Scattered throughout Stadium Woods, The Grove, in front of the Vet
School, and other parts of campus are large numbers of white oak trees
over 3 feet in diameter. These trees are remnant trees left from many
previous disturbances that have taken place in and around the campus.
Other tree species of this size are rarely found, and when they exist,
they are in generally very poor health (e.g., large black oak on north
side of Southgate Drive across from dairy barns). This is because in the
eastern U.S., white oak can live longer and reach a greater size (5
feet in diameter and 100 feet tall) than most other species. White oak
is known to live over 600 years (DeWitt and Derby 1955); therefore,
remnant very large trees are typically white oak. The data base of old
trees known as the “OLDLIST” maintained by dendrochronologist and
ecologist Dr. Neil Pederson lists a white oak of 464 years in Buena
Vista, Virginia.
Of particular interest to Stadium Woods is a 1864 Confederate Civil War
map for Montgomery County, Virginia (Figure 4). In the immediate
Blacksburg, Virginia area are two homes labeled as Col. Preston (now
known as Solitude) and Preston (now known as Smithfield Plantation)
orienting off these homes and the town of Blacksburg shows a patch of
woods on a hill which we now call Stadium Woods.
Most of the large white oaks on the Virginia Tech campus are in the same cohort and are roughly the same age. Several trees in The Grove that have died and are of similar size to those found in Stadium Woods had ring counts over 330 years. One tree aged by Dr. Jeff Kirwan in Stadium Woods was estimated at 305 years. His count was carefully conducted using a magnifying glass and razor blade to clean wood. The tree was hollow, so an extrapolation was utilized to estimate the total age.
On January 6, 2012, Drs. John Seiler and Jay Sullivan, used an increment borer to take cores from three 40-inch dbh trees in Stadium Woods. The trees are on the immediate footprint of the planned practice facility. Because of their large size, we were still not able to reach the center of the trees. Tree number 101 in which the first 13.75 inches of radius was obtained (6.25 inches from center where we hit rot) was dated back to 1773, when the tree at that time was 12.5 inches in diameter (Figure 5). Extrapolating the average growth rate over the 238-year-old core to the center of the tree estimates it to be 346 years old, meaning it may have sprouted in the year 1665! A second core from tree 101 collected on January 16, 2012 on the opposite side of the tree yielded a confirmed minimum age of 273 years. The longest core of 18 inches (very close to center) collected from tree number 65 was aged at 232 years, or back to the year 1764. The final tree number 37 dates back to 1801 or is 210 years old at a point where it is still 6.25 inches short of its center estimating it to be 309 years old. These are not the largest trees found in Stadium Woods. Numerous individuals are over 45 inches in diameter, and five trees are over 50 inches in diameter.
Most of the large white oaks on the Virginia Tech campus are in the same cohort and are roughly the same age. Several trees in The Grove that have died and are of similar size to those found in Stadium Woods had ring counts over 330 years. One tree aged by Dr. Jeff Kirwan in Stadium Woods was estimated at 305 years. His count was carefully conducted using a magnifying glass and razor blade to clean wood. The tree was hollow, so an extrapolation was utilized to estimate the total age.
On January 6, 2012, Drs. John Seiler and Jay Sullivan, used an increment borer to take cores from three 40-inch dbh trees in Stadium Woods. The trees are on the immediate footprint of the planned practice facility. Because of their large size, we were still not able to reach the center of the trees. Tree number 101 in which the first 13.75 inches of radius was obtained (6.25 inches from center where we hit rot) was dated back to 1773, when the tree at that time was 12.5 inches in diameter (Figure 5). Extrapolating the average growth rate over the 238-year-old core to the center of the tree estimates it to be 346 years old, meaning it may have sprouted in the year 1665! A second core from tree 101 collected on January 16, 2012 on the opposite side of the tree yielded a confirmed minimum age of 273 years. The longest core of 18 inches (very close to center) collected from tree number 65 was aged at 232 years, or back to the year 1764. The final tree number 37 dates back to 1801 or is 210 years old at a point where it is still 6.25 inches short of its center estimating it to be 309 years old. These are not the largest trees found in Stadium Woods. Numerous individuals are over 45 inches in diameter, and five trees are over 50 inches in diameter.
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| Figure 5. Historical events during the life of white oak tree number 101 in Stadium Woods, age 346 years. |
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