Maple & Oak Don't Mix

Some things seem to go together: Silver & gold, pen & pencil, peanut-butter & jelly, maple syrup & pancakes, steak & potatoes, Rip Van Winkle & the Catskills, wine & cheese. In the forest, there are things that seem to go to together too: Hemlock & brook trout, acorn tree & white-tailed deer, gray squirrel & hickory nut, shady forest & chanterelle, black bear in a black cherry tree.

However, there are some things--even in the forest--that don't go together. Maple & Oak serve as one. Wherever the two are found, one seems to be doing better at the expense of the other. We'll cover why this is, and how it is--in my opinion--one of the more significant matters in today's forest.