Thursday 4 pm, Hutch 316

How can you determine the age of a tree, and thus its “value” (economically, historically, or ecologically)? You might undertake the laborious process of taking a core and counting rings. But, more typically this is achieved by measuring the diameter of the tree and referencing a chart compiled with usual ages for the given species at that diameter. This week we will be reading about the compiling of this data and its uses for understanding past land use history and ecological dynamics.

Bowles, M.L., and M.D. Jones. 2008. Chronological change in old-growth forests of the Chicago region. Report to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Chicago Wilderness Society. The Morton Arboreum, Lisle, IL.

Jones, T., Bowles, M., and M. Jones. 2006. Telling a tree’s age. Chicago Wilderness Magazine.