Thanks for the info, when we lived in Conifer we saw one year up there where the pines dropped a lot of needles. If I remember right it was the year of the Hi Meadow fire but do not quote me on that. I am one of those wierd people that mark things on that calendar and keep the calendar for a few years.
I do not think I have the specific year (hubby made me throw out stuff when we moved) but I think I will take a look an see what I find.
That is interesting. I've not taken note or read on whether evergreen production is higher than usual. Bit if so, increased energy devoted to reproduction is often associated with stress, especially leading to high mortality. As an example, look to Somalia. Famine is killing people left and right, but it has very high birth rates. It's nature's strategy in so many organisms. When the mortality rate is high, increase the number of offspring in an attempt to insure that one of them will survive. If this is all so, then you will see this past year's growth rings expressed as a very dense and thin ring, indicative of little energy left for wood growth since it all went to reproduction and needle growth.
