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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

#91

Post by prawn »

destron wrote: post #14
jvm___ wrote: post #10

The Curiosity Daily podcast had a related topic this past week. There are plans to plant 1 billion (or 1 Trillion) trees at various levels of government (WEF is the 1Trillion number). So researchers went out to try to find saplings from local nurseries that could supply the diversity of trees that would be needed. They found that less than half the nurseries could supply saplings - and very few were 'climate change f…

... of course the nurseries don't have seedlings to plant one trillion trees. Growing seedlings of the appropriate species would have to be part of that effort.

There are volunteer efforts in some places to spread the load in starting seedlings. Not sure how effective it would be though in contributing to an effort of that scale where you need commercial scale to make a dent.

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#92

Post by zo1 »

freedude wrote: post #43
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

The same problem exists at the seed level. Who is collecting the 2 trillion seeds (50% germination rate)?

Perhaps we could, I dunno, pay people to do it with the millions(billions) of dollars of carbon credits? Isn't that what they're for?

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#93

Post by BengineeringELM »

Check out the silvicultural guide for the northeast:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/45874

It turns out most logging in the northeast already yields a diverse ecosystem as quickly as the next year, and no planting is nessesary.

Forresters can target different species mixes in the regeneration by using different harvesting methods.

Pretty cool stuff.

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#94

Post by BengineeringELM »

darklycan51 wrote: post #30

I don't understand why loggers clear entire sections of forests instead of leaving every hectare x amount of old "mother" trees

In general they do leave "seed trees " but they only need as few as 3 trees per acre to effect the spaces mix in the regrowth.

Those 3 trees aren't nessesary though. The Forrest floor is loaded with seeds that can survive longer than a decade waiting for the right time to germinate. In many cases the sunlight hitting the ground is the trigger they need, and in most cases a "clear cut" will be a 9 year old forest 10 years later.

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#95

Post by farnsworth »

comboy wrote: post #32
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…

Forest is a complex ecosystem and based on some books [1][2] my understanding is that fungi plays a huge role in them. They provide a lot of things that trees need in exchange for what they need, they also create kind of a market which allows trees even from different species exchange their resources. Different trees have different strong sides and can make use of different conditions. Perhaps this, thanks to the hug…

I strongly recommend "The Hidden Life of Trees". I listened to the audiobook multiple times while hiking/cycling through the woods and it changed the way I will see trees forever.

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#96

Post by [deleted] »

adasdasdas wrote: post #80
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.…

Why do we want old growth forests over harvestable forests? Is there an ecological advantage

[deleted]

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#97

Post by 1970-01-01 »

swader999 wrote: post #74
nerpderp82 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sub-alpine line is rising in elevation due to increased warming. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7696691/

Is it T or CO2?

Warm soil causes seed germination. CO2 causes warm soil. So, both.

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#98

Post by rootw0rm »

atoav wrote: post #71

My brothers MA thesis was about comparing the multiple model forests that have been planted throughout the EUs different climate zones (I didn't even know such a thing existed, bur it makes sense). His focus was looking at resilience against weather, insects etc. and mixed forests fared significantly better throughout all climate zones. As someone from the alps, a thing that should not be forgotten is how important a…

afaik it helps guard against particularly devastating wildfires, too.

Re: Replanting logged forests with diverse seedlings accelerates restoration

#100

Post by wesapien »

atoav wrote: post #71

My brothers MA thesis was about comparing the multiple model forests that have been planted throughout the EUs different climate zones (I didn't even know such a thing existed, bur it makes sense). His focus was looking at resilience against weather, insects etc. and mixed forests fared significantly better throughout all climate zones. As someone from the alps, a thing that should not be forgotten is how important a…

I was just listened to a podcast on this and they said planting a bunch of trees don't make a forest especially tropical ones. There's just too much going on there.
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