tree. Above ground, a beech grows up and extends outward as well. Ninety per- 
     
     cent of the annual increase in height occurs between mid-May and mid-June. The 
     
     rate of extension of branches outward appears to be influenced by available soil 
     
     moisture. This radial growth is usually completed in a three-month period prior 
     
     to mid-July. For the remainder of the green season, food produced is used for 
     
     maintenance or stored as sap in the roots. In late fall when photosynthesis 
     
     stops, the leaves change color and drop to the ground. Occasionally a small 
     
     beech retains all its leaves, but they are dead and of little use to the plant. 
     
     During winter the tree enters a period of dormancy. Next spring the stored 
     
    

    
     sap reserves are Summoned to the branches. At each new bud, new leaves 
     
    

    
     develop and another period of growth begins. 
     
    

    
     The size and health 
     
     of a tree are directly 
     
     related both to the 
     
     genetic quality of the 
     
     seed and the physical 
     
     and chemical charac- 
     
     teristics of the site 
     
     where it happens by 
     
     chance to germinate. 
     
     Beech seedlings develop 
     
     best on damp leafy 
     
     humus under a moderate- 
     
     ly dense canopy, or in 
     
     small protected open- 
     
     ings. The species 
     
     thrives in a reasonably 
     
     moist climate with an 
     
     annual precipitation 
     
     between 75 and 125 
     
     centimeters. The Dunk 
     
     River watershed has an 
     
     average rainfall which 
     
     occurs in the upper 
     
     range of this moisture 
     
     preference. 
     
    

    
     The eventual form 
     
     of the tree depends on 
     
     the amount of space it 
     
     has to spread. In most 
     
     woodlands, lack of 
     
     light and crowding 
     
     cause the lower branches 
     
     to drop of?) and the 
     
     result of this natural 
     
     pruning is a tall, 
     
     streamlined trunk with 
     
     a top knot of slender 
     
     branches. In open areas, 
     
     beech develop short, 
     
     thick trunks with large, 
     
     low, drooping limbs. 
     
    

    
     If the regular 
     
     annual cycle is main- . 
     
     unified, the beech grows Flying squirrel and ancient beech 
     
    
   
   
    
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