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Their attempt was not successful. If I recall correctly the main problem was that it takes more force to embed the new plant in the soil than the plant can survive.
Discovery tried this approach in their Project Earth show, http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/project-earth/lab-books/reforest... Their attempt was not successful. If I recall correctly the main problem was that it takes more force to embed the new plant in the soil than the plant can survive.
However, IMO the best thing we could be doing is taking areas of desertified land and fighting it. Place moisture traps connected to irrigation pipes and grow grass, just plain old grass to bind nutrients. Spread the grass and in desert areas you'll be catching dew every morning in the traps and the grass will itself.
Once you've spread the grass, spread shrubs. The Caragana arborescens is a miracle plant for these purposes. It traps moisture, it acts as a windbreak (stopping desertification), it provides a food source (peas), it's fast growing, it's a dense-spreader. Another benefit is that it can support honey bees, which again provide food but also could increase fertility of any future farm plantations.
Hmm, I wasn't under the impression that there was large areas of land in need of tree-planting. I though most de-forestation was to free the land for agriculture (in which case you'd probably need to mix the trees with land mines if they are to have any chance of actually growing)..
It uses a lot of trees. Visit Washington or Oregon sometime and drive through the mountains; the earth looks scarred.
Discovery tried this approach in their Project Earth show, http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/project-earth/lab-books/reforest... Their attempt was not successful. If I recall correctly the main problem was that it takes more force to embed the new plant in the soil than the plant can survive.
Depending on the seed. They didn't use plant seeds that were particularly impact resilient. Nuts are extremely impact resilient, using them in these pods could not only provide re-forestation, but also provide an economic source. However, IMO the best thing we could be doing is taking areas of desertified land and fighting it. Place moisture traps connected to irrigation pipes and grow grass, just plain old grass to…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11137903
It is a really good idea. I wonder how well it would work.
Hmm, I wasn't under the impression that there was large areas of land in need of tree-planting. I though most de-forestation was to free the land for agriculture (in which case you'd probably need to mix the trees with land mines if they are to have any chance of actually growing)..
The other cause of deforestation is for paper and lumber. It uses a lot of trees. Visit Washington or Oregon sometime and drive through the mountains; the earth looks scarred.
A trained up tree planter can do between 1500 and 3000 trees a day, day in day out depending on the terrain. My friend did this for her summer and filled me with stories that I was too drunk to remember properly. Here's an reddit iama on the topic. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d8a0t/iama_former_tree...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The other cause of deforestation is for paper and lumber. It uses a lot of trees. Visit Washington or Oregon sometime and drive through the mountains; the earth looks scarred.
I'm not sure this is correct, I think for the industry to work they have to replant trees.
Having said that, they do replant, but generally replace old-growth forest with faster-growing, weaker monoculture pines that take less time to mature, so they can be harvested again.
This is such a great idea. Let's just hope no one on the ground gets hurt!!