Wisconsin is one of the top 25 forested states in the nation by acreage and volume. Forested land occupies about 17 million acres of Wisconsin’s nearly 37 million acres, according to data from the United States Forest Service in 2019.
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Monitoring The Condition Of Wisconsin’s Forest Regeneration
Have you ever wondered how Wisconsin’s forests are monitored for regeneration? Forest regeneration, the process of renewing tree cover by establishing young trees, is one of the most basic and important elements of sustainable forest management. After a harvest or disturbance event, like a fire or heavy winds, successful regeneration is crucial to developing healthy, productive forests that can provide sustainable economic and ecological functions. Forest regrowth patterns must be well understood to manage Wisconsin’s forest resources sustainably.
In 2018, the DNR’s Forestry Division launched the Forest Regeneration Monitoring (FRM) program to better assess the status and progression of naturally regenerating forests on county, state, federal and private lands across the state.
Continue reading “Monitoring The Condition Of Wisconsin’s Forest Regeneration”
A New Way To Measure Tree Equity
By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist, Madison, daniel.buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578
One needs only to look outside their window or at an aerial image to see that trees are not distributed evenly in their community. Of course, this is often expected and not indicative of any significant problem. One would expect, for example, for many parks to have more trees than densely developed parts of town.
However, sometimes uneven canopy distribution reveals something more harmful – that some neighborhoods and communities, often more wealthy ones, enjoy more canopy cover and thus more of the benefits trees provide. To help identify and mitigate this issue, American Forests recently released Tree Equity Score.
Figure 1 – an example of Tree Equity Score used in Oshkosh, WI. See the score along with demographic and environmental information on the left column.
Oriental Bittersweet: A Bitter Beauty!
Article By: Jaqi Christopher, Invasive plant specialist & Mary Bartkowiak, Invasive plant coordinator
Just as the leaves begin to shift from summer green to the fall shades of gold, orange, red and bronze, the fruits of Oriental bittersweet explode on the scene with their very own show-stopping colors of bright gold and red.
The sight of these vines full of colorful berries may tempt the casual observer to take these berry-filled branches home to use as fall decorations or to plant in their own garden. This, however, would be a mistake, as this striking plant is a serious threat to native ecosystems. Oriental bittersweet is a restricted species under Wisconsin’s Invasive Species Rule NR40. This makes it illegal to transport, transfer or introduce Oriental bittersweet statewide.
Oriental bittersweet is an aggressive-growing woody vine that invades forests, woodlands, fields and hedgerows. The vines twine up trees, smother the crown and girdle trunks with their thick woody stems. In fact, the sheer weight of the vine can cause tree crowns to break and collapse and whole trees to uproot. Additionally, large mats of bittersweet can shade out native plants.
Oriental bittersweet vine girdles tree trunks. Photo Credit: Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Oriental bittersweet vine girdles tree trunks. Photo Credit: University of Illinois’ Chris Evans
Snow Fleas Come To The Surface
By Todd Lanigan, Forest Health Specialist, Eau Claire. Todd.Lanigan@wisconsin.gov or 715-210-0150
Snow fleas are a species of springtails that are active during the winter and are generally found in groups where their dark-colored bodies stand out against the white snow. While often observed in late winter or early spring, they also come to the surface on warm winter days. Cold weather drives snow fleas back below the surface to wait for better weather.
Easily mistaken for specks of dirt or debris, snow fleas are tiny soil-dwelling animals that gather on the surface of the snow on warm winter and spring days.
Feature species: Turkish filbert
T. Davis Sydnor, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org
Scientific Name: Corylus colurna
Native to: southeast Europe and western Asia
Mature Height*: 40-55’
Spread*: 20-30’
Form: conical, symmetrical, medium texture
Growth Rate*: medium (35 feet over a 20-year period)
Foliage: 3-5”, dense green, simple leaf
Fall Color: poor, yellowish-green
Flowers: inconspicuous; catkins in early spring can be rather handsome
Cold hardiness zone maps: how many versions are there, and how are they different?
By Dan Buckler, DNR urban forest assessment specialist, Madison, daniel.buckler@wisconsin.gov, 608-445-4578
Jack Frost descends upon us all in Wisconsin, but the depths to which he brings the mercury differ depending on your latitude, elevation, and proximity to water or urban areas. These differences are observed in a location’s cold hardiness zone, which represents the average minimum temperature a location is expected to experience.
Cold hardiness zones are well-known decision-making factors for anybody with a smidge of green on their thumb. But did you know that there are multiple hardiness zone maps out there, and that where you stand right now might be in zone 6 on one map, but zone 5 on another? Enter the labyrinth, dear reader.
Feature species: swamp white oak
Paul Wray, Iowa State University, Bugwood.org
Scientific name: Quercus bicolor
Native to: northeastern quarter of the U.S. (including southern Wisconsin)
Mature Height*: 50-60+’
Spread*: 50-60’
Form: broad, wide-spreading
Growth Rate*: slow to moderate; 12”-18” per year
Foliage: 5”-6”; glossy green above, white below; leathery with shallow, irregular lobes; leaves often persist into winter
Fall Color: yellow-brown to orange-brown
Be on the lookout for beech leaf disease
By Elly Voigt, forest health lab assistant, Fitchburg
Beech leaf disease (BLD) is a relatively recently discovered, destructive disease of beech trees in the US. It was first observed in 2012 in Ohio and has since spread to areas of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Ontario, Canada. BLD affects our native beech species, American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and ornamental beech species, including European beech (Fagus sylvatica). The disease has not yet been observed in Wisconsin but could become an issue in the future.
Symptomatic leaf puckering of a beech tree with BLD. Credit: Ohio State University.
Feature species: hackberry
Credit: Steven Katovich, Bugwood.org
Scientific name: Celtis occidentalis
Native to: east-central U.S. (includes Wisconsin)
Mature Height*: 30’-60’
Spread*: 30’-50’
Form: broadly and irregularly oval, approximately the vase shape of American elm
Growth Rate*: medium to fast; up to 24”-36” per year
Foliage: 2”-5”; lopsided oval with serrated edge
Fall color: yellow-green to yellow