October 26-28 central Oklahoma experienced an early ice storm. Leaves had not fallen from deciduous trees and the ice weight they accumulated was destructive. I took a walk in the Woods this morning, beginning on the NE Tree Loop. There were some branches and trees down, but not too bad. The Tree Loop is in a younger section of forest and the trees there did not accumulate as much destructive ice.
I continued west along the East West trail and encountered more damage. Pecan trees have been damaged the worst; a combination of lots of leaves and relatively weak wood. Marvelous vibrant healthy lichens on the upper canopy fallen branches. Black and red oaks have survived relatively well. Post oaks and bur oaks have had more damage. I will need to walk all the trails with a saw, and clear the paths.
There is water standing (very slowly flowing) at Island Crossing and Elm Bridge and Beaver Dam. East Pond has been refilled to 2.5 ft depth. Norman area and the Woods had 4.5 inches of rain after a very dry autumn and intensifying drought conditions. This storm will give deep-rooted trees a long drink before the winter. More rain expected next week, although dry La Nina conditions are expected to prevail this winter.
Wind and weather have stripped many, or most, or almost all of the leaves from tall elms and other exposed trees, although the Woods' main tree canopy is still full.
This unusual storm stripped and dropped many green leaves. I wonder what effect this might have on the soil fauna, earthworms, collembola spring tails. Will they have a boom with the increase in rich resources? What about fungi?
