Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 64
T
Alder Thickets
HOUGH THEY FALL under the U.S. Forest
Service definition of trees (growing 13 feet or
taller, with a trunk diameter of at least 3 inches),
alders are more like shrubs. Two kinds grow in Pennsylvania:
smooth alder, in the southern two-thirds of the state, and speckled
alder, more common in the north. Both look much alike and can
be found growing in damp soil along streams, lake edges and bogs.
What can you do in an alder thicket? Take along your binoculars
and watch birds. The alder flycatcher gets its name from its favored
habitat. Yellow-bellied flycatchers, yellow warblers, red-winged
blackbirds, and swamp sparrows are other birds that nest and feed in
alder stands. Woodcock often probe their bills into the mucky soil beneath the
shrubs, searching for earthworms, while the branches crowded overhead protect
them from hawks and owls.
Most alders do not get much taller than 10 feet, although a few reach 20 to
25 feet. Their trunks - stems, really - rarely exceed 4 inches in diameter. It's
common to have 10 or 20 stems per clump. Alder roots radiate outward, then
send up other stems - new shrubs, in essence - several feet away from the parent
plant, letting alders spread. The roots work symbiotically with microorganisms to
release nitrogen into bog soil, which helps other plants grow in an environment
where that element might otherwise be scarce.
Beavers eat alder bark and buds and use the remaining wood to build their
lodges and dams. Although it's not a favorite food for them, deer sometimes
browse on alder. Cottontails and snowshoe hares nibble on the plants, and ruffed
grouse dine on alder buds and catkins. In the fall, goldfinches, chickadees, redpolls
and pine siskins eat the small seeds that ripen in the catkins.
Alders are probably more important to wildlife as cover than for food. Deer
skulk amid the dense growth; I have found alder stems much scarred by rutting
bucks that rub and slash their antlers against the springy trunks. And grouse and
woodcock hunters often find their quarry in such patches - although connecting
on a shot in an alder thicket can be challenging.
Textbooks on trees may describe alders as having "no commercial value"
because their spindly, twisty stems aren't straight or thick enough to yield
marketable timber. But don't sell alders short: those shrubby trees offer wildlife
resources in abundance.
Chuck Fergus is the author of Trees of Pennsylvania, published by Stackpole Books.
64
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Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014
Contents
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - Intro
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - Cover1
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - Cover2
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - Contents
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 2
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 3
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 4
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 5
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 6
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 7
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 8
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 9
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 10
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 11
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 12
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 13
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 14
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 15
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 16
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 17
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 18
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 19
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 20
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 21
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 22
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 23
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 24
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 25
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 26
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 27
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 28
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 29
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 30
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 31
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 32
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 33
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 34
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 35
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 36
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 37
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 38
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 39
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 40
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 41
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 42
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 43
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 44
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 45
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 46
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 47
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 48
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 49
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 50
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 51
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 52
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 53
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 54
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 55
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 56
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 57
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 58
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 59
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 60
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 61
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 62
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 63
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 64
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 64a
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - 64b
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - Cover3
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2014 - Cover4
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