Nurse Tree

The forests in Snoqualmie Valley are full of nurse trees, post logging in the late 1800s.

Nurse trees are large, fast-growing trees which provide shelter to smaller trees and plants as they grow. Several types of protection are provided by a nurse tree. The first is shelter from the sun, and distraction from predators, with many insects and similar predators preferring to feed on larger nurse trees. Nurse trees also shelter younger plants from wind and sand or dust storms, and they attract larger predators like deer, allowing the tender new growth of young plants to remain unmolested.

Eventually, a nurse tree will die, allowing the younger tree to grow up. In a natural forest, the dead tree would be allowed to decay naturally, contributing to the buildup of organic material in the forest and providing nutrition and shelter to numerous plants and animals.

In a forest, a nurse tree may be of a different species than the younger plant or tree, or it may be the same species. It is not uncommon to see several plants competing for the space and resources under nurse trees, with one plant eventually choking the others out by exploiting resources adroitly.

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