Last field trip

Me making a phone call to my classroom. The satellite phone didn't work:( This is Adam and I boring a tree.This is the core we got. Ohhh look at those gorgeous rings! I'm officially a tree nerd now- ha ha

Today was our last day in the field. We cored another 50 trees today and started doing the vegetation survey as well as soil sampling. Scientist Steve was able to give us to information about all the data we've collected so far these past 9 days. We have cored over 600+ trees. We collected over 400+ seedlings and saplings. We have counted 1,400+ whorls. We have worked with 3 species of trees (black spruce, white spruce and larch). The ages have not been determined yet. He said he found one over 150+ years. Some of the trees that are small in size can actually be quite old. We looked at data that Mr. Steve has compiled over the past few years and it definitely shows a warming trend in this part of the earth. One effect of this is that the tree line has moved itself further back then it has been in the past. This means less room to grow in = less trees.
Questions:
What are some of the effects on Earth if there are less trees?
What are whorls on a tree?
What are your thoughts about the amounts of seedlings and saplings we have removed from the forest?