Cottonwood and Balsam Poplar | Geophysical Institute The Klukwan giant holds the national record for black cottonwood diameter Its nearest rival, a tree near Salem, Oregon, does hold the national height record The Klukwan giant belies the belief that trees tend to get smaller the farther north one goes Both balsam poplar and cottonwood have value for fuel wood, pulp and lumber
Northern Tree Habitats - Geophysical Institute Interior Alaskan forests have only six native tree species: white spruce, black spruce, quaking aspen, balsam poplar, larch (tamarack) and paper birch Northern Canadian forests have all of those, plus jack pine, balsam fir and lodgepole pine Since northern Canada and interior Alaska share the same grueling climate and extremes of daylength, why are the Canadian tree species absent from
More on Why Tree Trunks Spiral | Geophysical Institute I eventually found a tree with a spiral lightning mark and it followed the spiral grain exactly One tree, of course, proves nothing "But why should the tree spiral? More speculation here: Foliage tends to be thicker on the south side of the tree because of better sunlight
Feltleaf willows: Alaska’s most abundant tree | Geophysical Institute The most plentiful moose food in the state — and probably Alaska’s most numerous tree — is the feltleaf willow, which was once called the Alaska willow As its name implies, the feltleaf sprouts canoe-shaped green leaves that feel fuzzy on the underside
Tropical Fossils in Alaska | Geophysical Institute A 20-inch fossil palm leaf that once waved over a tropical forest in Alaska 45-60 million years ago The fossil was found in rocks near the Malaspina Glacier Photo from the U S Geological Survey, Dept of the Interior
Burls - Geophysical Institute Burls, spherical woody growths on the trunks of spruce, birch and other trees, are commonly found throughout wooded parts of Alaska
Witches Broom | Geophysical Institute Witches' broom on spruce trees is caused by a rust disease (a kind of fungus disease) The rust lives on the spruce tree throughout the year Each spring, small yellow pustules appear on the new needles of the broom A strong sweet odor, which is easily recognizable, usually accompanies the maturation of these pustules
The secret life of red squirrels | Geophysical Institute Stan Boutin has climbed more than 5,000 spruce trees in the last 30 years He has often returned to the forest floor knowing if a ball of twigs and moss within the tree contained newborn red squirrel pups Over the years, those squirrels have taught Boutin and his colleagues many things, including an apparent ability to predict the future
Visit to an exotic tree plantation in Alaska | Geophysical Institute The two-acre exotic tree plantation is part of a much-larger “boreal arboretum” on the UAF campus, which mostly consists of native spruce, birch, aspen, poplar and willow trees Having borrowed the key from a researcher with UAF’s Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Woodward has invited me to join him inside the chain-link fence
Tree line changes on the Kenai Peninsula | Geophysical Institute The gradual change in tree line is one of many that people have noticed on the Kenai Peninsula in recent years The most obvious is the 1980s-to-1990s Spruce bark beetle invasion, during which the insects killed 30 million mature spruce trees on the Kenai and a wide swath of southern Alaska