Trees with Tim V

Out to the Woods with Tim and R and G this afternoon via the NW Entrance on the Ponds Trail. We walked down to the still flooded Main SW Trail and Tim noticed elms with epicormic sprouting. New green leaves flushing all along the stem in late November with the loss of apical dominance. A sure sign of stress perhaps the last burst before death.. It would be interesting to look for as many trees as possible in the Woods with new flushing November leaves and watch their fate.. How many will be alive in the spring or early summer of 2012? Were these the trees that were attracting scores of hackberry butterflies this late summer/ early fall 2011?

Need to brainstorm with Tim about best ways to mark trails, junctions, distances, directions. How best to map? Need to map many more of the largest trees by GPS.

Maybe ask Heather M how to think about the trees with the epicormic leaf flush. For a given species (slippery elm) is there a characteristic signature of phloem sugars, plant moisture stress, stem volatiles? Maybe something butterflies can detect.. we can test or use to attract.. maybe attract beetles as well as butterflies.. an alteration of 'green leaf volatiles' aldehydes, ketones etc..?

Much of the Main SW Trail has drained and is now just sticky. Some large pools remain along the trail. Remarkably three mosquitoes found Tim.