We’re doing more than any organization our size should be capable of.
We’ve gotten it done because of our partners like founding members and UCLA Distinguished Professors Stephen Hubbell and Patty Gowaty. Because of our long and expanding relationships with The Nature Conservancy and Alabama A&M University, with the Student Conservation Association and Americorps, and with research partners at University of Alabama, Auburn, University of West Alabama, Yale and elsewhere. We’re getting it done because our board members roll up their sleeves whenever we get stuck in the mud, and because of the growing support of our local communities and legislative delegation. And we hit above our weight because of you, and your support throughout our fledgling years. We’ll need your support more than ever
in the coming year, as we build on the foundation we’ve laid. But seriously, what in the world are we doing here in Paint Rock?
Here’s a sample:
The FOREST CENSUS
Teams from the Research Center and Alabama A&M have labeled more than 40,000 stems in some 75 acres of the forest dynamics plot. That’s about 60 football fields worth of trees — the scale of it is hard to imagine until you see it. As we climb through the next 60 football fields worth of trees, we anticipate we’ll have mapped and tagged close to 100,000 trees.
Thanks to the work this year of Juliana Sandoval and our Student Conservation Association research interns, we are very close to the halfway point in our forest dynamics census — measuring, tagging and mapping every stem larger than a pencil. Helen Czech of Alabama A&M is just a few steps behind, nailing the identities of all the trees.
And thanks to Dawn Lemke and Alabama A&M, the first 50 acres of the plot is already being prepared for its RE-census in 2024 —that’ll be the first of 10 or more re-census efforts over the next 50 years. Those recurring censuses are the key to understanding the dynamics of the forest, its growth rates, its ability to capture carbon, its response to changes in climate and carbon dioxide. All the things we need to know to protect the future of our forests. But even as we complete the first census on half the plot, a few astonishing things are already very clear:
— The tree diversity on this site exceeds any other forest dynamics plot in the temperate world — more species than any ForestGEO site in North America, Europe or the or the non-tropical zones of Asia. Forest dynamics plots in places like the Pacific Northwest, Yosemite, Florida, Indiana and Harvard Forest in New England don’t come close to a proaching the kind of exceptional diversity we’re seeing here.
— The truth is, we don’t know precisely how many species we actually have because so many of the trees we’re looking at defy any current species definition. That’s why we’re working with Morton Arboretum in Chicago, Samford University in Birmingham, University of West Alabama, University of Missouri, University of North Carolina and Austin Peay University to try to understand what these species are. It appears we’ll be helping to redefine the sugar maple group, and it’s very likely we’ll all need to learn the new name of a very large and prominent Cumberland oak. If only we had the time and funds — we’d be looking more closely at some of the unclassifiable hickories, dogwoods, azaleas, buckeyes and other species we’re seeing on site. We simply had no idea we’d encounter so many surprises in one place.
The RESEARCH INTERNS
You’ll shake your head when you see it: The census is obviously a lot of work.But just as importantly, it’s a training ground for a new generation of scientists, of all backgrounds, from all over the state, the country and the world. Most of our research interns would never have had a chance to even encounter such a diverse forest system. But these interns live in it and live with it for months at a time. For those who have only seen nature through a microscope or on a cell phone, It changes the way they view the world. This year, we’ve introduced 8 research interns to the science and wonder of the Paint Rock Forest. In the coming year, we hope to introduce even more — and we’re raising the funds to enhance their educational experience, by allowing them to develop their own research interests outside the census itself.
The SHORTLEAF PINE SEED PROGRAM
In the burlap bags stored in our barn, some 35,000 shortleaf pine cones are releasing their seeds. With the help of our interns, a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant and many great partners, we collected those cones this fall in an exhausting effort. Nearly as we can tell, that’s the first time in 70 years or more that shortleaf pine seeds have been collected from the Cumberlands. We’ll do it again this year, only at a larger scale. And it’s just in time, because the shortleaf pine ecosystem — a savanna-like ecosystem rich in rare plants
and animals found virtually nowhere else — is among the most endangered systems in the Southern Cumberlands.
These are the seeds of a revival not only for the landscape, but for a way of a life that was so important to the Cumberlands. By the time, we’re done, we hope to have produced enough seedlings to restore tens of thousands of acres of shortleaf pine, and in the process create a restoration industry for Paint Rock Valley that will provide seeds and career opportunities for decades.
The CAMPUS
The Paint Rock ecosystem’s unique character and its biological splendor is shaped by its immense size — covering some 450,000 acres — and its limited access. But the lack of access that left many ecosystems here relatively intact has also limited research into those systems. That’s why the Paint Rock Research Center campus is so important to our efforts.
This past year, we finalized the long-term mortgage on our central campus, which includes 10 acres and more than 7,000 square feet of residential, lecture and research space. We’re now developing a strategy to acquire an additional 3500 square foot home and 10 acres adjacent. They’re impressive buildings, wiith details and comforts most researchers aren’t used to. But that’s the point. We want to attract researchers from around the world. And we want them to say, as did David Attenborough’s Silverback film crew after filming here for a month, that this is the best residential and research facility they’ve ever worked with. Demand for space next year and our rooms are filling up. We’ll need to expand as soon as possible.
