During the past decade, things have been stressful for some of the trees in the boreal forests around Fairbanks. On average, our growing season is getting longer. Data from the Alaska Climate Research Center show that the growing season has increased from 85 to 123 days in the past century. But rainfall has not increased accordingly. In fact, data suggest that we’ve gotten about 11% drier over this same period. It is rather surprising that we have trees at all, given that we live in an Arctic desert, with average annual rainfall today of only about 11 inches. But our growing season is rather short, and therefore transpiration by the trees is brief enough to make that much water suitable for their growth and reproduction before a long period of dormancy each winter. However, coupled with our climatic changes we’ve also had some bad pest infestations. For about the past decade, aspen leaf-miner moths (Phyllocnistis populiella) have run rampant through the region’s trembling aspens (Populus tremuloides). Aspen leaves, normally green, have been silvered each summer for the past several years by the foraging trails within them of leaf miner larvae. These moths had an explosive arrival, population-wise, in the Fairbanks area, expanding rapidly into our area and inundating our rich aspen forests. Researchers at the university have found that this intensive leaf damage does have a negative effect on aspen growth. Oddly, this spring’s unusual weather seems to have knocked them back so much that we’ve enjoyed our normal green aspen leaves all summer. But, just eyeballing things, more trees than seem normal look stressed and are dying. And there also seems to have been an increase in the winds here. A decade or more ago winds were rarer; it was usually calm. Now, when the winds pick up it is not uncommon to hear a tree come crashing down in the forest. The aspens especially seem to have become vulnerable, and they tend to break off just below the ground, as though some form of upper root rot has weakened them intolerably.
Category Archives: Natural history
Solstice—the Long One
It’s all about sunlight, of course. Lots and lots of it. In fact, it never gets dark these days. Sunrise today was at 0258, and sunset will be early tomorrow at 0052, for 21 hours and 54 minutes of possible sunlight. And today, being without clouds, that possibility will be realized. I am going to bed before that promise is fulfilled.
Last night Rose and I were out driving after midnight, and, indeed, the sun’s rays could still be seen, and one of the most spectacular almost-full moons we’d ever seen was hovering magnificently above the Alaska Range. Traffic was substantial, and many vehicles were driving without their lights on. At these light levels it makes sense, even if it seems crazy if you look at your watch.
Walking Wild Shores
The book is out:
Walking Wild Shores: Portraits of the Natural World.
If you enjoy this blog, you might enjoy this book. It is based on the emailed stories sent out before this blog began.
Update: David James reviewed the book for the Daily News Miner. Now I can actually have one of those ridiculously brief review quotes that all the page-turners display:
“…damned good.” David A. James.
It is a great review. He summarizes it better than I could have.
Back during the publishing process an email came asking me whether there were any reviews that should be used in the book’s promotion. There were no formal reviews, but three were rattling around in my head:
“Please to come byack to Russia.” V. Putin
“Surprisingly little corncob; I actually enjoyed it.” Anonymous
“You write so well.” Author’s mother
Equinox, the Springy One
Wow, do we ever have daylight again. One day you’re driving to and from work in the dark at 30 or 40 below, and seemingly the next day the darkness is gone and the temperatures are into the teens and twenties. It adds up fast when day length is increasing by seven minutes a day. And today, although it was snowing again when we woke up, our days just became longer than everyone to the south of us. We’ll still have snow and good cross-country skiing for weeks yet, but you can once again feel the sun’s warmth, a true harbinger of melt and greenery to come. That said, we had some spectacular northern lights over the weekend.
Solstice—the Short One
And lo, it arrived: the shortest day of the year. Here in Fairbanks this brings just 3 h 41 min 29 sec of possible sunlight. The sun skims along the southern sky, at its peak hitting an angle of only 2 degrees above the horizon. Its light is all sunrise and sunset colors, all day. These weak but welcome rays, heavy in oranges and reds, stream through our south-facing windows at such a shallow angle that they can penetrate right through a building if there is no wall to stop them. You relish the light because it is such a short thing every day. We get up well before sunrise (10:59 a.m.), work hard well past sunset (2:40 p.m.), and return home after it’s been dark for hours.