!
Fertilizers - Fertilizers are soluble salts of essential elements. "See essential elements". (See NEW TREE BIOLOGY DICTIONARY, SHIGO,1986, pg45) (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996)
Fiber Saturation Point - Fiber saturation point means the saturation of the cell walls with water, but not the cell lumen. The f.s.p. -fiber saturation point - of cell walls ranges from 25% to 35% moisture.
Fibers - Fibers are vertically aligned cells that have thick, tough walls. Most fiber cells live for less than a year. Dead fiber cells provide strong mechanical support for trees.
Fibers have thick cell walls. The secondary wall is divided into an S1, S2, and S3 layer. The S2 layer in the middle is the thickest. The S2 layer is the major site for bound water. Dead fibers and tissues are what holds the symplast in place.
Flush Cut Pruning - Flush cut pruning is cutting flush with the trunk. Flush cut pruning is removing the branch collar and its capacity to produce chemicals to resist invasion by microorganisms. Flush cut pruning is the primary cause of many problems with peach trees. Flush cut pruning does not lead to good closure. However, a flush cut can lead to a cavity and a good home for some small wildlife. Not so good for the tree but good for certain wildlife. When pruning was attempted in tree farming in the past, flush cuts were the prescribed treatment. Thus low quality material resulted. Tree anatomy never had a chance. See "Pruning". (See TREE PRUNING, SHIGO, 1989)
Fog Water - Fog water may be different from rain water because there may be more of the oxygen 18 isotope in fog water and fog water can contain higher concentrations of acids and elements.
Food - Food is energy plus elements essential for life. All living things are bags of chemicals. Introduced other chemicals-could benefit the bags -food -or disrupt the bags --poisons. More on the topic: Food is any substance that provides energy and elements essential for life. Food is fuel. Tree food is sugar. The chlorophyll traps the energy of the sun in a molecule of carbon dioxide and water-glucose. Tree food is carbohydrate; carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen combined to form many types of sugars and sugar-based substances. Nutritious food includes the proper amounts of essential elements and vitamins that are necessary for a healthy living condition. Fertilizers provide some elements essential for life. Planted trees usually require fertilizers. But, fertilizers do not provide an energy source for trees! The energy still comes from the sun and it is held in the sugar molecule. It is not so important to know the words, but it is important to know the natural processes. More harm has been done to trees in the name of feeding than with most other injurious actions. We want to make trees like people. If you love someone who is sick or starving, you give them food. So, food is not given to trees, that is the sad part of the story. So, here the words we use are important when they result in harm and not help. When a tree is sick or stressed, its energy reserves are usually low. Trees can only store energy in living cells. The amount of energy reserves is then directly related to the amount of healthy living cells in wood and inner bark. When elements are added to the soil or injected into the tree, the elements stimulate the natural biological processes to increase their rate. To do this, energy is required. The energy can only come from stored reserves or from new substances produced by photosynthesis. What all this means is that the tree does speed up its normal activities. But, is this not good for a sick tree? In some cases it may be, so long as the energy required to operate all processes is sufficient. But, when the natural processes operate faster than energy can be supplied, then problems start. Large leaves form. Long new shoots form. Then the leaves and shoots begin to die. This scene has been seen by many people who have fertilized a tree planted early in the spring. Everything looks very fine, until all the leaves come out. Then they die. How could this happen, people think, when the tree grew so fast and the leaves grew so large. The rapid growth rate and the large leaves were part of the problem. There was little or no energy left to make new wood and bark, and no energy left to supply the living cells in the trunk and roots. The living cells in the trunk and roots are absolutely dependent on the leaves for their energy. A major problem with many planted trees is that they grow too fast. We think that rapid growth means a healthy tree. This is not so! I hope the day will come when we can give trees food. Until that time, use fertilizers with great care, and do not confuse them with tree food.
Bottom line on elements verses nutrients. Elements are too often mistakenly called "nutrients". To make this clear, please allow me to share this with you. Essential elements. Look at your chart of Atomic Properties of elements. (Not the Atomic Properties of nutrients) That’s where you will find your elements. Look at mycorrhizae. Is it fungus or is it tree? YES, mycorrhizae is a composite structure made up of root and fungus tissues.
But if you have the fungus and no tree, do you have mycorrhizae? NO, you do not have the composite structure made up of root and fungus tissues. You only have fungus.
If you have a bag of fungi to place on the soil, to establish mycorrhizae, do you have mycorrhizae in the bag? NO
Take a lichen, is it algae or fungus? YES (People do not like these kinds of answers)
But if you have a bag of algae, do you have lichens. NO
If you have a nutrient, is it an element or energy? YES
If you have a bag of elements do you have a nutrient? NO
Do you have a bag of food? NO
You say oh, word games?
With respect: Consider poor Joe who liked alcohol. Drank methanol rather than ethanol. He then quickly learned, as his brain got burned. That words, are important after all.
Forest - A forest is a highly ordered arrangement of living organisms living in, on and around (dead, dying & living) trees in such an highly ordered fashion it assures high quality survival for all. Forest are systems where trees and many other communities of organisms are connected in ways that ensure high quality survival for all. Forests can heal, trees cannot. Trees manufacture food (energy), store it like a battery, and provide it throughout their ecological stages to many unique groups of organisms above as well as below ground, i.e., besides for their own use. Part of the grand connection. E.g., substrate for the base of the food web – fungi.
Forest Connections - Hyphae from mycorrhizae on one tree can connect with hyphae from mycorrhizae from another tree of a different species. The grand forest connection.
Forest Ecosystem - What are forest ecosystems? Forests are ecosystems!
Forest Industry - Did you know there is a big push now to try to replace wood framing in houses with steel framing? Think of the consequences this will have, if it happens, on the forest industries.
Forest Lab History - The Mississippi Valley Laboratory in St. Louis was established in 1899. Dr. Herman von Schrenk was the director. Studies on wood decay and discoloration were done mostly. In time, the studies drifted toward wood products. In 1907 the lab was discontinued and the Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin took over. The major focus of the lab was on wood products decay. Tree biology never had a chance.
Forest Products - The focus of the Forest Products Laboratory that started in 1907 was on products, not on biology.
Forestry - Forestry was founded on the basis of getting the wood out, not on understanding the tree. The focus of the Forest Products Laboratory that started in 1907 was on products, not on biology. The Mississippi Valley Laboratory in St. Louis was established in 1899. Dr. Herman von Schrenk was the director. Studies on wood decay and discoloration were done mostly. In time, the studies drifted toward wood products. In 1907 the lab was discontinued and the Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin took over. The major focus of the lab was on wood products decay. Tree biology never had a chance.
Free Water - Free water, is water, that is flowing. A form of H2O. Free water is loaded in the vessels and tracheids. Then when the water is moved and bound to the walls of cellulose it is no longer free water it is bound water. The way water changes from free to bound, and back again, is one the wondrous processes of nature. When the water becomes unbound it is then free water again. Free water moves only in the latewood of the current increment during the end of the growth period in some tyloses- forming species of ring-porous trees such as American elm.
Fructose - Fructose is also known as levulose because it rotates polarized light to the left. It also tastes sweeter to us.
Fruits - Fruits are ripened ovaries and their attached parts.
Fulfilling life - Recognizing natural connections is the key to a fulfilling life.
Fulvic and Humic Acids - Humic and fulvic acids buffer pH swings in the soil.
Function - Purpose
Functionality - Functionality is the collective functions that a mass can perform over the time of its presence as well as its substrate it leaves.
Fungi - Fungi are organisms that obtain their energy from other organisms, living or dead, have a vegetative body made up of microscopic cells that may exist as individuals, but usually are joined to form long tube-like filaments, or strands called a mycelium, reproduce by asexual of sexual spores, have well defined nuclei, and are usually classified as plants but some scientist give them a position of their own between plants and animals. Fungi do not manufacture their own food. They have no chlorophyll. Fungi include the yeast, molds, smuts, rusts, mushrooms, and many forms that do not have common names. There are over 4000 genera and 50,000 species known.
Fungi have chitin in their boundary walls.
Fungi absorb from the outside inward. Our guts absorb from the inside outward.
People who think all fungi are bad should go without wine, cheese and bread for starters.
The fungi play a key major role in recycling essential elements from dead organic matter. The fungi often do this in association with many other organisms in the soil: bacteria, insects, worms, amoebae, nematodes, and small animals. (See the brilliantly colored minute mushrooms that were fruit bodies of a fungus recycling elements in a symplastless log (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994, pg86). Many of the fungi associated with mycorrhizae have mushroom fruit bodies. Others have a variety of fruit bodies above ground and below ground. The major point is that the members of the natural system are all connected. When the connections begin to be broken, the system will suffer. You can kill soil. You can kill a forest. You can kill many living things that depend on a healthy forest. How? By breaking connections.
Glyphosate kills by disrupting the shikimic acid pathway in plants. Fungi also have the same pathway (sorry). Mycorrhizae form when some fungi infect young, emerging non-woody roots. The mycorrhizae are organs made up of tree and fungus tissues, i.e., a composite structure. The organs facilitate the absorption of phosphorus, manganese, copper, and zinc. Hyphae of the fungus associated with a mycorrhiza often grow out beyond the mycorrhiza into the soil.
Fungi Benefits - Some of the benefits to trees: Facilitate absorption of water and elements - fungi; Break down organic and inorganic materials - bacteria, fungi, insects, animals ; Aerate soils - worms, insects, fungi, animals; Detoxify harmful substances - bacteria and fungi. Help adjust pH - bacteria and fungi; Protect roots against pathogens - bacteria, fungi, (mycorrhizae) ; Hold water - actinomycetes, bacteria, (cell coatings); Resist decay - anaerobic bacteria (wetwood), non-decay causing fungi (discolored wood) ; Facilitate branch shedding – decay causing fungi; Protection against wound infections by decay-causing fungi - bacteria, non-decay-causing fungi. Less than 1% of the fungi and bacteria are harmful to the tree system!
Fungi Pathogens - In the beginning all organisms had "white hats." We thought all life forms were good or beneficial. As space and energy sources became limiting, some of the " good guys," the bonogens, took out the weaker members of the group. Because of the bonogens, the group survived. As humans came on the scene, the bonogens soon became the pathogens. The bonogens took out the London Plane leaves that grew from buds that had very little stored energy reserves. Now we call these fungi pathogens because "they cause" a disease we call anthracnose.
Fungi, Insects and Bacteria - Many insects, fungi, bacteria, and other organisms are thought to be harmful, yet very few of them are. It is a pity when we use treatments that are designed to kill everything. So along with the few "bad guys" go all the "good guys." Then we want to buy the "good guys" and put them back. The insects and microorganisms have a job to do on earth. Many are "clean up" experts such as the fungus parasitizing the mushroom fruiting body of another fungus (See TREE PITHY POINTS, DR SHIGO, 1999 Plate 52). These organisms break down dead organisms to release or recycle elements essential for new life. Some organisms attack others that no longer have a defense system. A few attack living organisms that are healthy. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994, pg86). See "hyphae".
G
Generating System - A generating system is a system that new parts and processes form in new spatial positions; plants. The difficulty with generating systems is that as mass increases, the energy to maintain order in the mass increases at exponential rates. Thus, creating a need and purpose of CWD must remain for good forest health.
Glucose - Glucose is the final product of photosynthesis, not the first. ATP is the first product. The glucose molecule is water soluble. Glucose is the energy that your body and trees burn which runs both systems. Glucose is the fuel of life. Glucose is usually in the form of a ring. Glucose -magic springs, or soluble battery. (See MODERN ARBORICULTURE, SHIGO, 1991, pg 200+)
Glyphosate - Glyphosate kills by disrupting the shikimic acid pathway in plants. Fungi also have the same pathway. (sorry)
GOD - "God wrote two books, the scriptures and nature," said Galileo. To read nature you must connect with it; touch it.
Good Earth Smell - Actinorhizae are organs composed of root tissue and actinomycetes. Actinomycetes give soil that "good earth smell". Soil, actinomycetes are very tolerant of water stress. Actinomycetes often give that "good earth " aroma after a rain.
Grass / Trees - The grass (more specifically turf not true grass), tree problem is not only a city one; it is common in parks and forests as the sides of roads are seeded.
Green - Green is the dominant color of nature, yet, green was one of the last fabric stains invented by man.
Green Waste - There is no such thing as "green waste." It should be called natural recyclables.
Growth - Growth is an increase in mass. Trees grow as their meristems form cells that differentiate to be all the tissues and organs in a tree. Trees grow as their meristems - apical, vascular - produce cells that form all parts of the tree. Growth and maintenance are linked. Energy is required to maintain order in new mass.
Growth History - (See TREE PITHY POINTS, SHIGO, 1999, pg123)A look at page 123 in Tree Pithy Points will help to understand growth. Wounds are all too common on trees growing in cities, parks, forests, and orchards. The young Monterey pine in New Zealand was wounded during a thinning operation. You can note the thick woundwood that formed to the sides of the wound. Dissection shows clearly the growth history of the tree. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994), (See TREE PRUNING, SHIGO, 1989), (See A CLOSER LOOK AT TREES, SHIGO "video"), (See A NEW TREE BIOLOGY, SHIGO, 1986), (See MODERN ARBORICULTURE, SHIGO, 1991).
Growth Increment - A "growth increment" is an increment of growth, either in elongation or girth, of dicot plants. Or in elongation pertaining to monocots, which have only an apical meristem. However, as always in nature, there are exceptions. Some members of the monocots do have a type of secondary growth that expands their girth - Cordyline spp. History of term - At one time, when people examined tree samples they looked at the cross section only. They saw rings and called them yearly rings. Then a more, closer examination, of trees began to take place in 1959 when dissections of thousands of trees with a chain saw started A New Tree Biology. The chainsaw can be used as a scientific research instrument, if you know how to use it, along with a microscope. Now proper dissections in the longitudinal plane were done and people saw bars not rings. So then came the term yearly increments. However, it is believed that in some locations of the world, trees may have more than one growth increment a year. So now, the term "growth increment" will add least misunderstanding worldwide when used. But it is important to know how we got to where we are today, where we are at, and where we are going. Widths of growth increments decrease when trees are stressed.
Growth Hormone - Growth hormone is an animal term not a plant term. A hormone is a regulating substance produced in a ductless gland and transported to other parts where that material becomes effective.
Growth Regulator - A tree term. Something that would regulate the growth of the tree. Growth hormones is an animal term.
Gymnosperms - Gymnosperms have naked seeds. Angiosperms have covered seeds. Gymnosperms are plants such as conifers, which have tracheids, not vessels, e.g., pines, spruces and douglas firs. Angiosperms have phenol-based substances mostly as protection compounds. Gymnosperms have isoprene or terpene-based substances mostly as their protection compounds.
H
Habitat - A habitat is a place where any organism can survive or live. (See "Niche")
Hapaxanthic - Hapaxanthic is a expression out of plant ecology which is now a little out of use. Plant species are called hapaxanthic when their individuals will form only once inflorescence and seeds and then die. Thus these plants only survive by their seeds. I wonder how many plants are hapaxanthic thus endangered, threatened and extinct as a result of treatments such as the "Burn and Clearcut Project"".
Happiness - Happiness is touching a tree while watching your family play with your dog.
Happiness is walking among trees during a snowfall.
Hazard Tree - Don't call a tree a hazard until it is one. If a tree is weak structurally, but does not pose a hazard because of a lack of target, remember wildlife use such trees for shelter, nesting, and roosting. Remember the functionality of CWD.
Heal - To heal is to place new parts back in old parts places. Animals heal, however, a tree DOES NOT heal. A tree has two processes, closure of wounds and compartmentalization, which are two separate processes. A tree does not place new parts in "OLD" parts positions. They put new parts in "NEW" positions. With respect, the system, the group, can heal, yet too often humans lack the ability and interest, to appreciate the length of time healing takes place and the functionality of CWD, which connects and facilitates the healing process over time. Lack of tree biology is the cause.
Health - Health is the ability to resist strain. (Can refer to one of three areas - mechanical, biological or spiritual or all three).
Healthy Mature Tree - A mature tree is one that has decreased its dynamic to static mass. A healthy mature tree may have a thousand or more infections. We call some trees mature when they have formed large fissures in the phellem (corky outer bark).
Heart - The heart was thought to be the center for emotions. We still use it as meaning love. Too bad the center of a tree is called the heart. If any tree part should be called the heart, it should be the symplast.
Heart Rot - The heartrot concept is based on the "fact" that wood is dead. And, that is not so. A false premise. Heartrot and wound dressings are twins. (See A NEW TREE BIOLOGY COMES OF AGE, SHIGO, 2000)
Heartwood - Heartwood is genetically age-altered wood that has a greater protection capacity than the sapwood that contains the symplast. In more detail - Heartwood is age-altered wood. The wood is altered to a higher state of protection than the sapwood. Sapwood maintains an active defense system because of living cells. Defense is a dynamic process. Protection wood has many features that resist infection by decay-causing microorganisms. As cells age and die in some species, the cell walls and lumens are impregnated with substances that impart a protective feature to the wood. These substances are called extractives because they can be extracted from the wood by using various solvents. The heartwood is also more protective because it no longer has stored energy reserves, and the moisture content is low. Also, as the parenchyma cells die, nitrogen-based materials move out to the sapwood. Because of the low moisture content, lack of energy reserves and nitrogen-based substances, and the inclusion of extractives, the heartwood usually has a high resistance to microorganisms that cause decay.
Hemicelluloses - Hemicelluloses are polymers of shorter chains of sugars than cellulose. Cellulose is a substance made up of long, twisting chains of glucose molecules. Hemicelluloses are substances made up of shorter chains of sugars.
Herbicide - History of term - herbicide is a term coined by a Jersey City, New Jersey, Railroad Company at the turn of the 20th century. They were applying sodium arsenic to the rail lines and adjacent properties. They did not want the public to know what they were applying, so they called it a herbicide. Thus comes the term herbicide. In this project, they (USFS) does not even know. (E.g., inert ingredients and trade secretes for starters) Most herbicides work by blocking enzymes. Glyphosate kills by disrupting the shikimic acid pathway in plants. Fungi also have the same pathway. (Sorry)
Heterogeneous - Science - differing in type, origin, constituents, or other qualities; dissimilar. Chemistry - composed of different substances or different phases of the same substance; e.g., a colloid. Biology - having a source outside the organism; having a foreign origin. Mathematics – having different degrees, grades, dimensions, and so on.
Heterotrophs - Autotrophs make their own food. Heterotrophs have to have it made for them.
High Quality - High quality means as it survives it survives in a state that will continue to be usable. E.g., If you were to take a pair of shoes on a trip, and when you returned from the trip, the shoes were not in a condition that you would wear them again, you would say they were low quality shoes. Now if you were to return from the trip and the shoes were in a condition or state that you would wear them again on another trip, we would say they were high quality shoes.
Hormones - A hormone is a regulating substance produced in a ductless gland and transported to other parts where that material becomes effective. An animal term.
Humic Acids - Humic acids slow decomposition reactions in soils. Humic and fulvic acids buffer pH swings in the soil.
Humus - Humus is organic materials which contain humic acids as a result of the rainbow funnel. Hard to define due to lack of chemical formula for humic acids. But it does exist. Maybe hard for you to understand because of "my" lack of understanding of just what it is. I don’t know.
Hurricane – Injury - In forests, ice-injured trees add much needed carbon as cellulose for soil organisms. Hurricanes such as Hugo in the USA are much the same. Forest practices during the last several decades have removed so much cellulose that it is not difficult to believe soil organisms are starving.
With trees of the cities, in cold climates, winter ice injury can cause serious injuries. The same three part program given for hurricane injury in cities should be done for ice-injured trees of the cities. Trees are often wounded by agents other than humans in cities. Many trees in south Florida were injured severely by hurricane Andrew several years ago. After storm injury, work must be done first to reduce the risk of fractures that could cause problems for property and people. Next, the trees should be pruned for health. This means cutting off torn roots and removing long, injured branches to avoid sprouting that could lead to fractures. Note: I.e., pruning woody roots with a sharp tool - flat like the end of a straw and without injuring the branch collar or leaving stubs on the stem.
Hydrogen - Hydrogen is fickle - always changing position. Hydrogen is one of the six basic chemicals of life. Six chemicals - carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S) and phosphorus (P) - make up about 98 percent of the weight of people and trees. It is the way that the chemicals are connected, that make animals different from trees. (see Essential Element, Nitrate, Fertilizer and IRS)(See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996)
Hydrogen Bonds - Hydrogen bonds are similar to post-it notes. They stick when you want them to stick, and when you unstick them you cannot tell where they were stuck.
Have you ever thought what holds together all the atoms in your body or in a tree? Mostly small forces called hydrogen bonds. The pale blue color of ice is due to hydrogen bonding of water.
Hydroxyl - edit See "anion".
Hyphae - Hyphae are the vegetative structures of fungi - they look like tubes. Another term which we have collected for certain hyphae is MYCELIUM.
Hyphae of the fungus associated with a mycorrhiza often grow out beyond the mycorrhiza into the soil. Hyphae from mycorrhizae on one tree can connect with hyphae from mycorrhizae from another tree of a different species. The grand forest connection.
Bacteria often live in tunnels left behind as hyphae of soil fungi die. Amoebae are not able to attack the bacteria in the minute diameter tunnels.
I
Ice – Injury - In forests, ice-injured trees add much needed carbon as cellulose for soil organisms. Hurricanes such as Hugo in the USA are much the same. Forest practices during the last several decades have removed so much cellulose that it is not difficult to believe soil organisms are starving.
With trees of the cities, in cold climates, winter ice injury can cause serious injuries. The same three part program given for hurricane injury in cities should be done for ice-injured trees of the cities. Trees are often wounded by agents other than humans in cities. Many trees in south Florida were injured severely by hurricane Andrew several years ago. After storm injury, work must be done first to reduce the risk of fractures that could cause problems for property and people. Next, the trees should be pruned for health. This means cutting off torn roots and removing long, injured branches to avoid sprouting that could lead to fractures. Note: I.e., pruning woody roots with a sharp tool - flat like the end of a straw and without injuring the branch collar or leaving stubs on the stem.
Ignorance - There is no product that will remedy ignorance.
Inductive / Deductive - Inductive means to start at the beginning and move forward. Deductive means to start at the end and move backwards.
Infect - Insects infest. Microorganisms infect. See "infection".
Infection - Infection is a connecting process where substances move between two organisms of different species.
Injury - Injury is a physiological disruption, and damage is an economic disruption.
Injury harms the tree. Damage lowers the quality of the wood. E.g., a tree may have vascular wilt and die, but no damage to the wood. When a insect like a cambium miner may do little harm to the tree yet do great damage to the wood for product. Cambium miner tracks in paper birch cause very little injury to the tree but a great amount of damage to the veneer.
Some diseases cause serious injury to trees, but the trunks can be salvaged for high quality products, and little damage results.
Inner bark (phloem) - In trees, the phloem is the orderly arrangement of living, aging, dying, and dead cells on the outer side of the vascular cambium and inner side of the phellogen or bark cambium. Phloem, or inner bark, is a transport tissue. It transports energy-containing substances made in leaves toward non-woody absorbing roots or the sink. The phloem is produced by the cambium zone. The phloem contains a symplast. I have learned, some trees store starch in the phloem such as black locust (robinia). I have learned, most species that have resign ducts, only have them in the wood, but, there are some such as Blue Atlas Cedrus, that form them in the phloem. You have early phloem and late phloem. In many trees you can count the age of the tree, if you are very very careful by counting the increments in the phloem. Instead of vessels there are sieve tubes, and they are surrounded by companion cells. (See A NEW TREE BIOLOGY DICTIONARY, SHIGO, 1986) and (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Insects - Insects infest. Microorganisms infect.
Many insects and mites feed and breed on leaves.
Many insects, fungi, bacteria, and other organisms are thought to be harmful, yet very few of them are. It is a pity when we use treatments that are designed to kill everything. So along with the few "bad guys" go all the "good guys." Then we want to buy the "good guys" and put them back. The insects and microorganisms have a job to do on earth. (Many are "clean up" experts such as the fungus that parasitizing the mushroom fruiting body of another fungus on page 105 in TREE PITHY POINTS, SHIGO, 1999). These organisms break down dead organisms to release or recycle elements essential for new life. Some organisms attack others that no longer have a defense system. A few attack living organisms that are healthy.
The fungi play a major role in recycling essential elements from dead organic matter. The fungi often do this in association with many other organisms in the soil: bacteria, insects, worms, amoebae, nematodes, and small animals. (See the brilliantly colored minute mushrooms that were fruit bodies of a fungus recycling elements in a symplastless log on page 86 in TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994). Many of the fungi associated with mycorrhizae have mushroom fruit bodies. Others have a variety of fruit bodies above ground and below ground. The major point is that the members of the natural system are all connected. When the connections begin to be broken, the system will suffer. You can kill soil. You can kill a forest. You can kill many living things that depend on a healthy forest. How? By breaking connections. Insects keep nitrogen high in the soil. Many insects are a food source connected with CWD. Insectivorous animals such as bear use them for food. Also a food source in subnivean situations. Insects play many key roles on the impact ecological stages of trees has on unique forest health. Most of the time this is good.
Insects / Benefits - Some of the benefits to trees: Break down organic and inorganic materials - bacteria, fungi, insects, animals; Aerate soils - worms, insects, fungi, animals ; Fertilize - droppings from worms, insects, and other animals; Disseminate seeds - birds, animals, insects; Pollinate flowers - insects, animals, especially birds and bats.
Intelligence - Intelligence is the ability to make decisions that support high-quality survival. Intelligence is the capacity to gain information. Tree systems are intelligent. The messages in the DNA have "made" the best decisions for a long, high-quality life.
Interface - An interface is the boundary between two phases in a heterogeneous system. (See MODERN ARBORICULTURE, SHIGO, 1991, pg 206)
Internal Defects - The only way to understand internal defects is to dissect trees and to touch all parts. People who have not done this should not talk about trees.
International Chlorophyll Day - Something that we need.
Ion - An ion is a charged particle.
Ions and Cations - Nitrate and phosphate ions are Mac trucks. Ammonium and potassium cations are fast sports cars.
IRS – Internal Regulating System - As the inner symplast dies – it becomes static mass,
not requiring energy as the symplast. Therefore it reduces the demands for energy from the symplast, and on non-woody roots for water and essential elements. The symplastless expanding core becomes the static mass. While the symplast and new cells born in new places represent the dynamic mass. The Internal Regulating System. Regulating the demands on non-woody roots for elements and water and the crown for sunlight. Thus regulating the needs for glucose and starch with respect to the single tree and its symplast needs, above as well as below ground. Note that mass is increased exponentially. Wounds also reduce dynamic mass drastically. Some trees are more critical that others such as peach trees where small mistakes make big problems. See "Mass increase / Generating System". (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Isoprene - Isoprene is the basic molecule of natural rubber. The smell in a forest containing pine trees is isoprene. Very close to the chemical produced by humans - body odor.
Isoprene or Terpene-Based Substances - Angiosperms have phenol-based substances mostly as protection compounds. Gymnosperms have isoprene or terpene-based substances mostly as their protection compounds.
J
Jelly Bags - Animal cells are like jelly bags. So long as your jelly bags jiggle, you are alive and well.
Jobs - As any job becomes more repetitious and follows simple repeating procedures, first the wages to do the job decrease, and then some machine is designed to do most or all of the job or the machines become robots. When people ask for recipes and lists, we know they are soon to be robots.
K
Kill / Die - Die and kill are not the same. As trees die slowly, they increase the amount of exudates into the rhizosphere. When trees are killed suddenly and taken away, this does not happen.
Kinetic Energy - Kinetic energy, in a sense, is like the money you have in your pocket that you can spend. It is energy that is available for use at the present time. E.g., glucose to burn. See "Potential Energy".
Knowledge - Knowledge is the amount of information gained. Wisdom is the knowledge that is correct. A person could know more than anyone in a room, yet very little may be correct. Wisdom is what you do with what you know that benefits survival. Knowledge is collections. Wisdom is connections.
Kreb Cycle - The Krebs cycle is not a type of motorbike. The Kreb Cycle is the technical term for the "combustion chamber", the area where sugar finally reaches in the tree. Here the energy that was trapped in the bonds that held the carbon dioxide and water together are released in an orderly sequence. Every time a bond is released, the chemical is changed. Every time the change occurs energy is released and carbon dioxide and water are given off. So, now we are back to the original building blocks. This process of releasing the energy is called respiration. Respiration in the presence of molecular oxygen gives off carbon dioxide and water. Respiration without molecular or free oxygen is called fermentation and the product given off is ethyl alcohol, the only alcohol we can drink. See "Photosynthesis" and "Respiration".
L
Latewood / Summerwood - In cross section, latewood or summerwood, is the xylem which has become lignified (became wood) in the summer. It proceeds the Early or Springwood. It is the last wood to be formed in the current growth increment. In girth we break down the current growth and lignifications into two periods - Early and late, or as some label it - Spring and Summer. Remember the cambium zone does not produce wood on the inside, but, xylem. The new born material is not correctly termed wood until it is lignified. See "Early" or "Springwood". Free water moves only in the latewood of the current increment, during the end of the growth period, in some tyloses- forming ring porous species of trees, such as American elm.
Law of the Minimum - For any given plant, the primary limiting factor, regarding essential elements, will be the essential element that is most deficient from its optimum level. There are 17 known essential elements.
Laws of Aerodynamics - According to the laws of aerodynamics, bumble bees cannot fly.
Laws of Energy - The laws of energy can be paraphrased as: You can never win, but only break even. You can only break even at absolute zero. You can never reach absolute zero. The answer to life is high quality time.
Leaders - Leaders get and give information. Others don't. Leaders are people, or animals, that believe their mission is so important that they will continue on in spite of all odds.
Learn and Earn - Remember, learn has earn in it. The more you learn the more you earn. To learn you must first teach. Consider the birds that walked to a flying workshop, learned to fly, and then walked home.
Learning - Learning starts when you doubt something. Learning happens when you resolve your doubts.
Leaves - Leaves are organs uniquely constructed for trapping the energy from the sun. As young leaves begin to grow, they use stored energy that was made by mature leaves the previous growth period. As leaves grow and mature, chlorophyll is formed in the living cells. To form one molecule of chlorophyll, 54 carbon atoms connect with 4 nitrogen atoms, one central magnesium atom, and 72 hydrogen atoms are required. As chlorophyll is formed the first time, the elements must come from stored reserves.
Before chlorophyll forms in a leaf, the leaf could be a color other than green depending on the first pigments that formed.
As leaves die, chlorophyll is no longer produced, and the leaf takes on colors of the other pigments present.
Leaves begin to die and then the abscission layer forms. Non-woody roots die after the abscission layer forms.
Many insects and mites feed and breed on leaves. Yes, many organisms depend on healthy leaves for high quality time, such as the koalas. Koalas eat the leaves of only about six species of Eucalyptus. Their primary intake of fluids comes from the moisture of the leaves. The interesting thing is that when the trees are hurt or injured, such as digging fire trenches by humans, the leaves tan. Not good for the koalas or the trees, i.e., digging fire trenches (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996) I'm sure Mother Nature cries when she sees plastic bags full of leaves going to the dump.
Leaves Tanning - Simply put, the hydrogen bonds within the leaves are like a slinky held open by tooth picks, when tanning take places the tooth picks are removed and the slinky collapses. Now the enzymes (which are like keys) cannot get in, such as the case of the plight of the koalas. My point, when trees are threatened and or injured THEY DO SOMETHING! More specific, when proteins are tanned by phenols, the molecules look like a collapsed slinky toy. Once collapsed, enzymes cannot get in to break down the molecules. Tanning is a chemical process of combining phenol-based substances with proteins, and the disruption of hydrogen bonds leaves the protein indigestible (See MODERN ARBORICULTURE, SHIGO, 1991) (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996).
Lesions - Cankers are localized symplastless spots. Lesions are symplastless spots that could spread. When lesions are localized, then they are called cankers.
Lichens - Lichens are organisms made up of fungi and algae connected in highly ordered ways that ensure benefits to both organisms. As they grow and respire they give off carbon dioxide and water. As some of the carbon dioxide dissolves in water, carbonic acid forms. The acid decomposes rocks very slowly and essential elements are released for growth of trees and many other organisms. They do not injure trees. (See A NEW TREE BIOLOGY DICTIONARY, SHIGO, 1986, pg 64)
Life - Life is a journey, powered by the sun, of a group of highly ordered and connected chemicals borrowed from the Earth. Death is the end of the journey when all borrowed chemicals are returned to be used again for new life. Life is a state where parts and processes requiring energy are so highly ordered that they repeat. Life is run by a little power from the sun.
People who say we know nothing about life are just not willing to learn. Life must be dull and boring for people who know everything.
Life and Death - Life is a journey, powered by the sun, of a highly ordered and connected group of chemicals borrowed from the earth. Death is the end of the journey where the borrowed chemicals are returned to the earth to be used again for new life.
Life’s Pleasure - One of the greatest pleasures of life is knowing just a little bit about the way things work.
Light - Light is both a particle, a photon - a wave. This is an example of a duality. The world of natural systems is full of dualities, and even some trialities. Light in the form of waves or photons is the ultimate energy source. Light as well as life are a result of the suns fusion process. With respect to photosynthesis and sun light energy - the process is most efficient when light intensity is near 1500 foot candles and temperatures are between 28 and 35 degrees Celsius. But regardless of the amount of light photosynthesis stops when temperature rises above 90 degree F for 3 consecutive days or drops below 40 degrees F. Also when certain elements like manganese and iron are lacking or low the process of manufacturing chlorophyll stops or decreases and energy is not trapped. Water also can be a limiting factor in energy trapping ability of the plant. Light connects the biotic and abiotic. We get light and life as a result of the sun's fusion process. (See MODERN ARBORICULTURE, SHIGO, 1991)
Light – Life - Maybe life is the highest order of light? Think of all the references to light. "I am the light of the world." "Out of darkness came light." "They left the darkness of the cave and went out into the world of light." Etc. (See TREE PITHY POINTS, SHIGO, 1999 #549)
Lightning - Lightning may cause all gradations of injury from a slight burn on the outer bark to the complete explosion of the tree. Large old trees with central columns of decay seem to be prime targets. (See A NEW TREE BIOLOGY DICTIONARY, SHIGO, 1986, pg 65)
Lignified - Lignified means that high amounts of the natural "cement" called lignin is deposited within the cellulose strands in the cell walls. This makes the cell walls very tough. Having tough, lignified cell walls is a unique feature of trees as well as wood.
Lignin - Lignin is natural cement. Lignin is a complex three-dimensional substance that is like a natural "cement". Lignin’s are complex three-dimensional polymers of phenol propane units.
Some mycorrhizae grow between old, dead leaves, and in brown-rotted wood suggesting that the fungi may be able to digest lignin. When lots of lignin came in trees, lots of dinosaurs left the earth.
Limb Drop - Tree branches fracture and fall 4 basic ways: 1) fracture at the position where an upright angle near the trunk bends to a horizontal branch; 2) normal shedding at the branch base; 3) shedding of an epicormic branch (sprout) that has a very weak branch collar, trunk collar attachment; 4) the trunk wood above and below the branch fails and the entire branch and trunk fracture and fall. Each of the 4 basic failure patterns are different. The first failure pattern is often caused by construction or other actions that release new space for the tree. Branches that were growing in an upright position now begin to grow in a horizontal position as new space becomes available. The tree architecture begins to change. Because of the new space, the tips of the branches develop many new twigs and leaves. Fractures usually occur where the branch bends from an upright position to the horizontal position. Old flush cuts of smaller branches on the bending branch add points of weakness. Be on alert for large branches that have an abrupt change in angle from tight to the trunk and then to a horizontal position. The second pattern of branch drop is the normal one that occurs after branch death (death of branch symplast). The decay-causing fungi usually decay downward to the branch protection zone within the branch collar. The weakened wood on the outer side meets the tough wood of the branch protection zone. The branch fractures on the outer side of the protection zone, and falls or sheds out of the socket. Symplastless branches on trees near property, powerlines, and people places should be removed before the advanced stages of decay develop, i.e., by professionals. Be especially on alert for large symplastless branches that are in a horizontal position. Symplastless branch removal is also a health treatment because it removes the food source for the pathogens that could grow through the branch protection zone and on into the trunk of the tree. Proper removal, i.e., back to the branch collar or extended symplast without wounding symplast containing tissues, is a key part of a health treatment of symplastless branch removal. The third pattern of branch or limb drop involves epicormic sprouts. Epicormic sprouts often develop after topping has been done. (An epicormic sprout grows from meristamatic points along in the cambial zone.) The important part to know here about epicormic sprouts is that they usually have a very weak attachment because the branch collars are small and the trunk collars may actually force the branches away from the trunk. If the epicormic sprout persists for a long time, then a strong attachment may develop as the trunk collars develop about the branch collars. But, in warm climates, the epicormic sprouts may grow so rapidly that heavy amounts of sprout wood form while there has not been time for a strong trunk collar, branch collar attachment to form. The rapidly growing trunk and the rapidly growing trunk collar may actually "pinch off" the epicormic sprout. This could occur during a calm, warm day. The fourth pattern of limb drop centers more about the trunk than the branch. Trunk decay or many trunk barrier zones from wounds, root rots, top injury, or many old flush pruning cuts weaken the trunk at the position where the branch is attached. The trunk collars do "hold" the branch on the trunk. When the trunk wood is weak, the trunk collars will be weak, and the branch and trunk collars may pull out of the trunk. In this case, it is trunk failure more than branch failure, but the result is the same; a branch falls to the ground. A tree hazard check should be made regularly where trees and people are close together. Things do not just happen in nature. Branches do not just "decide" to drop. There are causes. Old flush pruning, tree topping, release of branches because of construction, and many other actions by man start the processes that could end in limb drop, and sometimes problems for property, powerlines and people. See "Loading Mechanical – Branches".
Line Clearing - The words "Line Clearing" must go! They have a very negative meaning, where lines are cleared at the expense of the trees. "Pruning near lines" or "utility pruning" should be the words.
Living Things - All living things are bags of chemicals connected by electrical currents.
Introduced other chemicals-could benefit the bags -food -or disrupt the bags --poisons. The four major compounds in all living things are carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.
Loading / Unloading - Load and unload are good descriptive terms that help to explain forces going inward, loading -and forces moving outward, unloading.
Loading - Unloading Anions - For an anion to move into a non-woody root, an anion must exude from the root. The most common anion going in is nitrate and the most common anion going out is bicarbonate, and to a lesser amount, hydroxyl.
Loading Mechanical – Branches - Often branches that fracture, fracture after the second or third loading. The first loading set the cracks and-the second or third loading caused the final fracture. (See "Limb Drop")
Locust - When the 17-year-locusts emerge, they bring a lot of nitrogen to the soil surface. When they die, their bodies fertilize the soil.
Logging - Briefly, with respect. - It has been published that logging is removing or cutting out present and future coarse woody debris from a forest, woods or a field. Logging is removing, probably the single most, present and future, important habitat and potential niche for the survival of organisms in drastically altered systems. ...dying and symplastless wood provides one of the two or three greatest resources for animal species in a forest. ..if fallen timber and slightly decayed trees are removed the whole system is gravely impoverished of perhaps more than a fifth of its fauna. Logging is removing future reservoirs and storehouse of nutrients for fauna and flora. In respect, to such projects as the "Burn and Clearcut Project"" - Logging is the killing of trees. Logging is removal of most of the stem of one of the largest, longest lived contributors to the once fertile forest health. (See "Logging – What it is"– my doc).
Low Quality - Low quality means if it does survive it will be in a state that will not be usable. E.g., If you were to take a pair of shoes on a trip, and when you returned from the trip, the shoes were not in a condition that you would wear them again, you would say they were low quality shoes. Now if you were to return from the trip and the shoes were in a condition or state that you would wear them again on another trip, we would say they were high quality shoes.
M
Maintenance - Growth and maintenance are linked. Energy is required to maintain order in new mass.
Mass increase / Generating System - The difficulty with generating systems is that as mass increases, the energy to maintain order in the mass increases at exponential rates. (See "IRS")
Matter - Matter is a concept of particles that form substances.
Mature Tree Bark -Layers of green cortex-like tissues often form in fissures on old trees that have thick bark.
Medicines - Trees – Humans - Trees produce many substances humans use for medicines. Some tree substances that contain nitrogen as a base are called alkaloids.
Membranes - Membranes are nature's discriminators.
Meristem - A meristem is a parenchyma cell that has the ability to divide and differentiate. A meristem is a meristematic tissue.
Meristematic - Meristematic means the capacity to form new cells that differentiate to form new tissues or organs.
Meristematic Points - A meristematic point is a highly concentrated area of parenchyma, but all the cells are the same. Have not been pre-formed into a bud. But it can form a bud and it can form a stem. Meristematic points form spear-like points into the bark. The points can differentiate to form sprouts, flowers, woody roots, and prop roots. Other types of spear-like points go from the bark into the wood. These are associated with a wood pattern called bird's eye. The initiating factors must come from the bark. When energy reserves decrease, meristematic points form sprouts. Meristematic points are sheets of radial parenchyma cells.
Meristematic Tissue - A meristematic tissue is a tissue that has the capacity to divide and differentiate. But the capacity is not being expressed because there is a greater pressure to keep tissues in its present static state.
Meristems - Meristems are groups of cells that have the ability to divide and produce more cells that eventually differentiate or mature to form all parts of the tree. Apical meristems increase the length of stems and roots, and produce flowers. The vascular meristem, or the cambial zone, increases the girth or circumference of the tree.
Mesic - Ecology. 1. of or relating to organisms that require moderate amounts of moisture. 2. describing a habitat with moderate moisture.
Mesophyll - Meso meaning in between. In-between tissues of a leaf.
Messages - Messages are information units so highly ordered that their content cannot be misunderstood. What you say and what people hear can be very different. People often hear only what they want to hear. Many people are not hard-of-hearing but hard-of- listening.
Metabolism - In metabolism, ions play bumper cars.
Microelements - The biggies (elements) are N+P+K; Nitrogen+Phosphorus+Potassium; Calcium; Sulfur; Magnesium; They are required for life in higher amounts. Then we go to the group called micro-elements--MICRO ELEMENTS--PLEASE DO NOT CALL THEM MINER, THEY ARE NOT MINER. They are required in very very low amounts. Copper, Chlorine, Boron, Nickle, Molitinum, Zinc, Iron, Manganese. You should know just alittle about what each does. Just to be on the safe side. There is a few plants that we think may be able to use--Si - those are rare in the south; Se-; Co.(silocone-salinium-cobalt). Some of the above are required by the fungi and not so much by the tree. See "Food".
Microbial Population - The term microbial population could be used to denote a group of microorganisms of similar species, or of many species. Microflora is a group of microorganisms of different species.
Microflora - A group of microorganisms of different species. The term microbial population could be used to denote a group of microorganisms of similar species, or of many species.
Microhabitats in Soil - Living and nonliving systems - weather - constantly interact and adjust to each other. In a sense, they are like a pump or seesaw and the rules of dynamic equilibrium and dynamic oscillation are effective. They appear in balance only because we find it difficult to perceive the constant changes that take place between the two systems. We know that environment can effect living systems. And, we have seen in our time how living systems can effect the environment - cut all the trees, and clouds that bring rain begin to decrease, and drought begins. We see host and parasite as interacting systems for the benefits of each so they can survive against pressures of an ever-changing environment. When a host system or its parts cannot maintain order because of decreasing energy, then another system - parasite, pathogens - begins to use the energy at the lower amounts to maintain order in their system. The energy that comes into living systems will be used. When we think of pumps or seesaws, dynamic equilibrium and dynamic oscillation, and energy to maintain order, the subject becomes very simple and very clear.
Microorganisms - Insects infest. Microorganisms infect. An organism of microscopic size. Bacteria, the tree pathogens, may be as small as 3 microns wide by 5 microns long. A micron is a thousandth of a millimeter, which is a thousandth of a meter, which is about 39 inches. A microscope is required to see bacteria. Fungi are also microorganisms. Their microscopic cells are often joined to form long tubes. As small as some fungi are, their fruit bodies may be very large. Some perennial, hard "woody" fruit bodies of some fungi weigh over 20 pounds. Hardly a microorganism! Other microorganisms that inhabit trees are viruses, mycoplasmas, slime molds, and protozoa. We know very little about the blue-green algae that are in the size range of bacteria. The blue-green algae have been found in fungus fruit bodies. This is important because some blue-green algae can fix nitrogen from the air into nitrates. Other small organisms that live in, on, and about trees are the microscopic roundworms, the nematodes, and the amoebae. Blue-green algae are really cyanobacteria.
Microorganism Survival - After infection, survival depends on ability to spread far enough, fast enough, before recognition and to gain enough energy for growth and reproduction.
Microorganisms (chips) - The first microorganisms that infect fresh chips are those that digest the, defenseless cell contents.
Microorganisms (wood alter) - Microorganisms alter wood six basic ways: white rot, brown rot, discolored wood, wetwood, soft rot, and pit erosion.
Microorganisms (soil) - Non-woody roots shed dying and dead root hairs and epidermal cells. The shed cells are digested by soil microorganisms. They recycle elements essential for life.
Microorganism Survival - After infection, survival depends on the ability to spread far enough, fast enough, before recognition and to gain enough energy for growth and reproduction.
Mites - Many insects and mites feed and breed on leaves.
Mites, Ticks and Spiders - Ticks, mites, and spiders are not insects. They are arachnids. They have eight legs.
Modern Arboriculture - Modern Arboriculture is tree care based on an understanding of tree biology. Modern Arboriculture is a systematic approach to the care of trees.
Mole - Weight or Measurement - A mole is a gram equivalent weight of an element in a liter of water. For example, hydrogen has a molecular weight of one, so a mole of hydrogen is one gram of hydrogen per liter. Oxygen weighs 16 on the molecular scale, so 16 grams of oxygen in one liter of water is one mole of oxygen.
Molecule - Chemistry - the smallest unit of matter of a substance that retains all the physical and chemical properties of that substance, consisting of a single atom or a group of atoms bonded together; e.g., Ne, H2, H2O. (Formed from a Latin phrase meaning literally "a tiny mass.")
Molecules that Dominate Life - The six molecules that dominate life are glucose, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, ammonia, and carbonic acid. Every "green" person should know something about them.
Monocots - Monocots have one seedleaf. Dicots have two seedleaves. Dicots belong to a group called dicotyledones such as oaks, maples and beeches and they have two seed leaves, or cotyledons.
Mother Nature - I'm sure, Mother Nature cries when she sees plastic bags full of leaves going to the dump (TREE PITHY POINTS, SHIGO, 1999). People who try to play games with Mother Nature invariably lose in the end. When you think humans have mastered this earth, consider earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes for starters. Mother Nature is a collective term given to the parts and processes of the system on earth. Mother Nature is intelligent.
Motivate - To motivate is to keep going.
Motivators - Faith, Fear and Fun are the three major motivators in life.
Mucigel - Mucigel is the word coined for the intimate mixture of soil colloids and root - and microbial - derived gels at the root/soil interface.
Mutualistic - Mutualistic infections are infections that result in benefits to both parties. When the benefits are greater than the sum of the parts, the association is called synergistic.
Mycorrhiza - Greek for Fungus - Root Singular. Mycor = Fungus, Rhiza = Root. Mycorrhiza = singular and Mycorrhizae = plural.
Mycorrhizae - Mycorrhiza = singular and Mycorrhizae = plural. Mycorrhizae are organs made up of tree and fungus tissues. A composite structure. Non-woody roots that are infected by beneficial fungi are called mycorrhizae. Mycorrhizae are organs that facilitate the absorption of phosphorus and other soil elements such as manganese, copper, and zinc dissolved in water. This makes them unique. They function in soil and nurse logs. Mycorrhizae (sometimes written as mycorrhiza, singular, and mycorrhizas or mycorrhizae, plural) are active for months to a year. They are organs on most trees. Hyphae from mycorrhizae on one tree can connect with hyphae from mycorrhizae from another tree of a different species. The grand forest connection. Mycorrhizae form when some fungi infect young, emerging non-woody roots. You cannot inoculate soils with mycorrhizae. Mycorrhizae are organs made up of tree and fungus tissues. You can inoculate soils with the fungi that infect roots to form mycorrhizae. Nature gives us so much free, including mycorrhizae. As root hairs and mycorrhizae die, they add organic material to the soil. Root hairs and mycorrhizae are alive and well in midwinter in nonfrozen soils during warm spells and non-frozen soil below frozen soils. Again, the uniqueness of the mycorrhizae lies in their ability to readily absorb elements such as phosphorus, zinc, manganese and copper. How much is absorbed through the tree tissue part of the mycorrhiza and through the hyphae of the fungus portion of the mycorrhiza is not well understood. The mycorrhiza is the organ, the structure. However, the fungi associated with the structure often form hyphae - vegetative tubes of a fungus -far beyond the structure. And, again, how much of the absorption is directly into the structure and how much enters through the hyphae growing away from the structure is not well understood.
The fungi play a major role in recycling essential elements from dead organic matter. The fungi often do this in association with many other organisms in the soil: bacteria, insects, worms, amoebae, nematodes, and small animals. To see brilliantly colored minute mushroom fruit bodies of a fungus recycling elements in a dead log (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994, pg 86). Many of the fungi associated with mycorrhizae have mushroom fruit bodies. Others have a variety of fruit bodies above ground and below ground. The major point is that the members of the natural system are all connected. When the connections begin to be broken, the system will suffer. You can kill soil. You can kill a forest. You can kill many living things that depend on a healthy forest. How? By breaking connections. Some mycorrhizae "regrow" on themselves and may grow for more than a year. Many mycorrhizae grow in micro cavities in the soil. Compaction destroys the micro cavities. Some mycorrhizae grow between old, dead leaves, and in brown-rotted (decomposing) wood suggesting that the fungi may be able to digest lignin.
(See TROUBLES IN THE RHIZOSPHERE, SHIGO, 1996) Root hairs often grow on mycorrhizae.
Mycorrhizae / Root Hairs - Root hairs often grow on mycorrhizae. (See TROUBLES IN THE RHIZOSPHERE, SHIGO, 1996)
Myth - Why is truth, so often, controversial, while myth is so acceptable? Myths start with a false premise. Magicians convince you that the hat is empty. They start with a false premise. Practicing foresters convince you the logging will increase forest health – "false premise". The wound dressing myth will never die. The sad thing, is that the myth, is being taught by people who are supposed to be scientists.
N
Native American - Why do people often say "our trees," "our world," "our forest," etc.? Who gave them to us? The philosophy of Native Americans was that the natural world belonged to all, and we were all responsible for its care. What happened to that?
Natural Laws - Natural laws are almost right most of the time.
Natural Philosophy - Religion + Science = Philosophy. Philosophy is a delightful mental trip around a circle. Philosophy is about thinking. We need a natural philosophy that puts humans inside the system, not outside looking in.
Natural Recyclables - There is no such thing as "green waste." It should be called natural recyclables.
Natural Renewable Resources - The myth that trees are a natural renewable resource still persists. Much like the "never ending forest" just keep cutting the wood out, they will keep coming back the way they were - myth.
Natural Successions -Natural successions are orderly sequences of organisms that either build up or break down living systems. Natural successions are highly ordered sequences of organisms that benefit the survival of the entire group.
Natural Systems - Natural systems come with many buffers. But, there are limits to those. Natural systems are not altruistic. Every member must pay dues, or else. There is almost no waste in natural systems. Natural systems will survive so long as they have enough time to adjust. When disruptions occur faster in time than the time required for adjustments, the system will begin to decline. Environment means collections and connections of things about you. Natural systems mean connections of some of the things in ways so highly ordered that they repeat. Natural systems are webworks. All parts are connected. Natural systems do not come in nice neat packages. Some parts always seem to "stick out" of the box. Never underestimate the power of natural systems. If natural systems had not worked so well before we got here, we would never have gotten here.
Nature - Nature does not hide secrets! She pleads, and sometimes screams, for understanding. Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night: God said, Let Newton be! and all was light. "Alexander Pope" Nature welcomes inquiry. Nature does not hide its work. Just seek, and you will find. When nature comes up with something that works, it either multiplies it rapidly or makes it bigger. Opera and nature are similar in that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Nurture and nature are Siamese twins. When you ask nature the right question, you already have half of the answer. When you keep pursuing a question in nature you, will always come to "I don't know." Nature gives us so much free, including mycorrhizae.
Necropsy - Autopsy really means to see for yourself. Necropsy means dissection of the dead.
Needles - Needles are well constructed for extremes in temperature and moisture - thick waxy coating, sunken stomata, and chlorophyll in shallow deep cells. The angular shape of needles holds water droplets and collects droplets of fog. Fog water may be different from rain water because there may be more of the oxygen 18 isotope in fog water, and fog water can contain higher concentrations of acids and elements.
Nematodes - The fungi play a major role in recycling essential elements from dead organic matter. The fungi often do this in association with many other organisms in the soil: bacteria, insects, worms, amoebae, nematodes, and small animals. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994 pg 86) Many of the fungi associated with mycorrhizae have mushroom fruit bodies. Others have a variety of fruit bodies above ground and below ground. The major point is that the members of the natural system are all connected. When the connections begin to be broken, the system will suffer. You can kill soil. You can kill a forest. You can kill many living things that depend on a healthy forest. How? By breaking connections.
Never Ending Forest - The myth that trees are a natural renewable resource still persists. Much like the "never ending forest" just keep cutting out the wood and they will keep coming back the way they were (myth).
New Forest - New Forest, a term coined by the U.S. Forest Service - What the U.S. Forest Service's Practicing Foresters, on the Allegheny National Forest, claim logging is. A term based on false premise. With respect, honestly speaking, it is the Killing of American Soil! Remember its not how fast you are traveling but the direction that counts. They are trying to convince the public, that by cutting the wood out of the forest and fields in the ANF they will create a fertile forest. And thus the tax payers should support such. Who will listen, maybe the Flat Earth Society will listen. I have learned, removing the wood out of the fields and forest takes from the system and does not add health.
New Soil - New soil is a term used to describe the product of the natural succession of CWD and its associates. Logging increases the loss of nutrients from the site. Such spots would have been excellent for the establishment and growth of vegetation, including tree seedlings. Vegetation would have been established on and help stabilize this "new soil", and as invertebrates and small vertebrates would have begun to burrow into the new soil, they would not only nutritionally enrich it with their feces and urine but also constantly mix it by their burrowing activities (Maser and Trappe, 1984). See, "Natural Successions".
Niche - A habitat is a place where anybody can live. A niche is a habitat, or portion of it, that has been altered as a result of an organism, microorganism or organisms living in it. The alterations usually enhance the protection of the organisms or microorganisms, thus increasing the chances for continued survival. A nurse log is a key habitat, which is suitable for niches. A habitat is not a niche but it could be. As fallen trees progress from decay class I to class II, the scavengers are replaced by competitors with the enzyme systems needed to decompose the more complex compounds in wood. The fungi involved in this activity are often mutually antagonistic, so that a given part of the tree may be occupied by only one fungus that excludes others by physical or chemical means (Maser and Trappe, 1984). (We call this altered area a niche) In other words, a niche is a habitat that has been altered so that it is no longer a habitat, for anybody else. (E.g., Wetwood) In other words when an organism or microorganism gets in and alters the habitat so no one else can get in, we call this a niche. (See A NEW TREE BIOLOGY DICTIONARY, SHIGO, 1986, pg 72) Man has tried to make a human niche of earth, but as we are learning, people who try to play games with Mother Nature invariably lose in the end. New shopping malls next to new shopping malls, roads, roads, roads. Boy, do we know how to build roads. Also bigger and bigger machines to get the wood out and the list goes on.
Nitrate - For an anion to move into a non-woody root, an anion must exude from the root. The most common anion going in is nitrate and the most common anion going out is bicarbonate, and to a lesser amount, hydroxyl. Nitrate and phosphate ions are Mack trucks. Ammonium and potassium cations are fast sports cars. (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996)
Nitrogen - Nitrogen is one of the six basic chemicals of life. Six chemicals - carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S) and phosphorus (P) - make up about 98 percent of the weight of people and trees. The way they are connected is what makes animals different from trees. When the 17-year-locusts emerge, they bring a lot of nitrogen to the soil surface. When they die, their bodies fertilize the soil. When nitrogen as nitrate ion, NO3-, or as ammonium ion, NH4+, enter a non-woody root, the first thing the nitrogen does is to bond with carbon from reserves to form amino acids. As a branch dies it moves its nitrogen based materials back thru the symplast, back into or towards the tree trunk. There is symplastic movement of Nitrogen. When a parenchyma cell is going to die there is symplastic movement of Nitrogen. It just doesn't keep all of its nitrogen based materials. As it dies it moves nitrogen based materials out to the younger cells. Why is this so very very important? Because wood decomposing organisms or any type of other organism cannot live without the nitrogen. (see "Essential Element", "Nitrate", "Fertilizer" and "IRS") (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996)
Nitrogen Fixation - Fixation means that the nitrogen that makes up almost 80 percent of our air is converted to a soluble ionic form by the action of the bacteria and actinomycetes within the nodules on the roots. Some free-living soil bacteria can also fix nitrogen. (See TROUBLES IN THE RHIZOSPHERE, SHIGO, 1996) A small fern in the genus Azolla lives in rice fields. Nodule-forming bacteria on the ferns fix nitrogen. Nitrogen fixation can also go on inside sugar cane. Charlie the squirrel likes and eats sugar cane. Actinorhizae are structures made up of tree tissues and actinomycetes. They fix nitrogen.
Non-Conducting Sapwood - Sapwood is wood that has living cells. Sapwood in many tree species maintains only a single growth increment that has open vessels. A distinction needs to be made between sapwood that is conducting and sapwood that is not conducting. See "Sapwood".
Non-Woody Roots - Non-woody roots are the roots that facilitate the absorption of essential elements dissolved in water. There are two basic types of roots. Woody and non-woody. Non-woody having less lignin and primarily are found in the upper four inches of the soil. They are often found within the later ecological stages of trees, CWD or sometimes called "soil-wood". I have seen non-woody roots inside symplast containing, standing, healthy, hollow trunks. Non-woody roots are organs that absorb water and elements essential for growth. The elements are dissolved in water prior absorption. Further, there are two types of structures that form on or in non-woody roots: root hairs and mycorrhizae. Non-woody roots have very little lignin in cell walls. Non-woody roots live for a short time; from a few weeks to a year. Non-woody roots shed dying and dead root hairs and epidermal cells. The shed cells are digested by soil microorganisms. They recycle elements essential for life. Non-woody roots are organs that absorb free water and elements dissolved in it from the soil. Non-woody roots with root hairs are organs that grow within days when water, temperate, and soluble essential elements are at optimum levels. Root hairs "come fast" and "go fast". They die and are shed after a few weeks. A root hair is the extension of a single epidermal cell. Non-woody absorbing roots have very little lignin and no corky outer bark. Woody roots have lots of lignin and a corky outer bark. Non-woody roots do grow in winter in non-frozen soils, and may even grow in non-frozen soils below frozen soils. Trees only absorb water, when non-woody roots are growing. Shedding of non-woody roots adds a great amount of carbon to soils. Mycorrhizae form when some fungi infect young, emerging non-woody roots. The mycorrhizae are organs made up of tree and fungus tissues. The organs facilitate the absorption of phosphorus, manganese, copper, and zinc. See "woody roots". (See TROUBLES IN THE RHIZOSPHERE, SHIGO, 1996)
Non-woody Roots – Dying - Leaves begin to die and then the abscission layer forms. Non-woody roots die after the abscission layer forms.
Novum - Species novum is Latin for a species new to science.
Nurture - Nurture and nature are Siamese twins.
Nutrient - A nutrient is a substance that contains an element with an energy source and an element without. Nitrogen is NOT a nutrient for chlorophyll containing trees. A substance that is very high in elements and energy it is called a nutrient. To make this clear, please allow me to share this with you. Essential elements. Look at your chart of Atomic Properties of elements. (Not the Atomic Properties of nutrients) That’s where you will find your elements. Look at mycorrhizae. Is it fungus or is it tree? YES, mycorrhizae is a composite structure made up of root and fungus tissues.
But if you have the fungus and no tree, do you have mycorrhizae? NO, you do not have the composite structure made up of root and fungus tissues. You only have fungus.
If you have a bag of fungi to place on the soil, to establish mycorrhizae, do you have mycorrhizae in the bag? NO
Take a lichen, is it algae or fungus? YES (People do not like these kinds of answers)
But if you have a bag of algae, do you have lichens. NO
If you have a nutrient, is it an element or energy? YES
If you have a bag of elements do you have a nutrient? NO
Do you have a bag of food? NO
You say oh, word games?
With respect: Consider poor Joe who liked alcohol. Drank methanol rather than ethanol. He then quickly learned, as his brain got burned. That words, are important after all.
Nutritious - When you have a high amount of an energy producing substance and essential elements than we say it is nutritious, a food or a nutrient. See "Nutrient".
O
Opera and Nature - Opera and nature are similar in that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Optimization - Optimization means the strength is highest at the point where most of the loading will take place.
Organ - When we have many tissues that are connected to do a similar function, that is called an organ. (see "Ecosystem")
Organism - When we have many organs that are all connected, we call that an organism. (see "Ecosystem")
Organisms Death - All organisms die three major ways: depletion of fuel, dysfunction of parts and processes, and disruption as by sudden hit or storms.
Our - Why do people often say "our trees," "our world," "our forest," etc.? Who gave them to us? The philosophy of Native Americans was that the natural world belonged to all, and we were all responsible for its care. What happened to that?
Outer Bark (periderm) - Outer bark or periderm is mostly dead cells lined with a fatty substance called suberin or cork.
Plane trees store an abundance of starch in broad rays. Plane trees maintain a thick green cortex-like layer under the outer bark on mature trees. The phellem is shed every growth period and the green layer is exposed. Many other tree species have a similar mechanism for maintaining a cortex-like layer on aging trunks.
Over Pruning - People who do not believe over-pruning injures roots should be on the high end of a seesaw when the bottom person gets off suddenly.
Overhead / Friction - In physics it is called friction, and in business it is called overhead.
Oxidation and Reduction - Reduction and oxidation are molecular ping-pong.
Oxygen - Oxygen is nice but greedy -electronegative. Oxygen is one of the six basic chemicals of life. Six chemicals - carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S) and phosphorus (P) - make up about 98 percent of the weight of people and trees. Without oxygen, normal respiration does not take place. (see "Essential Element", "Nitrate", "Fertilizer" and "IRS") (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996).
P
Pain - Pain is a stimulus that triggers movement away from a threatening agent or condition. Trees cannot move away and pain had no survival value.
Pain and Hurt - We have never learned how not to feel pain when hurt. I have learned to shorten the hurt period by getting up and going again after a hit.
Pain Reliever - Extracts from the bark of Salix alba were used by early humans to relieve pain. A much more purified form of the compound is called aspirin, one of the most commonly used analgesics in the world.
Paradoxical - Paradoxical effects mean that as dose increases the response is increasing and decreasing as an undulating wave between an x and y axis.
Paraformaldehyde Pills - Paraformaldehyde pills are used by the maple tapping industry to kill contact parenchyma cells. They are placed in the tap holes thus stalling vessel plugging and sap flows longer. Decay-causing fungi love it! I hear that many over-tapped and pill-treated trees die from acid rain. And there is much more.
Parenchyma Cells - Parenchyma cells are thin-walled cells that contain living substances for a few to many years - over 150 years in some trees. Parenchyma cells may be axial, aligned vertically or radial, aligned in radial ray- like arrangements. Radial parenchyma makes up structures called rays. Sapwood has an interconnected network of living axial and radial parenchyma. These Parenchyma cells make up a web work in sapwood, xylem, cambium zone, inner bark (phloem) and bark cambium (phellogen) which collectively we call the symplast. The symplast is held in place by the apoplast (dead fibers and tissues). The symplast stores starch and the apoplast stores bound water, water bound to the walls of cellulose. Trees only store starch in living cells. Not all wood contains living cells, e.g. "protection wood".
Particle - A particle is any of the basic units of matter and energy (as a molecule, atom, proton, electron, or photon).
Party Good - No matter how big your house is, a good party will end with people crowded in the kitchen. This explains Van der Waals forces in chemistry. Atoms, as people, just like to cluster if they have the chance.
Pathogenesis - Pathogenesis is an infection process that benefits one organism -pathogen -to the detriment of the other - host. Then there is the group.
Pathogenic Relationship - A pathogenic relationship is a relationship where one of two parts involved operates at the others disadvantage.
Pathogens - Pathogens are well "designed" as thinning agents when populations get too crowded. Pathogens are disseminated. Diseases are transmitted. Pathogens plug into your battery, and wallet. Pathogens know how to wait. Think of a world where all the "bad pathogens" went away. Diseases are abnormal physiological processes that cause injury and death.
Pathology - Pathology is the science of the processes, manifestations, causes, developments, and outcome of disease. Form and function are disrupted and the survival of the organism is threatened. Pathology includes anatomy, physiology, microbiology, and all other disciplines that focus on the survival of an organism. Pathology is the study of all these disciplines from the side of disorder.
People / Trees - Trees and people are about 98% by weight carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus. Trees are mostly carbohydrates - cellulose. Humans are mostly proteins.
Perennial - Perennial means live for several to many years. Trees are much like a annual plant living on an perennial plant.
Periderm - Outer bark or periderm is mostly dead cells lined with a fatty substance called suberin or cork. Periderm is made up of a phellogen, phelloderm, and phellem. The phellogen (bark cambium) is the outer most part of the symplast and the end of the phloem rays. Current growth has a thin covering of epidermis. The one-year-old twigs have a thin covering called a primary periderm. Green, cortex-like tissues are common under the periderm in young trees of many species.
pH - A pH of 7 means that 0.0000001 moles of active hydrogen protons are in solution.
Phellem Shedding - Plane trees store an abundance of starch in broad rays. Plane trees maintain a thick green cortex-like layer under the outer bark on mature trees. The phellem is shed every growth period and the green layer is exposed. Many other tree species have a similar mechanism for maintaining a cortex-like layer on aging trunks.
Phellogen - The phellogen, also known as the bark cambium, is the outer most part of the symplast. "Phello" meaning "phellem", and "gen" meaning generate. I generate. I generate the outer bark, the phellem. The phellogen ruptures and as it ruptures you get plates. So then when the phellogen ruptures than you get a plate. Some trees form plates in two directions and some only in one. The trees that only form plates in one direction are the trees that as they mature, they fissures.
Phenol-based Substances - Angiosperms have phenol-based substances mostly as protection compounds. Gymnosperms have isoprene or terpene-based substances mostly as their protection compounds.
Phenological Tree History - Askenasy was a Russian fruit horticulturist who worked out the phenological periods for apples and cherries.
Phenology - Phenology is the timing of natural processes: flushing, reproduction, wood formation, energy storage, shedding, dormancy. More on the topic: Phenology is the study of periodic biological processes, or the timing of natural processes and phenomena, such as onset of growth, bud swelling, leaf formation, cambial growth, wood and bark growth, root growth, and development of non-woody roots, the timing of root-fungus associations, shedding of leaves and non-woody roots, etc. Trees do not follow a set calendar pattern. The tree activities occur at different times in different years. It is also possible to have two trees of the same species growing close to each other, yet the timing for their processes may be separated by days of even weeks. It is common to see this when trees begin to form leaves, and the leaves die and are shed in the fall. Individual sugar maple trees may be weeks apart in their leaf shedding. Tree treatments, to be effective, must be done in line with phonological events. In orchards, trees of the same genotype are grown in one area, and this does synchronize the phonological events. This is good when helpful treatments are considered. It is very bad if a pathogen strikes at a weak moment in the life of the trees. A good gardener never goes by a calendar. A good arborist or forester should also know the timing of the trees processes and make treatment decisions on this information. Askenasy was a Russian fruit horticulturist who worked out the phenological periods for apples and cherries. (See MODERN ARBORICULTURE, SHIGO, 1991, pg 271)
Phenols - Phenols are the basic molecules in angiosperms that polymerize to form protection substances.
Philosophy - Religion + Science = Philosophy. Philosophy is a delightful mental trip around a circle. Philosophy is about thinking.
Philosophy Books - Too many philosophy books were written inside buildings.
Phloem - Phloem or inner bark is located just outside the cambium zone and to the inside of the phellogen and the outer bark. The phloem cells are born by the cambium zone. It maintains a symplast. Phloem, or inner bark, is a transport tissue. It transports energy-containing substances made in leaves toward non-woody absorbing roots. Phloem is a transport tissue in vascular plants. Xylem rays connect radially to form phloem rays. The phloem rays connect circumferentially to form the phellogen. The phloem is made of sieve tubes and companion cells. We believe the sieve tubes are like toothpaste tubes and are squeezed by the companion cells moving materials towards the sink and or non-woody roots. Half truth - Phloem transports materials down. Some branches hang or grow downward thus the movement of materials would first be in an upward direction toward the trunk.
Phloem Rays - Xylem rays connect radially to form phloem rays. The phloem rays connect circumferentially to form the phellogen. The symplast is the network of connected living cells; axial and radial parenchyma in wood, the cambial zone, living cells in the inner phloem, phloem rays, and the phellogen.
Phosphate and Nitrate ions - Nitrate and phosphate ions are Mack trucks. Ammonium and potassium cations are fast sports cars.
Phosphorus - Phosphorus is one of the six basic chemicals of life. Six chemicals - carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S) and phosphorus (P) - make up about 98 percent of the weight of people and trees.(see "Essential Element", "Nitrate", "Fertilizer" and "IRS") (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996)
Photosynthesis - Photosynthesis is an energy-trapping process. Chlorophyll traps the light energy of the sun. The energy is first used to run processes that use carbon dioxide and water to form glucose. The sun's energy is then stored in glucose. Oxygen is given off in the process of glucose formation. Trees trap more of the suns energy than any other group of organisms. Only 0.1% of the sun's energy is trapped by organisms. Trees trap 50% of the .1%. Respiration is the other side of the processes (see TREE BASICS, SHIGO). More on the topic: Photosynthesis is a process, where chlorophyll in plants, traps the energy of the sun in a molecule of carbon dioxide and water, that is called sugar. The energy in the sugar is then on the move. The sugar or photosynthate is the building block for a host of other compounds. In some compounds the sugar is "locked" in such a way that the energy is not usable to the tree. In other forms the energy is usable to the tree. The sugar goes through a long chain of events and processes before the energy is released to do the work of life. The sugar becomes connected with other sugar molecules, and vitamins such as vitamin Bl are part of the energy releasing process. Other essential elements, such as phosphorous are involved in the process. The sugar finally reaches the "combustion chamber" technically called the Kreb's Cycle. Here the energy that was trapped in the bonds that held the carbon dioxide and water together are released in an orderly sequence. Every time a bond is released, the chemical is changed. Every time the change occurs energy is released and carbon dioxide and water are given off. So, now we are back to the original building blocks. This process of releasing the energy is called respiration. Respiration in the presence of molecular oxygen gives off carbon dioxide and water. Respiration without molecular or free oxygen is called fermentation and the product given off is ethyl alcohol, the only alcohol we can drink. And, it is consumed, by many other organisms, in nature. Photosynthesis is the trapping of energy. Metabolism is the utilization of energy to power the processes of life, and to use and change other substances in the processes.
Photosynthesis and Respiration - Oxygen, carbon dioxide; and water are the actors in photosynthesis and respiration. They trap, transport, store, and supply energy and in the end they are still oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water.
Physics - Physics is the science of measuring forces.
Physiological - Biology – of or relating to the normal functioning of an organism.
Physiology - The science of the orderly functions, activities, and intrinsic characteristics of an organism and its parts. How the biological machinery works or functions to maintain growth, defense, and reproduction. Energy captured from the sun and held in place by bonds in a molecule we call sugar, is the force or fuel that runs or maintains the living processes.
Physiology / Anatomy - Anatomy must precede physiology. **************
Pioneer Pathogen - A pioneer pathogen is the first organism to interact with the tree or the reaction zone formed by the tree after wounding or the failure of a protection zone at a natural opening. The pioneer must first compete effectively with other organisms on the wound surface, and then be able to grow into the tree against the pressure of the tree defense system. Many organisms grow on the wound surface, but very few, relatively, are able to grow into the tree. The pioneer stimulates the tree to mount a protection boundary. But, the pioneer may also be able to digest the boundary. Trees have defense processes and so do the pathogens. The tree may form an antimicrobial substance, but the pathogen may alter, or tan the compound and render it safe, or even use it for food. The pioneer is "playing" a seesaw game with the tree. As the tree and the pathogen interact, space occupied by the pioneer may increase. Then the pioneer must "fight" on 2 fronts; one, to spread in the tree, and two, to keep other organisms out of its "captured" space. It is not easy to be a pathogen in a healthy tree. It is easy to be a pathogen in a weak tree.
Pit Erosion - Pit erosion is the pits selectively digested, mostly in ponded logs. (See "Pits")
Pith - PITH is a tissue in the center of trunks, branches, and twigs, made up of large cells. When a twig begins to grow from a bud, the greatest volume of tissue is the pith. The central pith cells are like large balloons. A sheath of thicker-walled cells surrounds the large pith cells. The pith cells often contain chlorophyll, and the chlorophyll may remain green and active for several years, even after several layers of wood surround the pith. As the pith cells lose their contents, the cells appear like empty balloons or bubbles. Where a branch meets the joining stem, the pith of the joining stem and the pith of the branch are often separated by a mass of thicker-walled cells. This mass of cells appears as a plug at the base of the branch. It is called the pith protection zone. It is a zone made up of thicker-walled cells that contain a high amount of phenols in hardwoods and sterpenes in conifers. If a pathogen infects the newly forming branch, the pith protection zone will resist spread of the pathogen into the joining stem. A similar pith protection zone often forms at nodes between the young developing central leaders. The cells that form the protection zone can be seen in the dome tissue in the bud. The pith protection zone is the first protection boundary in the young developing tree. There is no pith in roots. This is one way to tell where trunk ends and root begins. Most oak species have a star-shaped pith. Oaks are not the only ones. Some trees may also have a square shaped pith. Walnuts are chambered.
Pits - Conifers have tracheids with pits. Pits regulate flow of liquids. Pits are made up of a central torus and a webwork structure called the margo. Bacterial erosion of the pits in spruce is the secret of Stradivarius violins. Pit erosion, is the pits selectively digested, mostly in ponded logs.
Plane Trees - Plane trees store an abundance of starch in broad rays. Plane trees maintain a thick green cortex-like layer under the outer bark on mature trees. The phellem is shed every growth period and the green layer is exposed. Many other tree species have a similar mechanism for maintaining a cortex-like layer on aging trunks.
Planned Obsolescence - A system or policy of deliberately producing consumer goods that will wear out or become outdated after limited use, thus inducing consumers to buy new items more frequently. Also termed built in obsolescence. (source: Black Law Dictionary 7th edition page 1105)
Planting Trees - Anyone can put a tree in the ground. A few people know how to plant a tree correctly. Caring for a tree after it is planted is a long-term project not so different from education. Would it not be wonderful if all the people who get their pictures taken planting a tree were made responsible for the care of the tree? Trying to treat what you do not understand is the same as trying to start a Rolls Royce by hitting it with a sledgehammer.
Plugging In Wall 1 - There at least seven ways that the vertical transport system can be plugged after injury and infection: 1) gums; 2) tyloses; 3) pit closure; 4) air pockets - embolism; 5) microorganisms and their products; 6) granular - like materials, especially at end walls, or where there are old end walls; 7) varnish - like membranes materials, especially where there were old end walls. There are variations in these plugs. Some tyloses have a definite boundary while others do not. Many types of granular or coarse materials can be found in vessels. Vessels do end and then connect with others. The place where 2 vessels meet in the vertical direction is a prime position for plugs. Some trees, such as birch, have scalariform or ladder - like end walls at the ends of vessels. Materials collect at these places and plug transport of liquids. A tree must maintain a vertical transport system. Yet after wounding, the transport system near the wound must be plugged in some way, or pathogens would have easy access deep into the trunk. How fast the tree can plug the transport cells is very important. Living cells that surround the dead transport cells play an important role in plugging. The cells that have pit connections with the transport cells and with the radial parenchyma are called contact parenchyma. Contact parenchyma are usually axial parenchyma.
Poison - All living things are bags of chemicals. Introduced other chemicals-could benefit the bags -food -or disrupt the bags --poisons.
Polygamous - Polygamous - the tree has some combination of male, female, and perfect flowers. Some examples are Acer species, Bursera simaruba and Myrsine florida.
Populations - As any population increases, competition for survival also increases. Increasing populations often collapse not because of pressures outside their group but from pressures within the group.
Potassium - Ammonium ion has a molecular weight of 18 and potassium is 39, yet they are about the same size. This is important because they compete for space in some clay crystals.
Potassium and Ammonium cations - Nitrate and phosphate ions are Mack trucks. Ammonium and potassium cations are fast sports cars.
Potential Energy - Potential energy, in a sense is like money you have in the bank but can not touch. It is energy that is present, however it is not available at the present time for use. It is in storage. E.g., starch. See "kinetic energy".
Power - Never underestimate the power of natural systems.
PPP (People Pressure Disease) - People Pressure Diseases (PPD) are those diseases of trees,s caused by people and their activities. Trees can not move away from people. People are crowding the trees. If you have a tree problem near a home, or anywhere there are many people, over 90 percent of the time the cause of the tree problem will be the people and their activities. There will always be an insect or fungus on the tree, the tree will always have some dieback, and too often the complete blame for the tree problem will be put on everything but the people activities. Minor and major construction work near a house are causes of many tree problems. Check for new swimming pools, new walkways, leaks of natural gas, underground electric lines, spills of all types of liquids including gasoline from lawnmowers and snowblowers, over fertilization and over use of herbicides, new gardens and new lawns, soil changes and new land grading, long term effects of sandy materials used about house foundations, salt for deicing walks and driveways, roots cut for new walks and driveways, root injury caused by planting bulbs, compaction due to parking cars, and the list goes on. Be on alert for trees that have grown themselves into a shady spot. This is common with birches. Then the borers come. Or, some shade trees are planted in full sun, like dogwood. And, again the borers come. PPD does not strike suddenly. PPD takes time and by the time the problem is noted, it is usually too late for effective action. The best solution comes through awareness programs. People need to know that trees can endure only so much abuse. It is the responsibility of the professional tree person to make people aware of potential problems, and to make certain they do not repeat. It will not be easy. In once fertile forest the depletion by people of coarse woody debris is also a people pressure disease for the group or system.
Precipitation of Elements - See "Soil – Water Logged".
Predisposition - A starving, tired lion in a cage can be killed by kitty cats. Predisposition. Predisposition is to alter or preset conditions or position of a potential host in such a way that the likelihood of a successful attack by a potential pathogen is increased. An alteration of the environment of an organism in such a way that makes it an easy target for an available pathogen. The gun analogy helps. A gun must be loaded and cocked before the pull of the trigger will cause it to fire. The cocking and amount of explosive in the charge constitute the predisposition factors. For example, a wound on a tree is followed by a barrier zone. A sudden decrease in temperature causes the wood to separate along the barrier zone. The decrease in temperature was constant at about a hundred trees, but only the tree with the wound and barrier zone cracked. Only the tree that was predisposed cracked. The cold pulled the trigger. The cold also pulled the trigger on the other trees, but they did not crack. A tree that is growing in poor soil, or with little water, will be predisposed to a number of pathogens. It is difficult to measure predisposition, yet it is a major part of disease. To fight pathogens and to not recognize predisposing factors will not help trees. More attention must be given to what keeps trees healthy rather than on "cures" for the sick. Athlete’s foot is caused by bacteria. Later the fungi come. If you treat only the secondary agent, the problem will not go away. Treating secondary agents associated with tree problems is legion.
Primary Periderm - Current growth has a thin covering of epidermis. The one-year-old twigs have a thin covering called a primary periderm.
Processes - A process is a series or sequence of things, items, elements, etc. that are all related to that which comes before and after them in the sequence, and the sequence or series does have a known result or end point. Concentration gradients drive many processes. See "System and Process".
Product Pushers - Product pushers come and go, teachers stay.
Productive - Being busy does not mean the same thing as being productive.
Products - Ideas persist when products perish.
Products / Books - Some people will buy products they do not understand and not buy books that will give them understanding.
Profession - A code of ethics is the foundation of a profession.
Professional - A professional is a person who understands dose. A professional keeps records. A professional understands targets, dose, timing and how many times.
Professionalism - To know, do, and support at a high level a chosen field or activity. Let us look more closely at these requirements for professionalism. To know means to understand at a high level the information that serves to define the field of activity. Tree professionals must understand a tree. That is the basic building block for the profession. The understanding should be at the highest level of information available. This does not mean that the person must agree with all the information, but it does mean that the person should at least be aware of the information. Knowledge is the cornerstone for any profession. A person must understand the parts that make the field or activity a profession. More on this later. The next word is "do," or skill. This is the art. A person must be able to perform- do- the activities associated with the field or activity or direct their performance (for the slightly older set!) at the highest standards recognized for the activity. How to climb a tree is an example. This is a difficult activity, but it must be done, and it must be done in a safe and effective way to get the job done. This does not mean that every person who is a tree professional must be able to climb a tree. It does mean that those who can not climb must still be aware of the importance of climbing and know something about this activity. A professional is aware of all parts of his or her chosen field. The third word is "support" or a better word would be dedication. The professional must support his or her chosen field. There must be a dedication to the field or activity. The dedication must bring with it a proud, or good feeling and a willingness to help the field or activity grow in stature. A person who destroys trees only for profit is definitely not a professional. The greatest threat or potential "disease" of any profession is the "pathogens" that are constantly there only to do what pathogens do; drain energy-money-from the system and return nothing back. Pathogens are part of all systems. They will never be eradicated, but they can be reduced in numbers, and controlled. One way to control them is through licensing. But, meaningful licensing will not come until we have an education system available which will properly train people in all parts of the profession. Then a qualified group must be available to measure the understanding and skills of those seeking a license. Licensing without a sound education system and a qualified measuring group, is useless. Now, back to tree biology. We believe that the lack of understanding of tree biology is the major problem within all fields or activities associated with trees. Advancement in all tree professions will come when a better understanding of tree biology comes. Modern technology has moved us to the near limits of harvesting trees and utilizing wood, and to the new limits of mechanically planting, pruning, (?), spraying, and injecting trees. Yet, it seems that much is still missing. We say that the missing ingredient is basic tree biology. And, when we fill that void, all other parts of the tree professions will advance rapidly.
Professional Arborist - Professional Arborist is one who understands dose, timing, targets and how many times.
Profits - Profits favor the wise.
Progress - The measure of real progress of any city or country is water in (you can drink it), water out (you can flush it safely), and trees (healthy, safe, attractive). Comfort rarely leads to progress.
Protection - Defense means building a wall. Protection is the wall after it is built. The protection system of yaks that worked for them for millions of years worked against them when man and guns came. Yaks circle their young when threatened. They were easy targets for the pioneers. How many other long standing natural protection systems has man destroyed?
PROTECTION AND DEFENSE - Protection is a static condition designed to prevent injury. Defense is a dynamic condition to survive after injury and infection. These words and their meanings are often confused. Trees have protection features: bark with waxes and suberin, aged wood with low amounts of nutrients and water (and with biological wood preservatives called extractives), arrangement of wood cells in a constant crisscross pattern as longitudinal and radial cells abut. Trees also have defense systems: chemical changes that produce antimicrobial substances, chemical and anatomical changes that form strong boundaries. After injury and infection, the still living cells near the wound respond by beginning to form a great variety of materials that resist inward spread of pathogens. The new materials may be just as harmful to the tree cells as they are to the pathogens. Some individual trees of a species respond to injury and infection rapidly, and the pathogens spread very slowly. It appears that this ability to respond rapidly is under moderate to strong genetic control. Some tree species have much stronger protection features than other species. Consider some of the species of Eucalyptus that have high amounts of extractives that prevent rapid spread of pathogens. Other tree species have weak protection features, and these trees usually do not live long.
Protection Compounds - Angiosperms have phenol-based substances mostly as protection compounds. Gymnosperms have isoprene or terpene-based substances mostly as their protection compounds.
Protection Wood - Protection wood is wood that no longer has any living symplast cells, and has been altered to a state that is more protective than the sapwood. When wounded, sapwood has a dynamic response because of living cells. When protection wood is wounded, chemically altered substances in the cells and cell walls resist the spread of infections. Protection wood has many features that resist infection by decay-causing microorganisms. As cells age and die in some species, the cell walls and lumens are impregnated with substances that impart a protective feature to the wood. These substances are called extractives because they can be extracted from the wood by using various solvents. Discolored wood, Wetwood, Heartwood, and False Heartwood are the four basic types of protection wood. The great difficulty with this subject is that all gradations of all four types of protection wood may be in the same trunk. It is also possible to have discolored heartwood (normal heartwood that has later been discolored) and wetwood heartwood (normal heartwood that has later become wetwood). The only way to understand these types of altered wood is to study them from longitudinal radial dissections. Central columns of "true" heartwood will be a uniform width throughout the trunk. Other types of altered wood will have an entry point such as wounds or branch stubs. Great confusion has come to this subject because only cross sections of wood have been studied, and any type of wood darker than the sapwood has been called heartwood or a type of heartwood.
Protective Substances - Chemical pathways are the routes traveled by chemicals in the bags. Shunts are detours. When trees are wounded, shunts produce protective substances.
Proton and Electron - When electrons shift position, oxidation-reduction processes go on. When protons shift positions, acid-base reactions go on.
Protoplasm - The center of the parenchyma cell contains a living substance called protoplasm. Protoplasm is the great amount of living substance within the thin walls of the parenchyma cells. It moves, it wobbles, it is alive!
Pruning - Prune means to remove something. Pruning - Correct, or Professional Pruning of a tree, is a two-part treatment that demands a specialized knowledge of collars and dose. Knowing how to remove a branch without injuring the tree requires an understanding of branch anatomy and defense boundaries, whereas knowing how many leaf-bearing branches can be removed without injuring the tree requires an understanding of the symplast and the second law of energy flow. (A PROFESSIONAL UNDERSTANDS DOSE, SHIGO, 1996) Correct pruning cuts reduce the chances of at least 18 serious tree problems from happening. Pruning is a four part process; how to cut, which to cut, when to cut, and how much to cut. Not easy. When flush pruning was considered correct, timing of pruning was extremely important because the cuts caused serious trunk injuries that removed the branch protection zone. When collar cuts are made, timing is not so important. Small mistakes that injure the collar or trunk during leaf flushing and leaf shedding can still cause injuries. Some of the worst pruning in the world has been present in fruit tree orchards. I have learned the following: Would you buy and use a product that gave you perfect teeth, but rotted your gums? We must care for the soils. We must treat the system, not just one part. Composted wood and leaves are tree system food, not a bag of so called fertilizer. To prune a forest, to make a decision on dose timing and targets, one would need to first have an understanding Tree Biology with respect to the Ecological Stages of Trees and their functionality, above as well as below, ground, i.e., if the target was to do no harm. Use more ecoart-nurse logs in landscapes. When a tree is wounded, you should not treat only the wound but the entire tree.
Pruning Near Lines - The words "Line Clearing" must go! They have a very negative meaning, where lines are cleared at the expense of the trees. "Pruning near lines" or "utility pruning" should be the words.
Purpose - Function
Q
Quality -The characteristics that define a product, service or performance; quality can be low or high. Needs a modifier. Quality alone has no meaning. E.g., "We have a quality product." This could be a low quality or high quality product.
More on the topic: QUALITY - The characteristics, features, or attributes that identify or make up a substance, statement, or performance. Quality identifies something, but the degree of excellence or potential failures of the something must be further identified by a modifier to the word quality-poor quality or excellent quality. When we say excellent quality we mean that the features of the subject are at the highest level for survival or for attention. Low or poor quality means defective features that make for a short life or survival, or for lack of attention. High quality means high order of features or ingredients. Order means that the events or parts are arranged in a way that can be repeated. High order is precision of parts that make up a substance or statement. In trees, high quality means high order for health, attractiveness, and safety. A high quality tree has long survival for life in an attractive and safe form. High quality trees for timber will produce the highest value products. High quality wood is free of defects. A high quality wildlife tree is a large, old, healthy tree with a few well-compartmentalized cavities. There is much that can be done to increase the quality of our trees in forests, cities, parks, and orchards. For starters, we need more ecoart logs. What an example of high quality products! E.g., If you were to take a pair of shoes on a trip, and when you returned from the trip, the shoes were not in a condition that you would wear them again, you would say they were low quality shoes. Now if you were to return from the trip and the shoes were in a condition or state that you would wear them again on another trip, we would say they were high quality shoes.
Question / Nature - When you ask nature the right question, you already have half of the answer. E.g., Do we need, to spend money to remove the water reservoirs for flora and fauna in a once fertile forest to increase or maintain forest health? When you keep pursuing a question in nature, you will always come to "I don't know."
R
Radial Parenchyma - The symplast is made up of radial and axial parenchyma cells. The radial run perpendicular in the trunk. The axial are singles and the radials are in bundles. The radials form the wood rays and phloem rays. Sapwood has an interconnected network of living axial and radial parenchyma. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Rams Horns - When wounds close rapidly, the woundwood often curls inward and forms internal cracks. We call this curling formation rams horns.
Reaction Wood - Reaction Wood is wood as it responds to a weakening or a lean. As trees sway, reaction wood forms in places that optimize the strength of the trunk and branches. Reaction wood forms when trees lean. Compression wood forms on the lower side of the lean in conifers. Tension wood forms on the upper side of the lean in woody angiosperms.
Reaction Zone - A barrier zone is a zone formed when trees are wounded. (See A NEW TREE BIOLOGY, SHIGO, 1986 page 42) A MUST! The reaction zone, is a chemical boundary within the wood present at the time of wounding which resist the spread of pathogens within the wood present at the time of wounding.
Recycle - Recycling is reutilizing chemicals and keeping them in the system. Such as essential elements used and stored in tree trunks are reused throughout the ecological stages of trees by flora and fauna. CWD are essential element recycling centers. Those that use nutrients manufactured by the tree are not recycling, they are using the product of the tree, but they will be recycled. But it does stay in the system. Unless wood is removed by man. Not to mention CWD are water reservoirs for plants and animals such as during dryer times. Trees have unique functionality throughout their ecological stages. Non-woody roots shed dying and dead root hairs and epidermal cells. The shed cells are digested by soil microorganisms. They recycle elements essential for life. Trees are recycling systems. Humus ends in gases back to be used again.
Redox Potential - The redox potential is a relative measure of electron activity in soils as oxidation and reduction take place. Redox potential and the stock market are about the same thing- buying and selling or gaining electrons and using electrons.
Reduction and Oxidation - Reduction and oxidation are molecular ping-pong.
Religion - Why + Who = Religion. What + How = Science.
Renewable Resource - The myth that trees are a natural renewable resource still persists. Much like the "never ending forest" just keep cutting out myth.
Reproduction - Reproduction takes a great amount of reserve energy.
Reseachers - Why do some researchers delight in marching to near or distant drummers? Marching is a war thing mostly. We need more dances in research. The practicing foresters are not communicating very well with researchers.
Research - A lion in a cage and a lion in the field are two different things.
Researchers - Real researchers record their data in ink, and their discussions in pencil. Conflict of interest is becoming a serious problem in science where researchers benefit by saying very positive things about certain products. "A successful business person once told me that researchers have all the answers but they don't know the questions". (See TREE PITHY POINTS, SHIGO, 1999) "The researcher took all the legs off a flea. He then shouted to the flea to jump. The flea just lay there. The report stated that fleas lose their ability to hear when you remove their legs. Don't laugh. I have seen research reports worse than that". (See TREE PITHY POINTS, SHIGO, 1999)
Respiration 1 - Respiration is an energy-releasing process. Respiration in roots produces carbon dioxide and water. Carbon dioxide in water forms some carbonic acid. Carbonic acid dissociates to form a hydrogen proton and hydrogen carbonate or bicarbonate anion. Without oxygen, normal respiration does not take place. See "Kreb Cycle".
Respiration 2 - Respiration is a process where the energy of the sun first stored in glucose is then released in cells to run the processes of life. Glucose is "burned" in living cells, as oxygen is consumed, and carbon dioxide and water are given off. It is fascinating to realize that the processes of photosynthesis start with carbon dioxide and water, and the processes of respiration, oxygen is taken in. The processes of photosynthesis and respiration are so marvelous because they serve to trap, store, and use light energy of the sun without altering essential ingredients - carbon dioxide, water, and oxygen. See "Kreb Cycle".
Rest - Every organism must rest.
Rhizoplane - The rhizoplane is the site of exudates. The rhizoplane is the boundary where soil elements in water are absorbed into the tree. Under an electron microscope, the rhizoplane appears as a jelly where microorganisms and tree cells mix, making it impossible to tell which side is tree and which is soil.
Rhizosphere - The rhizosphere is the absorbing root-soil interface. It is the zone, about one millimeter in width, surrounding the epidermis of living root hairs and the boundary cells of mycorrhizae as well as hyphae growing out from some mycorrhizae. The rhizosphere is the zone about one millimeter about the surface of absorbing non-woody roots, mycorrhizae, and the hyphae growing from the mycorrhizae. A constantly changing mix of organisms inhabit the rhizosphere and surrounding soil. Bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, protozoa, slime mold, algae, nematodes, enchytraeid worms, earthworms, millipedes, centipedes, insects, mites, snails, small animals and soil viruses compete constantly for water, food, and space. (See TROUBLES IN THE RHIZOSPHERE, SHIGO, 1996)
Rib wood - On the trunk, after wounding, callus forms first about the margins of the wound; Woundwood forms later as the cells become lignified. The ribs are called ribwood. Good for ax handles.
Ring-Porous - Ring porous wood such as, oak, elm, chestnut and black locust, are angiosperms that have large diameter vessels in the first portion of the growth increment and vessels of smaller diameter later in the growth increment. Free water moves only in the latewood of the current increment during the end of the growth period in some tyloses- forming species of ring-porous trees such as American elm. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Robert Hartig - Before Robert Hartig, people believed that decay caused fungi. Hartig showed that fungi caused decay. The simple reversal of words set the stage for the science of forest pathology.
Rocks - Rocks are nature's slow release fertilizers.
Root Exudates - Root exudates are like taxes: From 5 percent to 20 percent of the carbohydrates and other organic substances made from photosynthesis and metabolism exit the non-woody roots into the rhizosphere. These exudates are used as an energy source and building blocks by many soil microorganisms.
Root Flares - I have been dissecting trees for ten years and have not found a root flare yet. Trees have truck flares, but I know of no such root flares . Why is this important? It could save your life. Especially, if you are a climber. There are certain decay causing fungi that discriminate between woody root tissue and woody stem tissue. Thus the tree may have trunk flare but no woody roots. In addition, product pushers claim by injecting into root flare you help the tree? They obviously flunked anatomy. Real nasty products!
Root Hairs - A root hair is the extension of a single epidermal cell, epidermal, which means skin. Root hairs absorb water and elements dissolved in it. Root hairs are organs that grow within days when water, temperate, and soluble essential elements are at optimum levels. Root hairs "come fast" and "go fast". They die and are shed after a few weeks. A root hair is the extension of a single epidermal cell. Root hairs and mycorrhizae are alive and well in midwinter in non-frozen soils during warm spells and non-frozen soil below frozen soils. As root hairs and mycorrhizae die, they add organic material to the soil. Non-woody roots shed dying and dead root hairs and epidermal cells. The shed cells are digested by soil microorganisms. They recycle elements essential for life.
Root Hairs / Mycorrhizae - Root hairs often grow on mycorrhizae.
Root Rots - Root Rots kill tree symplast by starvation. As the pathogens are compartmentalized, space for storage of energy reserves is reduced.
Root Sprouts - Root sprouts come from meristematic points in roots. Roots do not have buds.
Root Stubs (Woody) - Just as branches die and leave stubs that are openings into the trunk, roots also die and leave root stubs. Microorganisms do not have to "look hard " for ways to get into trees.
Roots - Aerial - Aerial roots become prop roots when they anchor in the soil.
Roots - There are two basic types of roots: Woody and non-woody. Woody roots are organs that mechanically support the tree, store energy reserves, and transport liquids that contain many types of soluble substances. Woody roots have lignin along with cellulose and hemicelluloses in their cell walls. Woody roots have an outer bark and contains suberin. Suberin gives bark a corky characteristic. Suberin "waterproofs" the tissues. Woody roots usually grow outward and downward. New woody root tissues begin to grow soon after woody growth starts in the trunk. Non-woody roots are organs that absorb water and elements essential for growth. Further, there are two types of structures that form on non-woody roots: root hairs and mycorrhizae. Root hairs are organs that are extensions of epidermal cells. Mycorrhizae are organs composed of tree and fungus tissue, a composite structure. Non-woody roots have very little lignin in cell walls. Non-woody roots live for a short time; from a few weeks to a year. Some mycorrhizae "regrow" on themselves and may from for more than a year. Root hairs come fast and go fast. As conditions occur that support their growth, they grow. Root hairs are most common on young plants and plants growing in containers. Root hairs are not so common on most mature trees, especially forest trees. See "mycorrhizae" and "root hairs". (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Roots / Seed - Roots are usually the first structures to emerge from a seed. Because roots depend on leaves for their energy, the leaves usually form after the energy reserves in the seed have been used to establish a root system.
Rots - White rot -cellulose and lignin digested. Brown rot - cellulose digested, lignin altered. Discolored wood -cell contents and walls altered, color change. Wetwood- cell contents and walls altered by anaerobes mostly, not always a color change. Soft rot- cell walls eroded with distinct patterns. Pit erosion -pits selectively digested, mostly in ponded logs.
Rotten - Poor term, I really do not have that answer. See "Rotten Wood".
Rotten Wood - "Rotten Wood", I have learned, is a poor term, E.g., rotten breath, spoiled rotten, rotten review or that was a rotten thing to do. Then we say that wood - that was chemically altered by the succession of highly ordered microorganisms (experts if you please) is rotten? Natural successions are orderly sequences of organisms that either build up or break down living systems. Natural successions are highly ordered sequences of organisms that benefit the survival of the entire group. With respect, they follow boundaries, of CODIT, if you please, that formed, chemically, while the wood was part of a symplast containing tree. Now a mass, contributing to the rainbow of humic acids, as well as the survival grounds for mycorrhizae, the base of the food web, for starters - is rotten? As if bad and of no value. These humic acids are a result of a highly ordered processes which are repeated and play a key role in soil, plant and animal health. Recycling at its finest! Humic acids slow decomposition reactions in soils. Maybe Ezekiel writes about Creation Care in 39:10 (King James Version). (See "Logging – What it is"– my doc). Also see "Natural Successions".
Rubber / Natural - Isoprene is the basic molecule of natural rubber.
S
Salix alba - Extracts from the bark of Salix alba were used by early humans to relieve pain. A much more purified form of the compound is called aspirin, one of the most commonly used analgesics in the world.
Sapwood - Sapwood, is the term given to the wood that maintains a symplast. The symplast is held in place by the apoplast. Sapwood can range from 2 growth increments to over 100. In other words, some tree species have parenchyma cells that only live for 2-3 years while other may have cells that live for over a hundred years. There are two types of sapwood, "conducting" and "non-conducting". Sapwood in many tree species maintains only a single growth increment that has open vessels. Yet, non-conducting wood still maintains a symplast. A distinction needs to be made between sapwood that is conducting and sapwood that is not conducting. Wood that maintains a symplast yet the vertical transport system is plugged, we call non-conducting sapwood. Sapwood has four major functions: 1) transport; 2) storage; 3) mechanical support; 4) protection and defense. The living cells of sapwood store energy reserves. The reserves are the carbohydrates that are the building blocks for a great number and variety of antimicrobial substances. The sapwood makes up the dynamic mass of the woody part of the tree. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Sapwood Conducting - see "Sapwood"
Sapwood Non-Conducting - see "Sapwood"
Saving - I know a person who said he could save any tree -along the driveway, in the barn, stacked next to the house, etc.
Science - What + How = Science. Who and Why = Religion. Science is learning to see things. Science is a highly ordered collecting and connecting process. It is called often systematized knowledge. Science seeks to record what we think we know about life, the world, and the universe. Science is an orderly process of collecting, connecting and recording information about natural systems. Science is understanding. Science is mind.
Science, Art, and Common Sense - Science, Art, and Common Sense - Science is knowing, Art is doing, and Common Sense is knowing and doing on the basis of experience. Science deals with observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of natural processes, systems or phenomena. Science is systematically gained knowledge, knowledge gained from experiments with controls. Without controls there is no experiment, and without experiments there is no science. The scientific method works best for mathematics and physics where the variables can be controlled. In biology, there are so many variables, that no experiment can be designed with a control of all the variables. Science has its limitations when the forest is considered. Science cannot give all the answers because there is no way to control the many variables. For this reason, it is essential to bring art and common sense into the picture. Art requires skill. Skill requires training and practice. Common sense demands your time and attention to changes in nature, and especially changes associated with actions resulting from some treatment, an art factor. This is how early man began to learn. He or she observed a response to a stimulus. They began to understand the response and the stimulus. Then, they watched the response repeat every time the stimulus was applied. As actions repeat, they become orderly. Order repeats, or can be repeated. Knowledge gained from experience is called empiricism. But, when empiricism repeats at a high level, then we begin to approach the same results that may come from science with an experiment. Just as important as knowing, is the ability to regulate with high efficiency. That is the measure of knowing. And, if the system or process cannot be regulated, then the next step is to predict its outcome with high accuracy. Recognition still must come first. You must recognize an event, feature, characteristic, etc. This comes from observation and the stimulus-response factors. What this all means to a tree person is that tree biology depends not only on science but also on art and common sense. And the greatest of these is common sense. See "Art" and "Common Sense".
Scientist - Scientists are fast. The wound dressing myth will never die. The sad thing is that the myth is being taught by people who are supposed to be scientists.
Scribing, Wound - Scribing is a treatment to a wound, that when done correctly, can enhance closure of the wound and can reduce long term damage to the tree. When a tree receives a wound to the trunk, such as by an auto, the target of wound scribing is removing loose inner and outer bark and shaping the wound in an eclipse. The goal is not to increase the size of the wound and not to scribe beyond the cambium zone. Scribing is best done with a large half moon chisel. Pointed sharp edges do not facilitate good closure. Timing is important. If the wound occurs during the growing season, then one would wait until after the growing season has ended, not scribing, but just removing loose inner an outer bark, not to increase wound size on penetrate the wood. Scribing is done when wounds occur during the non-growing season. DO NOT USE WOUND DRESSINGS! When a tree is wounded, you should not treat only the wound but the entire tree. Would you accept a treatment that gave you white teeth, but rotted your gums? We need to care for the soil. For instructions on wound scribing see MODERN ARBORICULTURE, SHIGO, 1991. See "Vandalism". (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996) (See TROUBLES IN THE RHIZOSPHERE, SHIGO, 1996).
Second Law of Energy Flow - See "Second Law of Thermodynamics or Energy Flow".
Second Law of Thermodynamics or Energy Flow - Second Law of Thermodynamics or energy flow, states that no system will remain orderly, or survive, unless it receives a continuous supply of energy. The second law of energy flow allows for no exceptions.
Seed / Roots - Roots are usually the first structures to emerge from a seed. Because roots depend on leaves for their energy, the leaves usually form after the energy reserves in the seed have been used to establish a root system. See "Seeds".
Seedlings Hemlock - Hemlock trees will often be seen growing in straight lines in the forest because the seeds germinated on top of an old log. Hemlock seed rarely grows where there are old hemlock needles. This is also why large hemlock trees have prop-type roots. The seeds germinated on the cut stump of another tree.
Seeds - Seeds are ripened ovules. A tree starts life from energy stored in a seed. Or a tree can start from a cutting that contained stored energy. Some seeds have embryos that grow after the seed matures and falls while other seeds pass through a dormant period. Plant lots of seeds -ideas -along the way. It is always surprising to see those that grow.
Seeing - Wise people see also with their mind's eye.
Seek and You will Find - Nature welcomes inquiry. Nature does not hide its work. Just seek, and you will find.
Self Thinning Rule of Ecology - The self-thinning rule of ecology states that on a given site, as some trees increase in mass, the number of trees on the site decreases. As some of the trees die, their exudates increase and benefit soil microorganisms. This process has high survival value in a forest, but may not be effective in cities where individual trees are removed as they die. The desire for trees in our cities goes on. The trees no longer have the benefits of group defense and group protection. Dutch elm disease is an example. The disease in the natural stands did little harm. Actually, the fungi and insects were more like bonogens than pathogens because they served to maintain the self-thinning rule of ecology. However, when elms were taken out of the group and were not able to reproduce on concrete, their defense and protection mechanisms were weakened. The beneficial fungi and insects, the bonogens, were forced to become pathogens. As more trees became trapped in cities, the pathogens "had to" compete for the new energy source. Then the pathogens did what they "knew" how to do best: mutate and reproduce rapidly. Virulent forms increased and soon even healthy trees were attacked. The example is still Dutch elm disease. Think about it. We have done the same for oak wilt and for many other diseases in cities.
Serendipity - Serendipity works best the faster you move.
Settlers - The first settlers to America called trees their major enemy. It is time for forgiveness.
Sex Pheromones – Insects - The use of sex pheromones to trap insects is not fair!
Shedding - Shedding means to use and shed woody and non-woody parts. To shed does not mean cast off. Shed means that some type of boundary forms to separate the "used" part from the remainder of the tree. Shedding of non-woody roots adds a great amount of carbon to soils. Shedding of large woody debris can provide habitat, water reservoirs, nutrient and essential element storehouse and provide substrate for fungi, the base of the food web, i.e., just for starters.
Shigometery - A method that uses patterns of electrical resistance to help detect decaying wood in trees and wood products, and to determine relative vitality of symplast maintaining trees. Electrical resistance can be measured with any device that produces a pulsed direct electric current and has an ohmmeter to measure the resistance to the current as it passes through a substance. Most of the results from experiments using Shigometery have used a device called a Shigometer. This device is a light weight, battery operated, field worthy, meter that produces a pulsed direct electric current, and measures the resistance (up to 500k ohms) with an ohmmeter. The meter is only one of the tools required for this method. The unique tool, however, is a single electrode that sends and receives the current. Two copper insulated wires are wound together to make the electrode. The tips of the electrode consist of 2 wires, each with a bow, or turn, that has the insulation removed. The electrode is inserted into the wood through a small hole (drilled with a battery-powered drill). The holes can be drilled up to 12 inches into the tree, or wood product. As the tip of the electrode touches the wood surrounding the hole, the current goes into the wood, and back to the ohmmeter, through the other wire. When sudden decreases in electrical resistance occur, decaying wood is suspect. The method takes skill and practice. It is best to practice on recently cut logs and to see the patterns of electrical resistance as the electrodes are inserted through a drill hole. The method demands an understanding of CODIT. The method is not easy. Another electrode, is used to determine relative vitality of trees. The needle electrodes are pushed into the bark until the wood is touched. The electric current goes into the bark through one needle and after the current passes through the bark and wood it returns to the ohmmeter through the other needle. The wider the cambial zone, the more vital the tree. This method for determining vitality also requires a great amount of skill and practice. At least 20 trees of one species must be measured to determine the mean resistance. Care must be taken when the method is used when trees are beginning to grow in spring and when trees are going into dormancy. (See "shedding")(See A NEW TREE BIOLOGY DICTIONARY, SHIGO, 1986 "TSI")
Sick Soils - Trying to grow trees in sick soils is the same as telling a person you have beautiful teeth but your gums must go.
Shikimic Pathways - Glyphosate kills by disrupting the shikimic acid pathway in plants. Fungi also have the same pathway. (sorry)
Shunts - Chemical pathways have shunts. Roads have detours. Chemical pathways are the routes traveled by chemicals in the bags. Shunts are detours. When trees are wounded, shunts produce protective substances.
Sight - Wise people see also with their mind's eye.
Signs and Symptoms - Signs and Symptoms - Proper treatment for any tree problem starts with the recognition of signs and the understanding of symptoms. A sign is some manifestation of the causal agent. The fungus fruit bodies, the oozing of bacteria, and the white covering of scale insects are signs of the problem. The discolored leaves, the wilted leaves, and the dying twigs and branches are symptoms of a problem. Great care must be taken to determine cause and effect. A tree weakened by compaction or over fertilization may be attacked by fungi and insects. To attack the secondary agents will not help the tree. This is a common problem. Bronze birch borer commonly attacks trees weakened by other agents. The birch trees may be shaded, or the roots injured by mulching or planting of bulbs. Or the birch tree may have been planted in the wrong place and it is slowly dying. The bronze birch borer is a weak opportunist that attacks weakened trees. The same can be said for many canker-causing pathogens. They are secondary. Fighting the secondary pathogen will not help the tree. It is extremely difficult to understand problems that take many years to develop. Many tree problems start at the time the tree is planted. The survival curve is downward from that time onward, but the tree continues to live in a very unhealthy state. Then some very obvious secondary pathogen arrives and all attention is given to the secondary pathogen. If the secondary pathogen is defeated, another one will take its place. Cytospora kunzei on spruce is another case in point. The fungus arrives after the tree is committed to an early death. Attacking the fungus will not help the tree. What may help the tree is a change in its treatment. Check the lawn. Is the lawn in very good condition without weeds? Suspect over use of herbicides and fertilizers? What about water? Has the lawn taken all the water? Has the conifer grown itself into a shaded or crowded condition? Too often spruce trees just grow themselves out of space. Scale insects indicate a weakened tree. One may kill the scale insect, but the tree will still be weak. Trunk and branch boring insects also attack weakened trees. Again, one may kill the insects, but the tree still has problems. My point in all of this is that we often attack the sign and symptoms and the secondary pathogen, and we never help the tree. When the sick tree is near a home or when people gather and walk by, at least 90% of the time, people and their activities will be the cause of the problem. Attack the cause, not the signs and symptoms.
Simi-ring or Simi-diffuse - Simi-Ring Porous are those trees that start out ring porous but alter to diffuse in the late wood. There are four basic types of wood, ring porous, diffuse porous, conifer without resign ducts and conifers with resign ducts. As always in nature we have variations, we have simi-ring. And then there are palms. See "Ring porous" and "Diffuse porous".
Single Epidermal Cells - Root hairs are extensions of single epidermal cells.
Sink - Source is a term meaning the position of origin of a substance. Sink is the position where the substance finally is used or incorporated and cannot move further.
Sledgehammer Plan - You can't kill viruses by building a bigger sledgehammer. Trying to treat what you do not understand is the same as trying to start a Rolls Royce by hitting it with a sledgehammer.
Small Animals - The fungi play a major role in recycling essential elements from dead organic matter. The fungi often do this in association with many other organisms in the soil: bacteria, insects, worms, amoebae, nematodes, and small animals. Many of the fungi associated with mycorrhizae have mushroom fruit bodies. Others have a variety of fruit bodies above ground and below ground. The major point is that the members of the natural system are all connected. When the connections begin to be broken, the system will suffer. You can kill soil. You can kill a forest. You can kill many living things that depend on a healthy forest. How? By breaking connections. See brilliantly colored minute mushrooms were fruit bodies of a fungus were recycling elements in a symplastless log (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994, pg 86).
Soaps - Soaps are the original double agents. One end is soluble in oils and the other is soluble in water.
Soft Rot - Soft rot- cell walls eroded with distinct patterns.
Soil - Soil is a substance made up of sands, silts, clays, decaying organic matter, air, water and an enormous number of living organisms. Is it alive or dead? Yes, is the answer. We have no word for a substance that is both living and dead - wood, soil. See section 1 in "Logging - What it is". Soils and wood share a common problem: They are thought of as dead substances. This has come about because wood products research gained an early lead over research on wood in living trees. With soils, many texts still define soils as loose material of weathered rock and other minerals, and also partly decayed organic matter that covers large parts of the land surface on Earth {without proper respect to the living}. Soils are alive with many organisms in winter. Remember, the best fishing places in the world are in cold water. See "bacteria" "amoebae". Soil actinomycetes are very tolerant of water stress. Actinomycetes often give that "good earth " aroma after a rain. Insects keep nitrogen high in the soil. In forests, the ice-injured trees add much needed carbon as cellulose for soil organisms. Forest practices during the last several decades have removed so much cellulose that we believe soil organisms are starving. Coarse Woody Debris is a bio-indicator of healthy soil and forest. (See "Logging – What it is"– my doc). The fungi play a major role in recycling essential elements from symplastless organic matter. The fungi often do this in association with many other organisms in the soil: bacteria, insects, worms, amoebae, nematodes, and small animals. Many of the fungi associated with mycorrhizae have mushroom fruit bodies. Others have a variety of fruit bodies above ground and below ground. The major point is that the members of the natural system are all connected. When the connections begin to be broken, the system will suffer. You can kill soil. You can kill a forest. You can kill many living things that depend on a healthy forest. How? By breaking connections. Shedding of non-woody roots adds a great amount of carbon to soils. About 95% or more of the nitrogen and sulfur is in an organic form in most surface soils. Root hairs and mycorrhizae are alive and well in midwinter in nonfrozen soils during warm spells and non-frozen soil below frozen soils. Would you buy and use a product that gave you perfect teeth, but rotted your gums ? We must care for the soils. People who call wonderful soil dirt need help. People who call beautiful soil, dirt, should have their mouth washed out with wound dressing. When a tree is wounded, you should not treat only the wound but the entire tree.
Soil Acidity - Soil pH is a measurement of soil conditions, which at different levels, is one of the factors limiting the availability of certain elements, e.g., at high pH levels, iron becomes unavailable for trees like Pin Oak. A pH of 7 means that 0.0000001 moles of active hydrogen protons are in solution. Earthworms neutralize soil acidity. A problem is that when the pH conditions favor pathogens it does not take long for them to infect. The pH of the soil and the pH in the rhizosphere are two different things. The pH of the rhizosphere is very difficult to test. We do know, that coarse woody debris, buffer soils and when we remove such material we greatly alter soil pH over time. That means the pH will rise rather than be where it was designed. Moss is an indicator of low pH soil. Different species of flora, require different pH soil.
Soil Compaction - Many mycorrhizae grow in micro cavities in the soil. Compaction destroys the micro cavities.
Soil Fertilizer - When the 17-year-locusts emerge, they bring a lot of nitrogen to the soil surface. When they die, their bodies fertilize the soil. See "essential elements" and "fertilizer". Gypsy moth, when they die they fertilize. Lightning is another way nature fertilizes. Coarse woody debris provide essential elements of a long stable period of time. In fact they are essential element storehouses. A bag of fertilizer, most likely does not contain anything near the 17 essential elements. It is sad when people apply ammonium nitrate only, and claim to be fertilizing or even worse yet, claiming to be feeding. See "essential elements" and "fertilizers".
Soil Microorganisms - Non-woody roots shed dying and dead root hairs and epidermal cells. The shed cells are digested by soil microorganisms. They recycle elements essential for life.
Soil Redox Reaction - Soil redox reaction and soccer are similar; no intermissions.
Soil Tunnels - Bacteria often live in tunnels left behind as hyphae of soil fungi die. Amoebae are not able to attack the bacteria in the minute- diameter tunnels.
Soil Water Stress - Soil, actinomycetes are very tolerant of water stress. Actinomycetes often give that "good earth " aroma after a rain.
Soil wood - Wood that has soil contact and non-woody roots and microorganism from the soil have begun to interact. It is incorporated into the soil matrix.
Soil, New - Logging increases the loss of nutrients from the site. Such spots would have been excellent for the establishment and growth of vegetation, including tree seedlings. Vegetation would have been established on and help stabilize this "new soil", and as invertebrates and small vertebrates would have begun to burrow into the new soil, they would not only nutritionally enrich it with their feces and urine but also constantly mix it by their burrowing activities (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
Soils - Water Logged - In waterlogged soils where oxygen is low or lacking, iron and manganese become the electron acceptors. This leads to the precipitation of iron and manganese and the tree does not get any of these elements.
Soils in Plains - Soils in the plains need carbon!
Soils, Sick - Trying to grow trees in sick soils is the same as telling a person you have beautiful teeth but your gums must go.
Solutions - People want answers when solutions are needed. Answers are responses to questions. Solutions are responses to problems.
Sophisticated - People who think they are sophisticated usually are.
Sophists - The Sophists were masters of rhetoric.
Source - Source is a term meaning the position of origin of a substance. Sink is the position where the substance finally is used or incorporated and cannot move further.
Space and Survival - Trees compete for space in the soil for water and elements and for space above ground for the energy of the sun. In the warm rain forests, water is not a limiting factor for growth, nor is temperature. But, space is a limiting factor. Plants grow very close together, and plants grow on other plants-epiphytes such as the many beautiful orchids. Space to produce leaves that can capture the energy of the sun is a limiting factor for survival of all green plants. As space becomes more restrictive, the shape of trees is affected. Branches that grow in a horizontal position will not live long. Trees that develop codominant leader stems before the leaders reach the top of the forest canopy, will not live long. Trees that can reach the top of the forest canopy rapidly, and then produce codominant stems, may grow over other trees, and thus grow to a larger size. The development of codominant stems too early in life can be harmful. When they are developed later in life, they can be beneficial; for a period. And then they become harmful again. The codominant stems provide more leaf surface to capture energy. The codominant stems grow rapidly. The living wood in the stems must get their energy from the leaves. The dynamic mass of the codominant stems increases to a point where energy to power all processes begins to be in short supply. Shedding starts. The tree can still maintain a prime space position as a larger spreading crown develops, so long as shedding regulates the increasing dynamic mass-wood with living cells. Trouble for the tree starts when shade-tolerant trees begin to grow under its large spreading crown.
Spider Cracks - Spider heart is a common feature in forest trees, especially white oaks. As the first crack forms, other cracks form that equalize the loading. Rarely will there be only one major crack or seam in a forest tree. Wetwood lubricates the cracks.
Spider Heart - Spider heart is a common feature in forest trees, especially white oaks. As the first crack forms, other cracks form that equalize the loading. Rarely will there be only one major crack or seam in a forest tree. Wetwood lubricates the cracks.
Spiders, Ticks and Mites - Ticks, mites, and spiders are not insects. They are arachnids. They have eight legs.
Spontaneous Generation - The theory of spontaneous generation stated that life just happened. As materials broke down, clusters of substances called monads formed microorganisms. The germ theory stated that microbes cause the breakdown of the substances. Needham may have been correct about spontaneous generation. I'm sure cardboard boxes are reproducing in the dark back corner of my garage.
Spooky / Strange - When some event appears strange or "spooky" it only means, or proves, that we do not understand some natural phenomenon.
Sporophores - The fruiting bodies of fungi may be present for only a few days or for many years. Sporophores or fungus fruit bodies on wounds and old branch stubs and on roots do indicate decayed wood. But, every sporophore does not mean that a large column of decayed wood is present. This point about sporophores has been greatly over used. Some sporophores are associated with very small amounts of decayed wood. The mushroom-type of fruit body usually does not last long on a tree. Yet some of the decay-causing fungi that produce such sporophores do cause serious tree problems. The best example is the shoestring mushroom, or Armillaria mellea. It usually fruits late in the growing season and is associated with symplastless roots. Another type of sporophore has a shelf-like structure. Many of the shelf fungi are called conks. Some may persist on a tree for over 15, or even 20 years. And, they may weigh over 20 or 30 pounds. The artist conk is one that does grow to a great size. Removing the sporophores will not stop, or even stall, the spread of decay. Just because there are no sporophores on a wound does not mean that there is no decayed wood. On some trees it is necessary to clear away the organic matter about the base of the tree to find the sporophores. Fungi that cause root rots may form sporophores under the leaf litter at the tree base. Check under vines and other plants that may grow about the base of trees. Important notes: In a tree three situation, fungi diversity plays a key role in system health while CWD provides the substrate for many. Fungi is the base of the food web. People who think all fungi are bad should go without wine, cheese and bread for starters. Predisposition plays a key role in the understanding of the successions of microorganism. In spite of abiotic destructive forces and biotic agents such as insects, bacteria, and fungi, humans still rank as the major destructive agent for trees in forests and cities. Ignorance of tree biology is a major cause of this. (See ARMILLARIA ROOT ROTS, PREDISPOSITION AND POOR SORAUER, SHIGO, 2000) (See A NEW TREE BIOLOGY, SHIGO, 1986)
Springwood / Earlywood - In cross section, earlywood or springwood is the xylem which has become lignified (became wood) in the spring in the current growth increment. It precedes the Latewood or Summerwood. It is the first wood to be formed in the growth increment. In girth, we break down the current growth and lignifications into two periods - Early and Late, or as some label it - Spring and Summer. Remember the cambium zone does not produce wood on the inside, but, xylem. The new born material is not correctly termed wood until it is lignified. See "Latewood" or "Summer Wood". Free water moves only in the latewood of the current increment during the end of the growth period in some tyloses- forming species of ring-porous trees such as American elm. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)Sprouts - Sprouts on the stem are a trees way of using reserve energy to survive. When old trees, young trees, or branches produce many sprouts, it is a sign of over pruning or starvation. Sprouts have similar characteristics as branches, yet, the sprout does not have a branch collar, usually weekly attached, and did not grow from a bud but rather a meristematic point. There are different types of sprouts but they are all sprouts. More on the topic: Sprouts form when fuel reserves get low. Meristematic points form spear-like points into the bark. The points can differentiate to form sprouts, flowers, or roots. Other types of spear-like points go from the bark into the wood. These are associated with a wood pattern called bird's eye. The initiating factors must come from the bark. Meristematic points are sheets of radial parenchyma that extend from the wood into the outer bark. The points have the capacity to form sprouts, flowers, woody roots, and prop roots.
Sputnik - When Sputnik went off in October, 1957, science in America also went off. In the 1980's Sputnik crashed. No new science wave has started again.
Squirrel - Before the United States was colonized, a squirrel could travel from Boston to St. Louis without touching the ground. Don’t forget that there is a difference between having a lot of trees and having a lot of high quality trees.
Starch - Starch is the major energy storage material of trees. Starch is not soluble in water. Trees only store starch in living parenchyma cells. Basically trees do three things, they load (sunlight energy, water, elements), they store and then they use. Trees change glucose to starch and store starch in living parenchyma cells. Then when trees need energy (see "Energy") the starch is transformed back to glucose. Glucose is soluble in water, but starch is not. Starch is the savings account for the tree (symplast). Starch = biological currency in storage. The difference between starch and glucose is a water molecule. An enzyme called amylase can change the starch chains back to glucose molecules. Trees store an abundance of starch in woody roots. Starch is stored behind buds during the end of the growing season. The current developing growth increment does not store starch until the end of the growth period. Storage of compounds for new growth and defense is usually as insoluble starch or as oils and fats. Starch is made up of long chains of glucose. Starch is different from cellulose because of a different type of bonding. Starch-is an insoluble polysaccharide. It is made up of two glucose polymers, amylose and amylopectin. The glucose units are connected by 1-4 alpha linkages. Cellulose is connected by 1-4 beta linkages which causes the long molecule chain to twist.
Static Mass - As the inner symplast dies, the dead expanding core becomes the static mass. Of coarse, long columns of discolored wood, in non-heartwood forming trees is static as well.
See "Dynamic to Static Mass".
Stimulate - To stimulate is to start. There are three major ways to stimulate a person: pain, pleasure, curiosity.
Stimulation – Irritation - Many people have a very thin line between stimulation and irritation.
Stomach Gases - Our stomach cannot digest some complex sugars, such as those found in beans. The sugars go to the large intestines where the bacterium Escherichia coli does break them down and in the process forms the gases hydrogen, carbon dioxide and methane. Now you know!
Storage - Storage or holding is an important function of trees for their survival as well as their associates. Trees load, store and use - water, essential elements and energy containing substances such as starch. Some trees store fats and oils as their energy reserve. When water enters the symplast-containing tree it enters as free water. Then it is stored in the apoplast as bound water. Bound to the cellulose walls in the S2 layer. This is a reserve for the symplast when it needs it. Much like post-it notes. When free water is not available such as when there are no leaves on the trees and the temperature goes above 40 degrees F. Then bound water is released from storage and used. Trees also store, hold as a reserve, water for flora and fauna during dryer times such as summer drought. This is one of many unique functions of symplastless fallen trees. Yes, when a symplastless tree falls and soil contact is made, for a portion of its life, as a fallen tree, it serves as a storehouse for water, providing animals and plants with needed moisture at those dryer times (so called drought). Coarse woody debris is a term, used for identifying large portions of fallen trees, such as trunks. Trees, which maintain a symplast, load essential elements dissolved in water. Then they store these essential elements for future use by the symplast. The CWD, provided by large mature fallen trees, are a storehouse for essential elements for other trees, plants and animals, associates. Batteries store energy. Trees are like big batteries. Besides transforming sunlight energy into a form for the use of the symplast and storing energy as insoluble starch and oils in living cells of branches, trunks, and woody roots for use by the symplast, the wood itself is a form of stored energy for other organisms because cellulose is made up of long twisting chains of glucose - sugar. This continues as the CWD, that large fallen trees produce, and are a store house for nutrients providing energy for soil and other organisms. Starch is stored behind buds during the end of the growing season. Buds that do not have starch stored at the base from the previous year, most likely will not open. Water from the soil does not open the buds. The new transport and loading system is not formed yet. The buds open when the starch at the base is transformed back to glucose by amylase. The conversion of starch to sugar in early spring may so increase the osmotic pressure that bound water is freed and the turgor pressure plus the new available sugar could start the transport system. Plane trees store an abundance of starch in broad rays. The current developing growth increment of trees does not store starch until the end of the growth period. Woody roots on most trees do not have a pith. Woody roots usually store more energy reserves than stems. Stored energy is required for development of new leaves. See "defense" and , "reproduction".
Stories - Good stories live over and over again. They never die. Ask any child.
Storm Injury - After storm injury, cut for safety first. If possible, leave long stubs so correct cuts can be made when there is more time.
Stradivarius - Stradivarius probably did not understand why, but he did use floated spruce that had bacterial erosion of pits for the bellies of his best violins.
Stradivarius Violins - Bacterial erosion of the pits in spruce is the secret of Stradivarius violins.
Strain - Strain is when a system operates beyond the means in which it was designed. Stress is reversible while strain is not. Strain is a) Disorder and disruption of a system due to operation beyond the limits of stress. b) When the strain is physiological, we have a disease. c) When the strain is structural, we have a fracture. Pull a coiled spring outward and when you release it, it moves back to its original state. Pull the spring until the metal fatigues and when you release it, it will not return to its original position. First is stress, the second was strain.
Strange / Spooky - When some event appears strange or "spooky" it only means, or proves, that we do not understand some natural phenomenon.
Stress - Stress is a condition where a system, or its parts, begins to operate near the limits for which it was designed. Pull a coiled spring outward and when you release it, it moves back to its original state. Pull the spring until the metal fatigues and when you release it, it will not return to its original position. First is stress, the second was strain. Widths of growth increments decrease when trees are stressed. When trees are stressed, only earlywood may form. Strain is a) Disorder and disruption of a system due to operation beyond the limits of stress. b) When the strain is physiological, we have a disease. c) When the strain is structural, we have a fracture.
Suberin - Suberin is made up of long branched chains of fatty acids. Outer Bark contains suberin, which is cork - phellem. Cork resists breakdown by microorganisms. More on the story: Suberin is a material that coats the inside walls of the outer bark or phellem. It waterproofs the cells. Suberin is a chemical that has many long chains of fatty acids. The chemical is highly resistant to breakdown by microorganisms. Suberin has been found in the barrier zone cells in some species of oaks. Suberin has also been found in the defense boundaries that form in inner bark after injury and infection.
Subnivean - Subnivean - Below or under the snow.
Subnivean Organisms - Subnivean organisms are the ones that are active under a snow cover.
Substrate - Substrate is used by microbiologists to indicate the food source for the organism. A laboratory colony might use an agar preparation for substrate. In nature the substrate might be decomposing organic matter (depending on the organism) or sugars provided by roots of a host plant in the case of mycorrhizal fungi.
Succession - Microbial succession is the orderly sequence of many different microorganisms infecting a wound. The wood at the margins of the interaction between tree and pathogen is changed. The pioneer pathogen must always interact with the tree and its defense system on one side and with other potential pathogens that are competing for the new energy and space on the other side. As the wood changes, and as the microenvironment and the ambient environment change, conditions may favor the spread of another pathogen within the compartmentalized column. The pioneer pathogen may be able to survive very close to the reaction zone, and cause the zone to slowly retreat, but the same pathogen may not be able to survive in the wood that is distant, or proximal to the reaction zone. The 2nd law of thermodynamics comes into play again. The energy stored in the wood and the energy stored in the organisms that died in the wood is passed on to others until all the energy is used. There are short-term annual successions, and long- term successions. Some organisms can only survive when temperatures are high, and some when temperatures are low. Microorganisms are not altruistic. They do not die so another organism can live. Each organism competes with others to maintain a niche for as long as possible. Successions in trees do not mean that bacteria and non-decay causing fungi always infect first. No! Succession means many species infecting in an orderly manner. No doubt, the decay-causing fungi are just as active on the fresh wound surface as other organisms. They may also be the first to invade. Some Hymenomycetes can only survive if they are the first to invade. The fungus that causes the disease called silver leaf is an example. Most fungi in the (old) genus Stereum are pioneers. In some cases, the pioneer that is a Hymenomycete incites the tree to respond so rapidly that the organism that started the defense response cannot spread into the reaction zone. An organism that can survive in the reaction zone, or even digest it, will then become the new pioneer. Successions give the tree time to generate new cells in new positions. Succession gives the microorganisms an opportunity to survive. Most microorganisms have very short- term reproductive cycles, so long-term time is not a factor for their survival. Succession and compartmentalization make it possible for trees and microorganisms to survive. Note: Successions of microorganisms lead to tooth decay. Tooth decay is the most common human disease.
Sucrose - Sucrose is a disaccharide made up of glucose and fructose. About 65% of the sugars in maple sap are sucrose. That is why humans like it.
Sugar Cane - A small fern in the genus Azolla lives in rice fields. Nodule-forming bacteria on the ferns fix nitrogen. Nitrogen fixation can also go on inside sugar cane. Charlie the squirrel likes and eats sugar cane.
Sugar Maple Borer - Glycobius speciosus is a long-horned beetle in the Cerambycidae that can cause serious defects in sugar maple, Acer saccharum. The beetle has a 2 year life cycle. Many eggs are deposited on the bark and many beetles start their journey into the tree, but few complete the cycle. The beetles that do complete the cycle are usually enough to cause serious defects due to discolored and decayed wood and twisted grain. (See "Injury") The beetles usually infest trees in clusters. A great gradation of wounds are caused by the boring grubs. Beetles that die young only score the cambium. Some beetles start to bore into the wood, and then they die or are killed by birds or other agents. The tree responds to all of those wounds and a great variety of discolored streaks result. It would be difficult to find the wound in some of the small columns. The beetles that complete the cycle bore in an upward spiraling path. The beetles in the Cerambicidae keep their galleries free of frass-digested and expelled wood. Seldom do 2 beetles bore into each other, but it does happen. Beetles may also girdle trees. The defects seldom develop far beyond the galleries. The defects are commonly called mineral streaks.
Sulfur - Sulfur is one of the six basic chemicals of life. Six chemicals - carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S) and phosphorus (P) - make up about 98 percent of the weight of people and trees. (see Essential Element, Nitrate, Fertilizer and IRS)(See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996) About 95% or more of the nitrogen and sulfur is in an organic form in most surface soils.
Summerwood / Latewood - In cross section, latewood or summerwood is the xylem which has become lignified (became wood) in the summer. It proceeds the Early or Springwood. It is the last wood to be formed in the current growth increment. In girth we break down the current growth and lignifications into two periods - Early and late, or as some label it - Spring and Summer. Remember the cambium zone does not produce wood on the inside, but, xylem. The new born material is not correctly termed wood until it is lignified. "See Early or Springwood". Free water moves only in the latewood of the current increment during the end of the growth period in some tyloses- forming species of ring-porous trees such as American elm.
Sun Scold / Cracks - To fire a gun it must be loaded, cocked, and trigger pulled. So it is with tree cracks, sun scald and other problems. Often if one who understands tree anatomy takes a closer look, you will find so called sun scold and frost cracks are actually brought on by improper planting, old wounds where the cracks begin and so forth and soon. More on the topic: Heat from the sun may be a primary or secondary agent involved in several types of tree problems. It is very important to know when heat is the primary agent and when it is the secondary agent. Sun heat is primary when trees are suddenly exposed to direct sunlight. When trees in a group are released, or when any other activity exposes the tree, the outer bark of the tree may be altered by the sudden heat. The bark cambium is affected and the outer bark plates are flattened. Seldom does the sun injure the vascular cambium. The sun may also cause, as a primary agent, winter drying of trees and other woody plants. This occurs when the soil is frozen and water absorption is stopped, yet the sunlight on the twigs and buds may cause drying of the tissues. This type of winter sun injury is common on many woody shrubs and on some trees. The heat of the sun may trigger the growth of buds, but the frozen soils limit the transport of water. Periods of warm weather late in the fall or during the winter may start bud growth. Sun or heat injury is also common where plants are growing close to white stone structures such as buildings and monuments. The white stone acts as a mirror or magnifying glass for the heat of the sun. The heat of the sun often causes internal cracks to develop outward. The cracks start from wounds or dying branches and roots. Flush cut branches often start internal problems that are made worse by sudden heat. The heat is the trigger but not the start of the problem.
Supercool - Trees that grow in climates that have periods below 0° C do not freeze; they supercool. Many soil insects and mycorrhizae do not freeze. They supercool!
Survival - Survival means that you stay alive and you stay in a working state under conditions that have the capacity or the ability to kill you. Survival depends on rate of recognition, decision making, and adjustments. A feedback process. To survive, keep your message simple, and repeat it!
Symbiosis in Plant Life - In nature, animal life as well as plant life, different species often live together for mutual enhancement or even survival.
Symplast - a) Symplast is the network of highly ordered, connected living axial and radial parenchyma cells in sapwood and inner bark. The symplast stores energy reserves. b) The symplast is the highly ordered, three-dimensional, connected webwork of living protoplasm in trees. It's like a webwork of jelly. The living protoplasm is contained in thin-walled cells called the parenchyma, which have small cell wall openings that act as tunnels where the protoplasm of one cell connects with the protoplasm of adjoining cells. The symplast stores energy reserves. The apoplast (dead fibers and tissues) stores bound water. Trees store their money in the symplast. As the symplast decreases, so does storage space. As Storage of energy reserves decrease, so does the defense potential. Pathogens seem to know this very well. In other words, the tree or tree parts, has moved onto another ecological stage. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Symplastless - Symplastless means that the tree or biomass in reference, does not maintain a symplast. It does not mean the mass is dead. It is to easy to call something dead. E.g., A mass known as Course Woody Debris or ECOART LOGS, may not maintain a symplast, and it can consist of 35% fungi cells alone. Not very dead. See "Symplast" (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Synergistic - Infections that result in benefits to both parties are called mutualistic. When the benefits are greater than the sum of the parts, the association is called synergistic.
Synergy - Synergy is two people making a king-sized bed. Synergy means that the efficiency of any system will be increased as we add associates. 2+2=10. The tree and fungus met at the bar. The tree said they had to pay ten dollars a kilo for phosphorus. The fungus said they had to pay ten dollars a kilo for carbohydrate. A deal was born. The fungus sold trees phosphorus for a dollar a kilo in exchange for the tree selling them carbohydrate for a dollar a kilo. This is the true story of how mycorrhizae and synergy started.
System - A system is a highly ordered connection of parts and processes that have a predetermined end point - product, service. A system that repeats itself will never perish. No system or machine will start itself and continue to operate or function without a continuing supply of energy. A tree starts life from energy stored in a seed. Or a tree can start from a cutting that contained stored energy. As the tree system reaches a rest period, energy must be stored to fuel the beginning of new growth at a later period. NO ABSOLUTES NO PERPETUAL MOTION SYSTEM. The body parts were arguing about who is the greatest. One part said it would shut down until the argument was settled. Soon they realized that all were equally important for the system to function properly. Connections. There are limits to every system.
System And Process - A system is a collection of things, items, elements, processes, etc. that may or may not be related but they all serve to accomplish a predetermined goal or objective. The collection is characterized as a collective entity. A process is a series or sequence of things, items, elements, etc. that are all related to that which comes before and after them in the sequence, and the sequence or series does have a known result or end point. Trees and their many associates make up a natural system. The collective entity is the forest. A forest is much more than trees. On a number basis, trees are probably the least numerous organism in a forest. Yet, the tree, on a volume basis, is the organism that makes up most of the mass of a forest. (Or a healthy forest, i.e., the ecological stages) The objective of the forest as a giant natural system is to perpetuate itself, by perpetuating all the parts. The parts have changed over the hundreds of millions of years in the past, but the forest still remains, which attests to the high order of the system. Processes depend on order to perpetuate systems. When we take the tree out of the natural system, we must make certain that we provide the essentials for survival. Use more ecoart-nurse logs in landscapes.
System Care - Anybody can take a clock apart. Some can put it back together. The real feat is to have it run again.
System Management - The degree of management of any system is directly proportional to the degree of understanding of the system.
System Mechanics - System mechanics is a fancy way to say the way things work.
System Understanding - Some people know a lot about animal tails, but they don't know which tails goes with which animal.
T
Talk - Too many people talk too much about what they have not touched.
Talk about Trees - People who have never dissected trees should not be allowed to talk about trees.
Tanning / Defense - Simply put, the hydrogen bonds within the leaves are like a slinky held open by tooth picks. When tanning take places the tooth picks are removed and the slinky collapses. Now the enzymes (which are like keys) cannot get in, such as the case of the plight of the koalas. My point, when trees are threatened and or injured "THEY DO SOMETHING", they respond! More specific, when proteins are tanned by phenols, the molecules look like a collapsed slinky toy. Once collapsed, enzymes cannot get in to break down the molecules. Tanning is a chemical process of combining phenol-based substances with proteins, and the disruption of hydrogen bonds leaves the protein indigestible (See MODERN ARBORICULTURE, SHIGO, 1991) (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996 for starters.)
Tapping - Tapping holes are drilled into sugar maple trees late in the dormant period and the sap is collected and boiled to make maple syrup and maple sugar. Legend has it that the American Indians watched the squirrels tapping the trees and that is how the process started. Squirrels do bite into young maple and birch trees. The bite wounds are usually on the south or southwest side of the tree. The sun evaporates the sap and the squirrels return to eat the syrup. Sugar maple, Acer saccharum is the only tree tapped now for syrup. When a tree is 10 inches in diameter at 1.4 meters above ground, one tap hole is drilled into the tree. When the tree grows to 18 inches, 2 holes are drilled, and after 23 inches and above, 3 holes are drilled. The holes are usually about 1.5 centimeters in diameter and from 5 to 10 centimeters deep. A spile is pounded into the hole. The spile holds the bucket. In some modern operations, plastic tubing is connected to pipes forced into the tap holes. A vacuum is usually applied to keep the sap flowing. Further, pills of paraformaldehyde may be inserted into the tap holes. The pill blocks the plugging defense system, and the sap flows for a longer period. The paraformaldehyde kills the living contact parenchyma that surround the vessels. The contact parenchyma act as regulators for the vessel transport and the plugging of the vessels after injury and infection. The pill blocks the natural defense system and gives the advantage to pathogens that can spread rapidly and decay wood. The use of the pill does increase the amount of decay associated with tapping holes. If maple trees are tapped properly, they can be tapped for many years. Over tapping by mechanical tappers and the use of the paraformaldehyde pill have caused many sugar maple trees serious problems. Man too often wants too much too fast from nature. I understand such tree systems treated this way are dying from low pH precipitation? Note: Wood also as been removed from the sugar bush. They call it thinning. Then bags of so called fertilizer were applied to replace the functionality of the wood removed? What about water? What about calcium? What about system care? And, I do not mean, an old fashioned dentist.
Taxonomy - Taxonomy is the science of classifying organisms in established categories; giving organisms a name, a binomial, based on their characteristics. A binomial means two names, a genus and a species. Plant taxonomy, plant classifications, and plant systematics are often used to denote the arrangement and naming of plants. An attempt is made to place plants into their natural categories and to have names or taxons for the categories. There is a difference between naming plants so as to have some established order, whether natural order or not, so that all people will know what organism is meant when the name is used. Systematics or systematic classification, attempts to find the natural order or gradation of categories. In many cases when the natural order is understood, the result is a gradation and it is still necessary to determine where a line must be drawn to separate one group from another. As more information on the natural order is learned, the categories are expanded and more and more lines are drawn. This activity will never stop, and the taxonomist or systematic classificationist will never run out of work. The problem is that the names keep changing. There is no easy way out of this situation.
Teaching - Teachers teach what they have been taught. Teachers teach. They try to get the mental "engines" started. They stimulate you. To keep the "engines" going, students must be disciplined enough to keep adding more information to the mind. The adding process is motivation. Think of your car. The key connects the battery and starter. Once the engine turns over, it begins to run on gasoline. Teachers are batteries. Gasoline, or self -discipline, keeps the system going - motivation. Many highly intelligent people ran from high school biology and chemistry because of the ways they were taught. These people deserve another chance. Teaching is the most fulfilling and yet the most frustrating task in the world. To open a closed mind is the highest reward for a teacher. Product pushers come and go, teachers stay. To start a person thinking is the same as starting a jet airplane. Now they can both fly. Many people have a very thin line between stimulation and irritation. The real "trick" or aim of teaching is to see how close you can get to the line of stimulation without crossing it into the zone of irritation. Tolstoy said it best when he said that some people teach the same things so long that even when they are faced with overwhelming facts to the contrary, they will not change. If people do not know who you are before they get to the lecture, no amount of introduction will change their feelings for you. Students used to fail by misspelling photosynthesis, or forgetting the makeup of glucose. It was not teaching: It was boring memorization. Some people quit school because they really wanted to get out there and touch trees and learn. (See ARBORICULTURE IN THE 21st CENTURY, SHIGO, 1997) (See TREES EDUCATION AND PHILOSOPHY, SHIGO, 2000).
Teeth - Trying to grow trees in sick soils is the same as telling a person you have beautiful teeth but your gums must go.
Teleology - Giving purpose to actions that are beyond reason is called teleology. Teleology is a good teaching device so long as the principles of natural systems are understood. Teleology is trying to put purpose where there is no purpose. (See MODERN ARBORICULTURE, SHIGO, 1991 pg 259)
Temperature and Survival - Trees grow in some of the hottest regions of the world, where other survival factors, especially water, are proper for growth. Trees do not grow in regions of the world where temperatures are -40°C and F (both are the same at -40°) for long periods, usually for several weeks at that temperature or below. Trees developed in warm climates. More species of trees are in the forests of the equator, than in forests in the subtopics and temperate zones. Some trees have developed unique ways to live in parts of the world where temperatures far below freezing occur, but not where -40°C or F occur for long periods. How do trees do it? Details on how they do it are not well understood. Wood will freeze, but the water is in the spaces between the living cells, and this prevents the living cells from bursting. The tree may use avoidance tactics. The water may be bound with other substances. The cellular water may also be cleared of all microscopic particles that could act as nucleators. If water is pure hydrogen and oxygen without any impurities or foreign microscopic particles, and if the water is kept absolutely still, it will not freeze until -40°C or F. At -40°C or F, the water molecule becomes its own nucleator and sets off a rapid chain reaction. Bacteria or their coatings may act as nucleators and cause ice to form quickly over leaves, and protect the inner tissues from further, slightly colder temperatures. Plants that have no ways to respond to freezing temperatures die quickly when the water in the cells freezes and the cells burst. But, some "cold injury" is not caused by cold but by wounds (see cracks).
Temperature - At 40° below, Centigrade and Fahrenheit are the same.
Tension Wood - Reaction wood forms when trees lean. Compression wood forms on the lower side of the lean in conifers. Tension wood is what forms on the upper side of the lean in woody angiosperms. Tension wood is wood that is strengthened on the upper side of the lean or problem in hardwoods.
Termites - Termites usually eat in trees and live elsewhere. (Some tropical termites live in nests on trees.) Termites that eat wood in living trees follow the CODIT patterns. "In 1968 DR. SHIGO saw convincing experiments showing the effects of electromagnetic fields on communications among termites. To show the effects, Prof. Dr. Gunter Becker from Berlin said that you must first decrease the survival pressures on the termites." (TREE PITHY POINTS, SHIGO, 1999)
More on the topic: Termites are a primitive group of insects that are social and live in colonies or communities. They have flat, soft-bodies, sometimes without eyes. When wings form, they are of equal size and extend beyond the bodies. They have a caste system. Each group performs specific functions-workers, and termites are often called white ants. Ants have 3 different body segments, and termites have 2. Termites eat wood and usually live someplace else. Ants live in wood, and usually eat someplace else. (Nature is always described by words that avoid an absolute condition because that is the way the system is; always vibrating.) Termites do eat cellulose, but they can not digest it without the help of microorganisms in their gut. Single-celled protozoans are the primary organisms that break the bonds that turn cellulose into units of glucose, and from there, the termite can break the glucose bonds, release the energy, and give off carbon dioxide and water. Termites have few natural enemies. Birds eat them by the thousands when the termites are in flight. There are 2 basic types of termites; subterranean and nonsubterranean. Termites must live in an environment where moisture in the air is high. Subterranean termites will build long shelter tubes from their nests to the site where they are eating. Be on alert for the tubes on the bases of trees. In warm climate, termite tubes are common on trees. The termites follow the fungi. High alert here: poorly pruned branches often appear to close rapidly, yet the fungi and termites infect and infest the exposed wood rapidly. Broken tops and branches are prime starting points for termites in trees. Termites follow the fungi and therefore they "follow" the codit patterns; even after the tree is cut.
Thinking - Thinking is a mental process where experiences, old thoughts and ideas, facts and other stored information are connected in ways that result in some new thought or idea.
Throughfall - Throughfall - rain or dew that picks up elements as it falls through the canopy.
Three Tree Concept - Trees may be defined at 3 different levels: 1) Tree 1 is the young tree that is mostly branches, and branches on larger trees. 2) Tree 2 is the maturing and mature tree with a well-developed trunk and a crown of branches. Tree 2 is the tree we call a tree. 3) Tree 3 is the community tree in the forest that is connected by root grafts or by the mycorrhizal fungi. Tree 3 exists only in groups and all members of the group are the same species. Trees evolved or developed in groups in forests. Even if you do not accept the 3 tree concept, it is still important to understand that when we speak of a tree, we must indicate whether we mean the individual tree- Tree l or Tree 2- or the group tree- Tree 3, or the community. The separation is essential in understanding survival factors. For example, sex is not a survival factor for the individual, but it is for the group. Pathogens are harmful to the individual, but the group requires them because they eliminate the weaklings from the group. So we see that the same factor can be good, or bad depending on whether we are considering the individual or the group. I believe the picture becomes much clearer when we consider 3 trees. The young tree is mostly branches. Almost all the wood that is in the young tree is dynamic mass-wood with living cells. The ratio of dynamic mass to static mass-wood without living cells-begins to change as the tree grows older, and especially as the trunk becomes a more prominent feature or part of the plant. The branch, or Tree 1 must always provide energy for the tree parts that can not manufacture food- the maturing trunk and roots- and for itself. The energy flow is to the other parts before it goes to the branches, it begins to shed parts of itself to reduce its dynamic mass. Many pathogens attack Tree 1 as it becomes weaker. When the pathogens drain the remaining energy from Tree 1, or when Tree 1 ages rapidly as energy is decreased, the trunk and branch are separated by a boundary that forms at the base of Tree 1, at the base of the branch. As indicated, there are many diseases of Tree 1. There are only a few diseases of Tree 2 that can kill in relatively short time-Fire Blight, Dutch Elm Disease, Oak Wilt, Chestnut Blight, Phytopthora cinnamomi, White Pine Blister Rust, some root rots, and some other rust diseases. The numbers are still small compared to the pathogens that attack leaves, twigs, and branches- Tree 1. We are now beginning to see diseases of Tree 3 as forests are damaged repeatedly. In some tree species, especially tropical hardwoods and species of Eucalyptus, the Tree 1 and Tree 2 can be easily seen. Tree 1 reiterates Tree 2. The tree or Tree 2 appears as a framework that holds many trees - branches, or Tree 1 - that have a shape or architecture similar to the composite tree or Tree 2. Many Tree 3's have established obligatory relationships with specific root fungi, the mycorrhizae fungi. The tree is dependent on the fungi and the fungi are dependent on the tree. When one of the other departs from the relationship long enough, the normal relationship may be difficult to bring back to its original state. The fasted way to destroy an organism is to destroy its niche - the place where it lives and reproduces. The niche is altered by the presence of organisms in a manner that best suits the continued survival of the organisms.
Ticks, Mites and Spiders - Ticks, mites, and spiders are not insects. They are arachnids. They have eight legs.
Time and Survival - Life is a time game against other organisms and the ever changing environment. Some individuals of a group must survive long enough to produce. There are no natural processes or systems that remain absolute for very long periods. All natural processes and systems age and wane. Reproduction gives the system a new start. When the time between the beginning of life and reproduction is short, most individuals reproduce and a very wide or great gene pool is maintained. This is the case with bacteria and other microorganisms that have a reproductive cycle less than an hour. With some trees, the individual must be at least 40 years old before reproduction starts. Many individual trees do not survive the first few years, therefore, the pressures for survival of the group are intense. Once reproduction starts, energy must now be supplied to power the process. Energy for reproduction will be used before other growth processes are supplied, such as wood production. This is shown clearly in orchard trees. After they begin to bear fruit, wood growth decreases rapidly. Many fruit trees, such as apples, are alternate year bearers normally, but through genetics, trees that bear every year have been developed. This may be fine for the orchard person, but it may be difficult for the tree to maintain a high-bearing rate every year. As given above, in time all systems will fail. What we must do is to give the advantage to the tree so that a long high quality life is assured. There are no absolutes.
Tissue - A tissue is a group of cells, all of the same kind, and closely connected. (see "Ecosystem")
Tooth decay - Successions of microorganisms lead to tooth decay. Tooth decay is the most common human disease.
Touching - Touching means connecting. Learning biology is a touching situation.
Tracheids - Conifers have tracheids. Woody angiosperms have vessels. Tracheids are dead, single-celled transport "pipes" for liquids in xylem. Tracheids are found in Gymnosperms - plants that have naked or uncovered seeds such as conifers. Tracheids are enlarged parenchyma cells. (see "Plugging in Wall 1")
Transmitted - Pathogens are disseminated. Diseases are transmitted.
Transport - The movement of liquids and materials in solution from one place to another. There are 2 basic types of transport; passive and dynamic, and 2 basic directions; axial or longitudinal, and radial. Axial transport is mostly downward in phloem, and mostly upward in xylem or wood. Radial transport is mostly out- ward early in the growing season and mostly inward later. These are the basic themes, and the variations are numerous. In newly forming tissues that have not yet become woody, transport may go in either direction in the xylem and phloem. The photosynthate-sugars-are forming in the leaves-source-and moving to a place where they are used for energy or being convened to energy reserves-sink. Materials can move only if they are soluble. Water and essential elements from the soil move upward in the xylem-vessels, tracheids. There are several forces and factors acting in the upward transport: transpiration "pull" when leaves or needles are functioning, the capillary action of the vessels and tracheids, the force of cohesion of water in the capillaries, and root pressure. These are all passive because they do not involve living processes. Active or dynamic transport involves movement of materials from one living cell to another through membranes. Chemical changes and electrical charges on each side of the membrane are part of the forces and factors involved. Energy is required for dynamic transport. As cells use food for energy, carbon dioxide and water are produced. The pressure of carbon dioxide may also drive some of the transport system, and not only the dynamic, but add to the passive system. The 2 systems do relate to each other because the water and elements in the vessels and tracheids must get to the living cells. So the 2 systems are not isolated from each other. As substances are dissolved in tree liquids or sap, the osmotic pressure of the liquid increases. Liquids with a high osmotic pressure will not move against a gradient into a cell with a lower osmotic pressure. And, again there are exceptions to this where high amounts of energy are used. Phloem transport is still not understood clearly. The liquids with a high osmotic pressure move from leaves to roots. The pathway is not always in a downward direction because tree branches normally bend downward. So, the photosynthate must move in an upward direction first and then downward when it reaches the trunk. The materials move in the cells called sieve tubes, and companion cells surround the sieve tubes. Gravity is not the answer to the movement because the cells are so small and the osmotic pressure is so high. The materials must be actively "pumped" downward. In a sense, the cells "squeeze" the materials downward. The subject of transport in trees is one that always elicits controversy. We are aware of the many pitfalls on this subject and do not mean to make the subject appear simple. Yet, it does happen. Materials go up, and materials go down; and in and out. Most of the xylem transport takes place in the current growth ring, or the last few rings. Some trees have very large earlywood vessels -oaks, elm- and much smaller vessels later. Vessels do not become functional for transport until they lose their protoplasm and die, and after the end- walls between them break. Vessels do end. Vessels are made up of many smaller single-celled units that connect at their axial tips. Some vessels may be as long as a meter. Then, by pores or pits the vessel connects with another long vessel.
Traveling - Going Somewhere - To know where you are going you must first know where you are now and how you got there.
Treatment - When in doubt about a treatment, go slowly and lightly.
Treatment / Defense - Would you pay some doctor to reduce your defense system?
Treatment / Understanding - The degree of effective management of any system is directly proportional to the degree of correct understanding of the system. Trying to treat what you do not understand is the same as trying to start a Rolls Royce by hitting it with a sledgehammer.
Treatment / Dose - As trees age, treatments should change, especially dose of fertilizers and pruning.
Tree - A tree is a highly compartmented, perennial, woody, shedding plant that is usually tall, single-stemmed, and long-lived. A shrub is also a woody plant similar to a tree except it is usually several-stemmed and smaller than a tree. Some shrubs can grow for many years. A creosote bush in California is thought to be 12,000 years old. The bristle-cone pines are known to be several thousand years old. The Sequoias on the western coast of the United States are some of the most massive trees known. Some coastal redwood are over 340 feet tall. Eucalyptus regnans in south central Tasmania were probably as tall or even taller several decades ago. All but a few of the real giants exist today. Then there are the Ficus species or the banyan tree that sends down prop roots. On an area basis, these trees must rank at the top. One of the oldest known trees still with us is the Ginkgo biloba. It is classified in the Gymnosperms which puts it closer to conifers than to our hard- woods or angiosperms. It is the only tree that has swimming male spores. The world of trees is full of wonders. The tree theme is fairly constant, but the variations are almost endless. The ecological stages of a tree are community centers for unique groups of organisms. See "Trees".
Tree (young) - A young tree is a tree that has 90%-100% dynamic mass. See "Dynamic Mass".
Tree Age - As trees age, emphasis should go from health, to beauty, to safety.
Tree Anatomy - Tree Anatomy is the science of the parts and structures of the tree system. Tree anatomy is beautiful and majestic. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994)
Tree Associates - Trees and their associates are living systems that respond with defense mechanisms to threats against their survival. Trees provide their associates with food, water, shelter, home, nesting, and roosting sites. Here are some of the benefits the associates provide for trees: 1. Facilitate absorption of water and elements - fungi, (mycorrhizae). 2. Break down organic and inorganic materials - bacteria, fungi, insects, animals. 3. Aerate soils - worms, insects, fungi, animals. 4. Fertilize - droppings from worms, insects, and other animals . 5. Detoxify harmful substances - bacteria and fungi. 6. Help adjust pH - bacteria and fungi. 7. Convert nitrogen in air to a usable form (fix nitrogen) - bacteria and actinomycetes. 8. Protect roots against pathogens - bacteria, fungi, (mycorrhizae). 9. Hold water - actinomycetes, bacteria, (cell coatings). 10. Regulate slow-release fertilizers - bacteria. 11. Resist decay - anaerobic bacteria (wetwood), non-decay causing fungi (discolored wood). 12. Disseminate seeds - birds, animals, insects. 13. Pollinate flowers - insects, animals, especially birds and bats. 14. Facilitate branch shedding - decay-causing fungi. 15. Protection against wound infections by decay-causing fungi - bacteria, non-decay-causing fungi. Less than 1% of the fungi and bacteria are harmful to the tree system.
Tree Biology - Tree Biology is the science that brings together anatomy, physiology, genetics, evolution, ecology, and all other disciplines that focus on the life of a tree as a system and how death brings healthier life. Ignorance of tree biology has been, and still is, the major cause of tree problems worldwide. The Mississippi Valley Laboratory in St. Louis was established in 1899. Dr. Herman von Schrenk was the director. Studies on wood decay and discoloration were done mostly. In time, the studies drifted toward wood products. In 1907 the lab was discontinued and the Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin took over. The major focus of the lab was on wood products decay. Tree biology never had a chance. The people who say they do not need tree biology to do their job have a very strong case. One product kills all tree insects. Another product kills all disease-causing pathogens. What would you think of a doctor who had two treatments? How much would you pay the doctor? How about clearcutting and removing most of the wood from the once fertile forest using several different names? Would it not be wonderful if we had a tree biology champion as well as a climbing champion? In spite of abiotic destructive forces and biotic agents such as insects, bacteria, and fungi, humans still rank as the major destructive agent for trees in forests and cities. Ignorance of tree biology is a major cause of this.
Tree Care / Business - Some people get the tree business and the business of trees confused. Knowing chemistry will do little for the way tree care is practiced today. As the science of tree care develops, chemistry will become more important.
Tree Decay - Tree decay is a process that starts after wounding and involves the tree, pathogens, and environment, as highly ordered wood becomes disordered. The tree is an organism that exerts a survival pressure after wounding. Decay is a process where order goes to disorder. Energy is required to maintain order. Energy comes from the sun. The energy for defense comes from stored reserves in living cells. Tree defense is a dynamic process. Tree decay is also a dynamic process. Tree decay has been confused with wood decomposition. Decay was studied in the laboratory using heartwood. Heartwood was considered a dead, non-reactive tissue in trees. If it was dead in trees, it could not change to a different degree of "deadness" in the laboratory. And, the heartrot concept defined heartrot as decay of the heartwood. So, heartwood in the tree and heartwood in the laboratory were considered the same. No provisions were made for discolored heartwood, or wood that was not heartwood, but the color of the wood was such that the wood was called heartwood. The results from the laboratory were extrapolated to the tree. This was the moment of "original sin" in tree biology. True, at the molecular level, the decay process in dead wood in the laboratory is the same as dead wood in a tree. However, in a tree, wood does not pass from living to dead in one short moment. A long series of interactions between tree and microorganisms takes place. This part of the story was completely lacking from the view given by the heartrot concept. Early workers gave an excellent and accurate description of wood decomposition, but they did not give a description of tree decay. The tree and all the dynamic processes were lacking from the heartrot, wood decomposition view. Add to this the belief that only wood-inhabiting decay-causing fungi were involved in the process, and the confusion mounts higher. Many microorganisms are involved in the tree decay process. Hymenomycetes are important, but so are the bacteria and nondecay-causing fungi. The expanded concept of tree decay includes the living tree and its many survival tactics, and the many tree pathogens and their survival tactics, and the constant affects of the changing environment. Tree decay is one of the most complex subjects in nature, especially when we consider the 3 tree concept, and the tree as a "community center."
Tree Growth - Trees grow as their meristems form cells that differentiate and divide to be all the tissues and organs in a tree. Trees grow as their meristems - apical, vascular - produce cells that form all parts of the tree. Are parts of the tree are born alive.
Tree Health - A healthy mature tree may have a thousand or more infections.
Tree Medicines / Humans - Trees produce many substances humans use for medicines. Some tree substances that contain nitrogen as a base are called alkaloids.
Tree Planting - Anyone can put a tree in the ground. A few people know how to plant a tree correctly. Caring for a tree after it is planted is a long-term project not so different from education. Would it not be wonderful if all the people who get their pictures taken planting a tree were made responsible for the care of the tree? Having lots of trees is different from having lots of high quality trees. (See "Audubon, Ted Williams, May, 1991 Don't Worry Plant A Tree")
Tree Quality - Having lots of trees is different from having lots of high quality trees.
Tree Response - Trees and their associates are living systems that respond with defense mechanisms to threats against their survival.
Tree System Food - You can feed the tree system, but not trees. Composted wood and leaves are tree system food.
Tree System Theme - The theme of the tree system is perfect. We see only the variations which have many imperfections.
Tree Systems - Tree systems are intelligent. The messages in the DNA have "made" the best decisions for a long, high-quality life. Intelligent in the sense of having the ability to connect and use genetic information in ways that ensure continuous high-quality survival of all the connected members of the system. Tree systems are like families. Families are made in ways that the members are connected in such highly ordered ways that high quality survival is ensured for all.
Tree Wood Cells - Cells are the basic unit of life. Many processes and parts of human cells are not so different from those in trees. Yet, animal cells have thin boundaries. Tree wood cells have thick, tough boundaries or walls. Animal tissue will not support itself. Animals require skin and bones to keep cells in place. Every splinter of wood is self supporting. Cell walls of wood are made of cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses. Thin boundaries of animal cells allow them to move. Animals move away from agents and situations that threaten their survival. Trees cannot move. Trees grow where they find themselves, adapt or die. Trees planted incorrectly are sentences to an early death.
Tree Wound Treatments - When a tree is wounded, you should not treat only the wound but the entire tree. Would you accept a treatment that gave you white teeth, but rotted your gums? We need to care for the soil. (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996) (See TROUBLES IN THE RHIZOSPHERE, SHIGO, 1996)
Tree Wound Scribing - Scribing is a treatment to a wound, that when done correctly, can enhance closure of the wound and can reduce long term damage to the tree. When a tree receives a wound to the trunk, such as by an auto, the target of wound scribing is removing loose inner and outer bark and shaping the wound in an eclipse. The goal is not to increase the size of the wound and not to scribe beyond the cambium zone. Scribing is best done with a large half moon chisel. Pointed sharp edges do not facilitate good closure. Timing is important. If the wound occurs during the growing season, then one would wait until after the growing season has ended, not scribing, but just removing loose inner an outer bark, not to increase wound size on penetrate the wood. Scribing is done when wounds occur during the non-growing season. DO NOT USE WOUND DRESSINGS! When a tree is wounded, you should not treat only the wound but the entire tree. Would you accept a treatment that gave you white teeth, but rotted your gums? We need to care for the soil. For instructions on wound scribing see MODERN ARBORICULTURE, SHIGO, 1991. See "Vandalism". (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996) (See TROUBLES IN THE RHIZOSPHERE, SHIGO, 1996).
Tree Wrap - Trunk wrap on young trees prevents the green cortex from photosynthesizing. There are no data to show that trunk wraps prevent "frost" cracks or "sun" scald. (See TREE PITHY POINTS, SHIGO, 1999, pg 151)
Trees - First, I need to put some building blocks together to clearly define this term. People who say trees are just big plants should consider that you cannot fall out of a tomato plant, nor could one fall and kill a person! Basically speaking, trees are plants that are "perennial" - live for live for several to many years (symplast). Woody - have tough cell walls of wood. Shedding - use and shed woody and non-woody parts. Compartmented - made up of many compartments. Trees usually have a single stem over threes meters tall. Now we will work our way to the beauty of the ecological stages of trees. Tree Biology is the science that brings together anatomy, physiology, genetics, evolution, ecology, and all other disciplines that focus on the life of a tree system (redundant, the tree is a system) and how death brings healthier life. Here are some of the unique features of trees from germination of the seed to the substrate and residual material left to enhance the soil. A young tree is a tree that has 90%-100% dynamic mass. The theme of the tree system is perfect. We see only the variations, which have many imperfections. Trees are the most massive, longest living, and tallest organisms ever to grow on earth. Trees are big batteries. Trees not only provide beauty and shade, but they trap more of the sun's energy than any other organism, and pass it along to many communities of associates, including humans. Trees continue to support their soil associates by supplying a rich source of carbon and other essential elements as they drop leaves, twigs, branches, and finally give their trunks and woody roots. Trees respond rapidly when hit. Trees have many associates - friends. Trees do not live beyond their means. Trees don't read textbooks. Trees never knew stumps until axes and saws came. Trees are the most giving and forgiving organisms on earth. Trees go through ecological stages. Each stage contributing to unique groups of organisms, including trees and soil. Through the connections made throughout the ecological stages, a system exist known as a forest. Trees of a field also serve unique contributions to system health throughout their ecological stages, with no waste. Can be phrased as, the functionality of the ecological stages of trees. Trees were here before people! Trees are superior survival organisms. They live longer, grow taller and become more massive than any organism ever to inhabit earth. The functionality, of the ecological stages of trees deserves credit for their contribution to this unique feature of trees. Trees do demand some respect. This means trees have dignity. Trees and people are about 98% by weight carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus. Trees are mostly carbohydrates - cellulose. Humans are mostly proteins.
Trees / Animal - Trees are generating systems. Animals are regenerating systems. A child once asked how a tree goes to the bathroom. Not an easy answer. Trees turn most of their products into substances that benefit the tree, such as extractives, crystals, and protection compounds. Trees have indoor plumbing. Living cells have vacuoles that collect products of metabolism. Animal cells do not have vacuoles.
Trees / Bathroom - A child once asked how a tree goes to the bathroom. Not an easy answer. Trees turn most of their products into substances that benefit the tree, such as extractives, crystals, and protection compounds. Trees have indoor plumbing. Living cells have vacuoles that collect products of metabolism. Animal cells do not have vacuoles.
Trees / Cash flow - Trees spend their money five ways: growth, maintenance, exudates, reproduction, and storage for defense. Remember, You can have a full gas tank, but if your battery is dead, you will not start. Trees store their money in the symplast. As the symplast decreases, so does storage space. As Storage of energy reserves decrease, so does the defense potential. Pathogens seem to know this very well. You can cut a Christmas tree in December. In April it can be green and look like it maintains a healthy symplast. But, it (symplast) will have a serious problem. Insects and fungi "seem to know" when the curve is only downward.
Trees / City - Many of the tree species that do well in cities got their genetic codes while growing in wet soils: ash, plane trees, red maples.
Trees / Coal Fields - Trees that made coal fields had spores, very little lignin, and usually a single meristem.
Trees / Enemy - The first settlers to America called trees their major enemy. It is time for forgiveness.
Trees / Humans - We are more dependent on trees than trees are on us.
Trees / Humans – Doctors - All large organisms in a doctor's waiting room will be the same genus and species - Homo sapiens. Tree people must deal with many genera of trees.
Trees / Growing - Trying to grow trees in sick soils is the same as telling a person you have beautiful teeth but your gums must go.
Trees / Man - I have seen the best man could make for you and me. Then I went into the forest and touched a tree.
Trees / Modern - Modern trees have multiple growing points in the form of branches, lots of lignin in cell walls, and seeds.
Trees / Movement - Trees do not move from place to place, but they are constantly moving in place.
Trees / People - Trees and people are about 98% by weight carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus. Trees are mostly carbohydrates - cellulose. Humans are mostly proteins.
Trichoderma - Trichoderma is a genus of fungi in the Fungi Imperfecti, that has species known to be effective agents for biological control. Species of Trichoderma are common in soil, and in columns of discolored and decayed wood in trees with and without a symplast. Trichoderma species do not breakdown wood, they are not the common wood-decay fungi. Some species may slowly erode cellulose under optimum conditions. Trichoderma species are antagonistic to other soil fungi that are plant pathogens Rhizoctonia, Pythium, and other fungi that kill seedlings, the damping-off fungi. Trichiderma harzianum and T. viride are known to decrease the activity of decay- causing fungi in living trees. The experimentally inflicted wounds were inoculated with fresh cultures of T. harzianum along with glycerol. There was less decayed wood associated with treated wounds than controls for 2 years. After 2 years, the decay- causing fungi began to cause more decay. When Trichoderma was inoculated in the winter, there was no beneficial effect over the control. When spores were added to wounds, the spores did not germinate. The fungus grew into the wood slowly. Trichoderma harzianum was highly tolerant to phenol-based substances in wood. Species of Trichoderma are usually contact mycoparasites; they must contact their hosts. There are no data to show that they have an effect on other fungi at a distance.
Tropical Trees - Some tropical trees have bands of phloem-like tissues within the xylem. Wounds are compartmentalized in tropical trees including palms.
Trunk Flare - Trunk Flare is the flare at the base of the trunk. Often mistaken as woody root and mistakenly called root flare. I have been dissecting trees for ten years and have not found a root flare yet. Trees have truck flares, but, I know of no roots having flares. Why is this important? It could save your life. Especially, if you are a climber. There are certain fungi that discriminate between woody root tissue and woody stem tissue. Thus the tree may have trunk flare but no woody roots.
Trunk Wrap - Trunk wrap on young trees prevents the green cortex from photosynthesizing. There are no data to show that trunk wraps prevent "frost" cracks or "sun" scald. (See TREE PITHY POINTS, SHIGO, 1999 pg 151)
Truth - Truth is momentary perfect order. Why is truth, so often, controversial, while myth is so acceptable?
Twigs - Chlorophyll is usually abundant in the cortex, pith, or other living tissues in young twigs.
Two Books - "God wrote two books, the scriptures and nature," said Galileo. To read nature you must connect with it; touch it.
Tyloses - Tyloses are structures produced by the living axial parenchyma that plug the vessels. Once formed the tyloses stay in place. Trees plug vessels in at least seven different ways. Tyloses is one of the ways some ring porous trees plug vessels. See "Plugging in Wall 1".
U
Ulcers - Helicobacter pylori, not stress, causes ulcers. Once we know the cause, the cure is easy.
Understanding - Understanding makes the complex simple. Any person can say, "I do not understand." It takes a very brave person to say, "Please help me to understand."
Unique - Unique needs no modifier.
Unloading / Loading - Load and unload are good descriptive terms that help to explain forces going inward, loading -and forces moving outward, unloading.
Unloading - Loading Anions - For an anion to move into a non-wood root, an anion must exude from the root. The most common anion going in is nitrate and the most common anion going out is bicarbonate, and to a lesser amount, hydroxyl.
Urea - Urea was made in the laboratory by Franz Wholer in 1828. This rocked the church.
Utility Pruning - The words "Line Clearing" must go! They have a very negative meaning, where lines are cleared at the expense of the trees. "Pruning near lines" or "utility pruning" should be the words.
V
V A Mycorrhizae - Some endomycorrhizae form vesicles and other types of structures in the non-woody root cells. These mycorrhizae are called vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae or V A mycorrhizae. The roots infected by the V A fungi appear similar to normal, non-infected non-woody roots. To see the fungi, sections must be stained and examined under the microscope.
Vacuoles - A child once asked how a tree goes to the bathroom. Not an easy answer. Trees turn most of their products into substances that benefit the tree, such as extractives, crystals, and protection compounds. Trees have indoor plumbing. Living cells have vacuoles that collect products of metabolism. Animal cells do not have vacuoles.
Van der Waals Forces In Chemistry - No matter how big your house is, a good party will end with people crowded in the kitchen. This explains Van der Waals forces in chemistry. Atoms, as people, just like to cluster if they have the chance.
Vandalism - The vandal will never go away, and no amount of punishment will deter them. There are 2 ways that we may be able to reduce tree injuries caused by vandals: 1) Do not plant trees with large lower branches near walkways; 2) use proper protection for trees. Vandals often delight in tearing branches from young trees. Where a known high risk vandal area exists, it is better not to plant the tree. Again, the answer may be larger trees. There is still another part to this story. It involves the person who is not a vandal, but still causes injury to trees. The person who thinks that a nice piece of birch bark cut from about the trunk really won't hurt the tree. Or the people who believe, removing wood from a forest or field, will increase the health of the system. Or, the nails and screws in the young tree to hold the dog rope won't hurt the tree. The list is a long one. The answer to this problem is education; an awareness program. It is our responsibility to let people know that trees can only take so much abuse before they die, i.e., in forest, fields and cites. Soil is important. Back to the vandal. The vandal may attempt to kill beautiful trees by girdling them-cutting the bark away completely about the trunk. I have seen this. Many times the vandal will not girdle the tree completely. If you can get to such an injured tree soon enough, the mossing and plastic technique may save the tree. Put wet moss all about the wound, and wrap the entire wound area with black plastic. Make certain that the tree receives proper amounts of water. Do not fertilize the injured tree. After at least 4 to 6 months, carefully remove the plastic and check the wound. If all has gone well, there will be bridges of cambium, or even new bark over portions of the wound. This method works best in the warmer the region. On subtropical trees it works very well. The mossing and plastic technique can also be used where rodents have gnawed the base of trees. On very valuable trees, bridge grafts may be possible. The mossing and plastic should still be done to help the tree while the grafts are being done. And, there is still one more type of vandal; the very center of Dante's rings. The vandal that injures trees for profit. The person who knows that the treatments are causing more harm than benefit, e.g., USFS "Painter Run Windthrow Salvage Project." They are out there! Note: "Chainsaw Control" rather than "gun control" needs to be considered.
Vandals - Vandals destroy without seeking payment. What do you call a person who destroys trees and still wants payment for doing it ? United States Forest Service?
Vertical Transport System - See "Vessels", "Tracheids", "Plugging in Wall 1".
Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizae - Some endomycorrhizae form vesicles and other types of structures in the non-woody root cells. These mycorrhizae are called vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae or V A mycorrhizae. The roots infected by the V A fungi appear similar to normal, non-infected, non-woody roots. To see the fungi, sections must be stained and examined under the microscope.
Vessel Plugging - Tyloses are structures produced by the living axial parenchyma that plug the vessels. Once formed the tyloses stay in place. (See "Plugging in Wall 1")
Vessels - Conifers have tracheids. Woody angiosperms have vessels. Vessels are enlarged parenchyma cells. Vessels are vertically aligned tubes or "pipes" made up of many dead cells that transport liquids in xylem. Vessels are found in Angiosperms - plants that have covered seeds such as oaks and maples. Vessels begin as single living cells that join at their top and bottom to form a short conduit. Other vessel conduits connect from the sides to form a transport pathway from root tips to leaf tips. The newly formed vessels do not become functional until the end walls or septa between the vessel cells rupture. Vessels curve and join with other vessels as seen in a longitudinal view. Vessels do end. Live oaks have vessel patterns that are similar to those in latewood of other oaks. Live oaks have very broad rays. Ring porous, diffuse porous and simi-diffuse porous trees have vessels.
Vessels / Tracheids - Conifers have tracheids. Woody angiosperms have vessels.
Vibrations - Natural systems vibrate constantly. It is as if there is a constant attempt to settle at some imaginary middle line, but every effort to meet that line is always met with an over extension on one hand, and on an effort to regain middle, again the effort goes over the line. So long as the concentrations and other changes do not extend too far above or below that line, life continues. How fast the vibration continues also assures survival. As motion decreases, the peaks above and below the line increase. Reactions alone are not enough, but how fast the reactions occur. This is well known with the wound response. Most trees have the capacity to respond to wounds. But, if the response is so slow that pathogens can spread rapidly, the tree will die. Pathogens vibrate in their survival mode just as trees do. Shedding is another way trees survive as mass vibrates. Too much dynamic mass could cause problems as energy to maintain the mass increases. Shedding also reduces the amount of leaves present to supply energy. Pathogens also add to the vibrations. The pathogens keep the weak parts at a minimum. But, if too many tree parts are killed, the entire tree dies.
Viewing - When you are too close to some wall paper designs, all looks disordered. When you go far back, the same disorder appears. When you find the best viewing distance, the repeats are seen, and they are orderly. Our perception of material order depends on our vantage point.
Vigor - Vigor is the capacity to resist strain; a genetic factor, a potential force against any threats to survive. We can not change this. Vigor is the capacity to survive when threatened. Vigor is the capacity to resist strain. Another story - Vigor is the genetic capacity of an organism to resist strain. Vitality is the ability of an organism to grow under the conditions in which it finds itself. Capacity is the potential; what an organism has. Ability is the dynamic; what an organism does with what it has. Vigor can be measured by applying a known stimulus, and then measuring the response. You do not know how vigorous an organism is until you apply a stimulus that threatens its survival. Vigor is the capacity to survive under increasing stimulae that threaten survival. Vigor can not be increased, it is part of the genetic program. Trees that compartmentalize more effectively than others are more vigorous than those that compartmentalize poorly. When some abiotic agent stresses trees, the trees that stay alive are those that are more vigorous. Vitality is another subject. Vitality means to grow, to reproduce, to adapt to the surroundings. Vitality is a dynamic condition. A tree could be very low in vigor, yet high in vitality, and the converse could also occur. Much can be done to increase vitality of a tree; "proper" fertilization (See "Fertilizers"), soil aeration, "properly" watering. And, again, it is not so important to argue over words, as it is to know that there are 2 different processes involved here, and they do overlap. However, if we want more vigor, we go to genetics; if we want more vitality, we go to improved cultural practices.
Vines - Vines may cause several types of problems for trees and tree owners. The vines may twist about young stems and kill them. The vines, especially at the base of large trees, make conditions perfect for fungus fruit bodies. Always check under vines for fruit bodies that indicate root and butt decay. Vines may grow over tree crowns and shade the leaves of the tree. The weight of the vines could cause weak branches to break. Vines at the base of trees make suitable places for small animals to live. Rats often live in the thick vines and ivy at the base of trees. Another point about vines for the homeowner; the vines may cause high moisture as they grow on or near houses, especially wood houses. Fungi that cause rot may grow rapidly under such conditions. Ants, or termites may also become involved. If you want vines near your house, keep a close check for these problems. I have learned, many vines, even poison ivy, are a food source for wildlife such as birds.
Violin Woods - Violin making has always been more mystery than science. The master violin maker was always a master who knew the secrets of the perfect instrument. Art or skill in craftsmanship has always been a major part of violin (the family of instruments) making. Even today, most violin makers resist the pressures of science. Some makers do not, and progress is being made. There are those that want to know what science can do to help them make a more consistently fine instrument. Today, violins have been made of spruce for the tops and maple for the bottom and sides. Spruce is a wood that has an even pattern of cell types within each growth ring and from growth ring to growth ring little changes occur in cell types and arrangements. Spruce is an "even celled" wood. Maple has the same characteristics, except maple is a wood that has a higher specific gravity than spruce. Maple is a tough wood. The maple portions of the violin act as the body, and the spruce top acts as the reed. Spruce is a wood that does not have a colored aged wood, just as maple does not. The sapwood of spruce has tracheids with open bordered pits. As the wood ages, the pits asperate or close. I believe that wood with many opened pits will produce a better sound. The old masters usually received their wood after it had been floated down a river. It is possible that bacteria may have digested the cellulose strands that close the pits. Bacteria do digest the materials that block pits when logs are ponded. It is also possible that the trees used by the old masters were different in the width of sapwood present. Trees with living low branches will maintain a wider band of sapwood than trees with few lower, the wood in the trunk that is connected to the branch also begins to die. As dying takes place, and the same patterns can be determined. Small pieces of wood can be cut from dried billets to make the tests. Maple is a wood that resists splitting. Care must be taken when selecting maple so that no barrier zones are in the wood. Too often, the wound and obvious barrier zone is cut out of the log or board and the billet for an instrument is cut directly below the defect. Only a sharp eye will then see the barrier zone. There is now some concern over the species of wood used for tops by the old masters. The wood may not have been spruce, but cypress instead. In some cases the cypress was "smoked" with fumes of alkali to treat the wood for a better sound. Much of the art of violin building has centered about the varnish and the construction process. The wood has always been a part of the mystery. And, today the same can be said about the lack of understanding of the construction material-wood. Until violin builders begin to learn more about the wood they use, the mystery and magic will remain. But, maybe that is the way most want it!
Violins - Wood was a living material before it became a violin. Wood characteristics start in the living tree. Bacterial erosion of the pits in spruce is the secret of Stradivarius violins. Stradivarius probably did not understand why, but he did use floated spruce that had bacterial erosion of pits for the bellies of his best violins. The environment in which a tree grows, i.e., where the cells are born, the condition of that environment will determining the effects of the birth and life spans of those cells as well as determine the sound that the violin, which is made, from the latter, will produce.
Viruses - Submicroscopic bodies or entities that are infectious, potentially pathogenic, devoid of enzymes, and made up of nucleic acid and protein. Viruses can be crystalized. To be active, the virus must enter a cell through an injury that does not kill the cell. The genetic material or the nucleic acid portion enters the plant cell and in a sense, the virus takes over the cell and more virus entities are produced. Viruses not only can cause plant diseases but they also can infect bacteria and cause bacterial diseases. Viruses are spread by nematodes, fungi, birds, animals, and insects. The insects that have sucking mouth parts are the major vectors- leafhoppers, thrips, aphids . Viruses are common in trees. They are known to cause problems in orchard trees, especially species of Prunus. In English walnut, they are associated with a grafting problem called black line. In forest trees and amenity trees, viruses cause some leaf problems. In pecan, a disease called pecan bunch is associated with viruses. Other tree species have a similar type of problem and they are called witch's brooms. Some of the yellows type diseases that were first thought to be caused by viruses were later shown to be caused by other pathogens called mycoplasmas. The point here is to be aware of the many microscopic and submicroscopic bodies that can cause tree problems.
Vitality - Vitality is the ability to grow under the conditions you find yourself. Vitality is the ability to grow under the present conditions; dynamic action. We can increase or decrease vitality. We decrease flora and fauna vitality by removing CWD. We increase flora and fauna vitality by leaving the wood in the forest or field as a snag or with soil contact. The vigor of the flora and fauna is suited for non-removal of wood. We do not change this vigor by cutting out more trees. We only reduce vitality over time. I do not make the rules, I like to believe I know who does, but that's the way it is. Do not believe it because I said it, believe it because you see it for yourself. Yes? (See "vigor", "wood", "ability")
Another story on the same subject - Vigor is the genetic capacity of an organism to resist strain. Vitality is the ability of an organism to grow under the conditions in which it finds itself. Capacity is the potential; what an organism has. Ability is the dynamic; what an organism does with what it has. Vigor can be measured by applying a known stimulus, and then measuring the response. You do not know how vigorous an organism is until you apply a stimulus that threatens its survival. Vigor is the capacity to survive under increasing stimulae that threaten survival. Vigor can not be increased, it is part of the genetic program. Trees that compartmentalize more effectively than others are more vigorous than those that compartmentalize poorly. When some abiotic agent stresses trees, the trees that stay alive are those that are more vigorous. Vitality is another subject. Vitality means to grow, to reproduce, to adapt to the surroundings. Vitality is a dynamic condition. A tree could be very low in vigor, yet high in vitality, and the converse could also occur. Much can be done to increase vitality of a tree; fertilization, soil aeration, watering. And, again, it is not so important to argue over words, as it is to know that there are 2 different processes involved here, and they do overlap. However, if we want more vigor, we go to genetics; if we want more vitality, we go to improved cultural practices. The bottom line, we can bring back organic material –leaves, composted wood chips and logs (CWD) and apply them properly, to increase the vitality of the trees, but, the vigor remains the same, we do not change that.
W
Wages - Remember: Recipes, Robots, Reduced Wages.
Waste - Waste is a human word for the product of inefficient management.
Water - Water is a substance in which two hydrogen atoms bond in a unique way to one oxygen atom, hence, H2O. The unique bonding is so spectacular that water takes on fascinating characteristics. Water molecules "stick" to other water molecules because of hydrogen bonds. This cohesive characteristic of water makes it possible for it to be held within the transport stream. The way the connections are made is one of the wonders of this world. It is the only substance on earth that occurs naturally as a liquid, gas or solid. All water on earth originally came from rocks. As the extremely hot young earth began to cool, gases such as oxygen and hydrogen escaped from rocks. They collected above the earth, and as some oxygen and hydrogen bonded, the rains came. Water is one of the most essential substances for trees and for all living things. To understand the design of water is to recognize the existence of a designer. Water can act as an acid or base in chemical reactions. Is water good or bad? Too much will kill you and you will die when you don't get enough. Dose is the thing. Make a horse thirsty. You could then put the water anywhere and it will be found. Did you hear about the people who wanted to ban dihydrogen oxide because they were told it caused many problems? Alas, they wanted to ban water! (See WATER AND TREES, SHIGO, 2001)
Water / Bound (Bound Water) - Free water flows, bound water does not. Bound water is water bonded to the hydroxyls on cellulose by hydrogen bonds. (See "Free Water "and "Bound Water") (See WATER AND TREES, SHIGO, 2001)
Water / Chemical Reactions - Water can act as an acid or base in chemical reactions.
Water / Cold - Carbon dioxide is more soluble in cold water. (See WATER AND TREES, SHIGO, 2001)
Water / Free (Free Water) - Free water flows, bound water does not. (See "Free Water" and "Bound Water") (See WATER AND TREES, SHIGO, 2001)
Water And Decay - Water concentrations must be proper for the decay process to develop. Microorganisms cause decayed wood, not water. Portions of the old theory of spontaneous generation are still with us. People still think that water causes wood to rot. The organisms that do cause rot have very exacting requirements for water. If the amount of water in the wood is too high or too low, the organisms will not grow and rot the wood. The decay-causing organisms are obligatory aerobes, which means they must have free oxygen for their growth. When a cavity fills with water, growth of decay-causing organisms stops. When moisture concentration decreases to a point below the fiber saturation point of wood, growth of most decay- causing organisms stops. There are always exceptions to nature's rules. But, for the most part, most decay-causing organisms grow best where the moisture content of the wood is high, but where there is still free oxygen. It takes a relatively long period to reach such a point where the wood begins to separate and oxygen and moisture are available for the organisms. But, once the point is reached, the decay can spread rapidly. Water is also required for the so-called dry rot. The organisms that cause dry rot alter the wood in such a way that moisture accumulates in it. Then the fungi use the water as they grow into new wood surrounding the wet spot. When the moisture is gone, the growth of the fungi stop. But, now a greater volume of altered wood is ready to accept more water for the next period of growth. The concentration of water in wetwood is not the only factor that holds back the growth of decay-causing fungi. Wetwood has a very low amount of free oxygen and a very high pH which are factors that hold back growth of decay-causing fungi.
Water in Wood - Water forms a continuum throughout the sapwood. The cell walls of wood in sapwood are saturated with water. A term fiber saturation point is used to denote the amount of water in the cell walls of sapwood. There are at least 5 ways to measure the fiber saturation point (FSP). The FSP is defined as that point of moisture concentration in cell walls that when reduced, physical changes occur. It is not so simple to say that FSP is that moisture concentration when the cell walls can no longer hold water. The FSP of wood is measured as that point where physical changes occur when the cell wall moisture drops below that point; 27% ± 3% depending on the method of measurement. Moisture concentration is measured on a volume weight basis in trees. For example if a cube of wood 2 centimeters on each side were cut from a tree and weighed and oven dried until all water was driven off, and weighed again the dry weight of wood over the weight of the water x 100, equals the percent moisture while volume remains constant. If the block weighed 100 grams wet and 50 grams was wood so the wood had a 100% moisture concentration. It is possible for wood to have a 200% or even 300% moisture concentration. What this means is that while volume is constant, the weight of water may be twice or three times the weight of the wood. In sapwood of most trees the moisture content is about 60 to 80%. The moisture changes greatly when we consider some heartwoods and discolored and decayed wood. In heartwood, or false heartwood, the moisture contents may be below the fiber saturation point. In discolored and decayed wood the moisture concentration may be very high; over 200 and 300%.
Water Shed - A water shed is all the land surrounding a stream or a river that drains into that stream or river. In other words, when rain falls in your yard, into which stream will that water eventually flow? You are the water shed for that stream.
Waterlogged – Soils - In waterlogged soils where oxygen is low or lacking, iron and manganese become the electron acceptors. This leads to the precipitation of iron and manganese and the tree does not get any of these elements.
Waves - As trees age, emphasis should go from health, to beauty, to safety. The first wave on a property should be for safety, the second for health and the third wave for beauty.
Weak Structurally / Hazard Tree - If a tree is weak structurally, but does not pose a hazard because of a lack of target, remember wildlife use such trees for shelter, nesting, and roosting. A community center.
Weed Tree - What is a weed tree? Maybe Black Cherry. You do everything you can to cause disruption to the system and these dang things keep growing?
Wetwood - Wetwood is wood infected by anaerobic bacteria mostly. The infected wood is altered in ways that disrupt membranes, high pH, and low amounts of free oxygen as micro spaces are filled with water and leakage of substances leads to high concentrations of elements. These alterations create a niche. Wetwood is a type of protection wood similar to discolored wood in early stages, except that the infecting microorganisms are usually anaerobic bacteria. They also infect wounds, branch stubs and root stubs. The bacteria so alter the wood -high pH, high moisture, low oxygen -that infection by decay-causing fungi is stalled. Spider heart is a common feature in forest trees, especially white oaks. As the first crack forms, other cracks form that equalize the loading. Rarely will there be only one major crack or seam in a forest tree. Wetwood lubricates the cracks.
Another story on wetwood: WETWOOD - Wood altered to a higher state of protection against mechanical disruption or decay by pathogens that make the wood so high in moisture pH and microelements that decay-causing pathogens are not able to infect. A disease of wood caused mostly by bacteria that are facultative for free oxygen. The wetwood- causing pathogens alter in some way the permeability of the wood cell walls. The moisture content of the wood may increase. Yet in some trees the moisture content of infected wood is no higher than healthy sapwood. But the wood that is infected should normally be much lower in moisture content than healthy sapwood. For example, if healthy sapwood has a normal moisture content of 90% -weight of water to weight of dried wood- and normal aged wood has a moisture content of 30% then infected aged wood that has a moisture content of 90% is the same as healthy sapwood, but three fold higher than normal aged wood. The infected wood would also have a high pH and a high concentration of microelements. Which means the wood would have a very low resistance to an electric current. Wetwood is easily detected by the Shigometer because the wood does have a very low electrical resistance. It is very important to understand that wetwood is a protection "trade off" for the tree. In a sense, it is better for the tree to have an infection that causes a small amount of injury than to have the wood cells attacked by pathogens that could rapidly cause decay and mechanical disruption and death by breakage. When wetwood dries, decay-causing fungi attack rapidly. Some trees such as species in the genera Ulmus, Populus, and Betula, have developed along with the wetwood organisms to the mutual survival benefit of both tree and organisms. The wetwood organisms can exist as anaerobics-live with little or no free oxygen. They often produce methane, which is a colorless, odorless gas. The gas may force wetwood-formed liquids out of the tree trunk, and the fluids may flow down the trunk killing many surface bark-inhabiting organisms such as algae, mosses, and lichens. The wetwood liquids may stain the bark white. The liquids may also kill turf. The wetwood organisms commonly infect dying branches. The bacteria spread through the branch protection zones most of the time. The columns of wetwood follow the codit patterns. Wetwood may also form in roots, and the organisms may spread upward as roots die. The only way to understand patterns of wetwood formation is to study longitudinal sections of trunks, branches, and roots. The wetwood organisms stay within the tissues at the time a branch or root died. Wetwood organisms do not spread radially beyond the limits of the wood present at the time a branch or root died, or at the time a root was inflicted. There is no mystery to wetwood. The organisms follow the same codit patterns as other organisms. Wetwood organisms may also form in heartwood or false heartwood. In some trees, such as American Elms and species of Populus the wetwood organisms infect the wood long before normal aging processes would occur. The wetwood-altered wood never can become normal heartwood in such a case. And, finally, it is better for the tree to have a little wetwood than a great amount of decayed wood. Do not drain wetwood columns, unless you want decayed columns instead. (See "Water And Decay")
Wetwood / Branches - Wet spaghetti bends. So long as wetwood lubricates branch cracks, the branches bend. When the wetwood fluids dry, the branch could break.
White Rot - White rot -cellulose and lignin digested.
Widow Maker - Before women came to forestry, we called a tree or branch that was so weak that it could fall, a widow maker. Now what should we call them?
Wildlife -
Wind - Hollows – Cracks - Trees with extensive hollows are at high risk for fracture during moderate to high winds. Cracks usually are more prone to fracturing than hollows. (See TREE PITHY POINTS, SHIGO, 1999 pg 113) Trees play games in the wind. Sometimes they get rough!
Winter Ice Injury - In cold climates, winter ice injury can cause serious injuries. The same three part program given for hurricane injury should be done for ice-injured trees. In forests, the ice-injured trees add much needed carbon as cellulose for soil organisms. Forest practices during the last several decades have removed so much cellulose that we (tree biologist) believe soil organisms are starving.
Winter Soils - Root hairs and mycorrhizae are alive and well in midwinter in nonfrozen soils during warm spells and non-frozen soil below frozen soils.
Wisdom - Knowledge is the amount of information gained. Wisdom is the knowledge that is correct. A person could know more than anyone in a room, yet very little of that information may be correct. Knowledge is a measure of what you know. Wisdom is what you do with what you know that benefits survival. Knowledge is collections. Wisdom is connections. Wisdom is the use of information in ways that ensure continued high-quality survival.
Wise - Wise people see also with their mind's eye.
Wood - Wood is a highly ordered connection and arrangement of living, dying and dead cells that have walls of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. Wood is an organ. Wood is secondary xylem where some cell walls become thickened and heavily lignified. Once the lignification takes place of the xylem, then the material is correctly called wood. Thus the cambium zone produces xylem and not wood. Wood is like a battery. Wood itself is a form of stored energy for other organisms because cellulose is made up of long twisting chains of glucose - sugar. Soils and wood share a common problem: They are thought of as dead substances. This has come about because wood-products research gained an early lead over research on wood in living trees. With soils, many texts still define soils as loose material of weathered rock and other minerals, and also partly decayed organic matter that covers large parts of the land surface on Earth." Wood was a living material before it became a violin. Think for a moment of all the words we have to describe wood: sap, heart, wet, early, late, discolored, black, green, red, rose, soft, hard, spring, summer, dotty, fat, lighter, tension, compression, pulp, burl, root, trunk, branch, petrified, blue-stained, false heart, wound, round, violin, instrument, ring-porous, diffuse-porous, juvenile, sandal, ripe, tallow, brashy, composite, and the list probably goes on. For starters, symplastless wood, as in coarse woody debris, with soil contact, can be a water, nutrient and essential element reservoir for flora and fauna. Important during dryer times. It provides habitat, substrate for the base of the food web and buffers soils. It reduces soil erosion and protects certain fauna and flora from abiotic forces and biotic agents. Wood plays a unique key role is the health and function of a constantly changing system both in fields and forest. Remember these systems, forest and fields, are like a spiders web. Its hard to touch any one part of the system without effecting the whole web.
Wood / Soil - We have no word for a substance that is both living and dead - wood, soil.
Wood Anatomy / Tree Anatomy - For people who think wood anatomy and tree anatomy are the same, I would like to see them put their fork into a steak that is still on the hoof.
Wood Cells - Cells are the basic unit of life. There are three basic types of wood cells: transport cells - vessels, tracheids -mechanical support cells -fibers, fiber tracheids -, and cells that contain living substances for a few to many years -parenchyma, axial and radial. All wood cells are born alive. Wood cells are arranged in ways that support the tree as a biological and mechanical system. Many processes and parts of human cells are not so different from those in trees. Yet, animal cells have thin boundaries. Tree wood cells have thick, tough boundaries or walls. Animal tissue will not support itself. Animals require skin and bones to keep cells in place. Every splinter of wood is self supporting. Cell walls of wood are made of cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses. Thin boundaries of animal cells allow them to move. Animals move away from agents and situations that threaten their survival. Trees cannot move. Trees grow where they find themselves, adapt or die. Trees planted incorrectly are sentences to an early death.
Wood Characteristics - Wood characteristics start in the living tree.
Wood Chipping - The increases in wood chipping industries say something about the quality of wood in many forest trees.
Wood Components - Wood is made up of three major or basic components: 1) cellulose, the framework or skeleton; 2) hemicellulose, the matrix; 3) lignin, the encrusting or "glue-like" substance that holds and binds the cells together and gives the cell wall rigidity. Other components are extractives, which are organic compounds that are usually in the lumens of dead heartwood cells, and tannins, which are complex substances. Cellulose is the most abundant organic chemical on earth. The amount of cellulose in normal wood is about the same in softwoods and hardwoods, about 42%. The specific gravity of cellulose is 1.53. How densely the cellulose is packed, and how abundant other substances are, makes up the density or weight of wood. Cellulose is made up of glucose units in a long line. Cellulose is made up of highly ordered portions called crystalline and portions not highly ordered called amorphose. Hemicelloses are polysaccharides associated with cellulose and lignin. Pectin is also a polysaccharide, but it is a much larger molecule than the hemicelluloses. The part you need to know is that the sugar units are the building blocks for these compounds, and the sugar units "lock up" their energy as these large molecules are formed. Later, when the microorganisms attack wood, they begin cleving or breaking the large molecules into smaller and smaller units until they can get to the energy bonds. Fungi can do it, and some protozoa, but not us. Lignins are very complex three-dimensional polymers made up of phenylpropane units. They encrust the intercellular space and any openings in the cell wall after the cellulose and hemicellulose has been deposited. Wood is made up of 25 to 30% lignin. In pulping, the lignin is removed. Many microorganisms can not digest lignin. Some can, and they may be very valuable for biological pulping. Fomes pini digests lignin very effectively.
Wood Myths - Wood is dead and decay is not a disease are the two myths that have caused, and still are causing, confusion with tree biology and tree care.
Wood Product / Tree - Wood was a living material before it became a violin.
Wood Quality - Three factors are considered for wood quality: color, texture, and figure. Color of sapwood does not vary greatly among tree species, but color of heartwood does. Chemicals called extractives give heartwood a great variety of colors. Extractives are chemicals that act as natural preservatives. Cellulose has a specific gravity of 1.53. Density of wood depends on how closely the cellulose is packed and the amount of extractives in the wood. Some tropical woods have specific gravity over 1, which means they do not float. Texture is greatly dependent on size of cells and figure on cell arrangements. But, the 3 characteristics -color, texture, figure-all assume that the wood has not been altered by extrinsic agents. This is highly unlikely in nature. Branches are always dying, protection zones are failing, wounds are being inflicted, roots are dying, and all of these events incite defense processes that cause chemical shunts to produce protection chemicals, and changes in cell types and arrangements. It is difficult to think of a tree that has not had many injuries. As a result, cells are different, and cell arrangements are altered. A tree with high quality wood has few extrinsic disturbances, or the tree has an effective compartmentalization process that keeps all infections walled off to smaller volumes of wood. A major point is that trees will have wounds and dying branches and, in a sense, these problems become part of the "normal" processes. To talk about wood quality without considering these points is foolish.
Wood Types - There are two basic types of wood in living trees: sapwood and protection wood. Sapwood has living cells. Protection wood does not. Sapwood can range from two growth increments to over a hundred. There are two types of sapwood: conducting and non-conducting. There are four types of protection wood: heartwood, false heartwood, discolored wood in early stages, and wetwood.
Woody - Woody means having tough cell walls of wood.
Woody Angiosperms - Conifers have tracheids. Woody angiosperms have vessels and covered seeds.
Woody Root Growth - New woody root tissues begin to grow soon after woody growth starts in the trunk.
Woody Roots - Woody roots are organs that mechanically support the tree, store energy reserves, and transport liquids that contain many types of soluble substances. More on woody roots: Woody roots have lignin along with cellulose and hemicelluloses in their cell walls. Woody roots have an outer bark that contains suberin. Suberin gives bark its corky characteristic. Suberin "waterproofs" the tissues. Woody roots have secondary growth. Woody roots contain meristematic points. Woody roots usually grow outward and downward. New woody root tissues begin to grow soon after woody growth starts in the trunk. Woody roots on most trees do not have a pith. Woody roots usually store more energy reserves than stems. Woody Roots have less lignin than woody stems which have an abundance of lignin. Woody roots transport free water, and the substances dissolved in it, and synthesis substances such as growth regulators, amino acids and vitamins that are essential for growth. They also hold water in the form of bound water. They also contain more lignin than non-woody roots. With respect to energy, woody roots are storage organs. As energy storage is depleted, opportunistic pathogens attack. Most root diseases start when root defense, which is based on energy storage, is low. Meristematic points are sheets of radial parenchyma that extend from the wood into the outer bark. The points have the capacity to form sprouts, flowers, woody roots, and prop roots.
Woody Roots / Energy - Woody roots are storage organs. As energy storage is depleted, opportunistic pathogens attack. Most root diseases start when root defense, which is based on energy storage, is low.
Woody Stem - Woody stems have more lignin than woody roots which have moderate amount compared to the stem. Woody stems store less starch than woody roots. Woody stems have a pith as the woody roots do not. The vessel arrangement in woody stems is less diffused than in the woody roots.
Words - Humpty Dumpty said a word means only what he wants it to mean. Socrates, a great philosopher, said, just tell us what you want your word to mean. And Voltaire, another great thinker, said, when we know what you mean by your words, arguments and misunderstandings will seldom happen. Consider poor Joe who liked alcohol. Drank methanol rather than ethanol. He then quickly learned, as his brain got burned, that words are important after all. I know a person who said he could save any tree -along the driveway, in the barn, stacked next to the house, etc. When they said, DR SHIGO could look at their black walnut trees, they did not know he meant on the inside. People who call beautiful soil, dirt, and fertilizers plant food should have their mouth washed out with wound dressing.
Work - Loving your work is different from understanding it. Both are necessary.
Worms - Earthworms neutralize soil acidity. Worms such as enchytraeid worms and earthworms can and do inhibit the rhizosphere. (See Rhizosphere) Fungi play a major role in recycling essential elements from dead organic matter. The fungi often do this in association with many other organisms in the soil: bacteria, insects, worms, amoebae, nematodes, and small animals. Fungi recycle elements in symplastless logs. Many of the fungi associated with mycorrhizae have mushroom fruit bodies. Others have a variety of fruit bodies above ground and below ground. The major point here is that the members of the natural system are all connected. When the connections begin to be broken, the system will suffer. You can kill soil. You can kill a forest. You can kill many living things that depend on a healthy forest. How? By breaking connections. (See TREE ANATOMY, SHIGO, 1994, pg 86).
Worms / Benefits - Some of the benefits to trees: Aerate soils - worms, insects, fungi, animals; Fertilize - droppings from worms, insects, and other animals.
Wound Dressing - It is the wound dressing idea more than the material that is dangerous. Microorganisms have their picnics and parties under wound dressings. The wound dressing myth will never die. The sad thing is that the myth is being taught by people who are supposed to be scientists. There are no data to show that wound dressings prevent or stall decay. Heartrot and wound dressings are twins. How will we ever get to the excitement of electromagnetic fields when the same old stuff is still being taught: heartrot, wound dressings, plant food, and all types of cure-alls. If reduced decay and a healthier tree is the goal, tree anatomy should be the target. In spite of abiotic destructive forces and biotic agents such as insects, bacteria, and fungi, humans still rank as the major destructive agent for trees in forests and cities. Ignorance of tree biology is a major cause of this. Some have been convinced for many years that trees "carry" their own protective "wound dressings" in their bark. Now the same concept is being proved for human skin. A small protein called human beta-defensin-2 kills bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the yeast Candida albicans. The skin antibiotic mechanically punches holes in the bacteria and yeast cells. A similar protein antibiotic exists in the human urogenital tract. My point. Once you learn just a little bit about biology and chemistry, you can read, understand, and enjoy the many journals now available to all. (TREE PITHY POINTS, SHIGO, 1999)."
Wound Scribing - Scribing is a treatment to a wound, that when done correctly, can enhance closure of the wound and can reduce long term damage to the tree. When a tree receives a wound to the trunk, such as by an auto, the target of wound scribing is removing loose inner and outer bark and shaping the wound in an eclipse. The goal is not to increase the size of the wound and not to scribe beyond the cambium zone. Scribing is best done with a large half moon chisel. Pointed sharp edges do not facilitate good closure. Timing is important. If the wound occurs during the growing season, then one would wait until after the growing season has ended, not scribing, but just removing loose inner an outer bark, not to increase wound size on penetrate the wood. Scribing is done when wounds occur during the non-growing season. DO NOT USE WOUND DRESSINGS! When a tree is wounded, you should not treat only the wound but the entire tree. Would you accept a treatment that gave you white teeth, but rotted your gums? We need to care for the soil. For instructions on wound scribing see MODERN ARBORICULTURE, SHIGO, 1991. See "Vandalism". (See A TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY, SHIGO, 1996) (See TROUBLES IN THE RHIZOSPHERE, SHIGO, 1996).
Wound Treatments (tree) - When a tree is wounded, you should not treat only the wound but the entire tree.
Wounded Wood - Wounded wood is compartmentalized in trees.
Wounding - non-human - Trees are often wounded by agents other than humans. Many trees in south Florida were injured severely by hurricane Andrew several years ago. After storm injury, work must be done first to reduce the risk of fractures that could cause problems for property and people. Next, the trees should be pruned for health. This means cutting off torn roots and removing long, injured branches to avoid sprouting that could lead to fractures. In cold climates, winter ice injury can cause serious injuries. The same three part program given for hurricane injury should be done for ice-injured trees. In forests, the ice-injured trees add much needed carbon as cellulose for soil organisms. Forest practices during the last several decades have removed so much cellulose that Tree Biologist believe soil organisms are starving.
Woundwood - Woundwood is a very tough, woody tissue that grows behind callus and replaces it in that position. When woundwood closes wounds, then normal wood continues to form. After wounding, callus forms first about the margins of the wound. Woundwood forms later as the cells become lignified. Callus is a tissue that is meristematic, low in lignin, and homogenous as to cell types. Woundwood is not meristematic, is high in lignin, and has differentiated cells -vessels, fibers, axial and radial parenchyma. Woundwood is differentiated tissue that has lots of lignin. (See A CLOSER LOOK AT TREES, SHIGO "video")
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Xylem - Xylem is not wood. Xylem is a transport tissue in vascular plants. It transports free water and substances dissolved in it, from absorbing non-woody roots to leaves. When xylem is lignified it is then correctly called wood. Lignified means that high amounts of the natural "cement" called lignin is deposited within the cellulose strands in the cell walls. This makes the cell walls very tough. Having tough, lignified cell walls is a unique feature of trees. Xylem is born from the cambium zone. Xylem rays connect radially to form phloem rays. The phloem rays connect circumferentially to form the phellogen.
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Yaks / Defense - The protection system of yaks that worked for them for millions of years worked against them when man and guns came. Yaks circle their young when threatened. They were easy targets for the pioneers. How many other long standing natural protection systems has man destroyed?
Yeast - Yeasts are fungi.
Young Trees - The young tree is a tree that has 90%-100% dynamic mass. Green, cortex-like tissues are common under the periderm in young trees of many species. See "Dynamic and Static mass".
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