Lee Klinger PhD
@suddenoaklife.bsky.social
Forest ecologist with DNR Esselen Tribe Big Sur. Author of "Forged by Fire: The Cultural Tending of Trees and Forests in Big Sur and Beyond" (2024) #FireEcology #Mosses #Lichens #Peatlands #GaiaTheory, #FireMimicry #TEK #Ents www.suddenoaklife.org
Damn, I'm gonna miss this lively character!
July 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Damn, I'm gonna miss this lively character!
Peatlands emit acids that mobilize iron (Fe), which is rather immobile at neutral pHs. Thus, ironpans often occur in #Soils beneath #PeatBogs. But some Fe escapes into streams in chelated forms & flows to the oceans. If oceans are deficient in Fe, then do #Peatlands help fertilize marine ecosystems?
June 4, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Peatlands emit acids that mobilize iron (Fe), which is rather immobile at neutral pHs. Thus, ironpans often occur in #Soils beneath #PeatBogs. But some Fe escapes into streams in chelated forms & flows to the oceans. If oceans are deficient in Fe, then do #Peatlands help fertilize marine ecosystems?
We've all seen #BonsaiTrees, but who has seen a bonsai forest? Here are a images of forests in SE AK with bonsai trees growing in moss that are centuries old and represent a late stage in the succession of forest to peatland (paludification). This can only occur in places where fire is rare. 🌎🍁🌲🔥🌳
May 29, 2025 at 12:38 AM
We've all seen #BonsaiTrees, but who has seen a bonsai forest? Here are a images of forests in SE AK with bonsai trees growing in moss that are centuries old and represent a late stage in the succession of forest to peatland (paludification). This can only occur in places where fire is rare. 🌎🍁🌲🔥🌳
May 26, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Yesterday I spent the day removing all the moss from the trunks of ancient oak trees. Any guesses why? #Mosses #OakRestoration #FireMimicry 🌎🍁🌲🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶🌱🦅🌰
May 25, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Yesterday I spent the day removing all the moss from the trunks of ancient oak trees. Any guesses why? #Mosses #OakRestoration #FireMimicry 🌎🍁🌲🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶🌱🦅🌰
I concocted a new potion for the oaks yesterday ... results coming next year. #OakHealth #FireMimicry #SuddenOakLife 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🌱🪶🌰
May 17, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I concocted a new potion for the oaks yesterday ... results coming next year. #OakHealth #FireMimicry #SuddenOakLife 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🌱🪶🌰
I've been doing oak 'restoration' for more than 20 years, improving natural systems and increasing carbon stocks. And it's about to get a whole lot better!
May 10, 2025 at 3:13 AM
I've been doing oak 'restoration' for more than 20 years, improving natural systems and increasing carbon stocks. And it's about to get a whole lot better!
Rocko (Star) on the job, every friggin' day! #FireMimicry #OakRestoration #SuddenOakLife #GooBoi 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶🌱🌰
May 10, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Rocko (Star) on the job, every friggin' day! #FireMimicry #OakRestoration #SuddenOakLife #GooBoi 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶🌱🌰
Folks been sending me messages, "tons of acorns this year." Indeed, this is a "mast" year when oaks over large regions synchronize their production of acorns. How (or why) they do this is still unknown, but the communication has to be via the air, as tree roots are not that contiguous. 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🌰🌱🦅
April 30, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Folks been sending me messages, "tons of acorns this year." Indeed, this is a "mast" year when oaks over large regions synchronize their production of acorns. How (or why) they do this is still unknown, but the communication has to be via the air, as tree roots are not that contiguous. 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🌰🌱🦅
Yes, soil pH tends to be lower (more acidic) in the declining stands of trees. Competition is involved to a degree, but not among the trees. Below is a photo of the potted red spruce trees (shown above) at the start of the experiment. Note that mosses were not present then and trees appear healthy.
April 26, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Yes, soil pH tends to be lower (more acidic) in the declining stands of trees. Competition is involved to a degree, but not among the trees. Below is a photo of the potted red spruce trees (shown above) at the start of the experiment. Note that mosses were not present then and trees appear healthy.
Happy #EarthDay to all you fine folks! Here's a reason to remain hopeful, tending the forest one tree at a time. #FireMimicry #SuddenOakLife 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶🌱🌰
April 22, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Happy #EarthDay to all you fine folks! Here's a reason to remain hopeful, tending the forest one tree at a time. #FireMimicry #SuddenOakLife 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶🌱🌰
Growing up in Ohio we frequently visited my Uncle Huck and family to play and to work on the farm. Up until the 1970s I remember the pastures behind their farmhouse barren of trees (L). The pastures were soon abandoned and by 2014 had become dense forests (R). Field to forest in ~40 yrs! 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶🌱🌰
April 21, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Growing up in Ohio we frequently visited my Uncle Huck and family to play and to work on the farm. Up until the 1970s I remember the pastures behind their farmhouse barren of trees (L). The pastures were soon abandoned and by 2014 had become dense forests (R). Field to forest in ~40 yrs! 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶🌱🌰
Here are a few more examples showing the same phenomenon. First two are from Southeast Alaska, third is from the Colorado Front Range, fourth is from Whiteface Mountain NY #ForestDecline #WaveDieback 🌎🍁🌳🌐
April 20, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Here are a few more examples showing the same phenomenon. First two are from Southeast Alaska, third is from the Colorado Front Range, fourth is from Whiteface Mountain NY #ForestDecline #WaveDieback 🌎🍁🌳🌐
There is a pattern/process I often observe in areas of #ForestDecline that, for whatever reasons, has gone unnoticed by most ecologists. Each of the photos below illustrate this pattern/process at various scales. 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶🌱🌰
April 20, 2025 at 6:14 PM
There is a pattern/process I often observe in areas of #ForestDecline that, for whatever reasons, has gone unnoticed by most ecologists. Each of the photos below illustrate this pattern/process at various scales. 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶🌱🌰
Today's forest restoration work in the misty heights of Big Sur revealed several culturally modified (pollarded) "ancestor" oaks, with grinding stones beneath. 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶 #FireMimicry #SuddenOakLife
April 19, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Today's forest restoration work in the misty heights of Big Sur revealed several culturally modified (pollarded) "ancestor" oaks, with grinding stones beneath. 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶 #FireMimicry #SuddenOakLife
4/ Most surgical scars show noticeable healing after just one year and some scars have completely healed in just 5 years. Details are in my recent book (see profile). www.suddenoaklife.org
April 17, 2025 at 2:23 AM
4/ Most surgical scars show noticeable healing after just one year and some scars have completely healed in just 5 years. Details are in my recent book (see profile). www.suddenoaklife.org
3/ Canker infections can often be identified by a dark ooze emanating from the trunk. The infections are then removed with suitable cutting tools, followed by cauterization and poulticing of the wound.
April 17, 2025 at 2:22 AM
3/ Canker infections can often be identified by a dark ooze emanating from the trunk. The infections are then removed with suitable cutting tools, followed by cauterization and poulticing of the wound.
2/ It’s become apparent that surgery, along with other #FireMimicry treatments, can successfully remove minor to moderate stem canker infections, leaving no signs of diseased tissue in or around the surgical wound.
April 17, 2025 at 2:21 AM
2/ It’s become apparent that surgery, along with other #FireMimicry treatments, can successfully remove minor to moderate stem canker infections, leaving no signs of diseased tissue in or around the surgical wound.
🧵 Here’s a new tool to help remedy oak trees infected with stem canker diseases. 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🌱🌰
April 17, 2025 at 2:19 AM
🧵 Here’s a new tool to help remedy oak trees infected with stem canker diseases. 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🌱🌰
The traditional limewashing of tree trunks also provides protection from beetles that spread disease. #Limewash, along with other #FireMimicry measures, clearly reverses oak mortality here in CA. www.suddenoaklife.org 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🌰🌱🍊
April 15, 2025 at 10:08 PM
The traditional limewashing of tree trunks also provides protection from beetles that spread disease. #Limewash, along with other #FireMimicry measures, clearly reverses oak mortality here in CA. www.suddenoaklife.org 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🌰🌱🍊
The #FireMimicry protocol I've been following involves the application of #Limewash to the trunks of trees. But why haven't tree experts and scientists examined or provided evidence for or against the benefits of limewash, which is still widely used in many cultures around the world? 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🌰🌱
April 15, 2025 at 8:38 PM
The #FireMimicry protocol I've been following involves the application of #Limewash to the trunks of trees. But why haven't tree experts and scientists examined or provided evidence for or against the benefits of limewash, which is still widely used in many cultures around the world? 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🌰🌱
Coast redwoods are some of the hardiest trees in CA, but are still experiencing dieback in many areas. So why wait until redwoods become sick to give them care? I've been proactively treating healthy redwoods with #FireMimicry and am seeing these redwoods get even healthier. #SaveTheRedwoods 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌰🌱
April 15, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Coast redwoods are some of the hardiest trees in CA, but are still experiencing dieback in many areas. So why wait until redwoods become sick to give them care? I've been proactively treating healthy redwoods with #FireMimicry and am seeing these redwoods get even healthier. #SaveTheRedwoods 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌰🌱
Ecologists still debate whether forests in SE Alaska tend to transition to muskegs (peat bogs), or do muskegs tend to give way to forests. IMO, without disturbance, it is the former. Here is one of my data points, repeat photographs showing 84 years of change in a forest-muskeg ecosystem. 🌎🌲🍁🌳🌰
April 14, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Ecologists still debate whether forests in SE Alaska tend to transition to muskegs (peat bogs), or do muskegs tend to give way to forests. IMO, without disturbance, it is the former. Here is one of my data points, repeat photographs showing 84 years of change in a forest-muskeg ecosystem. 🌎🌲🍁🌳🌰
Serious question. Is there a problem with these old-growth trees, or is this nature doing what she does best? #HemlockForest #GiantSequoias #FireSuppression 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶🌱🌰
March 31, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Serious question. Is there a problem with these old-growth trees, or is this nature doing what she does best? #HemlockForest #GiantSequoias #FireSuppression 🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🧪🌐🪶🌱🌰
My last #FireScarFriday post ignited a fruitful debate around 🔥-scarred redwoods and sequoias being culturally modified by certain Tribes to create sacred spaces, an alternative hypothesis to their "natural" formation. Here is the "Four Directions" tree considered sacred by the Esselen Tribe.🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🪶
March 29, 2025 at 2:42 AM
My last #FireScarFriday post ignited a fruitful debate around 🔥-scarred redwoods and sequoias being culturally modified by certain Tribes to create sacred spaces, an alternative hypothesis to their "natural" formation. Here is the "Four Directions" tree considered sacred by the Esselen Tribe.🌎🌲🍁🔥🌳🪶