EPOD - a service of USRA
The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.
The Fraser Fir - The Comeback Kid in the Smoky Mountains
August 17, 2021
DSC02830_1
Photographer: Patti Weeks & Boni Boswell
Summary Author: Patti Weeks
The Fraser Fir (Abies fraseri) tree, native to the southern
Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee, found
sanctuary in high, cool elevations as the land warmed following our
last Ice Age. Due to the inadvertent and unfortunate
introduction of a small, wing-less insect called the balsam woolly
adelgid ( Adelges piceae) to North America from Europe in the early
1900s, fir trees in Canada and the northeastern U.S. were gradually
being killed by the destructive insect. This invasive pest eventually
spread to the dense southern Appalachian spruce-fir forests. The
infection of the susceptible Fraser Fir was first detected in the late
1950s, and the trees were nearly decimated by the 1980s, with the vast
majority of adult trees succumbing to the disease. Land managers have
found this small noxious insect, with its multi-phase life cycle,
extremely difficult to control. They began to think they were seeing
the demise of the Fraser Fir, which has no natural defense against
foreign invaders. However, after more than three decades of managing
and monitoring the high Appalachian forests in the Smoky Mountains,
foresters are seeing a comeback of the Fraser Fir! They are discovering
that young healthy firs, as seen in the top photo, are more resistant
to the woolly adelgid than mature trees. IMG_6298
There are still many scenes in the high Appalachians that reveal the
pencil-like deceased mature firs, poking up above the dense
green forest line—as seen in the second photo of the pathway to a
stunning 360° view from the observation tower atop the 6,643-foot
(2,025 m) high Clingman’s Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park. Nevertheless, the Fraser Fir’s resurgence brings hope,
not only for foresters, conservationists and visitors to the park, but
also for the Christmas tree industry farmers, who produce fifty million
Christmas trees annually in North Carolina. Researchers are also trying
to produce firs that are genetically resistant to the woolly
adelgid, so healthy trees can be reintroduced to natural stands.
Unfortunately, the new threat to the Fraser Fir now is climate
change, which is adding stress to the already vulnerable species.
Photo details: Top—SONY DSC-HX400V: 135.23 mm.; f/5.6; 1/250s.; ISO
125; Bottom— iPhone 7: 3.99mm; f/1.8; 1/1153s; ISO 20.
* Clingmans Dome, North Carolina Coordinates: 35.5626, -83.4983
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The Fraser Fir - The Comeback Kid in the Smoky Mountains
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Cottonwood Trees Beautiful Colors of the Hollyhock
More...
Plant Links
* Discover Life
* Tree Encyclopedia
* What are Phytoplankton?
* Encyclopedia of Life - What is a Plant?
* USDA Plants Database
* University of Texas Native Plant Database
* Plants in Motion
* What Tree is It?
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Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.
https://epod.usra.edu
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