A Windthrown Pine

Elfie, I like your comment about leaving them in the woods for critters. We had a fairly large tree down in our woods and someone came to the door and wanted to cut it up. I told that man that IF we had wanted it cut we would have already done that. ; ) Obviiously the wood cutter had different values or ideas than we did.

Wow

Out in the woods it's very good to leave them for critters to live in and on!! Thanks so very much David!!

(^_^;)

Yep, it's the standard forestry term for it. Another favorite of mine is "snag" (I posted a "snag" puzzle last year) - a standing tree that is completely dead. Snags are a very valuable part of the forest ecology, too. (Before my current job I spent a couple years as an amateur forester.)

Well, a new term to me but my husband was familiar with it. He said it was in some soils descriptions and what their capability is, and he has heard the term from foresters he has worked with. ; ) Just hadn't shared it with me.

Thank you, David. We call those "tip outs" in MI. And, yes the rise and dip in the land stays that way for a long time. Fun to read the terms from another area of the country. It does change the topography and habits.

We had many windthrown trees in Hurricane Sandy, here in town mostly pines. The windthrown tree comes up with the roots and the soil as seen here. Long after the tree has been removed or decayed, there will be a bump up and down in the soil that shows where there had been a windthrow.

In the woods, windthrows are big moments of opportunity - a sudden opening in the canopy layer, lots of fresh organic material to be recycled by insects and fungi, an exposed soil layer - plus disruption, from lost nests of birds and small mammals, to changes in woodland paths for deer and other animals.