#boreal climates

[delicatelysublimeforester]

Restoring Forests to Fight Climate Change

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#adaptation #air #air cooling #anthropogenic warming #biophysical processes #boreal climates #boreal forests #carbon capture #carbon dioxide #CARBON EMISSIONS #carbon sequestration #CARBON SINK #carbon storage #climate #Climate Adaptation #climate change #climate policy #climate protection #Climate Resilience #climate stability #climate strategies #conservation #cooling #deforestation #eastern United States #Ecosystem #ecosystem conservation #ecosystem health #ecosystem recovery #Ecosystem Restoration

[canisalbus]

was just told that canada is basically discount finland so uh. how is it over there in og finland ig

also have you tried garlic stuffed olives they are SO GOOD

I tend to think it's other way around, Finland is like baby Canada. A fun-size Canada. Can we go to Canada? We have Canada at home.

#I love garlic but I don't like olives #answered #anonymous #nature/climate/flora/fauna resemble each other because they're both mostly subarctic/boreal/taiga biomes #I've always thought it was neat that we have reindeer and you have caribou (same species different continent)

[georgesboulevard]

Years after the fire / Des années après le feu

#quebec #canada #nature #natur #photographer #naturaleza #lifesgood #naturephotography #naturfotografie #landscape #forest fire #boreal forest #forest #climate science

[cgandrews3]

#biodiversity #boreal forest #candice gaukel andrews #climate change #co2 emissions #conifers #environment #evolution #global warming #greenhouse gases #natural habitat adventures #nathab #nature #permafrost #science #science and environment #scientific research #wild #wilderness #wildfires #wildlife #world wildlife fund #wwf #yosemite national park

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Grist:

From 2007 to 2017, land-based ecosystems like the vast boreal forests of Canada and the Amazon rainforest removed roughly a third of anthropogenic carbon emissions from the atmosphere. According to a slate of new scientific research published this week in Nature, however, the threats that climate change poses to these terrestrial carbon sinks are greater than previously understood.

A new study from a research team at the University of Michigan found that even a relatively small temperature increase of 1.6 degrees Celsius associated with climate change can have drastic effects on the dominant tree species in North American boreal forests, including reduced growth and increased mortality.

This vast and nearly entirely intact boreal forest biome, stretching across the Canadian landmass and some of the northern U.S., below tundra and above more temperate forest, consists primarily of coniferous spruce, pine, and fir species. The research team found that modest warming increased juvenile mortality in all nine tree species common in boreal forests, and that it also severely reduced growth in northern conifer species such as balsam fir, white spruce, and white pine.

While the study also found that increased warming boosted the growth of some broadleaf hardwood species like certain oaks and maples, which are more common in the temperate south, these trees are probably too sparse to take the place of disappearing conifers. The ecosystem is likely to enter an entirely “new state,” according to the study.

“That new state is, at best, likely to be a more impoverished version of our current forest,” Reich told the university news office. “At worst, it could include high levels of invasive woody shrubs, which are already common at the temperate-boreal border and are moving north quickly.”

#boreal forests #climate change

[reasonsforhope]

"A century of gradual reforestation across the American East and Southeast has kept the region cooler than it otherwise would have become, a new study shows.

The pioneering study of progress shows how the last 25 years of accelerated reforestation around the world might significantly pay off in the second half of the 21st century.

Using a variety of calculative methods and estimations based on satellite and temperature data from weather stations, the authors determined that forests in the eastern United States cool the land surface by 1.8 – 3.6°F annually compared to nearby grasslands and croplands, with the strongest effect seen in summer, when cooling amounts to 3.6 – 9°F.

The younger the forest, the more this cooling effect was detected, with forest trees between 20 and 40 years old offering the coolest temperatures underneath.

“The reforestation has been remarkable and we have shown this has translated into the surrounding air temperature,” Mallory Barnes, an environmental scientist at Indiana University who led the research, told The Guardian.

“Moving forward, we need to think about tree planting not just as a way to absorb carbon dioxide but also the cooling effects in adapting for climate change, to help cities be resilient against these very hot temperatures.”

The cooling of the land surface affected the air near ground level as well, with a stepwise reduction in heat linked to reductions in near-surface air temps.

“Analyses of historical land cover and air temperature trends showed that the cooling benefits of reforestation extend across the landscape,” the authors write. “Locations surrounded by reforestation were up to 1.8°F cooler than neighboring locations that did not undergo land cover change, and areas dominated by regrowing forests were associated with cooling temperature trends in much of the Eastern United States.”

By the 1930s, forest cover loss in the eastern states like the Carolinas and Mississippi had stopped, as the descendants of European settlers moved in greater and greater numbers into cities and marginal agricultural land was abandoned.

The Civilian Conservation Corps undertook large replanting efforts of forests that had been cleared, and this is believed to be what is causing the lower average temperatures observed in the study data.

However, the authors note that other causes, like more sophisticated crop irrigation and increases in airborne pollutants that block incoming sunlight, may have also contributed to the lowering of temperatures over time. They also note that tree planting might not always produce this effect, such as in the boreal zone where increases in trees are linked with increases in humidity that way raise average temperatures."

-via Good News Network, February 20, 2024

#trees #forests #reforestation #tree planting #global warming #climate change #climate crisis #american south #the south #eastern us #southern usa #conservation #meteorology #global temperature #conservation news #climate news #environment #hope #good news #hope posting #climate action #climate science #climate catastrophe #climate hope

[lizardsaredinosaurs]

Wolverine (gulo gulo)

Arctic boreal forests worldwide

Status: Least Concern (global), Threatened in the USA as of 11/29/23

Threats: climate change (loss of snowpack), habitat fragmentation

now I’ll take this teddy bear. rumor says he eats a lot, though…

The wolverine finally got long-fought-for protection under the Endangered Species Act the other day, so I drew him a congrats card. These fuzzy mustelids are named gulo, meaning glutton.

I’m almost finished with drawing the endangered residents of my home state, Michigan. The Wolverine State has infamously had no wolverines for over a century, though one wanderer was found in 2004.

Once I finish the last few Michigan species, I hope to start making state-themed posters. Wisconsin will probably be next as it shares a lot of species with its neighbor.

#wolverine #conservation #endangered species #artists on tumblr #gulo gulo #mammal #mustelid #usa #canada #north america #europe

[onenicebugperday]

Hey! Do you have anything fun to share about earwigs or perhaps scorpionflies? Have a nice day<3

Did you know!!! There's a family of scorpionflies called Boreidae, aka snow scorpionflies. They are flightless, live in boreal climates in the Northern Hemisphere, and are primarily active in the winter when snow is still on the ground. They heat their body not through ambient temperature, but by absorbing radiation produced by the sun and the electromagnetic fields of the earth. So they can be cozy even when the snow and ground around them are frozen.

If you ever happen to see one, don't pick it up! The sudden change in temperature from your hand can kill them.

Let's admire one:

Cute :) Mid-winter Boreus (Boreus brumalis) by berkshirenaturalist

#dragongirltail #insects #bugs #scorpionfly #snow scorpionfly #Boreidae #Mecoptera #mid winter boreus #the more you know

[tsunderswapofficial]

Hello! I don't know if this was answered before, but since areas were changed, I wanted to ask—do the other areas from original undertale still exist, just elsewhere in the underground, inaccessible to the player? Or is it a very straightforward full swap

The other areas from Undertale (i.e. Ruins, Snowdin, Waterfall, and Hotland) don't exist -- we've re-imagined each of them based on swapping the seasons the original areas represented!

Undertale's locations were pretty straightforward with what seasons they represented (including via the word search "puzzle"), being:

Ruins (Fall)

Snowdin (Winter)

Waterfall (Spring)

Hotland (Summer)

New Home (N/A)

With TS!Underswap, we swapped the areas' climates around and re-imagined them as brand new locations. These include:

Ruined Home (Spring) -- much more vibrant palette and flora

Starlight Isles (Summer) -- we took a "mysterious nighttime summer forest" direction with this, less direct representation of "summer" than Hotland

Crystal Springs (Fall) -- more autumn-esque palette, damp caves and dripping water

Boreal Bluffs (Winter) -- freezing oceans and snowy peaks, more direct representation of "winter" (akin to Hotland with summer)

The City of New (N/A) -- we aim to build on the "overpopulated" aspect here

With Starlight Isles, we ended up having a bit of a dilemma. Undertale's fire and snow elemental monsters had areas specifically tailored to them -- Hotland and Snowdin, respectively -- whereas here, Starlight Isles was a less direct representation of summer. Because of this, we created "Sunnedout Gorge" as the home for fire elemental monsters! While it can't be accessed (we would if the project wasn't already so ambitious), it can be seen from afar and heard about from monsters!

Crystal Springs is still being worked on, but we plan to have three sections. First is the Crystal Mines, where you take a detour through mining sites, cramped caves, and wider expanses. Next is the main Crystal Springs section, which consists of various old monuments, small settlements, tourist spots, and Royal Navy outposts. The final one is spoilers!

I know I went a bit overboard when answering your question, haha, but I hope this helps!

- Beeth

#dev asks

[thezombieprostitute]

okay, but that nekid man in the boat is totally Ari vibes

The photo in question.

I definitely get what you mean. Ari does like to wear as few clothes as possible, at least in hotter climates.

But I'm gonna go a different route: Werewolf Steve.

He's isolated himself in the Northwoods boreal forest, specifically the Minnesota/Ontario region. He can't always control himself when he shifts and doesn't want to hurt anyone. He's learned to survive on his own pretty well and only goes around people when he absolutely has to.

Or when a nature photographer visits his neck of the woods.

You'd heard about wolves in the region but no one had gotten actual proof. In the interest of conservation you headed out to try to get some solid evidence that would allow for more protections in the forest. It wasn't your first time spending a couple weeks in the woods. You were a pro at making camp and weathering storms. But you couldn't have been prepared for Steve's reaction to your scent on the wind.

The first hint he picked up had him on alert. A stranger in his forest wasn't necessarily bad, but it wasn't always good. His wolf form had better stealth so he shifted and headed out to track you down and evaluate from there. As your scent became stronger he found his control loosening. You smelled so damn delectable and he was getting hungry for something other than food.

He spotted you putting cameras on some of the trees (he'd have to figure out how to get rid of those later) and kept back to watch you work. He couldn't exactly shift back to human form. He'd be naked and he doubted your first impression of a naked man in the woods would be positive. But as he snuck closer your scent nearly overwhelmed him and he started growling.

Startled at the sound you turn around quickly and see a giant wolf staring at you. You quickly duck your eyes down. Don't look predators in the eye, you remember. You slowly start to back away but misstep and fall on your back, head hitting a rock and knocking you out.

Steve can't just leave you here. A blow to the head indicates a need for medical treatment. But he can't carry you as a wolf. Hell, he probably shouldn't carry you at all since he probably needs to keep your neck and back as still as possible. He makes a choice and races back to his home to grab his little rowboat and convert it to a makeshift stretcher. He's in such a rush to get back to you he forgets to put on clothes.

The river is faster to get you back to his home so he gently lays you on the stretcher, taking care not to move your neck much. Having you in his arms feels nicer than anything he's touched before. If he didn't have to worry about your health he'd let himself enjoy your body heat for a bit.

As he's rowing you slowly wake up and are greeted to the sight of a well muscled, hairy, naked man.

#zombie asks #werewolf!steve rogers #werewolf!steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x reader

[darktapufifi]

5566 — Planet Ourea

Classification: Terrestrial Group - Tectonic Class - EuGaian - Paludial Gaian - Bathy pelagic

[See Resources for definitions/explanations, the post I got them from did some amazing work.]

This planet is located outside of the normal solar system, and its current location has been lost to time.

Terrain & Ecosystem: Boreal zone

The planet is almost entirely comprised of mountainous regions, the mountains made completely of rock, assumed at one point in history to have been the tectonic plates of the planet, but the truth has been lost to time. Between the walls of mountains there lies valleys, abundantly filled with life. Many of the valleys are filled with taiga forests and freshwater lakes, however there are some deciduous forests scattered amongst the coniferous taiga forests all over the planet amongst mountains. The mountains however only take up around half of the planet, the other half is an abundant and deep ocean, with some manmade sea stack island, as some of the more aquatic or recluse species and individuals refused to move on land or to live in the mountains.

Social Climate: Democracy

many of the areas inside the openings in the mountains lack any land to begin with, which is why they've probably adapted a way for sea life to get up to said cities, like a water elevator or smthin, or like a water proof teleportation pad

The planet adapted to the mountainous environments by building homes and cities along the mountainsides, where all walks of life lived from the sky to the land and sea. They built systems to get up and down the mountains, and even to get into the ocean from one point to another with ease, allowing ocean stacks to visit the mainland when needed. Due to the abundant resources and knowledge on the planet however, it became a supply point and rest stop, the economy boosted by the visitors coming and going from the planet. It was visited often enough that the space riders had an unofficial station located on the planet for any business they needed to conduct. Strict laws were set in place so the planet was not over harvested for its natural resources, and those laws were passed down and improved upon over thousands of years until they could have easily been considered sacred to the inhabitants of the planet, the punishment of violation often ending in exile or death, though everyone always had a vote in the matter, and all opinions were heard out. Many markets had currency exchange areas to allow those from other worlds to be able to purchase until there was a standardized currency declared and used widespread. Merchants and merchandise were subjected to laws to ensure regulation standards were followed when it came to the buying and selling of goods, but it was also to keep track on the resources heading out so they could abide by the harvesting regulations. They had a bustling economy and a diverse population up till the end.

Native race/species: Anthropoeidís

Also known as Beast Folk in layman's terms, the Anthropoeidís species is a group of highly intelligent organisms, akin to humans or critters, that originate from the planets oldest living species of animals, and evolved over thousands of years. The history of each different animal is passed down its species line to what was current day before the destruction of the planet.

Status: Destroyed - Necro Gaian

Annihilated by the Prototype. The cult laid siege to the planet, captured any inhabitants possible, then destroyed the planet. First flooded it with red smoke, then completely destroyed into rubble. Disrupted the ecosystem and killed all life.

TLDR: Planet core got pumped so full of smoke that it imploded.

Appearance & Map:

[See Resources for the site used to make the map.]

Space Riders AU by @onyxonline

~{ Resources }~

Planet classification —

Map making —

#space riders au #DarkTapuFifiArt #DarkTapuFifiWriting #SillyBilly #smiling critters #digital art #artists on tumblr #autodesk sketchbook #inkarnate

[willtheweaver]

A writer’s guide to forests: From the poles to the tropics, part 1

Writers, aspiring writers, and all others who happen upon this, I give you all a big thank you. For those of you that have been following this guide, or have done independent research, I’m sure that you now have a grasp of what makes up a forest, and how one can weave into your story. Now I’d like to get into specific forest types. We’ll be going into detail, learning about each specific region, from the extreme limits, to the equator. So, let’s get into it, shall we?

Boreal forest (the Taiga)

The northernmost forest, it forms a circle around the pole.

Location- at or just below the Arctic Circle in North America and Eurasia, extending as far south as the Amur river basin and the Great Lakes region.

Climate- Polar and Subpolar, with conditions tending towards being wet year round. A day can be as long as 16-20 hours in summer and a short as 3 hours in winter. Winter temperatures fall well below freezing, and fallen snow can linger well into the summer months.

Plant life- Mostly conifers, with spruce, pine, and fir dominating. Aspen and birch mixed in, with oaks, larch, and maples in the southernmost regions. Lichens and moss cling to trees. Shrubs and dwarf willow can be found even beyond the tree line. Trees tend to be small as the growing season can be as short as 3 months.

Animal life- Sparse. Conifer needles are unpalatable to many species of herbivores. Deer such as moose and woodland caribou are among the few that live here year round. Bears and wolves can also found,but generally the animals that live here are small. Voles, lemmings, and hare are preyed upon by foxes, lynx, and various weasels, the largest of which is the wolverine. Many birds live here for part or all of the year, with owls being the main predators. Winter can be especially quiet as many animals either migrate or hibernate.

How the forest affects the story- Any society will have to endure winters that are 7-9 months long. Do people stay in one place, or are they nomadic? Is there some form of limited agricultural or are they hunter-gatherers? Are there any domestic species that aid them, or do your characters do all the labor? How do the seasons affect movement? Areas frozen in the winter can turn to marshland or even rivers in the summer. What kind of structures do your characters live in? They may be temporary or permanent, able to keep one warm in the winter, and can be built out of turf, wood, fur, or snow. Are the beliefs of your characters in any way ,shape, or form influenced by the world around them? How would you best describe all this to anyone not familiar with the environment and its people(s)?

#writing #creative writing #writing guide #writing inspiration #writing prompts #writer on tumblr #writeblr

[argyrocratie]

“In the mainstream conversation around climate change, the most optimistic proposal suggests achieving carbon neutral economies by 2050, which supposedly could keep the temperature from rising more than 2°C. What changes could we expect to see in that most optimistic scenario?

The millions of yearly deaths discussed above would increase as clean water becomes scarcer, droughts and extreme weather events multiply, and desertification spreads. Somewhere around 25 percent of species could go extinct.20 To name just one of the many precious ecosystems that will suffer collapse, 99 percent of coral reefs will die off, leading to the loss of 25 percent of marine species and the livelihoods of 500 million people.21

It will be a world rocked by extreme, deadly heat waves breaking all previous records. The land area subjected to extreme summer heat will quadruple.22 By 2050, the land that 150 million people live on will be reclaimed by the sea, and the land that 300 million people live on will be below the level of annual coastal floods, destroying coastal cities around the world.23 Further rises in sea level would probably be locked in over the following centuries.

This is by no means a rosy picture. Nonetheless, governments, NGOs, and scientific institutions around the world are banking on this scenario as an acceptable level of collateral damage. It is no wonder that the breathless chorus of mainstream voices cheerleading the optimistic goal of going “carbon neutral by 2050” rarely discuss the extreme suffering and devastation that actually accompany their chosen timeline. City governments around the world run web pages touting their “Smart City” plans for public transportation, ride shares, and green energy. Think tanks and NGOs try to whip up enthusiasm for the few politicians who have actually committed to the goal. And barely any of them mention what that rosy scenario means for the planet and its people.

Yet it’s even worse than that. There is no guarantee that going carbon neutral  by 2050 will actually function as the meager containment wall it is being sold as. Scientific predictions relating to climate have consistently underestimated the intensity and timeline of projected changes.24 To name just one example, a summer heatwave in Alaska in 2019 led to a massive salmon die-off. The science director for a local watershed non-profit spoke about a climate model they had prepared just three years earlier, that included moderate and pessimistic scenarios. “2019 exceeded the value we expected for the worst-case scenario in 2069,” she told the media.25

Runaway warming might be caused by a number of feedback loops that are already reaching their tipping point. When the IPCC first introduced the concept of climate tipping points two decades ago, they believed that no such tipping point would be triggered shy of 5°C of warming. Now they recognize that many tipping points can be triggered with just one or two degrees of warming, and there is in fact evidence that some have already begun.26 These include the collapse of ice sheets, which would substantially decrease the portion of the earth’s surface that reflects solar radiation back into space. As the polar regions warm at an accelerated rate, arctic permafrost is beginning to thaw. This has the potential to release a huge amount of methane, a greenhouse gas roughly thirty times more potent than carbon dioxide. Boreal forests in Siberia and North America are also falling victim to warming through more frequent forest fires and insect plagues. The massive tree and soil die-off means the release of more CO2.

The Amazon rainforest, currently home to one in ten species on the planet and absorbing 600 million metric tons of carbon a year,27 is in danger of turning into a giant savanna, or even a desert. Droughts caused by warming, together with deforestation for commercial agriculture, work together to take their toll. The estimate is that when the Amazon loses between 20 and 40 percent of its forest cover, the entire ecosystem will collapse.28

Warming in the oceans is causing the slowdown of Atlantic currents that are vital to the transfer of heat and nutrients that form the basis of marine ecosystems, as well as much of the planet’s weather. This could exacerbate droughts in Africa’s Sahel region and in the Amazon, and would even disrupt the East Asian monsoon, which means the collapse of more habitats, and more suffering for humans and other forms of life.29

The implication is that even if we stop all greenhouse gas emissions today, there may be natural processes under way that force a shift to a new dynamic equilibrium, a “hothouse” planet unlike anything nearly all species alive today have evolved to survive.

What might that look like? A 4.5°C rise in temperature could mean 50 percent of species would go extinct, and that’s only in a short-term analysis.30 By the end of the century, 1 billion people would be displaced and hundreds of millions would fall victim to famine. Fifty-five percent of the world’s human population would suffer more than 20 days of lethal heat a year; it’s more than a hundred days a year in the middle latitudes. Between scorching conditions and the collapse of insect populations, crop yields could decrease by a fifth or more.31 It’s no wonder that even the World Bank says that 4°C of warming might be “beyond adaptation” for human civilization.32 The hot period could easily last 200,000 years.33

As we shall see, the experts cannot solve this problem, and they have already wasted valuable decades. The subtext to the official conversation belies a staggering apathy. We will not be the ones to die. All those who disappear, human and otherwise, are an acceptable loss. We will come out on top.

For many people—especially among policy makers and experts—there is a truth to that mindset, at least for now. The millions of human deaths caused by the ecological crisis every year are not shared equally. Most of them occur in the Global South

However, while the semantic distinction between Global North and Global South is useful, many of the same processes occur in both places; the world is not as divided as those on top want to believe. For example, though the 60,000 people killed on average every year by extreme weather events mostly live in the Global South, so-called wealthy countries are not immune. The 2003 heat wave in Europe, for example, led to 70,000 excess deaths. Needless to say, few of them were living in the houses of the wealthy, with their high ceilings and air conditioning. And while 92 percent of pollution-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, 800,000 people die every year from air pollution in Europe and 155,000 die every year in the US.34 Still, even these deaths are unevenly distributed. Not many rich people live near industrial parks and toxic waste dumps.

In settler states like the US, Canada, Australia, and Argentina, class is largely inscribed by the historical legacy of colonialism, with the descendants of enslaved Africans and Indigenous peoples subjected to conditions that the global distribution of wealth and power usually reserves for the Global South. When Hurricane Katrina descended on New Orleans in 2005, killing 1,800 people, anyone paying attention saw that the way infrastructure was built in poor and Black neighborhoods left people vulnerable, whereas infrastructure in wealthy white neighborhoods was designed to protect people. And contrary to the spontaneous initiatives of mutual aid that constituted the primary life saver, with neighbors helping neighbors survive the storm, and ex-Black Panthers and anarchists setting up the first on-site clinic,35 government responses focused on shooting neighbors trying to take clean water or diapers from supermarkets, and then making sure that only middle-class and wealthy residents could return to the city, “gentrification by God.” As Neil Smith wrote in the aftermath of that storm, “there is no such thing as a natural disaster.”36 The disaster was produced and directed by economic and political structures.

Those who currently hold power in our society, those who have failed us tragically, do not have our interests at heart, nor those of the planet. And in fact, our interests and the interests of the earth are one and the same. We do not know how disastrous these next decades will be. But there is one certainty that can give us hope and courage: there is not a single scenario in which taking action, in defense of ourselves, in defense of one another, in defense of all the interconnected life on this planet, will not make things better.”

- Peter Gelderloos, “ The Solutions are Already Here”

#global warming #climate change #peter gelderloos

[cgandrews3]

#alpine #arctic #arctic amplification #biodiversity #biodiversity loss #birds #boreal forest #candice gaukel andrews #caribou #climate change #climate refugees #conservation #ecosystems #environment #forests #global warming #grasslands #greenhouse gases #moose #natural habitat adventures #nathab #nature #north #north america #great plains #permafrost #rising temperatures #science #scientific research #tundra

[cyber-therian]

as a fox do you have any specific climates/biomes you like?/nf I like cold climates personally and i really like Taigas/boreal forests but temperate forests are alright/lh

:3

i adore the boreal forest biomes (i live in one) and generally the climates of northern Canada (so cold) and Eastern/Western Coasts of Canada (humid, rainy) too

i have extreme heat sensitivity so the warm parts of any climate are awful for me for the most part. however i also have a tropical jungle hearthome that contradicts that

#asks open #send asks #my asks #send me asks #answered asks #asks #hearthome #heart home #otherkin #therian #alterhuman #therianthropy #canine therian #canine kin #caninekin

[sagehaubitze]

The road to Clingmans Dome is closed seasonally (for the winter months), so we weren't able to visit when we were in the area in February. Not the case this time though.

I was much more fascinated with the unique flora to the area than the views, to be completely honest. The highest elevations around the Smokies are spruce-fir forest, predominantly red spruce and Fraser fir, the latter of which is endangered and is being destroyed by the invasive balsam woolly adelgid. These are considered coniferous rainforests, and the biodiversity is incredibly rich. Ice age climates pushed boreal species much further south than their usual range, and a lot of them persisted in these higher elevations. A neat current example, which I did not know until I saw an absolute shit ton of them, are dark-eyed juncos. They appear in the backyard here in north AL to overwinter, and spend their summers far north in Canada and up into the arctic. They live year-round through the peaks of the Appalachians though! They were a friendly surprise.

Conservation efforts for the Fraser fir and other at-risk flora are making progress at slowing the damage, but the sheer amount of dead snags hurts to look at. Some of them harbored some pretty incredible moss and lichen growth though.

Hemlocks are also being effected by the hemlock woolly adelgid, which is a problem we're dealing with in north AL as well. I believe the land trust just had a meeting about it recently. Within our lifetime though, we may no longer have eastern hemlock here.

#photography #my photography #nature #Clingmans Dome #coniferous rainforest #forest #autumn #fall #red spruce #fraser fir