Category: Flora

Posted on

Utah’s Conifer Trees

Juniper Leaves & Cones
Copyright © 2009 Linda Kervin

Two-needle Pinion Pine
Copyright © 2009 Linda Kervin

Norway Spruce Cones
Copyright © 2009 Linda Kervin

True Fir Needles
Copyright © 2009 Linda Kervin

Douglas Fir Cones
Copyright © 2009 Linda Kervin

Now that the leaves have fallen from the deciduous trees, we can fully appreciate Utah’s evergreen trees. Conifers are trees that bear their seeds in cones instead of producing flowers and fruits. Utah has five kinds of conifers; all with stiff, needle-like leaves that remain green throughout the winter. Traits of their needles and cones allow you to distinguish between our different types of conifers. Cones can be found still attached or scattered on the ground.

I will start with the junipers. These conifers have scaly, slightly fleshly leaves. Juniper seeds are embedded in a cone that resembles a green berry. The cones are round and densely fleshy. Junipers are widely adaptable here, from arid foothills to rocky alpine slopes.

Our pines collectively span this same elevation range. They are the only conifers that have cylindrical needles bundled in clusters of 2 to 5. The one exception to this is Single Leaf Pinon, which as you might guess has single, round needles. The count of pine needles is often diagnostic of their species. Pinons mix with junipers at low elevations; their oily, wingless seeds are the edible pinon nut. Bristlecone pines, found in southern Utah, can live for over 1000 years.

Spruces are conifers that many recognize from their own yards. The spruce needle leaves a peg on the stem when it drops, which gives their twigs a rough, nubbly surface. Spruces grow in a classic pyramidal shape.

Another montane group is the true firs. Their flat needle attaches smoothly to the twig. True firs have uniquely upright cones that gradually disintegrate without dropping to the ground. Crushed fir needles are wonderfully fragrant, redolent of tangerines or grapefruit. Perhaps that is why true firs are a favorite Christmas tree.

Douglas fir, despite its common name, is in a different genus than the true firs. Its cones are distinctive; having long, three-pointed, papery bracts that project out from amid the cone’s scales. Douglas fir is one of the west’s most valuable timber tress. Like the spruces and firs, it is a montane species.

Conifer trees are a great resource for Utah wildlife, providing food and shelter, especially in the icy cold of winter.

This is Linda Kervin for Bridgerland Audubon Society.

Credits:
Pictures: Copyright © 2009 Linda Kervin
Text: Linda Kervin and Jim Cane

Additional Reading:

Sibley, David Allen. 2009. The Sibley Guide to Trees. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Johnson, Carl M. 1991. Common Native Trees of Utah. Utah State University Extension Service. Logan, UT. 109 p

Kuhns, Michael R., Utah Forest Facts, Conifers for Utah, https://extension.usu.edu/forestry/Reading/Assets/PDFDocs/NR_FF/NRFF015.pdf, USU Extension

Posted on

Defining the Great Basin

Willow Creek North of Wells, NV. Sagebrush at mid-distance. Route of the California Trail used by pioneers.
Willow Creek north of Wells, NV.
Sagebrush at mid-distance.
Route of the California Trail
used by pioneers.

Courtesy & Copyright
Jim Cane, Photographer

Lupines amid sagebrush north of Wells, NV. Ruby Mountains in backgroundLupines amid sagebrush
north of Wells, NV.
Ruby Mountains in background
Courtesy & Copyright
Jim Cane, Photographer

Map delineating the Great basinMap delineating the Great basin
Courtesy Wikimedia, KMusser, Artist
Ref: wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Basin


The Great Basin is aptly named.  Twice the size of Kansas, it stretches from the watersheds of the Columbia and Snake rivers south to that of the Colorado, and from the crests of the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades eastward to the Wasatch front.  The Western explorer John Fremont coined its name in 1845.  The rivers and streams of the region that Fremont had seen all ended in sinks, marshes or lakes. None flowed to the Pacific Ocean.  He confirmed this on meeting Joseph Walker at Mountain Meadows in Utah.  Walker had traveled more of the basin’s western margins, dispelling  rumors of a river traversing the Sierra Nevada.  Precipitation that falls in the Great Basin stays in the Great Basin; water leaves only as vapor.  This is the hydrographic Great Basin.

How else to view the vast region between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada? Geologists speak of the “Basin and Range Province”, so named for its valleys and the towering ranks of north-south mountain ranges that march across the landscapes of Nevada and edges of adjacent states. Unlike the upthrust Rockies and Sierra Nevada, Earth’s crust in the Great Basin appears to be spreading, to be pulling apart. The tilted escarpments of the Wasatch front are the easternmost evidence of this crustal deformation that has built the Basin and Range Province.

Botanists delimit the Great Basin by the hardy flora that clothes this rugged landscape. Great Basin plants tolerate freezing winters and parched summers, and in the valleys, soils of varying salinity.  The so-called Sagebrush Ocean fills many of the basins, as do other shrubs, such as shadscale and greasewood.  Upslope, these give way to juniper woodlands, often mixed with piñon pine.  This floristic Great Basin reaches eastward to central Utah and the Wasatch front, beyond which trees and other plants of the Rockies make their appearance.

The boundaries of all three concepts for the Great Basin — hydrographic, geologic and floristic — largely coincide.  Each recognizes the distinctive attributes of the Great Basin that set it apart from neighboring regions.  The Great Basin is readily recognizable to the trained eye, whether looking at satellite images, river courses, or the native plant communities encountered on a simple walk.

Credits:
Images: Jim Cane
Map: Courtesy Wikimedia, KMusser, Artist, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Text: Jim Cane

Additional Reading

Frémont, John Charles. 1845. Report of the exploring expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the year 1842 and to Oregon and North California in the years 1843 – 44. Printed by order of the Senate of the United States , Gales & Seaton, 693 pages. –available as a Google eBook scanned from the original published book Grayson, Donald K. 1999. The desert’s past : a natural prehistory of the Great Basin. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., 356 pages. –an exceptionally readable, thorough and authoritative overview of the Great Basin, with many maps, photographs and illustrations.https://books.google.com/books?id=W8ICAAAAMAAJ

Intermountain Regional Herbarium Network. searchable plant database representing multiple holdings of herbaria at universities in Utah and Nevada, with maps, images and more https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/projects/index.php?proj=10

McPhee, John. 1981. Basin and Range. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, New York. 215 pages. –the first of the author’s many engaging books about geology. https://www.amazon.com/Basin-Range-John-McPhee/dp/0374516901

Posted on

Nature’s Recyclers

Courtesy and copyright Andrea Liberatore, Stokes Nature Center, https://logannature.org/
Fungi Decomposing Fall
Leaves Outside the
Stokes Nature Center
Courtesy & © 2011 Andrea Liberatore
Stokes Nature Center 

Courtesy and copyright Andrea Liberatore, Stokes Nature Center, https://logannature.org/Redworms Eisenia fetida
from Stokes Nature Center’s
vermicomposting system
Courtesy & © 2011 Andrea Liberatore
Stokes Nature Center

On November 15th, our nation celebrates America Recycles Day. While the day itself tends to focus on human recycling activity, I thought we should also give a nod to nature’s recyclers. Worms, maggots, fungi, beetles, and bacteria – it sounds like a list of leftover Halloween horrors. But in reality, we should be more afraid of what our world would look like without these creepy-crawlies, for these are nature’s recyclers. Scientists call these organisms saprophytes, and as important as their role in life is, they are more likely to evoke a shudder than any feeling of gratitude.

What decomposers actually do is break dead things down into smaller and smaller pieces, until all that is left are the basic molecular components that make up all living things such as nitrogen, phosphorous, carbon, and potassium. Once broken down, this material is then free to be taken up again by plants and animals that use them to live and grow. This cycle of nutrients is vital to life on Earth, and our saprophytic friends make it all possible.

While decomposition would occur even without the help of the decomposers, it would take much, much longer. In some landfills, newspapers have been unearthed that are more than 20 years old, and still quite readable. This is because landfills often create anaerobic environments, where oxygen-loving insects, fungi, and bacteria cannot live and therefore cannot aid decomposition. If without decomposers, a newspaper can last 20 years, what would happen to much larger and hardier items such as tree trunks and roadkill? I shudder to think about it.

Did you know that the U.S. throws more than 33 million tons of food waste into landfills each year? This organic material goes to waste there – taking up valuable space and taking longer than normal break down. So this year, celebrate America Recycles Day by employing some of nature’s recyclers in your yard. Consider starting a compost pile where your fall leaves and food scraps can get broken down into nutrient-rich all-natural fertilizer for next year’s garden.

For composting tips and more information about nature’s recyclers, visit Wild About Utah online at www.wildaboututah.org. Thank you to the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation for the research and development of this Wild About Utah topic. For the Stokes Nature Center and Wild About Utah, this is Andrea Liberatore.

For the Stokes Nature Center and Wild About Utah, this is Andrea Liberatore.

Credits:

Photos: Courtesy & © 2011 Andrea Liberatore, https://logannature.org/
Text:    Andrea Liberatore, Stokes Nature Center, logannature.org

Composting Tips & Information:

Farrell-Poe, K. and Koenig, R. (2010) Backyard Composting in Utah. Utah State University Cooperative Extension. https://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/HG-Compost-01.pdf

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Composting. https://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/composting/index.htm

Additional Reading:

Fogel, R. (2002) Waste Not, Want Not: Fungi as Decomposers. Utah State University Herbarium. https://utahpests.usu.edu/ipm/ornamental-pest-guide/diseases/wood-decay-fungi

Hoff, M. (2009) Young Naturalists: Nature’s Recyclers. Minnesota Conservation Volunteer Newsletter. July-August 2009. https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/publications/volunteer/young_naturalists/natures_recyclers/natures_recyclers.pdf

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2011) Basic Information About Food Waste. https://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/organics/food/fd-basic.htm

Posted on

Elderberries

Elderberry Picking
Mark and his daughter picking Elderberries
Copyright 2013 Mark Larese-Casanova

Hi, this is Mark Larese-Casanova from the Utah Master Naturalist Program at Utah State University Extension.

Utah’s mountains are abundant with berry-producing shrubs that provide a veritable bounty of food for wildlife. As summer winds down and fall cedes to winter, many birds and mammals try to feed as much as possible to store energy for migration, hibernation, or even just surviving the cold.

One of the most abundant berry-producing shrubs in Utah’s moist mountain canyons is elderberry, Continue reading “Elderberries”