Alex Branches Out

Alex Branches Out Geographer and environmental researcher. A place to share what I've learned studying environmental change.

03/28/2025

Did you know the center of a tree is dead?

As a tree ages, it lets the inner tree rings die, forming heartwood and only the younger, outer rings remain alive. This live section is called sapwood and of course it transports the sap with all its essential water and nutrients. This is more efficient than keeping every section alive.

The samples I show have heartrot, a fungal infection that targets heartwood. Otherwise, heartwood is actually stronger and more durable than sapwood because trees inject a hardening chemical before they let the inner rings die to reinforce the structure of the tree.

Check out the full video for more!

03/18/2025

The patterns in this tree tell a story of strength, resilience and ultimately death... but only after putting up quite the fight first!

A tree will put on thicker, darker wood to stabilize itself after getting pushed over or growing on a slope. This is called reaction wood!

Here is an example of an eastern white cedar from Gaspésie that stabilized itself after a crooked 40 or so years until it was knocked over in 1991 from Hurricane Bob. It survived for 19 more years, laying on its side. We sampled it 7 years after its death.

11/29/2024

Why do leaves change colour?

Leaves are green because photosynthesis absorbs all the red and blue spectrum of light leaving only the green left to be reflected.

In the fall, the lower temperature and lower light levels slow down photosynthesis so deciduous trees use the strategy of extracting the nutrients in their leaves and sending the energy back to the roots for next season. They dissolve their photosynthesis machines (chloroplasts) and so the leaves then reflect the underlying colours.

When trees are red, they tend to have higher content of sugar in their nutrient cycling process (maples for example).

Most conifers on the other hand have a different strategy. Their needles are coated in wax and have an antifreeze chemical so they are protected from ice expansion. The advantage is that they can start photosynthesizing early in the spring before the competition!

Would you eat dog meat? Is veganism the best diet to advocate for?Two questions Ive thought about a lot this recently af...
09/24/2024

Would you eat dog meat? Is veganism the best diet to advocate for?

Two questions Ive thought about a lot this recently after I passed by a kiosk in Montréal that appeared to sell and give samples of dog meat. Like many others, I approached them to ask a bunch of questions.

Is this even legal?! (I was told their philosophy is the “its better to ask for forgiveness than permission”). Where are these dogs from? Is it a coincidence that this is happening right after the Trump cat and dog incident?

I try to approach everything with an open mind and honestly… I agreed to try dog meat. For context, my diet is 90% plant-based. My logic for trying the dog meat: if I’m willing to eat domesticated cows, pigs and chickens, morally it’s the same as eating a dog. I’ve watched enough videos of cows and pigs to know how personable and intelligent they are. Also, dogs definitely emit way less greenhouse gases than cows!

The guy I was talking to then admitted to me it was all a joke to trigger people and advocate for veganism. The activist from Direct Action Everywhere struggled with my willingness to try dog meat. I guess because their goal is to find the people shocked by the idea of eating dog and then show the hypocrisy of their meat diets and advocate for veganism.

Then, I had a 15 minute conversation about veganism and activism with the well spoken activist because my “90% vegan” wasn’t enough to him.

I argued that pushing for a flexitarian diet (plant based with some animal products) is more realistic for the vast majority of people and it would be more readily adopted by most. So it would have more of an impact on the lives of animals and the state of our environment than advocating for an extreme. Veganism is an extreme. It’s unrealistic to expect most people to do it.

He countered my point with talk about the overton window (i.e. how the range of what is considered normal in politics changes). I agree, but plant-based proteins are mainstream now. Plant-based meals are accessible and popular. Most people know their meaty meals have consequences.

I commend these activists in a lot of ways. I think this campaign is clever and gets good conversations going. But in this super polarized world and with the climate emergency at our doorstep, I think advocating for people to balance their diets with plant-based protein will do much more for the planet than advocating for an extreme. This is what I’ve found most effective in my presentations to younger students. Eating is one of the greatest pleasures in this life. You dont have to give up meat completely to feel like youre having an impact. There is a part of veganism that feels almost religious to me and it sits wrong in mind head.

Try meatless lunches. Then meatless mondays. Then two days a week, then three. We don’t need to be perfect to have an important impact.

If you have an opinion on this I would love to hear it!

This map is a great overview showing the effects of a warming climate on North America. There is so much to discuss here...
09/24/2024

This map is a great overview showing the effects of a warming climate on North America. There is so much to discuss here but given the impressive precipitation records in southern Québec from in early August by Hurricane Debby, I'll focus on the the precipitation aspect.

All of Canada is expected to receive more precipitation (blue dots) across all seasons.

In southern Canada, a 10-20% increase is expected, while in the high north, we may see up to a 60-70% increase. Extreme precipitation in general is expected to increase across the country because hot air can hold more moisture. Hence, more flooding extremes as we saw last week. Hurricane tracks are expected to travel farther north so Canada will get hit by more intense hurricanes and tropical storms as well.

While this will not be very pleasant for Canadians, we can see on the map that the impacts in southwestern America will be exactly the opposite which is much more concerning: less rain so more droughts, wildfires and stresses on the breadbasket of America. Extremes conditions (ex: droughts) can be more likely everywhere, explaining why negative impacts (agriculture, wildfires, etc) are also going to increase in the relatively wetter areas (Alberta, BC, American Midwest).

The map shows areas vulnerable to sea-level rise, permafrost changes and ecosystem changes as well. Zoom in and check it out!

Thank you to Zoï Environment Network for this map.

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