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Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

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Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#51

Post by voisin »

hinkley wrote: post #46
atourgates wrote: post #25

I did a quick look to see if this only worked in tropical forests, or if this would be true in, say, Western North American forests. I didn't really find an answer. A study[1] in Virgina found that planting multiple varieties of trees was beneficial because it allowed the variety that was most suitable for that location to thrive, and survive problems that might affect other varieties. A study[2] in Washington State…

Suzanne Simard has a bunch of chemical analysis that says yes, and most of her testing was in the PNW and western Canada (BC and... Alberta?) A lot of the other literature on the complex relationship of soils and trees (and trees and trees via soil life) were instigated by her observations. She was trying to get NW foresters to stop bathing everything in herbicides before replanting clearcuts. They always struggled m…

Related: https://stopthespraybc.com/

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#52

Post by dudeofea »

drone wrote: post #20
soperj wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. Why did they plant only tree species that are frequently targeted for logging? This makes the whole experiment very suspect. The linked article talks a lot about restoring forests, but why restrict the tree species to those that are profitable to log? Because the whole point of tree planting is forest management. That's why whenever there's a forest fire they spray it with glyphosate so that other trees don't gr…

Glyphosate is not soil active, so there are no "trees that can grow in glyphosate-doused soil." The primary reason for broad herbicide treatment as part of site prep is to avoid low-value, or ecologically opportunist species that thrive in disturbed soil/land, and prevent either the target species from growing, or create an environment which lacks the diversity necessary for the region. For example, sweetgum, huisach…

why not plant other species to out-compete the invasive ones?

why do we need to perform chemotherapy on our forests?

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#53

Post by myshpa »

RetroTechie wrote: post #41
myshpa wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe we should plant seeds, same as nature does. Dozens of different seeds per m2, nature would choose what'd survive and flourish. An example of a forest farm planted with the same approach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ST9NyHf09M

I recall some initiative (in Africa, iirc) where locals would collect seeds of random herbs, shrubs, trees etc, mix those up & pack into seed bombs. Then others who travel around for their work, would toss those in random places. From bicycle thrown some distance from roadside, or a bush pilot dropping some during flight, etc. Basically as many different seeds in as many different places as possible. Then let nature…

Yes, that's a very effective method. Such initiatives are all over the world.

It's based on ancient method of seedballs, promoted by Fukuoka.

https://www.permaculturenews.org/2014/06/18/making-seedballs...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqYTz6-zGcg

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#54

Post by kderbyma »

karaterobot wrote: post #35

I'm not an expert, but I had thought that observing that monocultures created a weak forest ecosystem was one of the foundational concepts behind modern forestry—a centuries old discipline. This seems like an obvious corollary to that. I would have assumed it yesterday, before reading this article, and I assume most people would have thought the same. Again, I'm not an expert, so I'm likely missing something. And som…

it's a blinding glimpse of the obvious

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#55

Post by drone »

dudeofea wrote: post #52
drone wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glyphosate is not soil active, so there are no "trees that can grow in glyphosate-doused soil." The primary reason for broad herbicide treatment as part of site prep is to avoid low-value, or ecologically opportunist species that thrive in disturbed soil/land, and prevent either the target species from growing, or create an environment which lacks the diversity necessary for the region. For example, sweetgum, huisach…

why not plant other species to out-compete the invasive ones? why do we need to perform chemotherapy on our forests?

Only one of the trees I listed was invasive, the others are opportunistic natives to their regions that will outgrow everything else.

The nice "diverse" forest you're thinking of in your mind took a long time to become that way, the normal state of nature is to not create a perfect balance out of the gate, but for constant competition and regularly have to cycle through multiple iterations of configuration which are, by all means, not as productive or valuable for wildlife/nature as their final states. None of that means that using a herbicide is sufficient, but without, you're looking at potentially hundreds of years to get back a usable environment for wildlife that is well-balanced vs 10's of years.

Outside of a few soil-active herbicides, most of what they use is one-and-done and can be applied selectively to only problem plants with minimal unintended consequences.

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#56

Post by voisin »

llbeansandrice wrote: post #39
ccooffee wrote: post #4

Someone logged a 500 hectare plot in Borneo. They split this into 125 sections and planted 0, 1, 4, or 16 "tree species that are frequently targeted for logging". After 20 years, satellite imagery shows that the more tree species you planted, the more recovered the land appears to be. I'm left wondering: 1. Why did they plant only tree species that are frequently targeted for logging? This makes the whole experiment…

> Why did they plant only tree species that are frequently targeted for logging? Because the main purpose of replanting trees to is be able to harvest them again in the next few decades. Private land owners generally aren't interested in creating old-growth forests, they're trying to make money. It's not exactly ideal, but ending up with more biodiversity is likely a good thing even if it will be logged again later.…

> Private land owners generally aren't interested in creating old-growth forests, they're trying to make money.

In Canada the vast majority of logging is on crown land.

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#57

Post by [deleted] »

voisin wrote: post #56
llbeansandrice wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why did they plant only tree species that are frequently targeted for logging? Because the main purpose of replanting trees to is be able to harvest them again in the next few decades. Private land owners generally aren't interested in creating old-growth forests, they're trying to make money. It's not exactly ideal, but ending up with more biodiversity is likely a good thing even if it will be logged again later.…

> Private land owners generally aren't interested in creating old-growth forests, they're trying to make money. In Canada the vast majority of logging is on crown land.

[deleted]

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#58

Post by swader999 »

voisin wrote: post #49
swader999 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BC can have three our four species in play on the coast, interior and east typically has pine and spruce. You could argue for balsam but that is crap wood and it grows back on its own typically. I don't know about tropical reforestation, but in Canada the notion that we are replanting with only mono species isn't true. They leave seed trees standing and source cones directly from the logged blocks. It's very well don…

Roughly where are you in BC? I am in Cranbrook and haven’t seen the seed trees left standing in logged blocks but maybe I’ve missed them somehow. Isn’t part of the issue that historically there would’ve been more deciduous trees that acted as natural fire breaks and now loggers only are allowed to replant coniferous?

I've planted all over BC. Seed trees started being a thing early nineties and they don't do it everywhere. Quite often its because there aren't species needed as seed trees that won't already grow back are already slated for nursery production and replanting.

Smaller block sizes act this way too, the boundaries are seeded from the older growth on the perimeter.

Deciduous trees like poplar, Adler, and birch are like weeds and will grow very quickly and compete for a time with replanted trees. Eventually the evergreens tend to choke them out by taking over the canopy and changing the soil with their needles.

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#59

Post by nxobject »

bluerooibos wrote: post #2

Who would have thought that replicating nature would yield the best results... The Miyawaki method is probably relevant to this discussion - https://www.creatingtomorrowsforests.co.uk/blog/the-miyawaki...

Another text I really love as well that focuses on teaching "applied ecology" is "Garden Revolution" by Weaner and Christopher. Since I've never taken biology of any sort, it was a good primer on things like ecological succession (in temperate climates), parameters of plants that might completement each other, etc. The authors have worked on large-scale restoration and sustainable landscaping projects, and it shows.
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