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But the most interesting part was a segment covering how tree roots engage in aggressive recruitment and exchange of resources with an underground biome of bacteria and fungi.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Japan is mostly cold to temperate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Japan except for some small islands like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamitorishima There's a lot of concern that tree-planting projects wind up like this https://e360.yale.edu/features/phantom-forests-tree-planting...
I mean, you have major tree planting happening every summer in Canada, and it's all around trying to mono-culture the entire country for the sake of timber companies. They immediately spray Glyphosate on areas burnt by forest fires, so that low value fire break species like Alder don't establish themselves in the area and then they can send in tree planters to plant higher value pine, which is a serotinous species, i…
I have seen a couple of these in Berkeley. They were all the rage and still are in some ways. I personally was initially enthusiastic. However, I think there is much easier ways to get the benefits. For example, by adding trees and landscaping in Parks, medians and other public spaces. Once a forest is added to an area, it becomes completely inaccessible because of how dense it grows. All of the ones I have seen are…
I agree: I think the podcast touched on this, but “racing towards the densest forest you can find” sometimes makes no sense - there may have simply been grassland or shrubland before human habitation that supported its own unique flora and fauna!
Afforestation of any kind is good, but we can't forget the importance of large, contiguous forest ecosystems too. Segmentation of forest can threaten some species that rely on not being near the edge.
* Secure the large area of land
* If your budget is limited, plant a few small areas in the Miyawaki Method to get healthy ecosystems started
* In future years, as you get more money, plant more areas, or just wait for the forest to spread from the Miyawaki areas.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Japan is mostly cold to temperate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Japan except for some small islands like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamitorishima There's a lot of concern that tree-planting projects wind up like this https://e360.yale.edu/features/phantom-forests-tree-planting...
I mean, you have major tree planting happening every summer in Canada, and it's all around trying to mono-culture the entire country for the sake of timber companies. They immediately spray Glyphosate on areas burnt by forest fires, so that low value fire break species like Alder don't establish themselves in the area and then they can send in tree planters to plant higher value pine, which is a serotinous species, i…
Climate change and forestry practices can both take blame for the fire cycles. Commercial foresters have been following these practices for generations and it only started becoming a major issue as climate conditions changed... Practices must adapt, but nobody likes change.
Just saw a really interesting Nova centering on Crowther Labs at ETH (recently disbanded). https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aax0848 was held up as encouraging unsustainable reforestation for greenwashing PR. But the most interesting part was a segment covering how tree roots engage in aggressive recruitment and exchange of resources with an underground biome of bacteria and fungi.
(and the erratum for the 2019 potential paper https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abc8905)