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Cosmic Tree of Life 2.0, 546 million pixels, 32,400 x 16,872 x 300 dpi; a work in progress begun in 2002
Ferragallo used QFX digital tools drawing inspiration from science, astronomy and cosmology to present a cosmic art for a new age. |
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Pine-Oak-Heath-Sandplain Forest at Camp Johnson -- Forests like this are common south of Vermont, but restricted to a few locations within the state (see http://gigapan.org/gigapans/34970/ for another location). The distinguishing feature is the presence of pitch pine (Pinus rigida) which is near the northern limit of its range here. This forest type occurs only on sandy plains which were created when sediment laden rivers built huge deltas into a post-glacial lake or estuary about 13,400 years ago. This site is 100 meters above sea level and about 8 km (5 mi) upstream from the mouth of the Winooski River near Burlington, VT. See http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/camp-johnson-vt.htm
More information follows in a comment. |
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Hemlock Forest in the Salisbury Town Forest -- Eastern hemlocks are responsible for more than 75% of both tree density and canopy cover in this stand, and hardwoods scattered among the hemlocks include three species of oak. The dark forest floor supports little more than mosses. Many of the trees here are about 200 years old, making it the oldest stand in the Salisbury Town Forest. A few trees are 300 years old, including two hemlocks in another GigaPan (http://gigapan.org/gigapans/35738/) and possibly the white oak near the center of this scene. Logging has occurred here (cut stumps are present in the stand) but it has been less thorough than most places in Salisbury and Vermont.
This stand occupies a southeast-facing slope with thin till-derived soils over Cheshire quartzite. Some botanical and technical information is in a comment. |
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Northern Hardwood Forest – Sugar maple and American beech are common in this stand and provide the yellow glow. Beech trees have reproduced by root sprouts far from the main trunks and form a dense sapling thicket. These saplings and some young sugar maples have held onto their yellowed leaves and brighten this scene after most canopy leaves have fallen.
The soil parent material at this site is silty deltaic bottomset beds deposited 13,600 years ago under 25 m of lake water near the mouth of a proglacial river. The abundant stones that were gathered to build the wall suggest a close proximity to the glacial ice that was constraining the spread of the ice-contact delta. Although most of the tree species here can live 300 to 400 years, few if any in this stand are more than 100 years old. The near side of the stone wall was an agricultural field until World War II. The far side has been a forest since about World War I, but was heavily logged in the last few decades. Some botanical and technical information is in a comment. |
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Mesic Red Oak-Northern Hardwood Forest, Salisbury, Vermont -- This well-drained kame terrace in the Salisbury Town Forest supports a dry example of this forest type with three oak species. The forest community is distinguished by the absence of sugar maple, an important component of hardwood forests on less droughty sites. It includes red oak, white oak, and chestnut oak, and I think at least one black oak (I have yet to get my hands on a leaf or acorn from it).
Some botanical and technical information is in a comment. |
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This 360 degree GigaPan from a trail in Schenley Park includes the vine covered bank uphill, and the mid canopy of the forest downhill. This early morning shot was taken with fixed exposure (1/3 sec, f8) and automatic focus. The forest canopy includes red and white oak, Norway maple, sycamore, and tulip tree. |
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Dry Oak Forest in the Salisbury Town Forest. Thin, till-derived soil on this gentle south-facing slope supports a stunted forest of white, chestnut, and red oak. These species grow more than twice as tall elsewhere on deeper or wetter soils. Shrubs, herbs, and grasses take advantage of the ample sunlight passing through the sparse canopy. The similar size of the oaks suggests they are similar in age, and that they colonized the site after the previous vegetation was removed by logging or fire about a century ago. There are lots of seedlings of all three oak species, and if deer don't eat them, this forest type could persist here as the first generation trees mature and die.
More information is in a comment. |
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Limestone Bluff Cedar-Pine Forest at Lone Rock Point, Vermont – This forest type, dominated by northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), is common in Vermont only where calcareous cliffs overlook Lake Champlain. At Lone Rock Point, thin soil among the outcrops of Dunham dolostone supports a stunted cedar forest with eastern hemlock and several other trees.
Harvesting of the rot-resistant cedar trunks and other trees has disturbed this site, but 300 year old trees are present elsewhere on the lake shore, and 1000 year old cedars grow on cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment in Ontario, Canada. The location of this site is depicted in the following GigaPan: http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=30397 More information follows in a comment . |
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Mesic Red Oak-Northern Hardwood Forest on a kame terrace in Salisbury, Vermont -- Large diameter red and white oaks in this small stand are the most valuable timber in the 130 acre Salisbury Town Forest. Many trees could provide veneer-quality logs, making some worth a few hundred dollars apiece. Although the canopy is dominated by oaks, the subcanopy trees are mostly red maple, and virtually no oak seedlings or saplings are present. The large oaks established at the turn of the 20th century when wild turkey and white-tailed deer were uncommon. Today, healthy populations of these animals eat acorns or browse oak seedlings, preventing oak regeneration. Harvesting the oaks could result in conversion of the stand to less merchantable red maple or beech forest.
More information is in a comment. |
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Limestone Bluff Cedar-Pine Forest at Lone Rock Point, Vermont – Dunham dolostone (Cambrian, light color) has been thrust to the west as much as 80 km (50 miles) and rests here on top of much younger Iberville shale (Ordovician, black). The contrasting appearance of the two rock types, and the ca. 50 million year difference in their ages, contribute to the fame of this exposure. Three commercial tour boats slowed for a look while I was there (there is a better exposure around the point to the right).
The calcareous dolostone supports a forest of northern white cedar. Common on rocky headlands like this, the forest type is rare elsewhere in Vermont. A snapshot of this GigaPan shows the location of another GigaPan (http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=30375) showing the interior of the bluff forest. Some technical notes are in a comment. |