View allAll Photos Tagged Pinetrees
Taken a while ago up in Wykeham Forest. These were just turning and the light was illuminating them just so... I did also exaggerate the effect in post production.
I hope you like this image and all comments and criticisms are welcome.
Matt
These organisms are some type of pine tree. They are dispersed and spread by wind and birds. Pines are native to the Northern Hemisphere, but are being introduced in the Southern Hemisphere. They are growing for timber in the south but some are becoming invasive species. The way that they reproduce is pretty neat. It already has both male and female cones on the tree. The males release the pollen and the female cones allow the pollen in. Then after fertilization which takes a year it just depends on how its dispersed. With some it takes a fire to release the seeds from the cone. The number of seeds that it reproduces is anywhere from 4-24 seeds on one cone. I would say that the cones are an adaptation because if a fire were to occur and the tree burns down, the seeds are still protected in the cones and can end up growing again(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine#Distribution). From my observation is one population. It doesn't need mating partners because the trees produce both male and female parts. I would say the distribution is clumped because they are packed together very tightly. Its located in that location because the wind carries it only a short distance because of the cones being so heavy. I believe the area that I saw was a source because it looks to be the dominant species in the area. The offspring end up growing right next to the parent. The only type of immigrants that would come in would be possible bird dispersion, but you couldn't really tell. Population after 5 years would be 10756480. It would be at 2510047662758544046817280 after 20 cycles. This population is not experiencing this type of growth. The reason is that there isn't enough nutrients to support all of those trees. The first experiment that is similiar is by Robert Whittaker and William Niering in 1965. They were looking at the distrubution of woody plants. There conclusion was that the plants were clumped due to the moisture gradient due to the mountains. Like my trees it looks like they are concentrated in hotspots. It tells me that the area that these pines are at is prime location for them to survive since there is nothing else around them except fields. The second study was done by K. Bennett in 1983 that dealt with Scots pines. He was able to count the number of pollen grains to estimate the population size. He stated that as the years went on, the tree began to grow exponentially. In my area this wouldn't be possible because of the limiting nutrition available to the population.
I keep trying! I stop by this tree most every day to see if the eagle is there. There is only one spot where you can see him, and it is on the side of the playground. I keep hoping for a full on shot without the pine needles but no luck yet. 253/365