January 24th, 2007
the mystery of the marked trees
A couple of days ago, in my hiking report from Mill Pond Conservation Area, I wrote about some trees that are marked with numerals written in blue paint. We first noticed the marked stand of trees in one region of the forest some time ago – I can’t quite remember when, but it’s probably been a few years. On our recent hike, we noticed that the paint looked quite fresh, so we knew someone must be continuing to study the trees. We wondered if it might be a plot set up by one of the three universities that do various ecology and wildlife studies throughout our region (Carleton, Ottawa, and Queens). I sent off an email and received a speedy reply from one of the personnel at the conservation office that oversees the Mill Pond site. He wrote:
That would be a MOE [Ministry of Environment] Forest Bio-monitoring Network permanent sample plot. The objective is to monitor and evaluate the condition and growth of trees to determine the changes in tree condition over time. The plot was set up in 1986. You may recall at that time there was a lot of concern about acid rain and other factors causing forest decline (especially in sugar maple).
So! The mystery of the marked trees has been solved. However, now I’m wondering about the findings of the bio-monitoring project. If I come up with more info, I’ll try to remember to post it.
[tags]Mill Pond Conservation Area[tags]