No Tupelo Trees Means No Tupelo Honey

Trees along the Apalachicola River are disappearing, including some of the trees most important to making Tupelo Honey. A study by the US Geologic Survey found forests of the Apalachicola River floodplain had 4.3 million fewer trees in 2004 than in 1976. A majority of the lost trees belong to four swamp species: popash, Ogeechee tupelo, water tupelo, and bald cypress. Water tupelo has declined in number of trees by nearly 20 percent since 1976. Ogeechee tupelo, the species valuable to the tupelo honey industry, has declined by at least 44 percent. Researchers say the forests are also drier because we aren’t seeing as many natural floods as we used to. Researchers said the floodplain drying was caused by large declines in river levels resulting from erosion of the river channel after 1954 and from decreased flows in spring and summer months since the 1970s. And not only is the drier conditions killing off trees, but north Florida is also losing its swamps. The report found that the density of trees in swamps has decreased by 37 percent from 1976 to 2004. And things aren’t expected to look much better anytime soon. The drying trend is expected to continue for at least 80 more years. The study is available to the public on-line. Just follow the link we’ve set up on this story on the news page at oysterradio.com

http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/sir/sir20085062