We are so lucky in the Pacific Northwest to have many places to go where we can be surrounded by trees. As I sat alongside a nearby stream recently, I observed a beautiful Tree. It was tall with long branches and pretty green leaves that rippled in the wind. I sat and pondered how my Tree has many lives. Not as many as a cat, but still more than one! What kinds of lives can my Tree live?

First, as a full-grown adult, the roots of Tree hold on to the soil and help keep the stream bank from eroding. Tree’s leaves and branches provide shade to keep the water cool for salmon and other aquatic life. Each fall, Tree drops its leaves into the water where small invertebrates living at the bottom of the stream shred them for food. Tree is an important part of the stream ecosystem.

As Tree ages, lightning hits, cracking the crown off the top. Tree dies and becomes a snag. You may think that’s it for Tree — it’s old and unsightly and no longer valuable — but look closer. Small holes, perfectly aligned around Tree’s trunk, are evidence of woodpeckers searching out the bugs that are eating the decaying wood. 

In a larger hole toward the top of Tree, there are two sets of eyes peering out. A raccoon family has found Tree and made a home. Tree has taken on a new life as a snag and has become a home for a whole community of critters.

One day a storm moves into the area. The wind picks up and the old snag is blown over into the stream.

Tree falls across the stream. You may think that’s the end of Tree’s story, but Tree has a THIRD life — and this part of its life cycle intersects with another — the life cycle of salmon. Tree now becomes an important part of the stream, slowing down the water so adult salmon can swim upstream more easily, and young salmon can focus on growing bigger and stronger. Tree’s root ball protects the stream banks, keeping gill-clogging silt in the banks where it belongs. As it lies across the stream, Tree serves as a block, causing the water to flow around it, creating pools which provide a resting area for salmon. 

The salmon grow, migrate to the ocean and, after several years, return as adults to the stream where they were born. They swim upstream to find wonderful pools created by Tree where they can rest. As they sense a predator, they hide under Tree for protection. The male and female salmon engage in their spawning dance, laying and fertilizing thousands of salmon eggs in the gravel collected by Tree. The pair guard their eggs as long as they can, ultimately giving the last swish of their tails.

Photo by Pat Kirschbaum

Tree has provided the habitat needed for these salmon to survive, thrive, and create new life. Now it’s the salmon’s turn to help Tree. Although their life has ended, the salmon help to create new life. Their bodies decay along the side of the stream and the nutrients they absorbed while living in the ocean seep into the soil. These nutrients nurture the seed that Tree has dropped on the stream bank. A small Tree begins to grow, waiting to start its interconnected cycle with salmon all over again.

My original Tree continues its work. Fungi and bacteria move in, triggering decay for Tree. As bark and hardwood decompose and fall into the water, more food is provided for the invertebrates living in the stream bed. Tree continues to decay until it becomes part of the stream bed or washes further downstream, making room for another tree to take its place.

While this story shows the cycle and interconnectedness of trees, salmon, and streams, trees also play an important role in our everyday lives. Take a walk someday near where you live. Find a tree nearby and take a few minutes to look at that tree — really look. What does that tree provide? You’ll probably come up with shade to keep our temperatures cool and oxygen for us to breathe. Trees also help to absorb or block sound and have been shown to have a calming effect on people. What about animals — are there any birds living in the tree? Any other animals you notice? Don’t forget, trees are also a resource we make things from — buildings, furniture, paper — many things we use every day are possible because of trees.

Photo by John F. Williams

So remember, the next time you’re out and about, take a few minutes to reflect on a tree, its lives, and all the ways it supports our communities.

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Thanks so much for your interest and your support.