arctic - Aldo Leopold Nature Center

January 2016 – Polar Express

Take a trip to the poles with the Aldo Leopold Nature Center this month! Interesting, stark, and beautiful, our globe’s polar ice caps function as the planet’s air conditioners and play a critical role in climate change research and life on our Earth. Check out our hands-on exhibits, watch stunning ice sheet imagery, learn about […]

January 2016 – Polar Express

Aldo Leopold Nature Center is at Aldo Leopold Nature Center.

6 hours ago

Tree buds are an underappreciated wonder of nature.Buds start appearing on branches as trees come out of their winter dormancy. Buds are undeveloped parts of a plant that, later in the season, will help with its growth and reproduction. Buds appear as hard, pointed, and colorful nubs, though their appearance varies from tree to tree. If you know what to look for, you can identify trees just by looking at their buds.On a branch, there are many traits that help determine what species of tree it belongs to. For example, how are the buds arranged, what type of bud scales, and what does its scars look like, are only a few of the identifiers. Buds are the reason trees grow, and there are three types of buds that can grow on a branch: growth buds, flower buds, and mixed buds. Flower buds grow into exactly what you think they do, flower blossoms, the reproductive part of a tree that produces seeds and attracts pollinators. On most trees, flowers will become fruit when pollinated, a great food source for humans and native wildlife. Growth buds become either leaves or shoots. They are important because they are the reason the tree survives and grows larger. Leaves are needed for a tree to feed itself through photosynthesis, and without this process the tree wouldn’t have enough energy to survive. Shoots will grow from branches, allowing the tree to produce more buds in the future. The terminal bud is a type of growth bud that sits at the very tip of a branch, and it is the reason that branches are able to grow longer. Mixed buds have the ability to grow both flowers and shoots as they contain both embryonic leaves and flowers within the same bud. Next time you're outside, see if you can spot some buds!If you're interested in learning more about tree bud identification, check out this article: feralforaging.com/fundamentals-of-winter-tree-identification/ Photo: Stephanie Briand, ALNC#PhenologyFriday #TreeBuds #WIEnviroEd #NatureIsEverywhere #NatureIsForEveryone #EveryBodyOutside ...

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Welcome

Our facility will be closed on Tuesday, Jan 21st due to the extreme cold.

Our facility is open on weekdays from 9am to 4pm and on weekends from 10am to 2pm.

Tag: arctic

January 2016 – Polar Express

January 2016 – Polar Express

Aldo Leopold Nature Center

Welcome

Our facility will be closed on Tuesday, Jan 21st due to the extreme cold.

Our facility is open on weekdays from 9am to 4pm and on weekends from 10am to 2pm.

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Aldo Leopold Nature Center