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White Pine Tree / Carpenter Ants

Below are pictures of cavities on a white pine tree. We guess that this was the Pileated Woodpecker. If you look inside the close-up cavity you can see the ant galleries. Note the wood around the galleries is sound. That's a result of the ants controlling the moisture content and stalling the decay fungi. Somebody really wanted the ants. This is one singled out tree in a group setting of white pines in Pennsylvania. Note that this pine tree was alive and maintaining a symplast. Its crown shows no signs of decline. maybe we are seeing the "Self Thinning Rule Of Ecology" in action.

Note the ant galleries.

The next ecological stage. After giving it a lot of thought, we created a snag out of the white pine tree. We did this, so if the cavities compromised the mechanical stability of the tree, the snag would out last the whole tree. A snag is a trunk (20') twenty feet or taller without branches.

NEWS FLASH!! Surprise!
Now the next ecological stage leaves this as a squirrel condominium!!!
12-04-2007