Viewpoints
Aerial Spraying
by Marya Tyler
April 14, 2005
Thursday
Another reason not to poison the alder on Long Island: This USFS
photo shows the positive effect that alder has on coniferous
tree growth.
The arrows point to a narrow strip of Douglas Fir which was inter-planted
with alder, surrounded by smaller Douglas Fir which were planted
at the same time, but without alder.
By the time these photos were
taken 60 years later, the alder had been almost entirely replaced
by the conifers, but the nitrogen provided by the alder through
the years continues to affect the conifers' growth.
A close-up of those same trees:
Inter-planted with
Alder
Planted without Alder
More on this can be found at
http://academic.reed.edu/biology/nitrogen/Nfix3.html
.
Marya Tyler
Ketchikan, Alaska
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