CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Wood from an old barn in Naperville may tell a story to scientists that gives them clues on how to better nurture the forests of today.
A team of scientists led by forest ecologist, Dr. Christy Rollinson PhD., visited the Greene Farm Barn in the Greene Valley Forest Preserve in Naperville on Monday and took more than a dozen core samples of timber from the barn.
Dr. Rollinson said the oak timbers date back from before the 1850's. She said scientists think the rings in some of those wood beams may hold clues about how the trees they came from weathered changes in climate and stressful events like fires.
"What we’re hoping to do is use the annual rings from these old oaks so we can see how did oaks grow in the past....how often did a disturbance come through and use that information to help guide our management practices today," she said.
Dr. Rollinson said the rings should be able to tell the team how frequently the trees were stressed for multiple years at a time.
Study results may be available in the next two or three weeks.
The Greene Farm Barn is located just north of the dog park in the Greene Valley Forest Preserve.
A similar study was conducted recently in Lockport.