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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 2021
Tracking climate impacts in world’s southernmost tree
By KRISTIAN
FODEN-VENCIL
Oregon Public Broadcasting
For scientists, building a
true understanding of how
climate change is aff ecting
the planet is complicated. A
conversation in a Portland
pub led to one solution —
fi nd the tree at the bottom
of the world and see how
it’s being aff ected by rising
temperatures.
The idea took root a few
years ago when University
of Colorado associate pro-
fessor Brian Buma attended
a landscape ecology confer-
ence in Portland. Afterward,
he went out for a beer with
Portland State University
geography associate profes-
sor, Andrés Holz.
Common interests had
them chatting about every-
thing from climate change to
a study of the northernmost
trees in Siberia. And that got
them thinking.
“The southern hemi-
sphere is very understudied
compared to the northern
hemisphere,” Buma said.
Climate change likely
impacts trees at the top of the
world diff erently from those
at the bottom. The northern
hemisphere is dominated by
large, dry land masses, such
as Russia and North Amer-
ica, whereas the southern
hemisphere is dominated by
oceans.
The scientists pitched the
idea of an expedition to fi nd
the southernmost tree to the
National Geographic Soci-
ety, which agreed to sponsor
a team of a dozen scientists
along with the Universidad
des Magallanes in Chile. The
researchers studied every-
thing from the southernmost
tree to invasive species, birds
and possible ancient human
settlement.
The fi rst part of their
expedition was simple. Sat-
ellite imagery showed the
southernmost tree was likely
on Cape Horn at the bottom
of South America. But once
they got there, Holz said
nothing could have prepared
them for the conditions.
Winds were so strong and
so constant that unsheltered
vegetation grew sideways.
They think ice crystals in the
wind slice new buds, so only
growth on the sheltered side
of plants survive.
In some spots the team
Andrés Holz
Portland State associate professor Andrés Holz stands next to the southernmost trees on the planet.
‘THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE IS VERY
UNDERSTUDIED COMPARED TO
THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE.’
Brian Buma | University of Colorado associate professor
had to literally walk on top
of trees to get around.
“Sometimes you would
... step on a branch and you
thought it would hold and
you would go all the way
down to your hips or even
to your chest. And then up
again. Especially with heavy
backpacks,” Holz said.
Walking wasn’t the only
problem. Cape Horn is one
of the most hazardous ship-
ping routes in the world.
There are the high winds,
strong currents, icebergs
and even waves known as
greybeards, long, powerful
waves that grow enormous
as they travel around the
world, unbroken by land.
Holz said just hauling
supplies off their boat was
hazardous: “For a couple of
days we just had pasta but no
sauce, because that was in a
diff erent box. And it was so
risky to get in and out.”
To be certain they found
the actual southernmost tree,
the team had to check the
sea cliff s. That meant hiring
a local chef, who owned a
65-foot wooden boat. He let
them know mid-voyage he’d
never actually rounded Cape
Horn before.
Holz said they chose a
relatively calm day.
“That said, I was really
dizzy,” he said. “And then
looking via binoculars trying
to fi nd the actual tree ... we
didn’t fi nd anything, luckily,
because otherwise we would
have to climb down, rappel
down and basically sample
it.”
Rappelling down a sea
cliff in winds of 40 mph or
more was not something they
wanted to do, although a pro-
fessional climber was part of
the expedition. During their
six-day stay, they experi-
enced winds of more than 85
mph and lost two tents.
But by using GPS and
walking a grid, the scien-
tists did eventually iden-
tify the southernmost tree. It
was a Magellan’s Beech and
was actually among a small
clump of seven trees south of
the island’s main forest.
Holz said they decided
these were the trees at the
bottom of the world, rather
than a collection of bushes,
because their branches grew
along one main stem — not
multiple stems.
“The trees were all hav-
ing that main stem, but it
was all along the ground.
And so you could see along
10 or 15 feet trees that could
not go higher than fi ve cen-
timeters above the ground,”
Holz said. “It looks like a
bulldozer went over the tree.
Totally fl attened it.”
Holz took core samples
and found the oldest trees
were about 48 years old.
They seemed healthy.
A big question for the
team of scientists was why
the tree line stopped with
this particular clump. Holz
said he doesn’t think it was
because of the cold: the trees
are next to the ocean, so tem-
peratures stay fairly constant
around 40 degrees. Snow
also doesn’t usually stick.
And scientists don’t think
nutrition was a limiting fac-
tor either, because penguins
regularly deliver fresh guano
to the soil.
Instead, Holz said he
thinks it’s the constant wind
that stops trees from grow-
ing further south.
Now that scientists have
baseline information for
these southernmost trees,
they hope track the impact
of climate change. Similar
research in Alaska found that
willow trees grew bigger in
warmer temperatures. Their
branches poked through the
snow, which led to more
grazing winter moose in the
area.
Holz said studying a pre-
cise geographic location,
like one tree in one spot, is
expensive. But it gives sci-
entists an objective window
on nature and a baseline they
can use to track change and
rates of change.
The hope is to see whether
the tree line is moving south,
and if so, how quickly. One
thought is that a bird might
ferry the trees’ seeds to
Diego Ramirez Island, 65
miles below Hornos Island.
Those seeds might take root,
perhaps eventually taking
the title of southernmost tree
even further south.
Album: Trail graduated from pots and pans to real drums in middle school
Continued from Page B1
With the help of Nevada
Sowle, one of his closest
friends, and Olaf Ydstie,
who runs the Good Bowl
food truck in Astoria and
performs in Brian Bovenizer
and the New Old Stock,
he recorded the album in
Ydstie’s house in Astoria
and at the OK Theatre in
Enterprise . Shortly after, the
pandemic hit and the band
was only able to perform
a few shows before a long
hiatus.
“I’m really excited about
the feedback from our fi rst
record — that’s the biggest
thing so far. Tons of kind
words from other musi-
cians and people I love,” he
said. “I’d like to release one
album a year for the fore-
seeable future. The second
Desolation Horse record is
almost done, so it should be
out in 2021.”
On the album, all
eight songs feature Trail’s
soft-spoken vocals and
instrumentation.
Some
tracks feature guests, such
as Luke Ydstie (The Hack-
les, Blind Pilot), Aly Hanson
and Jeremy James Meyer.
An aspiring drummer
Trail moved to Astoria
with Sowle when he was
19 from Moscow, Idaho, his
hometown. At that time, he
had made a single EP and
released it in 2012. Sowle
and Trail have spent the last
six years touring with Mise
and other groups, writing
music and getting familiar
with other Oregon bands.
Trail has been learning
about music, conventionally
and unconventionally, since
he was too young to form
memories.
As a kid, he would set
up pots and pans to mimic
a drum set. He and his sis-
ter would record cassette
recordings together, and
later he joined her in taking
piano lessons.
Trail said playing the
piano was diffi cult to
become accustomed to
because he learned best by
ear, rather than reading sheet
music. “I hated it at the time
but now I’m certainly thank-
ful for that foundation,” he
said.
He graduated from pots
and pans to a real drum
set in middle school, when
he took drum lessons, and
began to play at church and
in his high school pep band.
Trail’s
resourceful-
ness and connection to his
younger self haven’t gone
anywhere as he’s built his
career as a drummer. He
recorded one of his favorite
released songs, “Crumarine
Creek,” through the micro-
phone of his iPhone.
“It’s one that most people
don’t really notice. It’s spe-
cial to me because it’s about
my family, in a way, and the
deaths we have witnessed
together,” he said. “It also
talks about some property
on Moscow Mountain that
I spent many weeks running
around on as a kid. I still go
up there often.”
Looking forward
Recently, Trail decided
to put touring and music
on the back burner to go to
school in Idaho. He hopes
to tour during the upcoming
summers.
“Books are the only thing
that can match the pull of
music for me,” he said.
“I haven’t really done
anything outside of record-
ing, touring and writ-
ing for the past six years
besides drink beer and sit on
porches. But I’ve had a few
folks tell me that’s alright,
don’t worry about it,” Trail
said. “I really admire artists
who have multiple outlets,
or a way to support them-
selves besides their art. I
haven’t sorted that out for
myself yet but I’m working
on it.”
With big and small goals
in mind, Trail said he’s look-
ing forward to continuing to
put out new music with Des-
olation Horse .
“I’m so lucky to have
a pool of folks I’ve met
through playing in other
bands who want to help me
realize this vision,” he said.
After school, Trail said
he plans to end up back in
Astoria with his friends .
Past that, he hopes to con-
tinue to produce meaningful
music and enjoy life’s sim-
ple pleasures.
“In 10 years, I hope I’m
still writing songs,” he said.
“I hope I’m still friends with
all the folks I love. I hope
I’m able to pay my rent and
eat vegetables.”
Morgan Grindy is a con-
tributor to The Astorian and
Coast Weekend.
‘I’M SO LUCKY TO HAVE A POOL OF FOLKS I’VE
MET THROUGH PLAYING IN OTHER BANDS WHO
WANT TO HELP ME REALIZE THIS VISION.’
Cooper Trail | musician
Going to the Dogs!
ST
E
T
N
O
C
PHOTO
Welcome to
’s
D G DAYS
Juniper
& Chip
National Dog Day
Photo Contest!
Grab your collars and your cameras, National Dog Day is Aug. 26 and we
are on the prowl for the bestest, cutest, snuggliest pups on the coast.
According to www.nationaldogday.com, the day celebrates all dogs, mixed
breed and purebred, and works to promote the many dogs that need to be
rescued.
Last year we had 144 shots of over 160 critters.
Submit your photo(s) before midnight Wednesday, Aug. 18 here:
dailyastorian.com/dogdays
Then, come back and visit the pooches all that next week and vote on
your favorite before midnight Sunday, Aug 22. Vote once a day.
The top vote-getters will be featured in the annual Going to the Dogs
section on Thursday, Aug. 26.
Share with your friends and family: #Going2TheDogsNW
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Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
Now, who’s a good boy? Who’s a good girl?
For more information, call The Astorian at 971-704-1555 or email sales@dailyastorian.com