The first record of a decorated Christmas tree was found in Riga, Latvia in 1510 where men of the local guild of merchants decorated an evergreen tree in the town square with artificial roses and then set fire to it. The next time the historical record mentions the intentional selection of trees which were subsequently brought…
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In a dramatic, but satisfying, twist of fate, the Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) has almost recovered from the brink of extinction. Named for its initial location of discovery and beautiful coloration the Karner blue butterfly relies on unique inland wetland pine barrens found east of Minnesota and along the eastern seaboard. Historically the blue’s range was a…
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The future of building has arrived and apparently the new, exciting, desirable, sustainable product is wood. Contractors and architects are going back to basics by returning to the renewable, durable, multi-purpose material after years where it was fashionable to design and build with steel and concrete. Nowhere was this message clearer than at this year’s Wood Solutions fair…
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In a world moving towards sustainability, improving urban tree cover can provide numerous benefits both environmental and social. Tree canopy in an urban environment will reduce summer peak temperatures, increase efficiency of heating and cooling buildings, improve water quality and curtail erosion. Additionally, lush urban tree cover increases aesthetic appeal and value; all of these factors…
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Beginning on December 14th 2014 and running through January 5th 2015 the Audubon’s Annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is the longest running citizen science survey in the world. Thousands of volunteers across the country will contribute critical data on winter bird population trends. This data is entered into the database and is vital to the…
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Ips calligraphus, the six-spined Ips, and Ips pini, the pine engraver beetle, are tree pests of great economic and environmental importance. These pests are commonly found in infesting ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa, stands in Montana and have been found across north America. Populations target hosts which have been weakened due to previous infestation by another pest or…
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The term “hardwood” refers to trees, usually flowering trees and shrubs, which produce dense heavy wood due to their thick-walled, densely packed fiber cells and abundance of tracheids and vessel elements (water conducting tissue). Hardwoods can be further categorized depending on their density into groups such as “medium heavy”, “heavy”, “very heavy” and “ironwood” for…
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The 600 acres of crop and forest land in close proximity to the Penn State University campus is interlaced with irrigation pipes carrying and discharging over 500 million gallons per year of primarily treated wastewater. This “living filter” system was developed and constructed in the 1960s and provides a unique opportunity for university scientists to…
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The term “living fossil” was coined by Charles Darwin to describe plants still surviving today that were known to be thriving millions of years ago. Primitive spore and seed-bearing plants which flourished in the ages of the dinosaurs are still found on earth today. When dinosaurs roamed the planet, 65-225 million years ago, was a…
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While this may not seem like an argument, suspend disbelief for one second and indulge me, do you actually know the difference between fruits and vegetables? This may seem subjective, but that is probably because you are thinking about it in terms of what you eat and not botanically. So, gardeners and chefs may define…
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