Is this a prank, like crop circles?
May 28, 2013 1:16 AM Subscribe
Anybody know what this planting pattern is about? The link is to Google maps.
If you select the satellite view and zoom in far enough you'll see a pattern that looks like very large scale expanded metal mesh, alternating wavy lines with diamond shaped spaces between them. It looks like trees or brush in a pattern designed to leave periodic islands of grass.
If you scroll several hundred feet north, the same pattern appears in a different orientation, and appears to have been planted more recently; you can see individual rows of plants within the broader swaths.
If you select the satellite view and zoom in far enough you'll see a pattern that looks like very large scale expanded metal mesh, alternating wavy lines with diamond shaped spaces between them. It looks like trees or brush in a pattern designed to leave periodic islands of grass.
If you scroll several hundred feet north, the same pattern appears in a different orientation, and appears to have been planted more recently; you can see individual rows of plants within the broader swaths.
Those aren't crop circles. What you are seeing is the result of intensive tree harvesting.
posted by three blind mice at 3:59 AM on May 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by three blind mice at 3:59 AM on May 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Best answer: So far I don't have a reasonable explanation, but I'll point out that some Google Street View goes past one of these patches, and they just look like young pine trees - forestry operation, then? Are they trying to leave behind some grassy, open patches for the wildlife, and the efficiencies of mechanised planting mean a grid pattern like this is just an easy outcome?
posted by Jimbob at 3:59 AM on May 28, 2013
posted by Jimbob at 3:59 AM on May 28, 2013
In Jimbob's link they look like Christmas trees, in which case it is important to preserve the limbs and needles as much as possible. Doing that in a crowded forest is difficult, so those little patches of open space probably spell the difference between a profit or not. They can get the limbs contained all at once and then carry the trees out safely, concentrating on the trees that are ready to be harvested. Given how sparse the area is, and the number of trees, I suspect it's an industrial operation.
posted by jwells at 5:04 AM on May 28, 2013
posted by jwells at 5:04 AM on May 28, 2013
It's not intensive harvesting. If you zoom in on one of the lighter areas, you can see that the trees were planted in that pattern; i.e., the spaces aren't due to harvesting.
posted by bricoleur at 5:17 AM on May 28, 2013
posted by bricoleur at 5:17 AM on May 28, 2013
More on the history of the quincunx planting plan- which this seems to be- is in this wonderful blog.
posted by mareli at 5:19 AM on May 28, 2013
posted by mareli at 5:19 AM on May 28, 2013
Unexpectedly close to some 'home turf' for me. What's the double lines adjacent to the roads there? Looks like a freeway, but I-75 is a ways over.
posted by Goofyy at 5:36 AM on May 28, 2013
posted by Goofyy at 5:36 AM on May 28, 2013
Best answer: I think this is spaced group planting which is used to increase biodiversity when reestablishing a forest.
posted by roofus at 6:46 AM on May 28, 2013
posted by roofus at 6:46 AM on May 28, 2013
Best answer: This area is the summer home to Kirtland's warbler, an endangered songbird that requires a very specific type of habitat for breeding and foraging. This habitat of young jack pines stands of a certain minimum size needs to be maintained by harvesting and fire. There's an active management program to create this type of habitat on the Upper Peninsula. This pattern could be related to that program and species.
Otherwise, it could be intensive harvesting and/or planting done in a pattern to promote habitat for other species, most likely game species. Deer and quail come to mind as species that would benefit from open spaces interspersed among a forest matrix. In a few places you can see the trees were planted in that pattern, in wavy rows. In other places, it looks like the entire area was planted with trees and then the pattern was cut out of the trees.
posted by mollweide at 6:52 AM on May 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Otherwise, it could be intensive harvesting and/or planting done in a pattern to promote habitat for other species, most likely game species. Deer and quail come to mind as species that would benefit from open spaces interspersed among a forest matrix. In a few places you can see the trees were planted in that pattern, in wavy rows. In other places, it looks like the entire area was planted with trees and then the pattern was cut out of the trees.
posted by mollweide at 6:52 AM on May 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I think mollweide has it- it is a planting pattern that is designed to support the Kirtland's Warbler. My family has a cabin a few miles from this site.
as you can see in this google books link, This is an example of what is called an "opposing wave pattern" of planting, and is important for creating the mosaic and edge conditions one normally would find in a Jack Pine forest that was under a natural fire regime.
posted by rockindata at 9:43 AM on May 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
as you can see in this google books link, This is an example of what is called an "opposing wave pattern" of planting, and is important for creating the mosaic and edge conditions one normally would find in a Jack Pine forest that was under a natural fire regime.
posted by rockindata at 9:43 AM on May 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
Goofyy: "Unexpectedly close to some 'home turf' for me. What's the double lines adjacent to the roads there? Looks like a freeway, but I-75 is a ways over"
initially it looked like a divided highway with frontage road, but I followed it to the Southwest until I got to a place I could do street view, and it's a railroad.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 9:59 AM on May 28, 2013
initially it looked like a divided highway with frontage road, but I followed it to the Southwest until I got to a place I could do street view, and it's a railroad.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 9:59 AM on May 28, 2013
ArgentCorvid: "followed it to the Southwest"
that should be Southeast.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 12:38 PM on May 28, 2013
that should be Southeast.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 12:38 PM on May 28, 2013
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posted by roofus at 1:48 AM on May 28, 2013