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Article: The avian Johnny Appleseed: the common blue jay plays a vital role in forest regeneration.
- Article from:
- Animals
- Article date:
- September 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The ice once stretched all the way from the Arctic to Pennsylvania, from Washington State across to New Jersey. During the Pleistocene, winter was really long: it lasted most of two million years. But spring came fast on the heels of the glacier. In fact, oak and beech forests returned to New England far more rapidly than anyone has been to explain. Once the glacier retreated 10,000 years ago, studies of fossilized pollen show, the oaks were back within a thousand years. Beech returned 9,000 years ago. Geologists calculate the oaks advanced north at the lively rate of 380 yards a year . Not bad for an organism that's rooted to the ground.
Of course, trees don't ...