Trees on Stilts

Trees on Stilts

The wonders of nature are often more than enough to inspire seemingly dedicated engineers like me. The struggle for survival and the strange circumstances that can give a plant an edge are what fascinated my wife and I last weekend. Many trees in one of our favourite mountain areas have truly weird looking root formations - and there are good reasons why.

No alt text provided for this image

How does a tree start to grow in a mountain forest, when the soil is often wet and cold (often snow covered) and there is a dense ground vegetation layer? Many start above that dense ground vegetation layer on a mossy stone or decaying wood and grow roots “on stilts” down to the ground.

No alt text provided for this image

In the woods above Unterwasser and Alt St Johann in the Toggenburg, they have purposefully left old trees stumps in the ground for the last 60 years. These are notched to accelerate the growth of moss and they also leave discs cut from the trunk lying on the ground. It takes about 20 to 40 years before the trunks are sufficiently decayed and mossy for seeds to germinate. It then takes a further 30 years for the saplings to reach 1.3 metres high and grow strong enough to outgrow damage from grazing animals.

No alt text provided for this image

It's wonderful to see the weird and organic shapes of these tree roots as they worm their way down to the ground from off the top of a boulder or tree stump. Most of them have been standing there for decades and can grow to a really decent size despite the altitude and the cold.

No alt text provided for this image

This can lead to clusters of plants crammed into a small space....

No alt text provided for this image

Snow will clear from the tops of big rocks and old tree stumps before it clears from the ground - that will give a clear advantage so long as there is enough moss to provide moisture in the summer.

No alt text provided for this image

Some unfortunately have not got a strong enough root system to resist the strong winds that sometimes rip through the mountains. They finish completely upended, leaving the boulder or decayed trunk exposed to the elements, with all the moss that helped the trees to grow still attached to their root system.

No alt text provided for this image

And what an area for walks! My partner in life and co-writer, Sue, who shies away from publicity and will probably delete this picture when she checks the post. Leave it alone girl - you deserve credit!

No alt text provided for this image

We feel privileged indeed to be living in such a beautiful, healthy place.

No alt text provided for this image

We even found some trees that started life on top of a dry stone wall...

No alt text provided for this image

And another tree with a root system that has grown around rocks...

No alt text provided for this image

More posts from me here https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/willemtoet1/detail/recent-activity/posts/

Gerard Sauer

Innovative and experienced engineer in the Renewable Energy and Automotive industries. Broadcaster and Writer with an encyclopediac knowledge of vehicle technology.

4 年

Hi Willem, you will be pleased to know I am sure, that wood and natural wood composites are going to make a comeback. My BCV project is now back on track to address many of the problems we are facing.

Aayush Shah

Purdue Graduate | Industrial Engineer | Operations, Process & Procurement Optimization

4 年

Really fascinating to see how nature adopts to challenges continuously. As a result engineers can get innovative solutions through biomimetics.

要查看或添加评论,请登录

Willem Toet的更多文章

  • Anonymous Survey of Motorsport Salaries

    Anonymous Survey of Motorsport Salaries

    As part of his fluid jobs initiative, Scott Mansell is looking to survey the salaries of people working in motorsport…

    6 条评论
  • Request for Feedback

    Request for Feedback

    Have you been to my lectures? Would like your comments for my those who have not been to one. Together with Scott…

    19 条评论
  • Bucket list tour disrupted – don’t trust Eversure / CompareBreakdownCover

    Bucket list tour disrupted – don’t trust Eversure / CompareBreakdownCover

    This is the first time I write a public complaint about the behaviour of a company – and I’m not a young person – I’ve…

    6 条评论
  • Wonderful learning weekend

    Wonderful learning weekend

    Formula Student UK is done and dusted. Start preparing for the next one! Best business and project planning training on…

    3 条评论
  • Formula Student Silverstone 20 & 21 July

    Formula Student Silverstone 20 & 21 July

    Fascinating days of entertainment and education available via the Formula Student event at Silverstone this coming…

    4 条评论
  • Summer School Opportunity UK

    Summer School Opportunity UK

    The University of Bolton (Greater Manchester) is offering a number of summer school educational opportunities in…

  • Upside down driving!

    Upside down driving!

    Well, one of my favourite personal projects is going public! We've talked about it and calculated what's possible for…

    23 条评论
  • Why the Bow Tie? & Banned for Life

    Why the Bow Tie? & Banned for Life

    Driver 61 recently released a video about the man that formula 1 banned for life - a former boss of mine, Flavio…

    20 条评论
  • Sauber merge customer services divisions

    Sauber merge customer services divisions

    We've worked together for many years but maintained separate identities. Now the Sauber group of companies have merged…

    9 条评论
  • A life worth celebrating

    A life worth celebrating

    The F1 commentator and gentleman Murray walk passed away recently. What a character he was.

    27 条评论

社区洞察

其他会员也浏览了