Day 1 Observations
-(branch angle: 15%) to the North
-"Tree-eyes" are almost exclustively present on the side of the tree opposite of the sunlight.
-THe branches grow on both sides, but branches on the south(lacking sunlight) side remain twiggy, while banches the sunny side grow large and thick.
-Some twiggy branches on the south side grow in a curved direction towards light.
-Leaves grow almost exclusively on the north side
-"Horror Vacuii"--any gap between leaves is filled by leaves from another plant(compare to rainforest plants)
-Twigs v branches
-Fast growth, fills space in response to the clean slate a flood creates
-Idea: Does mexican devil(Ageratina adenophora)'s growth fill the space where sunlight leaks through the alders?
-Mexican devil acts as a terrestrial version of the alder, many branches sprout from their origin plant and try to absorb sunlight that manages to filter through the alder canopy
South Side of the river: Eyelets consistently about 3" apart, tree with 9" circumfrence had about a 1.5" distance between eyelets.
-Primary branches(primary being at least 4" in circumfrence): 7 out of 7 were facing one direction.
-Secondary branches(less than 4" in circumfrence) about 50% of branches on each side.
-90% of large branches are on the sun-facing side, the other 10% don't appear until about 15-20 ft up.
Note the angles of these branches: generally, they all jut out at about the same angle. In this case, approximately 35 degrees.
In this image,
Day 2: North Side
White alders on the north side follow the same principle of following the sunlight, only reversed: the branches grow south. The canyon wall does open a bit more here, so there are some alder branches that can grow large on the side opposite the river, but in general, the theory still applies.
South Side of the river: Eyelets consistently about 3" apart, tree with 9" circumfrence had about a 1.5" distance between eyelets.
-Primary branches(primary being at least 4" in circumfrence): 7 out of 7 were facing one direction.
-Secondary branches(less than 4" in circumfrence) about 50% of branches on each side.
-90% of large branches are on the sun-facing side, the other 10% don't appear until about 15-20 ft up.
Note the angles of these branches: generally, they all jut out at about the same angle. In this case, approximately 35 degrees.
In this image,
Day 2: North Side
White alders on the north side follow the same principle of following the sunlight, only reversed: the branches grow south. The canyon wall does open a bit more here, so there are some alder branches that can grow large on the side opposite the river, but in general, the theory still applies.
-Mexican Devil seems to grow ina poor, rocky soil where even alder cannot.
-Initial alder observation, seem to be heavily influened by the heights of the canyon walls--where the canyon walls are low or offer sunlight, alders grow straight up & have branches on all sides. When sunlight is poor, however, trees crane and stretch to grasp at the sunlight
-Initial alder observation, seem to be heavily influened by the heights of the canyon walls--where the canyon walls are low or offer sunlight, alders grow straight up & have branches on all sides. When sunlight is poor, however, trees crane and stretch to grasp at the sunlight
-Also notable: when sunlight is plentiful, a few large individuals seem to grow as opposed to many small or medium specimens. In the areas with little light, many densely packed smaller, younger individuals grow in different directions.
Willow Riparian Alders
Here, alders dominate the landscape all along the river, growing in a line all along the exposed riverbank. Many more alders appear here, closer together in an almost unbroken line. They all grow straight up, but the secondary branches all face outward away from the alder grove, towards the sunlight and away from the shade.Mexican devil is uncommon. In one area, 30 alders grew in a 10 ft stretch.
-Alders can grow up to 30 inches a year, and are frequently the first plants to repopulate a river after a flood.
Willow Riparian Alders
Here, alders dominate the landscape all along the river, growing in a line all along the exposed riverbank. Many more alders appear here, closer together in an almost unbroken line. They all grow straight up, but the secondary branches all face outward away from the alder grove, towards the sunlight and away from the shade.Mexican devil is uncommon. In one area, 30 alders grew in a 10 ft stretch.
-Alders can grow up to 30 inches a year, and are frequently the first plants to repopulate a river after a flood.
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