The evidence in the home landscape, and in any panhandle Florida environment which includes trees, is unmistakable. The recent storm systems, with their potentially damaging wind gusts, have left limbs, and the occasional tree, on the ground.
From the homeowner’s perspective, the limbs are usually a cosmetic irritant which must be removed to reestablish the requisite domestic equilibrium for suburban residences. Toppled trees are a far greater challenge for the average inhabitant.
An arborist with a tree removal company is commonly hired to see if the tree can be saved. If not, the cleanup starts, usually with the sound of chainsaws.
In natural settings, a felled tree may have had its life ended but its usefulness to the local creatures continues. Insects and other arthropods, birds, feral mammals, fungi and sometimes humans will exploit incidents of arboreal demise in the wild.
A cross section of a pine log from a tree which died a year earlier is showing development of fat lighter. As the resin settles and hardens in the middle of the log, a leaflike pattern develops. If left to decay, in a few years only the hardened resin will remain in chunks known as “lighter knots”.
One common misconception is that trees downed in storms are harvested for timber. In reality the effort and risk of harvesting far outweighs the value of the tree, and in most cases the tree begins to decay before it can be taken to the mill.
Local pine species are an example of the many potential uses beyond the tree’s life. Many native bugs exploit the relatively rapid decay of the bark and wood for a variety of purposes.
Several beetle species use the wood as a site for larval development. Centipedes employ the area between the bark and wood to raise their young and hunt prey even during the depths of north Florida’s February chill.
Overwintering slugs may share a cozy and protected space under the bark with other species. Hornets and wasps in diapause, dormancy during cold weather, will share quarters with the slugs if necessary.
Opportunistic mushrooms and other species of fungi colonize the decaying wood. Depending on the species, weather and other environmental conditions, the colors of these random life forms can run the polychromatic range.
The combined activities of the native flora and fauna help speed the conversion of the deceased pine tree’s cellulose materials into a nutrient-rich matter which will add to the organic base of the soil. Future generations of native life will utilize these resources to continue their individual species.
One curious human use of pine residue is “fat lighter”, sometimes known as “light wood” or by other names depending on the geographic region. While it can appear in a variety of pine species worldwide, it is especially common in longleaf and loblolly pines locally.
Collecting “lighter knots”, the harden resin which settled at the base of branches in a pine log, is a centuries-old practice. The lighter knots are used as a means of starting firewood in fireplaces and campfires. They start easily, usually with one match, and burn long enough to get dried wood converted into a roaring fire.
It develops after the tree’s demise as the resinous sap collects in parts of the wood. The viscous resin settles in joints or may flow to a low point in a log. It can even flow out of the log if the surface is broken or pierced by an insect tunnel.
As time passes the resin hardens and resists decay. The surrounding wood will decay and be consumed by a variety of life forms, but the wood impregnated by the hardened resin will remain. It sometimes stays for decades in the soil as the last tangible evidence of a long-gone pine.
For generations people have collected fat lighter to use as a fire starter. The resinous wood lights easily, burns hot and will ignite in wet conditions. All are useful features when trying to start a campfire or logs in a fireplace.
It has been long noted only an ill wind blows no good. So, they may be inconvenient, but the winter storms of 2022 which destroy trees are only following an age-old cycle of renewal. Just be sure to have property insurance to cover damage to any structures.
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