The predominant species we have encountered are Trumpet, Acrocarpous, Pleurocarpous, Lowbush Cranberry, Blueberry, Buffaloberry, Mixed Lichen, Lime willow, Cloudberry, Lapland Rosebay (purple), Black Spruce, White Spruce, Arrow-leaved Colt's-foot, Sweet Gale, Alpine Azalea, White Rhododendron, Dwarf Labrador Tea (white), Larch, Crowberry, White Mountain-Avens, White Cauliflower, Grey Cauliflower, White branches, Fan (spilt milk), Brown branches, Grass, Bog Birch, Velvet bells, Alpine Bearberry and Bog Rosemary.

We get on all fours crawling over and through "strange" looking vegetation looking for seedlings and saplings of Larch, White Spruce and Black Spruce. The seedlings are small and difficult to find. The saplings are easier to find but sometimes difficult to rip out of the ground. We clear everything that is shorter than two meters (about 6 feet). To "close a plot" we need to find fifty seedlings and saplings. This usually takes several hours .

We then crammed them in the van.

A few of you asked why it is important to determine age structure. The simplest answer is if young trees are establishing themselves, there will probably be a forest of larger trees in years to come.....or no Tundra at that location.

This is destuctive sampling, and is done at several different plots that represent the region as a whole. These particular individual trees are taking one for the team so to speak. The tree boring on the other hand is not destructive, and the tree will ooze sap into the hole to heal its wound.

Several of you asked what is the temperature of The Hudson Bay. Cold! The warmest it gets is 40....right now it is about 35 F. By the way, Labman does not sink as one bright observer noted.

Another group of questions referred to the cause of The Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis. They are a result of high energy from the sun interacting with the elements in the sky. I am not an expert, but I understand each gas in the atmosphere behaves differently when excited by the energy. Different colors form depending on which element is involved and how low or high in the atmosphere this interaction is occuring. The solar wind is responsible for delivering this energy, and earths magnetic pole attracts it which is why they occur at higher latitudes.

A third group is concerned about Mr. Wojo. He doesn't really snore and I think he is a great guy. He has no intention of moving to Buffalo, but will always have an open door greeting him if he decides to visit my wonderful city.