Feb 23, 2007  The Hidden Forest: The Biography of an Ecosystem is a great read on the ecology of a Pacific Northwest old growth forest. How does nitrogen enter the system? One of the main contributors is Lobaria oregana, aka Oregon Lungwort, a lichen that hangs from the branches in the canopy.  Oh, the book is chock full of goodies like that, and I wish I'd taken some notes.  It also gives a rundown of the evolution of American forest science, and a peek at some of the obstacles faced, and methods used, by scientists who want to study and understand forest ecology.  And it goes down easy -- it was my bedtime reading, which generally has to be something that doesn't require undue concentration.  It inspired me to take a drive down the beautiful Columbia Gorge to visit an old growth forest.  I picked the most easily accessible one, according to A Walking Guide to Oregon's Ancient Forest , because my back has restricted my activities considerably in the past year. As an old growth forest, I found this Wauna Viewpoint Trail disappointing - Forest Park, just a few miles from my house, seems to look the part just as much as this did. But it was a lovely outing, anyway, with a view of the Gorge at the top.  Some other time, I must attempt the Herman Creek Ancient Cedar Grove, which involves twelve miles walking, but has a large stand of thousand-year-old western red-cedars.


Nov 26, 2006  My friend Linnea, whose family we visited in Bellevue last month, mentioned to me that "geological forces" were causing Olympia, the capital of Washington, to sink.  I hunted around a bit to fill in just a little bit of detail on that.

Well, the basic global tectonics story is that the Juan de Fuca Plate, which is in the Pacific off the shore of Washington, is sliding under the North American Plate, and the friction of that movement is causing the North American plate to fold.  Try sliding a piece of cardboard under a flat beadsheet, and you'll see the general effect.  You have your upwardly moving ridges - the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges - and your downwardly moving troughs - the Puget Sound, at the south end of which is Olympia, destined someday to become part of the Sound.