BEAST TALES

Thank You to Don Bush & John Hopkins for the wonderful artwork!

            I’m BAAAACK.  Did you miss me?

            Been traveling a bit.  Met some individuals sort of like me -- didn’t think that was possible.   “Belleayre’s Beast Meets Sunday River’s Eddy the Yeti” -- sounds like an episode of WWE Smack-Down.  I met Eddy in Maine, “Blueberry Bear” at Sugarloaf (ME also) and “Woolly” the Mammoth at (where else?) Mammoth, CA . . .  I’m not alone, after all.
           
            Good to be home -- took a hike last week in my favorite place (Belleayre).  A tiny patch of snow still clung to Onteora.  Soon, it will be gone.  This same time last year, humans were still hiking to ski and ride here.  Now, a bit of snow on the hill, a lot of spring in the trees.  (By the way, Eddy and Woolly reported similar weird winters this year.)

            Try a hike up from Overlook Lodge.  As you go up (any trail), watch the trees’ leaves and flowers change. 

            At Overlook (about 2500 ft. elevation), the Sugar Maples are in full flower and their bright green leaves are half-open. Red Maples are producing red, winged seeds -- the whirlybirds that will swirl everywhere soon -- their flowers were out weeks ago, preceding the emergence of their red-tinged leaves  White Ash flowers look like balls at the ends of the branchlets farthest from the trunk.  Black Cherries are leafing out -- they’re half way there.  Their flowers will come later. 

            By the time you reach mid-station (3000 ft. elevation), the flowers and leaves are still visible on most of the same tree species -- just smaller.  No seeds yet. When you get to the summit (elevation 3429 at Tomahawk), you’ll see many bare trees, buds just swelling and the Red Maples in full flower.

            And as you go up, it’s like you are stepping back in time.  Spring is not as advanced up here.  As you go up, it’s just like traveling farther north. 

            You say, “I knew that.” 

            Of course you did.  It is Hopkin’s Law: “for every 100-foot increase in elevation, there is a one day delay in the onset of Spring.”  Andrew Delmar Hopkins was an entomologist (insect biologist) in the early 20th century who became head entomologist for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture in 1904.  Through his research on forest insect populations, their changes and their impact on the forests, he strove to understand cyclical changes in biological life histories (phenology) and correlate the timing with climate.  His “law” also states, “for every 15 minutes of latitude (17.2 miles) northward, there is a one day delay in the onset of Spring.”  

            It’s colder as you go north.  It’s colder as you go higher.  Of course. 

            Scientists agree, plant and tree distributions and phenologies (time of leaf-out, flowering, seed production and leaf drop) relate directly to temperature. 

            So, if our climate changes (for whatever reason), distribution and phenology should change.  Researchers in New England studying Sugar Maple, Beech and Yellow Birch have found that on average, spring is starting about one week earlier now than in the 1960’s.  And fall is starting about one week later -- that means longer growing season, shorter snow season.  They’ve also found that despite the shift in timing, Hopkin’s Law still seems to hold true.  

            If we keep track of the changes in our backyards (my backyard being Belleayre), we can help those scientists understand what is going on.  And maybe they (and we) can figure out how to keep winter cool. 

            Let’s keep an eye on our trees.

BEAST TALE ARCHIVES
Beast Returns
Utsayantha
Names
Responsibility
Winter Stars
Snowmaking History
Snowmaking
Ski Tech History
It Snowed
Stick Season
Skyride
Winter Forecast
Irene
Bears Will Be Bears
Natives
Aliens
Classic Resort
Pine Hill Lake & Swimming
Catskill Divide
The Glen
The Pine Hill Lake
Why
Origins
Water

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