Posts tagged ‘arboriculture’
On a recent trip to a woodland in southern England I came across a beech tree that had been rent asunder by winter gales. The tree had a large fork and one of its stems had broken causing the entire trunk to split open, all the way to the ground. What caught my eye from afar was the shocking vibrancy of the freshly exposed wood inside the stem. It was almost an iridescent orange and contrasted beautifully with the bright green smooth bark.
- Beech tree rent asunder
On closer inspection, it became clear that damage some distance further up along the limb had allowed rot to set in, causing a structural weakness in the forked stem. Unusually though, the stem had then split halfway through and its weight had then pulled the entire forked stem away from the main stem, rather than simply splitting near to the original weakness.
- Beech tree rent asunder – wider view
Discussing this with the woodland owner I learnt that they have no intention to manage the tree as it is not accessible by the general public and therefore of low risk. I’m not an arboriculturist but I would be interested if any readers have some experience of this type of split. I’ve no idea either how a forester/arboriculturist would go about dealing with this if it was necessary. The amount of tension present would present a tremendous (sorry couldn’t resist it) hazard, and the partially hung limb a further complication.
Gabriel Hemery
Like this:
I’m a forester. That’s a simple description of my profession without much room for misunderstanding – or so you’d think. Therein lies an etymological dilemma for me and my fellow tree professionals.
As a forester I practice forestry, which is the management of forests. In the public mind the term ‘forester’ is often instantly related to ‘chopping down trees’, even though forestry includes the creation of forests and their ecological management and protection, landscape design, environmental protection, wildlife management, and recreation provision for people. In my mind forestry is the union between trees and mankind (read more) but the fact that this is often (wrongly) seen exclusively as an economic relationship, weakens its relevance to my professional work.
I also refer to myself a forest scientist as this rather aptly describes my research activities regarding their growth, ecology and management, although it’s far from perfect as I also focus on trees as well as forests. The term forester does not normally include an element of research or study per se.
I am also a silviculturist as I practice silviculture, or the culture of forests (from the Latin silva for forests, woods and trees). If I were to focus more on individual trees I may prefer to call myself an arboriculturist or arborist, as I would be practicing arboriculture. So silviculturists and arboriculturists are closely related to agriculturists or horticulturists.
I also have an interest in tree biology so I could be an ecologist, or more accurately a botanist, or more precisely a dendrologist as I study trees or woody plants or practice dendrology (from the Greek dendron meaning tree). Or would xylologist be a better title?
All this ological discussion leaves me rather unsatisfied however, as none of the above quite fit the bill for me. My work relates to individual trees, as well as woods and forests, and my studies extend from tree science to the forest ecosystem. I rather like the idea of being a silvologist and of practicing silvology.
Gabriel Hemery
Silvologist
I took part in the inaugural Ride for Research today; cycling 25 miles around London’s streets, visiting three schools along the way to plant trees with children and to raise money for tree research.
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We visited three London schools en route: two primary schools at Harrow and Islington, and a secondary school at Hampstead. At each school we were welcomed by the local Mayor and enthusiastic children. They learnt a little from us about Acute Oak Decline: the disease that we were raising money to support much needed research into (read more). We planted two trees at each school: either bird cherry or rowan, and an oak.
This was the inaugural Ride for Research that was supported by the UK and Ireland Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). The inspiration came from the ISA’s Tour des Trees in the USA, which has seen over 4 million dollars raised for tree research since it was started in 1991.
Organisers of the UK’s Ride for Research hope that the 2011 inaugural ride will be the start of an annual event in aid of tree research. I had a great time and I am already looking forward to next year’s Ride for Research. A huge thank you to organiser Russell Ball, all the corporate sponsors, my fellow riders, and last but not least to the dozens of people who sponsored me.
Gabriel Hemery
