布林茅尔之树

美丽的青山

“一开始, 布林茅尔的处境对它有利, for it stands on the top and extends down the sides of a fair green hill conspicuous for its beauty,写道:“ 海伦Flexner (1893届)发表在1908年1月号的 布林莫尔校友季刊.

Flexner went on to describe the architectural beauty of the campus—the “harmonious color and line” of its distinguished buildings—and its educational program and “standard of scholarship.”

然而,在, she pays homage as well to the natural beauty of the campus and particularly to the trees of 布林莫尔—the “great forest trees,“老苹果树。, 粗糙的栗子, 还有秋天变成金色的枫树,” and “Japanese cherry trees whose shower of pink blossoms looks so particularly pleasing in the spring time.”

有1个,主校区有298棵大树——超过3棵,000 when the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research and Morris Woods are added into the count.

More than 100 years after Flexner’s time, many of the species she so admired are still here. 当时, 亚洲品种非常珍贵, and many such specimens—and not just the cherry trees—made their way to campus early on. When Dawn DiGiovanni, associate director of facilities for grounds who started her career at the U.S. Forestry Service, first arrived on campus, some of those specimens had her stumped.

“我们试着将新旧事物融合在一起,她说。, “但心态已经改变, 人们想要更多的本地标本. 他们活得更好. We don’t even want to go too far from Pennsylvania to buy them. We’ve found that trees grown in this area survive in this area. They’re adapted to the local climate, soil type, and wildlife.”

DiGiovanni’s first priority is health and maintenance. “My biggest job is to keep the trees as long as I possibly can. I’m constantly walking campus to monitor how they’re doing.“但仍有一些不会成功:恶劣的风暴, 风切变, 腐烂, 疾病也会造成伤害, 并最终杀死, 一个树.

失去一棵树，又重新种上一棵树. “当我们美丽的老菩提树不得不被拆掉的时候, 我们放了一棵大叶子的木兰,迪乔瓦尼说. “We replaced a weeping hemlock over at Taylor recently, 当时公园科学正在翻新, 我们移植了五棵树——一棵黎明红杉, 紫薇, 盖特韦附近还有三棵日本枫树. 我试着尽可能多地拯救树木.”

木网

It may seem a romantic notion—that trees communicate with one another—but it turns out that, 很像马特斯, 他们喜欢聊天.

在过去的几十年中, scientists have identified a complex system that facilitates communication among trees in the form of an underground fungal network that connects them to one another. 它被称为“木万维网”.

更正式的说法是菌根网络, these webs are formed by a system of mycelia (the threadlike, vegetative part of fungi) that sprawls underground and links the roots of plants. For the fungi in this association, the plants provide food (i.e.、碳水化合物). 作为回报, the fungi provide nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen, 帮助树木吸收水分, 增强他们的免疫系统.

更重要的是, these mycorrhizal networks enable trees to network with one another, 分享水分和营养, 也许还会发出干旱的求救信号, 疾病, 或侵扰. Some scientists believe that certain hub trees perform a kind of nurturing role, 特别是对幼树. One study reported that saplings growing in shaded areas received more carbon from donor trees than those with abundant access to sunlight—and hence the ability to photosynthesize.

种植十亿棵树

使用来自1的数据.2 million forest tree plots in more than 70 countries, an international team of scientists recently mapped the Wood Wide Web, and what they found has some serious implications for climate change.

Their research showed that certain types of fungi—those that support carbon stores in the soil—are being replaced by fungi that release carbon into the Earth’s atmosphere.

显著, 碳大户, 称为外生菌根(EM)真菌, 喜欢凉爽的气候, 而它的碳喷涌表亲, 丛枝菌根真菌, 主要分布在热带地区.

This map of the world’s fungal networks reveals that more than 60 percent of the world’s trees are connected by EM fungi—the good guys that lock up carbon. 但随着气温的升高, scientists predict a decline in EM fungi and a consequent flourishing of AM fungi.

While not exactly good news, these results have spurred on reforestation efforts. For one, the UN’s Trillion Tree Campaign has planted, to date, more than 13.6 million trees in a global campaign as a response to climate change.

充满活力的校园

2019年地球周, a Class Year Tree Planting event found members of each current class, 包括麦克布莱德, selecting and planting specimens: cherry trees near the hammocks, 校园中心旁边的海棠, 和拉德诺旁边的木兰.

Rachel Hertzberg, 19岁, 谁帮忙种了高年级的樱桃树, 报告工作, 虽然比预期的要难, was worth the effort: “After all the trees were planted,她在博客中写道。, “we talked about coming back to 布林莫尔 someday and seeing how tall they had grown. One day they will be as tall and strong as the trees along 高级行, 但现在它们还只是小树枝.”

像Hertzberg, DiGiovanni looks to the future: She hopes to continue Earth Week class plantings and to do more with the Morris Woods. “很多人甚至不知道它的存在,她说。, “And the trees have been there for so long—they were there when the Vaux family owned the Russian House—and nobody has touched them.”

与此同时, 她对“生活校园”很感兴趣, a new interactive map that features the most significant trees on campus along with sculpture and benches (as of this writing, still a work in progress; check back for more!). 网上, the map was developed by a team that included DiGiovanni, Kate Fernandez (Alumnae/i Relations and Development), Alicia Peaker(图书馆及资讯科技), and Robin Parks and Christian Zavisca (Communications).

有关其开发的更多信息，请参见 “生活的校园.” 去拜访，去 digitalscholarship.wolaipei.com/livingcampus.