Hurricane Damage

Wow, it was so fun to talk to you guys today - I wish we'd had more time, but at least we will get to see each other again soon! Mrs. Kagels told me many of you were frustrated because you did not get to talk to me - I want to encourage you to send me e-mails with your comments and questions- I love them and have been answering everyone who writes to me. I just haven't figured out how to post them yet! Mr. Feynman said he'd help me today, so hopefully soon I'll be able to post your comments and questions!
After our conversation, we went right out to the field. As we were hiking to the plot, we ran into a man named Richard who was has been hunting here since 1970. Here is a picture of us two "hunters" - me for caterpillars, Richard for wild pigs and squirrels. Richard knows the woods really well and shared his knowledge with us. He once saw an Ivory billed woodpecker in here - until a couple of years ago, most people thought that bird was extinct!
To make sure her sample plots represent the forest fairly, Rebecca takes us to all different kinds of places in the forest. For example, some of the plots have lots of trees and branches that fell when they were hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Some were not as heavily damaged. Today we went to a plot that had moderate hurricane damage. Here is Tara standing in the middle of the plot - can you see all the dead wood?






Here's one of the trees that fell over - isn't that amazing? That big wall of dirt in front of mike is the dirt stuck to the roots of the fallen tree. These huge things are all over the place.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, there are five things that help a tree withstand a hurricane:
1)strength of the wood;
2)shape and size of the crown;
3)extent and depth of the root system;
4)previous moisture conditions; and
5) shape of the bole (trunk)

See how shallow these roots are? Deep roots are an adaptation for trees that have to go deep to get water. As you know, the water here is so close to the surface that the trees can get by with very shallow roots.

No trees are perfect for hurricane resistance, but the cypress trees and tupelo trees I told you about a couple of days ago do a REALLY good job at resisting hurricanes. Take another look at how wide the trunk of this tupelo is - I'm sure you can imagine that it would take a LOT to blow that tree over!
The tupelo and cypress trees also have adaptations that make them more flood resistent than the oaks, maples, and other hardwood trees that are in the forest. Therefore, you often find the tupelo and cypress at lower elevations where there is more flooding - the hardwoods can't get enough oxygen there.










A professor named Jeff Chambers at Tulane did research on the forest using satellite pictures and maps. He categorized the whole forest for damage after hurricanes Katrina and Rita passed through: 1 for not very damaged, to 5 for really, really damaged.

These are satellite pictures of the forest we are in now, the water is the Pearl River. Can you see where the areas of heavy damage are? (They are the brown places with no trees)

There is a woman who had gone around looking at all these areas in the forest, and has found that the areas of lower elevation where there are tupelos and cypress trees are much less damaged than the slightly higher areas with the hardwood trees.

Because the trees are so stong, they protect whatever is behind them from the winds and surging water of hurricanes. Towns that have wetlands with cypress and tupelo trees between them and the coast are much less likely to be damaged from hurricanes.


Classwork Challenge: Go to http://louisiana.sierraclub.org/cypressquiz.asp
and take the cypress quiz. Write down your answers and if you get them wrong, correct them!

Homework Challenge: Google "Ivory Billed Woodpecker" and find a site you like. On a piece of paper with a proper heading, take bullet notes on why it is such a big deal that Bill saw one of these in the wetlands.