Ernst
Zürcher, Chair of Wood Sciences, Department of Forest
and Wood Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, ETH Zentrum,
HG F 21, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland. Presented at Third IUFRO Extension
Working Party Symposium, “Extension Forestry:
Bridging the Gap Between Research and Application”, July
19-24, 1998, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.
Abstract For more than 2000 years, certain forestry practices andrules
regarding tree felling have been carried out in observance to Moon cycles.
A general review of the differenttypes of rules followed (known in Europe
and on other continents and stemming from both written sources andcurrent
practitioners) shows that special timber uses are mentioned in relation
to a specific felling date whichsupposedly ensures advantageous wood properties.
These empirical forestry traditions apply to a range ofwood uses as diverse
as building timber, shingles, wooden chimneys, fuel wood, resonance wood
for harmonytables of violins, cheese-boxes, barrels and ploughs. In each
of these cases, felling at the ldquoright daterdquo isthought to be an
important factor to ensure the required properties of the product. Moreover,
the rafting of timber used tobe limited to certain days of the Moon cycle,
when the water was supposed to carry the wood in the best way.
The second part presents scientific studies concerned,on the one hand,
with ldquoMoon phasesrdquo factor. They deal with elements of tree biology
such as germinationand initial growth of tropical trees (where strong
and systematic variations and their complicating aspectshave been observed),
insect attacks on trees and reversible fluctuations of stem diameters.
On the other hand, someworks concentrate on wood properties and the relation
between wood and water. They deal with the durabilityof wood, with systematic
density variations after kiln-drying and with variations in the compression
strength of the corresponding samples.An overview tries to find a common
link between empirical practicesand the scientific results.
Introduction The subject presented here
is linked to the fact that most organic processes and the structures which
result from them have a rhythmic character. In the plant world in temperate
latitudes, it is immediately obvious that the germination, growth, maturation
and perennial structure formation in trees are marked by an alternation
between active and resting phases. This alternation is materialized in
the morphology of the shoot or in the architecture of the tree, and on
an anatomical level, in the succession and the internal structure of the
growth rings. This rhythmical characteristic of plants has always had
to be taken into account by man, a heterotrophic being, for his subsistence.
On reading works which deal with popular sayings or quote classical authors
concerning agricultural practice, or simply talking to gardeners, farmers
or foresters with an empirical experience based on tradition, one is struck
by two things. Firstly, in addition to the rhythm of the seasons, lunar
rhythms are systematically mentioned as having an influence on the growth,
structures, characteristics or properties of plants. Secondly, one is
struck by certain common factors, despite the geographical distance of
the sources; these similarities in the rules formulated would seem to
suggest the existence of possibly objective phenomena. For example, the
general rules governing the felling of trees are in accordance right across
the continents; whether in the alpine arc (Hauser 1973), in the Near East
(Aichinger 1936), in India, Ceylon and Brazil (Forstmann 1936; Kolisko
and Kolisko 1953; Schrödter 1981), or in Guyana, all these traditions
seem to be based on matching observations. It should be noted that in
the past, people had more time and more peace and quiet to observe: it
must even have been of vital importance to them. These facts and observations
certainly had their share of superstitions added on to them, as soon as
the precise and objective observations were left behind, as soon as people
trusted blindly in traditions, without having access to an understanding
of the phenomena themselves. This appears clearly in certain sayings which
make diametrically opposed assertions about the same subject, as can be
found, for example, in the very complete book by Hauser (1973) about peasant
rules in Switzerland. As for the influence of the moon, the similarities
in the traditional rules can be resumed thus at a first level: "The moon
is strongly connected with water; the full moon brings more water to the
plant than the new moon" (Gabriel 1988). "During the waning moon, liquids
move towards the roots, the earth is receptive, it breaths in; during
the waxing moon, on the other hand, the sap tends to rise, and upward
growth and breathing out predominate" (Paungger and Poppe 1991). Pliny
already reduced the phenomenon to its most utilitarian aspect. He advised
Roman farmers to pick fruit for market before the full moon, as it weighed
more, but to pick fruit for their own stores at the new moon, as it would
last better. Elsewhere, he recommends felling trees at the new moon (Storl
1992). At stake here is the synodic lunar rhythm
concerning the sun-moon-earth relationship. The passage of the new moon
(sun-moon conjunction) through the first quarter to the full moon (sun-moon
opposition), then through the third quarter to return to the initial phase
represents the lunation and lasts 29.531 days.
Empirical knowledge and traditions often mention a second level of influence,
that of the ascending and descending cycle
of the moon, its tropical rhythm concerning the earth-moon relationship
from a geocentric point of view (this second rhythm is less obvious to
the observer). Indeed, the highest point, compared to the earth"s horizon,
of each lunar passage varies systematically and in both directions. The
moon"s trajectory takes it higher in the sky for 13 or 14 passages, then
the tendency is reversed for the other half of the tropical month, which
lasts for 27.32158 days. Here, the general rule is quite close to the
previous one: "As the moon ascends, the sap rises faster in the upper
part of plants and improves the quality of its constituents; . . . as
the moon descends, the growth of plants above ground is slowed (Gabriel
1988). According to Wohlgenannt"s 1988 synthesis, the ascending moon brings
a "separation from moisture and soil," whilst the descending moon "pulls
all things downwards." First source of confusion: the ascending moon is
sometimes confused with the waxing moon, the descending moon with the
waning moon, despite a difference in periodicity of 2.21 days.
Finally, a third, more subtle level of influence has always been mentioned:
that of the sidereal rhythm, whose
periodicity is very close to the tropical one. This cycle concerns the
constellations of the zodiac before which our satellite passes during
a rotation around the earth, and the cycle lasts 27.32166 days. The highest
point of the tropical cycle always occurs in the constellation of Gemini,
the lowest point in Sagittarius. Here, too, the traditional parallels
are sometimes striking: they go as far as relating groups of constellations
with certain parts of the plant (root, leaf, flower, fruit). Many rules
concerning the date at which trees should be felled in order to obtain
certain qualities in the wood take account of the position of the moon
compared to the constellations (Hauser 1973; Wohlgenannt 1988; Paungger
and Poppe 1991). Such practices are still particularly alive among certain
instrument makers, using "resonance wood" of a high quality. At this level,
a source of imprecision arises from the fact that the astronomical constellations
observed at a given date no longer coincide entirely in time with the
"signs of the Zodiac" of ancient astrology (due to the slow nutation of
the earth’s rotational axis).
The Research Various studies in animal biology and on annual plants
seem nevertheless to confirm some of the empirical rules and practises
linked to lunar rhythms (Endres and Schad 1997). In trees, Burr (1945,
1947) had indeed observed a rhythm of about 27 days in the "bio-electric
potential" measurable along the stem, a rhythm in between the annual and
the daily fluctuations, and not directly explicable by the current site
or climatic factors. The author suggested at the time a connection with
the lunar cycles. Not being aware of other research or experiments on
this topic with forest species, it seemed interesting to us to work with
tropical species in their environment, in Rwanda, and with species introduced
into that country. One of the major difficulties of such research in situ
in temperate zones resides in the continual changing of daylength, temperature
and humidity through the seasons. An experiment situated in a region close
to the equator allows the elimination of a good part of these factors
influencing growth, and an easier identification of a possible influence
of lunar phases for example. A supplementary precaution in this domain
is regular watering of nursery beds, particularly in the dry season. Another
advantage of this situation was the fact that the trials could be carried
out by staff unaware of the working hypothesis being tested, thus excluding
any psychological bias (influence of the experimenter).
Materials and Methods At first, we wanted to concentrate on the
first of the 3 cycles mentioned: on the synodic lunar rhythm, oscillating
between the New Moon (NM) and the Full Moon (FM). The aim was to study
the effect of this rhythm on the germination and the initial growth during
4 to 6 months. For the precise moment of sowing (after a brief soaking
of the seeds), we based our experiment on the work of Kolisko (1927, 1929,
1934, 1935), according to which the maximal effect precedes the phase
in question by two days. At the time, this work marked the beginning of
the bio-dynamic method of agriculture, founded by Steiner in 1924. The
trials took place in the Forestry Department of the Institut des Sciences
Agronomiques du Rwanda (aided by the Coopération Suisse - Intercoopération,
Berne), in 1990 and 1991 (with a brief preliminary trial in 1989). Each
sowing consisted of four replications of 50 seeds from the same batch.
Each replication was placed randomly in a compartment (20 cm x 20 cm)
of a wooden crate with 12 compartments kept in diffuse light by means
of shade screens. The seeds, already slightly buried, were thus preserved
from a possible direct effect of the moonlight, extremely weak compared
to sunlight, which is known not to penetrate further than 5 to 10 mm in
the soil, with the red part of the spectrum (authors cited in Egley 1995).
A series consists of 12 successive sowings, 2 days before the full moon
(FM) or, 14-15 days later, 2 days before the new moon (NM), and lasts
generally 5.5 months. Species tested: Maesopsis eminii Engl. (main tree
species - a Rhamnaceous plant from tropical Africa, from Liberia to Tanzania)
Sesbania seban (L.) Merr. (African shrub cultivated in agroforestry systems)
Acacia mearnsii De Wild. (introduced) Acacia melanoxylon R. Br. (introduced)
The observations consisted of a weekly control of emergence, and counting
and measuring heights when being planted out individually into sachets,
exactly 4 lunar months after the sowing date.
Results and Discussion A preliminary trial with Acacia melanoxylon
in 1989 had strongly encouraged us to study the question more precisely.
The results of the main trial with Maesopsis eminii in 1991 appear in
three forms (see tables in Zürcher 1992, and statistical treatment):
number of days to first germination in each set of 50 seeds, i.e. speed
of emergence; germination rate for each set; and mean height,
maximum height and distribution into height classes after 4 months
for each sowing. The speed of germination or beginning of emergence already
shows a significant difference between the FM and NM sowings for all the
sowings (A) and especially for those corresponding to the dry season which
took place in the middle of the trial (B) (Figure
1 ). Recent experiments on the radish by Fritz in 1994 show the
same tendency: faster germination at FM (Figure
2 ). These studies agree with the hypothesis that the cytokinine
(hormone group) content of plants is linked to the synodic
lunar rhythm, with a maximum at full moon (this had been shown
by Hofman, Featonby-Smith and Van Stalden on algae in 1986 - quoted by
Fritz 1994). Cytokinine also plays a role in the model proposed by Rossignol,
Benzine-Tizroutine and Rossignol (1990) to explain the variations in the
relative frequency of three forms of DNA according to lunar phases. These
differences in the speed of germination are probably also partly linked
to cyclic variations in the absorption of water by seeds, as shown by
Brown and Chow in 1973 working on a large scale: 7931 series of 20 beans.
One of the absorption maxima coincides with the Full Moon (Figure
3 ). Concerning the continuation of the results obtained with Maesopsis,
we were struck by a regular alternation in the mean germination rate,
particularly during the dry season (2nd, 3rd and 4th sowings FM and NM)
(Figure 4 ). These two first elements (speed
of emergence and germination rate) appear themselves to be strongly correlated
(Figure 5 ). A fine confirmation of this
tendency to a higher germination rate around the FM was found by Spiess
(1987, 1990), who demonstrated a strong effect of this kind (while the
tropic curve with the succession of constellations crossed does not show
any connection with the germination rate of rye at the time considered)
(Figure 6 ). A parallel trial with Acacia
mearnsii carried out the same year also shows a strong sytematic variation
in the number of plants obtained (Figure 7
). Not only were the speed and rate of germination influenced by the
exact sowing date, but also the individual dimensions 4 months later.
The mean heights at 4 lunar months follow a curve similar to that of the
variations of germination rate according to the sowing dates (Figure
8 ). The most striking differences were found with the measurements
of maximum heights for each group of sowings at 4 months, with the full
moon sowings always coming ahead of the new moon ones (Figure
9 ). Such differences had been obtained by Kolisko (1927, 1929,
1934, 1935), working with cereals, vegetables, herbs or flowers in numerous
series of trials, with a very homogeneous sowing material (sorted seeds).
Four years after the last Rwandan trials, an independent work on germination
and initial growth of African tree species from the Soudano-Sahel Zone
was carried out in Mali, after the same scheme. The four tested species
showed better results with sowings just before full moon (Bagnoud 1995;
Figure 10 ). In this kind of experiment,
it is necessary to work in a very precise manner in the choice of dates:
at the exact moment of the full moon, the plant seems to react
completely differently in terms of viability. The values obtained
for Maesopsis eminii the following year (1991) show this, as well as confirming
the effect of sowing 2 days before the FM or 2 days before the NM which
was shown in 1990 (Figure 11 ). This phenomenon
had already struck Milton in 1974, who identified a variation in phase
with the synodic lunar rhythm in the growth of maize coleoptiles, in trials
lasting 14 months (Figure 12 ). To complicate
matters, we found in the trials carried out the following year that one
species can also behave in the opposite way to that observed up to then:
Sesbania sesban produced in 1991 maximum heights systematically in phase
with the new moon (Figure 13 ). On this subject,
Brown and Chow noticed that sudden inversions in behaviour (water absorption)
according to lunar phases sometimes occurred (correlations passing from
positive to negative, or vice versa). Similarly, Fritz (1994) finds in
Fatshedera lizei that the formation of
new leaves is strongly linked to the synodic lunar rhythm (positive
effect of the FM), and observes "offbeat" periods (formation maxima at
NM). Another phenomenon revealed by these trials was that two neighbouring
species could also react simultaneously in a completely opposite manner
to the phases of the moon. Acacia mearnsii and Acacia melanoxylon, also
in the following year, give biomass variation curves that are systematically
opposed for sowings according to the synodic lunar rhythm. Note that in
these double series of 1991, the positive effect of the FM (or of the
NM) is less obvious than in the previous trials or than for the two other
species.
Apart from the synodic rhythm studied up to here, recent work by Spiess
(1990) shows that the second category of traditions and empirical rules
linked to the moon also contain a kernel of truth. It is the moon ascending
or descending (tropical rhythm), rather than an effect of the constellations
(sidereal rhythm): the overall level of a category of substances synthesized
by the plant (crude protein of Rye grains (Secale cerale L.) according
to sowing date, analyzed for a period of 6 years) follows a curve parallel
to that of the moon in relation to the terrestrial horizon. Specific
effects linked to the signs of the zodiac had been shown by Schultz in
the period 1929-1935, using a mobile device ("Tierkreisrad") designed
to test germination from this aspect. Quantitative and qualitative differences
were apparent for a series of annual plants (Schultz 1986). The numerous
sayings in this last category about the quality of wood according to the
felling date remain at first sight difficult to explain, since wood is
made once and for all, and no longer contains living cells in the duramen.
Precise experiments should however be carried out in this area. A recent
work in this concern shows that the synodic lunar rhythm is also present
in the daily tree physiology: under controlled conditions, the stem
diameter of trees fluctuates reversibly in phase with calculable earth
(gravimetric) tides (Zürcher, Cantiani, Sorbetti-Guerri and Michael
1998; Figure 14 ). This phenomenon is even
measurable on sealed stem sections; this leads to the hypothesis that
water could be moving alternatively from living protoplasts to cell walls
of the sapwood, with corresponding diameter changes. This type of short
rhythm should also be tested in trials on germination and initial growth
of trees.
Conclusion and Outlook These trials make clear, for the first time
in trees or shrubs, the existence of a real phenomenon, often mentioned
in traditions or issuing from empirical experience, consisting of a link
between the lunar phases (synodic rhythm) and the behaviour at germination
and during initial growth. They demonstrate that the phenomenon is not
as simple as it might seem at the outset, going beyond the general "cause
and effect" model and calling on predispositions or types of reaction
specific to plants themselves. These trials in turn raise questions about
the exact nature of this phenomenon and of the physiological processes
involved. The importance of such results becomes evident if we consider
that, in the future, a main field of forestry will be the establishment
of plantations: after the Noordwijk Declaration (1989 - signed by 69 countries),
the total surface of plantations must be augmented by 12 Mha per year
until the year 2000. In the same sense, the Climate Conference in Kyoto
in 1997 and the following conference scheduled for 1998 confirm the necessity
of more plantations as "carbon sinks," combined with emission certificates.
The consideration of "endogen-exogen" rhythms linked to the synodic lunar
cycle has two types of practical implications: 1) higher germination rates,
followed by a more vigorous initial growth or higher biomasses, and 2)
an economically more efficient use of available funds, nursery surfaces,
and time alloted to the production of high quality seedlings.
Acknowledgements The author wishes to thank his Rwandan colleagues
and associates for their support or their part in the work, especially
Mr. Thadée Habiyambere, Isaac Kabera, Froduald Twagilimana and
Mrs. Félicité Nyiranshuti, also the nursery staff. He would
also like to emphasize the open-mindedness of the leaders of Intercoopération
faced with such a research subject. Finally, he wishes to dedicate this
work to the Indian Culture of America, which lived in harmony with the
natural lunar rhythm. For the Oglalla, July was for example the "Moon
of the Black Cherries.
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N.B. You will need to go to the website
to see the various figures mentioned.
WEB SITE http://iufro.boku.ac.at/iufro/iufronet/d6/wu60603/proc1998/zurcher.htm
2010 EXAMINATION OF ZURCHER'S SUGGESTION
Peter W. Barlow1 Contact Information, Miroslav Mikulecký Sr2,
3 and Jaroslav Streštík4
(1) School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road,
Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK
(2) Department of Biometrics and Statistics, Neuroendocrinology Letters,
Stockholm and Bratislava, Sweden and Slovakia, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN, USA
(3) BioCos, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
(4) Institute of Geophysics, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic,
Prague, Czech Republic
Received: 19 January 2010 Accepted: 9 March 2010 Published online:
15 April 2010
Abstract
Our initial objective has been to examine the suggestion of Zürcher
et al. (Nature 392:665–666, 1998) that the naturally occurring
variations in stem diameter of two experimental trees of Picea alba
were related to near-simultaneous variations in the lunisolar tidal
acceleration. The relationship was positive: Lunar peaks were roughly
synchronous with stem diameter peaks. To extend the investigation of
this putative relationship, additional data on stem diameter variations
from six other tree species were gathered from published literature.
Sixteen sets of data were analysed retrospectively using graphical representations
as well as cosinor analysis, statistical cross-correlation and cross-spectral
analysis, together with estimated values of the lunisolar tidal acceleration
corresponding to the sites, dates and times of collection of the biological
data. Positive relationships were revealed between the daily variations
of stem diameter and the variations of the lunisolar tidal acceleration.
Although this relationship could be mediated by a 24.8-h lunar rhythm,
the presence of a solar rhythm of 24.0 h could not be ruled out. Studies
of transpiration in two of the observed trees indicated that although
this variable was not linked to stem diameter variation, it might also
be subject to lunisolar gravitational regulation. In three cases, the
geomagnetic Thule index showed a weak but reciprocal relationship with
stem diameter variation, as well as a positive relationship with the
lunisolar tidal force. In conclusion, it seems that lunar gravity alone
could influence stem diameter variation and that, under certain circumstances,
additional regulation may come from the geomagnetic flux.
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