• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

greenGrowing tomorrow’s future today. horizonsSpring 2017 A newsletter from the Center for Agroforestry in Volume 21 • Number 2 conjunction with the Forest and Woodland Association of Missouri Editors: http://agebb.missouri.edu/agforest/index.htm Mike Gold, Hank Stelzer and Megan Tyminski White Oak, Whiskey, Promising Pawpaw and Wine Zhen Cai and Michael Gold, MU Center for Agroforestry Hank Stelzer, MU Extension - School of Natural Resources Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is the only temperate From scattered woodlots across northern Missouri zone species in the tropical Custard Apple family and throughout the deep forests of the Ozarks, white (Annonaceae ). Some of its southern cousins include oak (Quercus alba) stave logs are crafted into some the tropical fruits Cherimoya (Annona cherimola), 1.5 million-plus barrels annually that then find Soursop (Annona muricata) and Custard Apple their way into the rack houses of some of America (Annona reticulata). Pawpaw is a common and Scotland’s premier distilleries, and Napa Valley understory plant in hardwood forests of the Midwest wineries. and Mid-South eastward to the Mid-Atlantic States. In addition to Q. alba, coopers (barrel makers) Pawpaw fruits have been consumed by Native can also use chinkapin (Q. muehlenbergii) and Americans as a nutritious, seasonal food for millennia, swamp white oak (Q. bicolor) to make what is known and have also been used medicinally. American as tight cooperage (barrels) that do not leak. The consumers are fascinated by pawpaws but have very special anatomical structures these species possess little opportunity to purchase or taste them. that makes their barrels leak-proof are tyloses. These When grown as a grafted “cultivar” in full sunlight, gum-like substances plug the early-wood pores of the it bears a large edible fruit with large seeds. The mature heartwood and prevent the barrels from leaking. fruit is yellow or brown when ripe and has a bright The process of making a barrel begins where all yellow or orange custard-like creamy flesh. Its flavor is other wood products begin; in the forest. White oak “tropical-like”, described as a combination of banana, stave logs represent a small amount of the timber mango and pineapple and varies by cultivar. harvested in any one timber sale. It is generally less Pawpaw are higher in protein than bananas, than ten percent on average in oak-hickory stands; apples or oranges and are a good source of calcium, the remainder of the harvested timber goes to grade anti-oxidants, and vitamin C. Pawpaw protein lumber, flooring, contains all essential amino acids. The fatty acid railroad ties, pallets profile is preferable to that of banana, containing 68% and blocking. monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. Pawpaw Suitable white oak is eaten fresh and can be processed into pulp and stave logs range from used fresh or frozen in products such as ice-cream, 8 feet to 20 feet in yogurt, beverages, muffins and pies. The downside to length, at least 11 marketing pawpaw is that the fruit is highly perishable, inches in diameter as with a short “perfect ripeness window” of only a measured inside the couple of days at room temperature. bark at the small end, continued on page 9 and are fairly free of defects such as knots. IN THIS ISSUE Forest Health 2, 3 Only veneer logs Forest Management 4 command higher Species Spotlight 5 prices than stave logs. Forest Products 6, 7 continued on page 6 Urban Forestry 8 Agroforestry 9 2 FOREST HEALTH The Grand River Basin Project: Hope for the Forests along Lower Locust Creek Ken McCarty, Missouri State Parks Pershing State Park, in southern Linn County, duck clubs and Wetland Reserve Program project sites. is a wetland jewel possessing remnants of every What’s being done? Missouri’s Departments of riverine natural community type once native to north Natural Resources and Conservation have teamed Missouri… a rare combination of 2,400 acres native up with the Kansas City District, US Army Corps bottomland forest, 600 acres of cordgrass prairie, of Engineers in a major Grand River Basin Project. intermixed by shrub swamp, slough, marsh and oxbow Over the next two years, a deep examination of the lakes through which an un-fettered Locust Creek issues behind this ecosystem degradation and stream meanders. problems in the lower Grand will produce choices However, in recent years, large, park-wide swaths for engineering solutions, with the report being the of these mature, bottomland hardwood trees are dead essential precursor to authorization and funding of or dying. Forest understories that once modelled the construction projects to resolve some of the underlying historic richness of bottomland woodlands in grasses, causes. sedges and wildflowers are barren mudflats or are Those involved in the Lower Grand’s lands and covered in reed canary grass and disturbance-tolerant resources welcome this cooperative initiative towards plants. The water is gone, and boardwalk panels from solving the natural resource and farmland loss, stream the 1990’s describing the birds and amphibians in a bank erosion, infrastructure threats, flooding and natural slough now face a mud-bottomed, silver maple log jams that continue to challenge this area. For the thicket. Seasonal shows of perennial wildflowers and natural wetlands and forests in Pershing State Park, the sedges that once defined the park’s wet prairies are now hope remains for Locust Creek to resume its meanders known only from photographs. As a result, the area through a recovering belt of bottomland hardwood was dropped from Missouri’s registry of natural areas. forest and cordgrass prairie with sloughs, marshes and These impacts are the result of changes on the shrub swamps no longer stretched beyond their native landscape that began decades earlier. Meandering resiliency by trapped backwaters, logjams, or feet- streams were straightened and channelized to improve thick layers of new mud and silt. drainage. Riparian corridors were narrowed to provide more acreage for agriculture. More water flowed over The narrowing and elimination of riparian shorter distances with more energy resulting in severe forest buffers to provide erosion. Sediment and large woody debris swept down more acreage for the system during high flow events. At the north end of agriculture, and the the park, US 36 crosses the floodplain creating a pinch straightening of streams in point when sediment and woody debris blocks Locust the Locust Creek watershed have caused increased Creek creating avulsions that cut across the floodplain, flooding duration and flooding low-lying areas and depositing huge amounts magnitude resulting in the of sediment. conversion of hard-mast Pershing State Park is just one example of the pin oak forest (above) to magnitude of this regional problem. The park is just lower quality silver maple and willow stands with a one parcel in the sprawling 52,000-acre juncture of highly undesirable reed river floodplains where the Locust and East Yellow canary grass understory creeks join the Grand River in north Missouri. Those (below). unusually broad river bottoms encompass 22,000 acres of natural and managed wetlands at Pershing State Park, Fountain Grove Conservation Area and Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge, plus multiple private FOREST HEALTH FOREST HEALTH 3 SWAT Team of Wasps Sent To Help Save Our Ash Trees Sarah Phipps, Missouri Department of Agriculture Tiny wasps swarm inside a clear plastic cup eager for release. A few drops of honey placed on the netting that enclosed the cups have provisioned them along their FedEx journey. These wasps are elite marksmen (…or in this case “markswomen”) that have been brought to our state with a specialized role: seek out and find a certain tree-invading pest, the emerald ash borer (EAB). In the early 2000’s, when EAB was decimating millions of ash trees in southeastern Michigan, it seemed like a distant worry for Missouri. Flash forward to today where the green menace has set up shop in 34 Missouri counties and the City of St. Louis. Controlling and managing for an invasive pest can be a challenging task, especially when the insect is fully established in an area prior to detection. To help counter the impact, natural enemies of EAB from the emerald ash Biocontrol release of parasitoid wasps in Wayne County (March 27, borer’s native range in Asia have been introduced into the 2012). Photo credit: Collin Wamsley United States to serve as a biological control. The three biocontrol agents are a team of parasitoid T. planipennisi, has successfully established in Wayne wasps whose offspring consume the eggs and larvae of County. EAB. These stingless wasps are harmless to humans and These little wasps are not a silver bullet for controlling tiny; the largest species is the size of a mosquito. The egg EAB, but they serve as a tool to help in the long-term parasitoid, Oobius agrili, locates an EAB egg in the bark management strategy to lessen the impact of EAB. crevices. The wasp then will insert a single egg into the With the prospect of losing many more of our ash trees EAB egg, parasitizing them before given the opportunity to EAB, it is good to have as many tools as possible. to hatch. The two larval parasitoids are Tetrastichus However, educating the public is the most important planipennisi and Spathius agrili. Females walk along strategy since humans are the ones most responsible for the bark to detect vibrations from feeding EAB larvae. the spread of EAB. Then they lay multiple eggs on or in the EAB larvae and People can help prevent pests from moving and consume the EAB larvae in seven to ten days. prolong the introduction of EAB to areas of the state Since 2012, the Missouri Department of Agriculture not yet infested by following some simple practices (MDA), in cooperation with the U.S.

Load more

  12

Copy Link