Ecology questions

[WyrdMystic]

Hi, Does anyone know what kinds of fruit bearing trees could survive a changing climate in a gallery forest stemming from a mountain range? The climate would change from mild summers to cold winters, ground would be extremely furtile due to rock flour being brought with the seasons melt.

 

[Steerpike]

WyrdMystic:

I'm pretty sure there are avocado trees that can handle cold winters, with temperatures well below freezing, so I suppose that's one option.

 

[ThinkerX]

When I was a kid on the homestead, we had a crabapple tree in the backyard. This being alaska, which is basically a giant temperate forest spread over hills, mountains, and swamp.

We did get a bunch of crabapples off that tree - sour little golfball sized things, but apples all the same. It stopped producing about the time I moved out.

 

[Saigonnus]

There are certain types of Apple (norland) that do fairly well in cold weather. As do Pears (though it will take some time after initial planting to bear fruit which is not a problem if it's an established forest) Choke cherries are bitter, but good for making Jam as well as blackberries and other wild berries; which range from Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

Also, Asparagus grows wild in places like Idaho, Washington near the banks of streams; (typically found in late spring) possible for more food sources for your tired adventurers stuck in a sub-temperate zone.

 

[brokethepoint]

In the North East US we have apples, peaches, pears, cherries. You can also have blueberries, yes I know a bush. Nut trees also do well in that climate too.

You can also use some of the lesser known like the Paw Paw.

 

[Butterfly]

Onions would do well... but they're not trees.

Gooseberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, cranberries, also like colder climates.

Found this though for fruit trees suitable for NW Scotland.

Fruit trees for North West Scotland - fruit trees for sale

Though I'd imagine your fruit-growers would need to take good care of their trees during the autumn/winter period anyway. Pruning, clipping, clearing dead leaves from ground etc.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Fruit trees that survive frosts include apples and stone fruit - so that's your apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines etc. They actually really like a good winter frost. Citrus is a lottery, and avo's don't do so well, at least, not here in Rotorua. If you don't have a heavy ground frost at any stage some of the tropicals will make it. I have some grapefruit, fijoas, mandarins, plums, limes, lemons and we have a few light frosts throughout winter.

But don't forget it's not just temperature that matters. There's humidity / rainfall, as well as hours of sunlight each day, soil condition, and exposure to wind.

As for your snow melt making the ground fertile, I'm not so sure that's right. Snow melt tends to wash good soils away from the higher altitudes down to the warmer flatter valleys where the water flows far more slowly and floods into the plains. That's the reason the Nile was probably the birthplace of civilization. The soil was absolutely loaded with nutrients from higher up, and the gentle incline at near sea level allowed the river to flood regularly.

Also if there's an established forest up there, I'm thinking pines etc, then those trees are busy absorbing all the minerals that they can from the soil, and not leaving a lot behind. About eight years ago when I moved into my current house I had a pine tree in the front yard chopped down because it was old and diseased. All around its stump and root system even today, I can't grow anything more then grass, and that's after the soil's been fed.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[WyrdMystic]

Hi,

As for your snow melt making the ground fertile, I'm not so sure that's right. Snow melt tends to wash good soils away from the higher altitudes down to the warmer flatter valleys where the water flows far more slowly and floods into the plains. That's the reason the Nile was probably the birthplace of civilization. The soil was absolutely loaded with nutrients from higher up, and the gentle incline at near sea level allowed the river to flood regularly.Cheers, Greg.

Thanks - If you look at mountain lakes in the rockies they actually change colour from season to season because of the fine particals brought with run off. The trick is having somewhere to catch the silt that doesn't let it all run off.

The overall effect is re-mineralistation of the soil that leads to healthier plants.

What you described is pretty much exactly what I'm looking at - run-off from mountains feeding a lake on a hanging valley that flows down into a lower flatter valley. Of course I'll play about with it a bit now I have all this info!

Dave