Queen of Trees

Tonight (1/21) the PBS Nature series broadcast a documentary on the life cycle of the African fig tree (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/queenoftrees/)

The film was made highlighting a tree in Kenya. Here are some pictures I took recently of a fig tree in Guinea, across the continent, at the C.E.E.D. in Kinkan. These pictures seem to be of a very similar, if not exactly the same, species as the one on the show. It's an amazingly complicated life-cycle, with a very precise relationship between the fig tree and the wasp. The fruit here are immature. I noticed ants on them, but didn't see any wasps.

Forest Contrasts

These are pictures of forests from opposite sides of the world. The single tree is a nere tree (Parkia biglobosa) in the Fouta Djalon highlands of Guinea (near the Kinkan Waterfalls). The forest is a white pine plantation (Pinus strobus) on the Waynesboro Watershed in Hamiltonban Township in Pennsylvania USA. I visited these two landscapes withing ten days of each other in January 07. Jet travel is great!

In spite of the obvious contrasts in continent and climate these two scenes have similarities. Both have trees and both are heavily influenced by human use. The same principles of forest management and soil conservation can be used to manage both landscapes for the benefit of people and the environment.