I love the Smoky Mountains. I love hiking and camping and "roughing" it. I especially love it because I always go with my biology-brained, eagle-scout trained future husband. He's helped me to identify native trees to TN by leaf, bark and berry. He's also pointed out to me to a non-native insect that is invading the Smoky Mountain's hemlock trees. We've spotted it at Charlie's Bunion, Newfound Gap, Clingman's Dome AND Mount Mitchell. The culprit:
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
and they are not cool.
Hemlock trees are one of the most common trees in the Smoky Mountains. Here's a picture:
Tsuga canadensis
They take up about 800 acres of the park (Whoa!) Hemlock trees are a key player in the eco-system of the Smokies. They help keep mountain streams cool for trout and other water creatures and are the home base for many different species.
The woolly adelgids spread through the park by birds and breeze and attach to a hemlock's trunk and branches by sticking to the sap. There, they feed on the tree's nutrients and eventually the tree's needles will fall off due to malnutrition and the tree will die :(
You can spot woolly adelgid on trees by looking at the branches. They look like small cotton balls (don't be fooled!)
Adelges tsugae
Next time you're on a hike, keep your eyes peeled! The hemlocks may not be around much longer if we can't find a way to rid of these pests!
Here's a link to the GSM National Park Service (my resource):
http://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/nature/hemlock-woolly-adelgid.htm
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woolly%20adelgid
Wow! Thank you for sharing this. I, too, love all things hiking and camping. This winter I tackled the Chimney Tops Trail in the Smokies (beautiful!), and I noticed that the higher in elevation, the more dead or dying trees we could see. I wondered about why that was, and if they were specific trees that were dying or a variety of trees on the tops of mountains.
ReplyDeleteYou have rekindled my curiosity! I wonder if what I saw were all hemlock trees, and if so, why the higher elevations are the most effected.
Rebecca- so interesting! Now that I think of it, the woolly adelgids I've seen have been at higher elevation too. Maybe it has to do with the temperature? I remember learning at the nature center at Mt. Mitchell... for every thousand feet you increase, the temperature drops 3 degrees.
DeleteAli, this is SO not cool. I ask/suggest that you post pictures (devastating as they may be) to your blog about what a forest looks like after these creatures decimate a forest.
ReplyDeleteThat said, wonderfully important and sciency topic!
Thanks! I will expand! I have taken pictures myself, maybe I can hunt them down.
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