This Tree LOVES FIRE (Longleaf Pine) -  

Dr. Kush is an expert on trees: "What do I need to do with these trees, Dr Kush" "Burn It" I mean, you can't make this stuff up.

Every single time he said "Dr.Kush" I chuckled, best possible name for a guy that deals with trees

As a professional forester I truly appreciate you helping to educate the public about our forests and how to properly manage them!🙌🙌

"if we didn't burn it, *lightning would* " that's mother nature for you

After seeing the cross cut of the long leaf pine I now know my parents have a few old growth pines on their land (as well as a ton of regular long leaf pines) I've seen the sap dripping down like she was talking about too so I'll have to keep an eye out for those woodpeckers. I've always hated the trees because I had to pick up the pine cones growing up but today I've learned to appreciate them. Thanks for the knowledge! (I also live in Alabama about 45mins from Huntsville) Gettin' smarter everyday!

Can't believe you found the second place by accident, that footage was so awesome. In general, this video is another great example why I love what you're doing, since the direct and open contact with interesting people in their field is something that I will always appreciate.

Always glad to listen to passionate people. This videos inspires me to be a better person.

This video is great I love it. I am a firefighter in Australia Queensland. In Australia we have a Banksia tree, most of the species require fire to open up the seed pods to then allow them to germinate.

Thanks for making this video and showing some love for the long leaf pine ecosystem! It is nice to see other people that are passionate about this amazing ecosystem. While this video is only 57 minutes long, one can literally spend a life time studying, researching, and working in this ecosystem. I am currently torn between pursuing a masters that would some how involve work with the long leaf upland ecosystem or wetland ecosystems. Regardless, the long leaf ecosystem is my absolute favorite ecosystem and is near and dear to my heart (I was surrounded by long leafs growing up). If you wanted to research further on the topic there are various private and government agencies/organizations that base their work on this ecosystem as well. For example, in South Carolina, we have the Bob White Quail Initiative. They focus on restoring quail habitat, which as you probably guessed is closely associated with the long leaf pine ecosystem. Along with them you also have the long leaf alliance based out of Alabama. While awareness of the importance of the long leaf pine ecosystem is nowhere near as high as say that of the marine ecosystems, and efforts for preservation are not talked about everywhere like they are for the marine ecosystems, there are quite a few die hard folks out there working to actively preserve and restore it. I'm not going to bore you any more with my rambling on comment, but i would just like to say well done in creating this video and I hope it opens some eyes and brings awareness to some less thought of ecosystems.

Hi Destin! I studied biology (mostly organismal) at CSU Monterey Bay. I wanted to offer my insight related to keystone species. The name comes from the "key stone" in a stone archway. Without this top centermost stone, the archway falls. The example used at my university was the sea otter, our mascot. You see, sea otters were hunted for fur in the 1800s. Sea otters eat urchins. The result was a trophic cascade that lead to a boom in urchin populations, and urchins eat giant kelp. The end result is an ecosystem known as an urchin barren, which has a low biodiversity. Now that otters have returned, urchin populations have stabilized, and kelp forest has also returned. Kelp forest ecosystems provide more ecological niches to fill than urchin barrens, and have a potential for overall diversity closely second to reefs. The point I'm trying to make is that keystone species' most important feature is that they open niches for other species to fill, directly via extensive burrows, or indirectly through predating on a "weedy" species. This makes them high priority for conservation, as saving a keystone species greatly increases the survival chance of several species that benefit from their ecosystem services.

57:14 “For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."

I love the face you make when you’re so concentrated on learning a new topic

Dustin, can you do a follow-up on that longleaf pine's progress?

So when is the "How Windows Are Washed" video coming? :D

Man, I love seeing people that are so passionate about a subject.

As an Ag student and an Ag communications student, we talk about extension all the time and within our groups. But most people outside our world don't realize/know anything about the Land Grant University systems and extension services in every state. Thank You, Destin, for this video to educate the public about these crucial resources in our education system.

This was incredible. Both places just begging to share and educate. Even the window washer. Thanks for posting the whole thing.

I actually have used a waterfed system to clean windows just like that, my parents own a window cleaning business. I've worked with them a couple summers. The waterfed is really cool because we don't use just any old water we use purified and treated water with reverse osmosis. Using reverse osmosis means that the dirt sticks to the water molecules and then you can rinse it off and will leave no spots when it dries because there is no impurities in it.

When you learn about the "Wood Wide Web" you will weep from being overwhelmed by the intricacy and perfection. The network of old growth "mother" trees and mycorrhizal networks is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Didn't think I was going to watch the whole video, but then I remembered how great Destin's content is and then it was just over

Never thought I'd watch such a long video about trees, but their fascination and dedication to the topic just caught me. Now I kind of want to grow a long leaf pine, too bad I live in Germany where it mist definitely won't grow :/

I just want to go on a hike with Ashlyn now, she seems awesome.

I actually recently saw at my local university someone cleaning a window in the same way. I was equally as surprised about how well that works, holding such a long stick.

Pine soil is acidic, the burning of underbrush adds phosphorus and potassium and other micronutrients that a plant needs to up take. The NPK shot helps put the tree in s growth spurt. There are actually flowers in the Chicagoland area that will not bloom unless there is a fire

i absolutely love your channel, and just wanted to take a moment to say thank you, not just for spreading knowledge but for shedding light on the fact there are many things you don't know you don't know. happy thanksgiving brother!

I have a large amount of property that is really soggy, so thanks to this info I'm planting a large amount of weeping willows so soak up the soggy land I always have every season. Thanks Destin and the scientists that helped me!

Ashlyn is awesome! So smart and passionate about what she does. Explained things really well.

Can we please get more of these videos?! My wife and I loved learning about trees in detail!

There was point at the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center where Bob brought a tear to my eye. He was talking with Destin and answering his questions like an educator but for a moment he sounded choked up a bit and said “That’s why we want the tree back. This was one of the natives.” He represents the people fighting the good fight. Not trying to engineer ourselves out of the problem but allowing nature to find its balance if we could just stop getting in its way.

AMAZING video Destin! This one is better than the main channel video in my opinion, what a coincidence that you found that on the way back, such a cool tree. Never thought one species would be so crucial to a whole ecosystem. Good job on the TeamTrees fund too! As of now you're already nearing 1 million trees, it hasn't even been 24hrs yet!

I can watch your channel for hours. Great in every way. Thank you.

I used to work as a Research Assistant in the Firelab at the Forestry department of University of Toronto writing forest fire spread simulation software. Forest fires are interesting.

Planting trees is important. Maybe equally important is the planting of awareness and understanding of ecosystems and economics. Thanks, Destin!

Great video - very informative, I loved it - loved the people you met along the way and their enthusiasm for nature and science! Thank you Destin!

"Little balls of fire! :-) Didn't think I would watch the whole video but it just flew by! Awesome, I had never even heard of that tree before, probably because I have snow. 53:15 Smiley :-)

I love these longer behind-the-scenes episodes -- thank you. I live in Georgia near a wildlife refuge that has a red-cockaded woodpecker population. Fascinating.

The window washer was amazing.

Just caught this one and really enjoyed it! I love long leaf pines--they are also our state tree here in NC, and I knew they formed a unique ecosystem but I didn't know about their fire dependence, slow growth, and strength (I did read somewhere they are the only pines that can stand up to hurricanes!) or about the importance of gopher tortoises!

We did it. I really do hope Team Trees plant a diverse number of trees. A forest of the same tree can create dead forests with no bio diversity which drive away the wildlife. If you wanna help more, download and use the ecosia web browser. the non-profit company has been doing this for 10 years and release financial reports to the public.

Destin you need to go back and see that very long leaf pine!!

10:10 fact you might appreciate: they often use reverse osmosis filtered water to prevent them from having to dry the windows after washing. Using demineralized water means you don't get traces of water droplets after drying.

The fact I’ve seen this tree all my life in Puerto Rico and never knew it was this important. Thank you so much Destin. Maybe we can look into why this tree grows so much in a tropical island.

For the potential trees for your land maybe you could also consider some other trees that require more care but it's the kind of care that can be automated, could be a nice project and the subject of another video.

I got so excited when I saw hose bald cypress! 😊 The Peve Minaret Bald Cypress is my favorite tree right now (with the gold rush dawn redwood at a close second). At a nature center close to my house there are some lovely bald cypress with knees sticking up out of the ground. (Thanks for helping grow trees!)

I don’t know why, but I always find myself coming back to both channels to watch your videos again. Thanks for the awesome videos, Destin.

Hey Destin, just wanted to say thank you so much for expanding your horizons to things like this. I am a first year student at Clemson university with a major in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology, but I am taking several forestry classes and was actually afforded the opportunity to work on a Creative Inquiry in Camden South Carolina. This is a program to research plants that grow near the Longleaf Pine stands and which of them are beneficial to the species. Sadly I have contracted Covid-19 as of recently and just started my quarantine so I won’t be able to do work on it for a while. Although we were working in the field last week and I learned a lot of stuff from this video that put into perspective why this species of pine is so important. Thank you again Destin and I look forward to seeing more videos from you!

I checked comments quite a ways and didn't see any thing about the gopher tortoise ..I'm 65 now and was born in Sarasota County, Florida so when I was young we would harvest a few gophers each year for spending money, If you surprise 1 and pick it up quickly it will empty its bladder and spray a surprising distance, Indigo snakes were plentiful also..late 1960's

Thanks Dan for providing content like this and informing the public about these awesome services

Very nice video ... Love the effort you put into learning and to Share things .. fan of you for past 4 years.... Ashlyn shared good amount of information ... Thank you Ashlyn ! And as always Destin!

I am always amazed with the physics Destin talks about. I LOVE seeing him explore my area of knowledge! Forest fire ecology is AMAZING!

as someone who wants to become a wildland firefighter thank-you i really appreciate this in-site

Dr Kush seems a bit too excited about “controlled burns” 🤔

DR KUSH IS THE FORREST AND FIRECOLOGY EXPERT OFC LOOOOOOL

The most stunning thing about this video to me is that 35 days without rain is a drought there. Here in California we can go 7 months without rain sometimes. In my area we've had times where we got rain fewer than 10 times in a year.

Destin you should consider doing a Sound Traverler episode through the Bald Cypress Wild Life refuge you begin this EP in. I bet that would be amazing as a binaural recording. These types of videos are great!

When I did the forestry pin in cub scouts I learned about some of this stuff and got to use some of the tools in the vid. My favorite was a mud flap on a stick that would get used to beat the fire out if it advanced too quickly or started to get too big. The thump it made when you hit the ground was the best part

I like this second channel because ot goes so much in depth with all the topics. Love it.

I lived in Walker and the west side of Jefferson county growing up. And we had longleaf pines in both counties. A school teacher that lived up the road a couple hundred yards had an old growth longleaf pine. I got one of the cones and kept it for years, it was at least 12" tall and 8" to 9" in diameter.

I just learned about this stuff in my environmental science class and I can tell you it was very interesting when learning about it. And even more interesting hearing it from different professionals.

... finally, out in the field, I am getting some useful info. Thanks Prof Kush.

Most interesting!! Thanks Destin.

I loved this video. Your content is always awesome. I didn’t notice how long this video was before I started it, but it kept me riveted in place. Every time it occured to me that this was longer than normal, I hoped it wouldn’t stop, because it was so great.

Mississippi State University operates an extension at Crosby Arboretum in Picayune, MS. The facility highlights the importance of pitcher plant bogs. It's a neat exhibit that explains the importance of burning to sustain the carnivorous plants. Consider visiting there in the future to extend this discussion!

Destin, you are awesome! I am getting ready to plant 200 trees on my land. I have a specific tree in mind I want to plant but after seeing this video I realize there is a few more t’s to cross and i’s to dot. Thanks for what you do!

Awesome video Dustin. The tortoise is an incredible species to help other species survive, So very cool to learn about the longleaf pine.

I seriously enjoyed this video.

I know this is an old video, and it's not really in the scope of what you're doing currently, but when she mentioned burning with helicopters on eglin, it reminded me of some work I did as a firefighter years ago. There's a specific type of helicopter burns that are incredibly interesting - This particular process uses what is essentially a ping pong ball machine gun. Lol. They use plastic spheres that are basically ping pong balls, but they're filled with potassium manganate. As they're shot by the "door gunner", an injector injects a shot of Glycol into the ball and then fires it out the helicopter. As it flies through the air, it spins which mixes & agitates the chemicals, creating a reaction which generates enough heat to catch fire. In other words, they use ping pong flame thrower machine gun equipped helicopters to help trees grow 😂

We all have probably heard of the wildfires out in California lately. If California and a lot of other wildfire prone states just prescribed burn on a semi-regular basis, 5-10 years, then they wouldn't have as many wildfires. Also, Dustin, Croatan National Forest in North Carolina is a longleaf pine savanna that also has some very interesting endangered species like red cockaded woodpeckers, venus fly traps, pitcher plants, gopher frogs, etc. You should go visit it, and if you do, look inside the pitcher plants. Sometimes tree frogs hide in the plant during the day to hide from predators. I've got a really cool photo.

i use to live on a property that had some of the oldest longleaf pine trees in the area they date back to 16th to 17th century they were awesome trees but i did not know how much they helped the ecosystem awesome vid!

I've seen this at Fort Stewart all the time and had no clue what they were, great video

9:50 It seems that that’s a brush similar to the one in those car wash places where you put the money in and then the water comes out of the nozzle. They also have one of those types of brushes that depending on the setting you will get soap or foam. The one the man is using as a brush on the end of a really long stick and then runs a hose all the way up and connected at the top

I like bob. You can tell he didnt expect an interview but interesting guy

Make more such videos about other trees if you can. This was extremely educational and an eye opener. Thank you.

i love dr.barlow's body language 1:49 "act casual as I come back right in to meet you for the "first time" "

I work for a farm in Rome ga that had 120 acres of long leaf pine. It was anywhere from bottoms land to upland rocky area an we burnt at least 40 acres every year. I can say if you plant them near any power lines you really need to put tomato cage around them. They are very beautiful trees.

California NEEDS these folks.....

Think I enjoyed this particular video more than others in your excellent history! Thanks for sharing and the knowledge!

And, here in Marion County, Florida, we actually opened up a hunting season on black bears because we couldn't realize we were the ones moving into their territory and irresponsibly enticing them with our garbage. :(

Fascinating!

45:22 She is so knowledgeable, and it is extremely attractive... 🌲🌲🌲

great stuff

This was Fascinating...!

I enjoyed this. Did anyone else see the smiley face in the map at 53:14?

47:10 I'm impressed that Ants collecting charcoals to keep them warm up during winter , basically Black colour absorbs and radiate heat and these Ants using it effectively. Awesome!🎉

A very interesting and informative video. As to the bald cypress it is very prolific in germinating and needs to germinate on dry ground but will live in water. It is slow growing; about 1 foot in diameter per 100 years and it does not have growth rings. The 'knees' or growth protruding up from the roots only do that where the roots alternate wet/dry cycles. I have noticed cypress knees growth at about 1/16 inch per year. Trees planted in areas like around UT Arlington and stores and malls where they are irrigated with a sprinkler system will develop knees out of the ground. Bald cypress has fern-like leaves instead of needles.

Cant wait to see the follow on videos on his forestry project.

This is an amazing video!

I’ve known this since I was young. There are plenty of trees that require fire to go through the germination process. Local to me there’s a species that only lives in like 2 places. The Torrey pine. In the Torrey pines national park and on Santa Rosa island.

I love your Smarter Every Day channels. You are doing an incredible job of teaching about nature and science. Everything that I see in your videos further solidifies in my mind how God’s imagination is so incredibly vast and vibrant that He dreamed up everything that you teach us about. It’s amazing. Please never stop. There is so much to learn and you have a wonderful, likable style that draws me in and keeps me interested. Thanks for that and thank God for those gifts that He has given you so we can learn.

Chilling with doctor kush at the fire club 🔥

I'm a huge fan of this video, it's very interesting and informative.

Wow - Glad I stumbled across this one - really interesting. Thanks! :-)

that guy, bob was just great.... just that simlie he had when he said we can talk to this guy for the next 3 hours just great

Great video, very informative..

As a recreational woodworker in the south. Yellow pine is really our region’s most perfect wood.

I just watched this entire thing a second time, I thought it said 8 minutes ago not 8 months ago. I did think it waa familiar, I thought maybe Dustin recycled some clips....good to know we made it, 20 million plus trees!

I will have to check now but I may have a longleaf in my back yard... Really cool video.

Excellent content!

Really love these down to earth up close and personal stories Destin - they particularly show your absolute love of Learning, and you always have a great rapport with everyone. Not sure if it is just a little bit of sheltered favouritism...but I think Dr Kush needs to brush up on his international Arbour knowledge...particularly in the area of Pyrophytic Plants, namely those that can tolerate, and for the most part Thrive in Fire and harsh environments. He noted there might be "One in Australia" - Have you ever seen it down here? Harsh is EVERYWHERE...and to that end - 90% of everything we have here is subsequently tolerating the Harsh (except Brits...21 Degrees is a heat-wave for them...That is a Cold snap for us!) We have a large number of Eucalypts and Banksia, and even the Acacia varieties which rely on fire to unseal the serotinous cones and fruits to spread their seeds, with the Eucalypt also being a Re-sprouter. Most of the times it will only be a matter of months before Eucalypts will be seen to sprout with far thicker growth than Prior to the fires. The Australian Grass tree maintains it's dead growth around it for insulation.

This is a Awesome bit of ecology fact ! I live right on the western edge of the of the growth zone, on the North/South Carolina state line. I will show this to some of the folks at the board of education! I think they would be very surprised, how important the Longleaf Pine species is! You did an excellent job !!!