Roots like stilts

Douglas-fir seedlings need light. Down on the forest floor, shaded by thick-leaved salal and evergreen ferns, light is a scarce commodity. That's where nurse logs come in. And nurse stumps; the taller, the better. The seedling reaches up to the light, and sends its roots over the stump and down to the ground below.

High nurse stump, with mature tree on top.

The roots of a Douglas-fir*, on the ground, turn out horizontally, except for a main taproot, with a few supporting taproots, which extend downward for up to about 3 metres, depending on the substrate. The lateral roots extend about to the width of the crown.

These two trees are growing in wetlands; their roots, if they had started out on the ground, would be shallow.

Douglas-firs growing in soil frequently exposed to groundwater or runoff will often develop shallow rooting systems. (IronTreeService)

On top of a stump, this pattern has to change. Most of the roots head straight down until they reach the soil, then turn out horizontally.

The supporting stump will eventually rot away, leaving a "ghost". And now, the roots above ground have to become an extension of the trunk, supporting the tree above.

*UPDATE: I'm informed that this tree is a Western hemlock. The root system is similarly shallow, but it will not have a primary taproot.

Nurse stump, with tree and last week's red squirrel.

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Las plantulitas de abeto de Douglas* necesitan la luz. Y en el bosque donde viven, allá abajo donde las hojas gruesas de salal y de los helechos perennes cubren todo, apenas penetra uno que otro rayito de sol. De allí la utilidad de troncos caídos, podridos, que sirven de troncos nodrizas. Si siguen de pie, mejor; y entre más altos, tanto mejor. La plántula, de allí encima, se extiende hacia la luz, y manda sus raices sobre el tronco hasta alcanzar el suelo.

Foto: un tronco nodriza muy alto, con su abeto de Douglas encima.

Las raices de un abeto de Douglas, creciendo en el suelo, se extienden horizontalmente, aparte de una o varias raices primarias, que se hunden en el suelo hasta una profundidad que puede alcanzar 3 metros, según las características del sustrato. Las raices horizontales pueden extenderse hasta aproximadamente lo ancho de la copa del árbol.

Estos dos árboles crecen en un humedal; por lo tanto, en el suelo, sus raices obtendrán poca profundidad.

Los abetos de Douglas que crecen en terreno expuesto a frecuentes inundaciones o desagües muchas veces desarrolan sistemas de raices de poca profundidad. (IronTreeService)

Si el árbol crece encima de un tronco nodriza, este modelo tendrá que cambiar. La mayoría de las raices crecen verticalmente hasta llegar al suelo mineral. Solo entonces, se dan vuelta y crecen horizontalmente.

El tronco que sostiene el árbol nuevo, con el tiempo, se desintegra por completo, dejando un hueco "fantasma". Y ahora las raices al aire toman la función del tronco principal.

Foto: otro tronco nodriza, este con la ardilla embarazada de la semana pasada.

*Puesto al corriente: me informan que el árbol es probablemente un tsuga de Pacífico, Tsuga heterófila. El sistema de raices es parecido, solo que no tiene raiz primaria.

Tidal ice

The Nunns Creek marsh is a tidal wetland, a series of connected pools at low tide, mostly water at high tide. So the ice rises and falls and breaks up over hummocks of grass and shrubs.

Low tide. A branch of the creek, with shaped ice.

The tide rises to the top of the ditch.

In mid-summer, this is dry at low tide.

Ice caught high on the reeds, while the surrounding ice dropped as the tide went out.

And then it snowed. And now it's raining. Ah, BC!

Where the ice was

I took photos of the wetlands under ice just in time. Now they're under a foot of snow.

View over the southeast end of the marsh, looking northeast. The hills beyond are on the mainland.

There is a sign beside the road; I stopped to read it.

Description of the restoration program.

The sign reads: Environmentally Sensitive Fish Habitat. Discovery Harbour Shopping Centre Ltd, developed and managed by the Campbell River Indian Band and Northwest Properties in conjunction with Federal Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Wildlife Service conducted a low marsh restoration and planting program in the Campbell River Estuary within Lot 136 and Spit Road in 1997 and 1999. As part of the estuary restoration plan, relocation of Old Spit Road occurred and natural estuary was re-established. Designed by TERA Planning Ltd, the planting was completed by members of the Campbell River Indian Band.

(This whole area had been used for logging operations, heavy equipment and other industrial uses for most of the last century. Now, it is being restored, piece by piece.)

Continuing with the text of the sign: To assist the natural recolonization of the estuary area, salvaged vegetative material was stockpiled for use. Approximately 800 sq m of plant material, including Lyngbye's and other sedges, spikerush, hairgrass and other low marsh species were removed and stored in a donor site. The existing slough was not touched.

(Me again. I'd never heard of these wetlands species. I looked them up. Lyngbye's sedge is "often the most dominant species in tidal marshes ..." [Plants of Coastal BC] "This is a pioneer species, one of the first plants to colonize the mud of tidal flats in its range. [Wikipedia]

Spikerush is not a rush, but a creeping wetland sedge. Hairgrass would be the tufted hairgrass, Deschampsia cespitosa; it is a native perennial grass about a metre tall. Some of the photos I took of the ice look like the base is this grass.)

Back to the sign: The eastern half of the program was conducted in the spring of 1997 and the culverts at Old Spit Road were opened at that time. This included the removal of shrub vegetation and soil, followed by the establishment of a network of channels planted with approximately 400 sq m of the stockpiled vegetation (or 20,000 15 cm x 15 cm cylinders of marsh material.)

A lot of work! The shrub vegetation removed would have included the invasive Himalayan blackberry: there is still a heavy infestation in the area between this wetland and the river bank.

Photos from the sign

The western half and the area under the Old Spit Road were replanted in early 1999. Construction was similar to that done for the eastern half. This phase saw the decommissioning of Old Spit Road itself. This project has created approximately 2 ha of low marsh. The new marsh is now an important contributor of fish nutrients and provides rearing habitat for your salmon.

I went looking for this old road last year. I found the end of it, but it petered out in a few metres. It's bird, bug, and fish habitat now. And maybe chocolate lily habitat, but I'll have to forgo looking for them.

Under the roof of the above sign. Juvenile salmon live here!!

Google map of the area, with my labels.

Birding at a distance

It was a day for small birds, birds that usually are hidden behind the leaves. And for a few big birds, 'way off in the distance, so they were essentially little birds, according to my eyes and camera.

A kingfisher! Not only did he park not too far away, but he stayed there while I took enough photos to get one more or less in focus.

A young robin, all speckly.

Zooming in on him. It's 8 below zero, Celsius. How these tiny critters keep from freezing is a never-ending wonder. I'm wearing long johns, layers of warm clothes, gloves, a tuque and a hood and I'm still cold.

A little green-winged teal. Poor photo, but I'm glad I got it; I haven't seen one of these for several years.

A sparrow on the frozen path beside the river.

Usually the little brown birds flit around in the undergrowth; on this frozen afternoon, sparrows and robins and towhees came out to the path, where the sunshine sort of softened the frozen ground.

One of a flock of golden-crowned sparrows.

And the bigger birds, looking small:

Mallards sleeping in the sun. The white stuff on the island behind them is ice.

An eagle, as I usually see them; a white spot at the top of an evergreen.

Birds, birds, birds. All too far away. Right to left: a flying duck, a bufflehead, several small flocks of diving ducks, probably buffleheads, a Cessna, and an eagle. And what looks like two waiters on stilts carrying trays of goodies.

Photos I took that wouldn't even have qualified for the Worst Bird Photograph page: a V of honking Canada geese, towhees against the light, and a pair of diving common mergansers, another bird I haven't been seeing for some time.