Please note: you are encouraged to comment and welcome to ask questions, but Tom does not monitor these posts and probably will not personally respond. -Ray
Thank you for all your hard work on this Ray! You are benefitting both your viewers and the natural systems that we are gaining a better understanding and are thus better able to protect and nurture them.
I can’t say enough about Tom’s knowledge and his teaching capabilities. He is a natural I could listen to him all day. Kinda wish he was my neighbor so we could hang out and have a beer. The New England forests series has become one of my favorites!
If someone told me a few years ago that when you're 20 you will be sitting in your dorm watching ecology videos for fun I would never believe it... here I am
I'm 40 and making up for lost time, learn as much as you can early and the more connections you'll realize when you get older. I left school after 7th grade for various reasons and when I got out of the military when I was about 27 I went to school and took an Environmental Biology class, I'm not in school anymore but Ive loved biology and science ever since (never looked at science before). Learn as much as you can as early as possible, you won't regret it.
Hey I'm Wessels age and watch (and learn) from his videos whilst enjoying a whiskey or two on a Friday night. Here I am. Sometimes twice on the same video.
The amount of knowledge in 30 minutes was more than most podcasters manage to communicate in the entire life of their podcast. I feel like I just got an undergraduate class for free. Incredible.
I stumbled across this video series recently and am so glad that I did. I figured when I started the first one I’d be bored and wouldn’t make it five minutes. I was dead wrong and watched them all with my full attention. It’s clear Tom is a master in his field and has forgotten more than I will ever learn. He’s a great teacher and is very easy to listen and pay attention to. Thank you for producing this series and sharing Tom with us!
Can I encourage Dr. Tom Wessel to come out here to the Pacific Northwest and do a co-evolution ecology talk?!!!It could be valuable for our puny efforts to save a few old growth systems
We need guys like you in our forestry department. I'm surrounded by replanted forest and it's quite a shame what they've done with forests like you've shown here. The ones here are just future profits waiting to mature, no birds really to speak of, a few species I guess, some squirrels, thick mat of pine and spruce needles, very peaceful and not in a good way, nice straight rows as far as the eye can see. You only need to look at private lands and they are quite small in comparison and you see a line drawn out where the natural forest starts and finishes.
This really is the best natural history channel on RUclips. The bits on lichens in particular were facinating. It has occured to me that the species we see in our New England forest date their origins back into the Pleistocene. They emerged in the shadows of, and coevolved with megafauna like mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths etc. Might delving into the nature of these coevolutionary relationships give ideas about how to conserve nature today?
What an amazing and inspiring person. Tom seems so genuine and content with himself and his positive attitude rubs off just by hearing him teach. Thank you:)
This is awesome. I thought it was gonna be long winded and boring at first. But this guy fires his knowledge like a tommy-gun. He goes over so many plants and the shots are super beautiful
What a delight to listen to someone who *really* know what ecology is. Add eloquent speech, deep knowledge and passion and you get fascinating experience.
I had just sold my house and property in Northwest NJ less than 2 years ago, moved south. We lived there 30 years. There are so many things I had noticed while living there, questions now answered. Tom is a treasure trove of info, and affection for our neighboring plant kingdom. Thanks.
I knew a tiny bit about these interactions but my eyes have really been opened and my mind blown away, Thank you all that worked on informing us about the vast abilities and needed of the forest. Thanks You Mother Nature, God, The Great Creator for the life on our planet.
Thank you Tom Wessels! We are all in debt with you, this is by far the best nature ecology channel in RUclips. Keep the good work! Knowledge about how ecological interactions shape our ecosystems is fundamental for the efforts in conservation. Thank you!
Thanks New England Forests and Tom Wessel. I learned so much from this fascinating documentary. The complexity of our our natural world is truly mind boggling!
I was just re-watching old videos the other day and thinking, "I wonder when a new one will be coming out." I'm back in New England so I get to experience the forests again! I love that you highlighted Oriental Bittersweet, it's started expanding into my yard in just the last 10 years climbing up my Eastern White Pines, White Oaks and Sugar Maples. Been quite the battle since it's usually growing next to Poison Ivy and I don't really have a lot of money for herbicides to keep them at bay. I've also found Cleary and Garlic Mustard in the last 5 years after my neighbor had truckloads of fill soil dumped into his yard and have had Glossy Buckthorn growing in my yard for as long as I can remember. A yard of invasive species. Been trying to promote the growth of several types of ferns, which has worked in some areas, as well as Jack in the Pulpits. Thanks for all the info Tom! Great work everyone!
Hi Jeffrey, and thanks for your comments. You're not at all alone in the battle against invasives. It seems they're nearly everywhere, to one degree or another. Every time we open up a forest, especially with sizable clearings, we risk the introduction (or increase) of invasives. Many such places today seem beyond hope of restoration. That's just one reason why our remaining, tiny bits of old growth forest are so important... so far they have largely resisted invasion by non-native plant species. Not always so true of non-native insects or other pathogens. But they're remarkably resilient so far. I think we should take that lesson and make good policy based on it. -Ray
@@tomsiekiel7679 Goats are very destructive of a forest. They eat all the young trees and everything they can reach. They have been the cause of many deserts around the globe. As is often the case human intervention is the worst thing that can be done. Best to let nature take it's course.
What an excellent video and teacher. Only just discovering Tom and I'm enthralled by his gentle nature and ease in explaining these ideas. Can't wait to read his books. New England represent!
It’s great to see modern scientific knowledge be applied to understand real world ecosystems on such a practical level without unnecessary reductionism. Science has the potential to vastly deepen our connection with our environment when it isn’t just applied to exploiting natural resources as efficiently as possible.
Fascinating! I've noticed over the years that Sapsuckers aggressively defend their sap wells against Downy Woodpeckers and Red Squirrels (for example) but are much more casual about it with Chickadees and Hummingbirds. It always sort of made sense that the Sapsucker would be less bothered by smaller friends who will take less; and now to discover there is mutualism in the Sapsucker-Hummingbird relationship, it all makes sense!
Your delightful videos just started appearing in my RUclips feed, not long after I was wondering what you were up to. Though I believe in an indifferent universe, the pesky thing keeps throwing curves. Putney '88.
Phenomenal video on an amazing subject. Very well said and great examples. I will say that the black flies definitely dined on the camera person.. so that was some sort of meta combining of species. Benefiting the host..
Your videos are incredible. You need to turn this in to something like the "Heartland Series with Bill Landry." I'm blown away by the knowledge of downed trees, stone walls, and other geographical features. You clearly have a deep knowledge of the area and culture that should be shared. The insights that you provide are something that the majority of people are never going to experience on their own.
I am really enjoying these. A reminder of my ecology classes and what new things we have learned since then. Now I have to see if there are limnology channels
This is such a good video. Such an eye opening real world look at mutually beneficial species, and the effects of foreign invasive species entering a stable ecosystem. Humans are pretty amazing with our intelligence and industrialism, but this video is such a perfect example as to why we need to be working towards becoming more harmonious with our environment. Thank you, Tom.
That final statement. Wow. I feel like we as a species have become very divergent from the processes of co-evolution. Some things we do efficiently, but so many others we do not and the biodiversity of our environments suffer as a result. FASCINATING VIDEO! I observed the phenomena of aphid agriculture with ants on some short plants growing between flagstone at my parents house a few years back before I knew of that kind of relationship. At first I thought wow these ants are really sticking it to these aphids but I waited just a few moments longer and realized the ants were not only tending to the aphids but protecting them. Thank you for nurturing my wonder and curiosity.
The information he has and the way he shares it is great. Love his “how to read” the forest videos. Plus, I always hope at any moment a little finch will fly out of that badass beard.
Just found this channel, very interesting information here. In fact I don’t think there are very many channels out there with so much information coming from such a knowledgeable person.
Excellent lecture, Tom Wessels only forgets to say that Chesnut trees were not just big but grew very fast, faster than any hardwood tree which explains their success, notwithstanding the wood was great too (but not as dense as most hardwoods) for furniture.
You are a wealth of knowledge Tom. What's happening today on our beautiful planet concerns me to no end, especially the rapid deforestation of the Amazon.
That was Epic! What a terrific and informative presentation... and the pictures and video footage were great as well. Thank you so much for this information. ✌🏽
Thank you for sharing your wisdom .Im a hobbies forester and enjoy diversifying 360 acres of family land with native trees and berry bushes . I can only hope to retain some of this knowledge and apply it as I go into the woods to play
Just another voice saying thank you for these videos! Really excited to take what I've learned and observe it in the forests I hike in the Appalachians and North Eastern woods.
Just want to say I really appreciate all the 4k footage (bittage?). The close ups of some of the insects and fungal bodies and lichens were fascinating.
These videos are great; I thought I already knew alot about this ecosystem. I can't believe I've never learned you could identify an oak stump by a ring of bark that long outlasts the wood, and the reason for that is that oak trees create a far more stable bark for growing lichens because they obtain nutrients from their lichens when rain washes it down to their roots. I'll admit i didn't even fully realize what a lichen is, and I've handled so much bark with lichens on it; I figured it was a moss, and thought it was a bad sign for the health of the tree
Down here in Georgia we have not only kudzu, but wisteria. There is about 18 acres of 100+ year old forest behind me. The wisteria vines are dragging the massive oaks down (they don't seem to like the pines for whatever reason). Every spring when they start taking in water and the winds start moving in, you'll here MASSIVE crashes from the woods. Sometimes 1 big tree will take 2 or 3 of the same size down. 😳 About 2 or 3 years ago whomever owns the property had a bobcat scrape the understory to beautify in an attempt to sell it. Last year 1000s of runners popped up everywhere. 🤦🏽♀️ I fight it back every year from creeping into my yard, but this year I have a feeling I'm going to have a full fledged war on my hands.
Amazing video, I do however want to point out that energy is not the only “currency” in an ecosystem. Efficient use of nutrient might also be hugely beneficial.
I noticed in my own yard the invasive garlic mustard takes off first early in the summer, carpeting huge areas, then the native jewel weed towers over those same areas later on.
Wow I didn't know about photosynthetic bark or barks on red oak that evolve to attract lichens then rain washes nutrients down to the root zone. I'm lichen that pretty darn cool
Please note: you are encouraged to comment and welcome to ask questions, but Tom does not monitor these posts and probably will not personally respond. -Ray
Thank you for all your hard work on this Ray! You are benefitting both your viewers and the natural systems that we are gaining a better understanding and are thus better able to protect and nurture them.
Where does bittersweet grow and not destroy its host, and how?
Hi, I've found things in the woods that I'd like to send you the pictures and see if you can give me an idea as to what did it.
I can’t say enough about Tom’s knowledge and his teaching capabilities. He is a natural I could listen to him all day. Kinda wish he was my neighbor so we could hang out and have a beer. The New England forests series has become one of my favorites!
Absolutely agree
I feel lucky just to be able to see and hear Tom on RUclips. We should appreciate the time that we live in.
Agree
So agree
There is no such thing as evolution. God designed each species exactly the way he wanted them to be.
If someone told me a few years ago that when you're 20 you will be sitting in your dorm watching ecology videos for fun I would never believe it... here I am
Well Nick... get back to work! 😁
Same here. Makes me wish this was my major haha
I'm 40 and making up for lost time, learn as much as you can early and the more connections you'll realize when you get older.
I left school after 7th grade for various reasons and when I got out of the military when I was about 27 I went to school and took an Environmental Biology class, I'm not in school anymore but Ive loved biology and science ever since (never looked at science before). Learn as much as you can as early as possible, you won't regret it.
Hey I'm Wessels age and watch (and learn) from his videos whilst enjoying a whiskey or two on a Friday night. Here I am. Sometimes twice on the same video.
I'm the same age as the presenter. We all have traveled different paths to get here. Are we co-evolving?
The amount of knowledge in 30 minutes was more than most podcasters manage to communicate in the entire life of their podcast. I feel like I just got an undergraduate class for free. Incredible.
Listen to the crime pays but botany doesnt podcast
Love Professor Wessels he should be Secretary of the Interior..Notice; why would anyone give a thumbs down to this?$$$
that virginia creeper turning red was done beautifully this show is masterfully shot and edited
I stumbled across this video series recently and am so glad that I did. I figured when I started the first one I’d be bored and wouldn’t make it five minutes. I was dead wrong and watched them all with my full attention. It’s clear Tom is a master in his field and has forgotten more than I will ever learn. He’s a great teacher and is very easy to listen and pay attention to. Thank you for producing this series and sharing Tom with us!
Can I encourage Dr. Tom Wessel to come out here to the Pacific Northwest and do a co-evolution ecology talk?!!!It could be valuable for our puny efforts to save a few old growth systems
We need guys like you in our forestry department. I'm surrounded by replanted forest and it's quite a shame what they've done with forests like you've shown here. The ones here are just future profits waiting to mature, no birds really to speak of, a few species I guess, some squirrels, thick mat of pine and spruce needles, very peaceful and not in a good way, nice straight rows as far as the eye can see. You only need to look at private lands and they are quite small in comparison and you see a line drawn out where the natural forest starts and finishes.
One of the most interesting and informative talks about ecology and mutualism I have listened to. Thank you.
This really is the best natural history channel on RUclips. The bits on lichens in particular were facinating. It has occured to me that the species we see in our New England forest date their origins back into the Pleistocene. They emerged in the shadows of, and coevolved with megafauna like mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths etc. Might delving into the nature of these coevolutionary relationships give ideas about how to conserve nature today?
I'm not sure how I ended up here, but I'm loving every minute of it. Tom is a great teacher. Thanks Tom and Ray for these videos.
Same. A remarkable find on yourtube.
I don't know why I am watching this purely for fun on a Saturday night. But I love it. Our world is so beautiful.
Biology from Red Green. This was great, I'm a fan. Thanks!
I can already see it. "Well, looks like we have some missing bark here... So we'll just take a little duct tape and... There, good as new!"
Very happy to have found this channel.
What an amazing and inspiring person. Tom seems so genuine and content with himself and his positive attitude rubs off just by hearing him teach. Thank you:)
This is awesome. I thought it was gonna be long winded and boring at first. But this guy fires his knowledge like a tommy-gun. He goes over so many plants and the shots are super beautiful
What a delight to listen to someone who *really* know what ecology is. Add eloquent speech, deep knowledge and passion and you get fascinating experience.
I had just sold my house and property in Northwest NJ less than 2 years ago, moved south.
We lived there 30 years.
There are so many things I had noticed while living there, questions now answered.
Tom is a treasure trove of info, and affection for our neighboring plant kingdom.
Thanks.
So glad I found this very nice channel.
Not a budding ecologist but an outdoorsman in love with the natural world.
Thank you Tom
Happy Earth day, Tom. Thank you for this important video I come back to watch year after year.
I knew a tiny bit about these interactions but my eyes have really been opened and my mind blown away, Thank you all that worked on informing us about the vast abilities and needed of the forest. Thanks You Mother Nature, God, The Great Creator for the life on our planet.
Thank you Tom Wessels! We are all in debt with you, this is by far the best nature ecology channel in RUclips. Keep the good work! Knowledge about how ecological interactions shape our ecosystems is fundamental for the efforts in conservation. Thank you!
Not sure how I came across this channel but its a absolute gold mine I enjoy these episodes tremendously
Well, Z, I'd guess you must just be leading an exemplary life! :)
At any rate, thank you!
Thanks New England Forests and Tom Wessel. I learned so much from this fascinating documentary. The complexity of our our natural world is truly mind boggling!
I was just re-watching old videos the other day and thinking, "I wonder when a new one will be coming out." I'm back in New England so I get to experience the forests again! I love that you highlighted Oriental Bittersweet, it's started expanding into my yard in just the last 10 years climbing up my Eastern White Pines, White Oaks and Sugar Maples. Been quite the battle since it's usually growing next to Poison Ivy and I don't really have a lot of money for herbicides to keep them at bay. I've also found Cleary and Garlic Mustard in the last 5 years after my neighbor had truckloads of fill soil dumped into his yard and have had Glossy Buckthorn growing in my yard for as long as I can remember. A yard of invasive species. Been trying to promote the growth of several types of ferns, which has worked in some areas, as well as Jack in the Pulpits. Thanks for all the info Tom! Great work everyone!
Hi Jeffrey, and thanks for your comments. You're not at all alone in the battle against invasives. It seems they're nearly everywhere, to one degree or another. Every time we open up a forest, especially with sizable clearings, we risk the introduction (or increase) of invasives. Many such places today seem beyond hope of restoration. That's just one reason why our remaining, tiny bits of old growth forest are so important... so far they have largely resisted invasion by non-native plant species. Not always so true of non-native insects or other pathogens. But they're remarkably resilient so far. I think we should take that lesson and make good policy based on it.
-Ray
@@tomsiekiel7679 Goats are very destructive of a forest. They eat all the young trees and everything they can reach. They have been the cause of many deserts around the globe. As is often the case human intervention is the worst thing that can be done. Best to let nature take it's course.
@@billastell3753 but we altered nature first, so it’s our obligation to set it right
What an excellent video and teacher. Only just discovering Tom and I'm enthralled by his gentle nature and ease in explaining these ideas. Can't wait to read his books. New England represent!
It’s great to see modern scientific knowledge be applied to understand real world ecosystems on such a practical level without unnecessary reductionism. Science has the potential to vastly deepen our connection with our environment when it isn’t just applied to exploiting natural resources as efficiently as possible.
Finally, a RUclips channel that is actually educational. Thank you for this great information!
As always, very informative and fascinating. Thanks for posting!
One of the best videos I've watched in a long time.
I just discovered this wonderful man and fascinating videos
Thank you...I needed this
The only quality content on youtube
Fascinating! I've noticed over the years that Sapsuckers aggressively defend their sap wells against Downy Woodpeckers and Red Squirrels (for example) but are much more casual about it with Chickadees and Hummingbirds. It always sort of made sense that the Sapsucker would be less bothered by smaller friends who will take less; and now to discover there is mutualism in the Sapsucker-Hummingbird relationship, it all makes sense!
This is so fun. Keep watching and pick up new eyes for your next forest adventure.
This Man is incredible in his breadth of knowledge, incredibly interesting.
This is a richly informational video. Thank you!!!
I am glad I found this channel
Your delightful videos just started appearing in my RUclips feed, not long after I was wondering what you were up to. Though I believe in an indifferent universe, the pesky thing keeps throwing curves. Putney '88.
Phenomenal video on an amazing subject. Very well said and great examples. I will say that the black flies definitely dined on the camera person.. so that was some sort of meta combining of species. Benefiting the host..
i could watch you talk about coevolution for hours. thanks for the wonderful video
Your videos are incredible. You need to turn this in to something like the "Heartland Series with Bill Landry." I'm blown away by the knowledge of downed trees, stone walls, and other geographical features. You clearly have a deep knowledge of the area and culture that should be shared. The insights that you provide are something that the majority of people are never going to experience on their own.
This has become my new favorite youtube channel.
I am really enjoying these. A reminder of my ecology classes and what new things we have learned since then. Now I have to see if there are limnology channels
Great video and info! Loved hearing the depth and detail of our evolving understanding of these relationships, thank you so much for a beautiful film!
This is such a good video. Such an eye opening real world look at mutually beneficial species, and the effects of foreign invasive species entering a stable ecosystem. Humans are pretty amazing with our intelligence and industrialism, but this video is such a perfect example as to why we need to be working towards becoming more harmonious with our environment. Thank you, Tom.
That final statement. Wow.
I feel like we as a species have become very divergent from the processes of co-evolution.
Some things we do efficiently, but so many others we do not and the biodiversity of our environments suffer as a result.
FASCINATING VIDEO!
I observed the phenomena of aphid agriculture with ants on some short plants growing between flagstone at my parents house a few years back before I knew of that kind of relationship.
At first I thought wow these ants are really sticking it to these aphids but I waited just a few moments longer and realized the ants were not only tending to the aphids but protecting them.
Thank you for nurturing my wonder and curiosity.
Wonderful video! Very educational and forward thinking. Thank you for sharing!
no matter the subject, I really appreciate a good lecturer.
Thankyou. I've always felt when walking through woodland etc. That it was like visiting someones home and now I think I know why. Excellent.
Excellent video. Highly informative and educational. Thank you.
awesome. this is exactly the information I was looking for explained with great examples
The information he has and the way he shares it is great. Love his “how to read” the forest videos. Plus, I always hope at any moment a little finch will fly out of that badass beard.
A brilliant lecture. Thank you, Tom.
Just found this channel, very interesting information here. In fact I don’t think there are very many channels out there with so much information coming from such a knowledgeable person.
Excellent lecture, Tom Wessels only forgets to say that Chesnut trees were not just big but grew very fast, faster than any hardwood tree which explains their success, notwithstanding the wood was great too (but not as dense as most hardwoods) for furniture.
Tom ... you’re amazing .. thank you for sharing!
Thanks for sharing this knowledge, I will treat and view my property differently now knowing how certain things help each other.
Thanks Tom for explaining the resiliency of forest .
Thank you to both Tom and this channel! Can't believe how much information was in just 30 minutes lol.
Thank you for this ecology lesson. It was very informative and interesting!!
You are a wealth of knowledge Tom. What's happening today on our beautiful planet concerns me to no end, especially the rapid deforestation of the Amazon.
The photography and videography is absolutely spectacular not to mention the actually content, brilliant video :)
this is incredible, so full of insight- thank you both!
Owen, you're quite welcome! Thank you for watching.
-Ray
Beautifully done! Thanks!
That was Epic!
What a terrific and informative presentation... and the pictures and video footage were great as well.
Thank you so much for this information. ✌🏽
Can’t do better than Tom Wessels, he’s tops.
What a wonderful video and amazing channel, so informative and fascinating! Keep it up please!
Thanks Blake... working on it right now!
Really glad I found this channel!
Very interesting! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!🙂
Thank you for sharing your wisdom .Im a hobbies forester and enjoy diversifying 360 acres of family land with native trees and berry bushes . I can only hope to retain some of this knowledge and apply it as I go into the woods to play
Thabk you for explaining things better than I've heard it before
Just another voice saying thank you for these videos! Really excited to take what I've learned and observe it in the forests I hike in the Appalachians and North Eastern woods.
WOW. I pretty much have a full transcript written out from all the notes I took while listening to this.
Wish everyone would see this,
Thanks
Thank you ..learnt so much n just one watch but going to be watching again for sure
this is insane way more respect for the forests i grew up in
Just want to say I really appreciate all the 4k footage (bittage?). The close ups of some of the insects and fungal bodies and lichens were fascinating.
An excellent film, I learned a lot. Many thanks......DA
Brilliant stuff!!!! Thank you!
Absolutely fascinating!
Hi! Thank you for this educational video. Its easy to understand.
Very well done, interesting and informative.
These videos are great; I thought I already knew alot about this ecosystem. I can't believe I've never learned you could identify an oak stump by a ring of bark that long outlasts the wood, and the reason for that is that oak trees create a far more stable bark for growing lichens because they obtain nutrients from their lichens when rain washes it down to their roots. I'll admit i didn't even fully realize what a lichen is, and I've handled so much bark with lichens on it; I figured it was a moss, and thought it was a bad sign for the health of the tree
Really well done video. I learned a lot.
Beautiful. Thanks Tom.
Excellent, accessible explanation
This is so amazing! thank you !
This is better than David Attenborough hehe. I'm so glad I found this channel. Thanks for the free wisdom!!
Absolutely fascinating stuff! Great video!
This man is brilliant.
This is one of the best RUclips recommendations I've had in a while
I enjoyed this video. Thank you!
Is there anything he does not know? These videos are heavenly. Have not found any other content like this that is NE specific
Down here in Georgia we have not only kudzu, but wisteria. There is about 18 acres of 100+ year old forest behind me. The wisteria vines are dragging the massive oaks down (they don't seem to like the pines for whatever reason). Every spring when they start taking in water and the winds start moving in, you'll here MASSIVE crashes from the woods. Sometimes 1 big tree will take 2 or 3 of the same size down. 😳
About 2 or 3 years ago whomever owns the property had a bobcat scrape the understory to beautify in an attempt to sell it. Last year 1000s of runners popped up everywhere. 🤦🏽♀️
I fight it back every year from creeping into my yard, but this year I have a feeling I'm going to have a full fledged war on my hands.
Thanks, awesome video
Amazing video, I do however want to point out that energy is not the only “currency” in an ecosystem. Efficient use of nutrient might also be hugely beneficial.
I noticed in my own yard the invasive garlic mustard takes off first early in the summer, carpeting huge areas, then the native jewel weed towers over those same areas later on.
A world of lessons within this video
Wow I didn't know about photosynthetic bark or barks on red oak that evolve to attract lichens then rain washes nutrients down to the root zone. I'm lichen that pretty darn cool
The Energetic Prinicple of Natural Selection: traits are favored that help find, gather, digest, store, and conserve energy.