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Dangling from a giant crane in the woods of southwest Washington, a team of UW scientists are trying to decipher the ecological riddles found in the tops of centuries-old fir trees.

At the UW’s Wind River Canopy Crane Research Facility, researchers are busy examining the little-understood tree canopies of temperate woods. Located in the heart of the Pinchot National Forest near the Columbia River, the 10,000-acre Wind River Experimental Forest has been the crane’s home since 1995. At 285 feet, the 190-ton structure is the world’s second largest research crane, and is part of the most extensive program of its kind in the world, according the UW Office of News and Information. It’s a joint effort between the Pacific Northwest Research Station, operated by the USDA Forest Service, and the University of Washington, which oversees day-to-day operations.

The crane hoists a metal gondola high into the treetops in a forest full of old-growth Douglas, grand and Pacific silver fir trees, along with Western red cedar and western white pine, some of which grow to heights of 180 to 220 feet. For more photos of the forest, go here. A “crane cam” can also be found here. An even more fascinating video from ScienCentral can be found here.

Although research on trees and temperate forests has been taking place at Wind River for nearly a century, it was only recently that scientists like the UW’s Ken Bible have been able to get reliable, safe access to the tops of the towering firs. Along with research colleague Jerry Franklin, a professor in the College of Forest Resources, Bible has been working on a project to examine pine cone production and photosynthesis in the tree tops.

As seen in this recent article from The Seattle Times, Bible and Franklin are especially interested in the role mature forests have to play in absorbing carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that’s driving global warming. Some of their research indicates that older forests serve as useful sinks for CO2, and may counteract the effects of warming more efficiently than younger, less dense forests.

Furthermore, temperate forests and even firs are not perfectly understood, explained Bible. “We know next to nothing about Douglas fir, and it’s the species we know the most about,” he said in the article.

Their other work has indicated that the 500-year-old forest is more biologically active than previously believed, as shown by the analysis of new branch buds.

But the only way Bible and Franklin can conduct their research is via crane.

“If you want to measure these kinds of things, you need to be able to get up in the tops of the trees and out at the ends of the branches where processes like photosynthesis are really going on,” said Franklin in the Times’ story.

“The canopy crane gives you that ability,” he said.

(above photo from The Seattle Times)