Results

|| Tree Type || Approximate Number of Galls per Leaf || Location on Trail || Color of Gall || Description: Inside of Gall || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Picture of Sample ||   || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Birch Tree || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">7+ || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Orange Loop Trail || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Green || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Many whitish bugs were found-- clearish, ball like, with 6 legs, antennas ^the larger the gall, the more bugs we found
 * <span style="DISPLAY: block; FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sample #
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">1

The bugs varied in size ranging from 1/4mm to 1mm || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> ||   || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">*Unknown    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> (Possibly Cherry Tree) || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">5+ || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Orange Loop Trail || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Red/Orange Pointy, Cone-like || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Small black bugs were found, with blackish legs and antennas
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">2

3 black bugs were around 1mm each || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> ||   || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Red Oak || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">1 || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">White Loop Trail || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Brown Very hollow <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">round sac || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Looks like a nest, very grainy and stringy inside, caterpillar type bug inside, white colored with black dots and had 8 spines, bug was very small but could be seen without microscope || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> ||    || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">White Ash || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">1 || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">White Loop Trail || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">White Round || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">White larva inside, had red eyes, very tiny (not visible without microscope), more than 16 were seen, and also a black fly like bug was seen crawling out of gall <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> || <span style="DISPLAY: block; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; TEXT-ALIGN: center"> * We were unable to identify the tree from which sample 2 was found.However, through various research on the internet, we found that the physical characteristics of the gall most closely fit the description of a cherry pouch gall, which is most commonly seen on black cherry trees. Additionally, we were told by a park ranger that there are many cherry trees in Flat Rock Brook. So for the purposes of this project, we analyzed the results based on the assumption that sample 2 came from a black cherry tree.
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">3
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">4

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 130%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="DISPLAY: block; FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">      <span style="FONT-SIZE: 130%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 130%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Pictures of Dissected Galls:



The data gathered below was found by starting at the white loop trail at Flat Rock Brook and walking 1500 feet while counting how many trees we passed and how many of them had leaf galls. The graph reveals that the percentage of trees in the white loop trails that have leaf galls is extremely low. Also, trees with leaf galls live in the same habitat as trees without them, and from this information we are able to assume that the affect of leaf galls on trees doesn't affect the growth of the infected tree as well as the surrounding trees in the area.

This graph represents the same data as the one above, except that it was taken by walking through on orange loop trail instead. While the percentage of trees that have leaf galls in the orangle loop trail is slightly larger than the white loop trail, it is still a very small amount. This shows how uncommon leaf galls really are.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 130%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Research on the trees from which each gall was found on:

<span style="DISPLAY: block; FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Red Oak <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">The northern red oak is one of the most important oaks for timber production in North America. Northern red oak is easy to recognize by its bark, which features bark ridges that appear to have shiny stripes down the center. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> Galls frequently appear on oaks. They may be small bumps or larger, more visible growths. For example, the oak-apple gall appears as fairly large, round, apple-like growths. Most leaf galls on oak are not damaging, however.

<span style="DISPLAY: block; FONT-SIZE: 90%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; TEXT-ALIGN: left">White Ash The white ash tree is quite common, and it is known to grow rapidly. In the Fall, it is one of the first trees to change colors. Among all the ashes, its' wood is considered to be the best, and it is used to make baseball bats, furniture, and firewood. <span style="DISPLAY: block; FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; TEXT-ALIGN: left">

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> <span style="DISPLAY: block; FONT-SIZE: 90%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Birch Tree The bark of all birches is characteristically marked with longhorizontal lenticels, and often separates into thin papery plates. In young trees the bark is reddish-brown, but changes to white as they matur<span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> e. It is generally small to medium size.

Cherry Tree Cherry Pouch Galls are common among Cherry trees. Mites form cherry pouch galls, fingerlike projections on top of cherry tree leaves. These numerous galls usually grow in spring as the leaves grow. Their presence is a sign of mites feeding and breeding. Anyone looking at cherry leaves during the summer might notice them. They don't occur on all cherry trees, but they are abundant when present. They drop with the leaves, and the tree appears to have never been visited by these gall makers.

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