Improvement seen in pine health with fire mimicry

I’m often asked whether the fire mimicry techniques that have been so successful in oak restoration work on other trees. Given that many California native tree species are fire-adapted there is every reason to believe that fire mimicry could help them too. Indeed, I have several previous posts showing positive responses of a variety of non-oak species to fire mimicry treatments, including buckeyes, redwoods, and Douglas firs.

Today I would like to share some recent results with pine trees. California pines are also fire-adapted, and with the suppression of forest fires, are becoming ill and infected with bark beetles and pitch pine canker. Thus, fire mimicry treatments seem to be critical in helping sick pines and in keeping healthy pines from deteriorating.

The four-year results shown below are of a sick Monterey pine in Carmel, the two-year results are of mostly healthy ponderosa pines in Glen Ellen, and the one-year results are of mostly healthy Monterey pines in Mill Valley.

A word about the four-year results. I first treated this Monterey pine in 2008 when the owners observed some decline in the tree. On my return the following year I found the pine to have deteriorated slightly. By the second year it had deteriorated significantly. I was mystified since the nearby oaks I had treated were responding nicely. Pines have an extensive root system, so I decided to peek over the neighbor’s fence and was surprised to find the entire yard was a Japanese garden with a mat of mosses forming a solid carpet on the ground. While mosses serve a purpose in a Japanese garden by stunting growth, creating twisted forms, and stimulating unusual foliage coloration in the small trees and acid-tolerant shrubs, a heavy moss cover is not compatible with a nearby large, fast-growing pine.

I was able to get permission from the neighbor to treat the soils, but I could not spread minerals on the soils as that would likely damage much of the moss cover, thus, ruining the aesthetics of their garden. So, instead, I did a deep root feeding by drilling small holes through the moss mat and injecting the minerals into the subsoil. These treatments were done in 2010 and again in 2011. The photos below show that after two years the pine has made a nice recovery.

Six years on . . . oaks and pines respond to fire mimicry

Not long ago I visited some oaks and pines in the Bay area that started receiving fire mimicry treatments six years ago. This particular client has done a remarkable job following my recommendations precisely. She’s quite happy for the results. Here are her coast live oaks and Monterey pines after six years.

New study of Appalachian forest fire history

A new study of tree rings and fire scars by Charles Lafon, associate professor of geography at Texas A&M University, describes the fire history of forests of the southern and central Appalachian Mountains. His findings are consistent with and relevant to the forest dynamics in California, and provide support the use of fire mimicry methods in mitigating forest decline.

Fire-scarred oak in Santa Barbara. Photo by Lee Klinger.

Here are some excerpts from the Science Daily report:

“We know that Indians often set fires to clear areas”

“Many tree species that inhabit fire-prone areas have thick, protective bark,” he points out. “Some trees depend on fires for their own reproduction. One such tree is the Table Mountain Pine. Through a feature called serotiny, its cones often will not open to release the seeds unless they are heated by a fire, ensuring that the new seedlings emerge at an optimal time to survive and grow — right after a fire has cleared away the competing vegetation.”

“The decline in fire frequency during the 20th century, for example, permitted tree species like red maple to encroach into pine and oak forests. Now the pines, oaks and other fire-associated species like the Peters Mountain mallow are declining in abundance”

Read the entire article here.

Note the similarity of these results to those from the study of oak forests from the Upper Midwest reported here.

Sea shells to help sick pine trees

Sea shells to make soil fertilizers for sick trees

From the Daily Yomiuri Online (h/t Ralph):

Scallop shells may help save pine trees

The Yomiuri Shimbun

A fishing town in northeastern Miyagi Prefecture has turned to the lowly scallop to save its pine trees from a weevil blight.

Minami-Sanrikucho is experimentally grinding the shells of scallops, the town’s speciality, into nutrient-rich powdered fertilizer that it hopes will make the pines resistant to weevils.

The town has about 1,924 hectares of pine woods, but since around 1970 weevils have been badly damaging the trees, mainly in a coastal area of the town. About 20,000 damaged trees have been cut down.

Local residents fear not only that the blight may ruin one of the town’s scenic attractions, but that loss of the trees may result in landslides. Pine trees also absorb carbon dioxide, thus helping reduce global warming.

Since the blight began, the town office has spent about 10 million yen a year on such measures as spraying pesticide and cutting down withered trees, to little effect.

A town official heard that another municipality suffering from the same problem had found it effective to spread oyster shells as fertilizer on the soil in pine woods. Calcium and minerals contained in the shells promoted growth of the trees and made them strong enough to withstand the weevils.

Scallops are farmed in Minami-Sanrikucho, producing from three to five tons of shells that are thrown out every day. A marine products processing company in the town developed a technology to grind the shells into powder.

As powder made from scallop shells is finer than that from oyster shells, it can more easily permeate soil. Also, as the powder contains strongly alkaline calcium, it is expected to more effectively protect pine trees against the weevils.

On July 7, the town started the experiment using the new fertilizer. Town officials and local residents spread a total of 60 kilograms of the fertilizer around 22 dying red pine trees that are 57 years old. The town will check the condition of these trees every three months and spend two years monitoring the fertilizer’s effectiveness.

“I hope the pine woods will be revived and help curb global warming,” a 74-year-old resident in the town who helped spread the fertilizer said.

(Aug. 11, 2010)

Fire mimicry results with oaks, pines, and more . . .

As much as I would like to post more frequently on all the interesting work that is going on in land and tree stewardship, the fact is that I spend most of my time out working on the trees and soils, which leaves me limited time for blogging. There is so much I can do for a sick tree that I prefer to simply get on with doing the work rather than write about it.

Here is where my Canon Eos 30D comes in handy. I could measure and discuss percentage changes in crown density or leaf area index, but you’d be bored and the oaks would still be dying. With repeat photography I have more time to work on trees and it allows you to better view and judge for yourself the results of these efforts.