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Index of Subjects
there are also many undergrad biology
Hi John & All,
I fully agree that tree cover help to stabilize stream flow; thus my
proposal to clear cut no more than 10% of a watershed in any ten year
period. But even with good forest cover stream flow will be wildly
variable if ppt. is erratic. In the Kentville area long dry periods, as
early as 1990, during the growing season caught my attention because
Spruce began dying young. And wind especially since 2013 has generated
in my small woodlot far more wind throw trees than I could use.
Most of my cutting choices since 1990 have been dictated by tree
death (due to prolonged dry periods) and since 2013 by windfall. Death
of Spruce and Fir may not be immediate and sometimes follows fungal
invasion of feeder extension roots (killed by dry soil) followed many
years later by decay at the stump. Trees can not tolerate erratic
weather and trees at this end of the valley may be the provinces mine
canaries.
This condition near Kentville is likely a combination of climate
change, air pollution from high vehicle traffic and stuff brought in on
our prevailing SW winds.
One way to give trees a chance is to burn wood; either labor
intensive in stick form or conveniently as pellets Doing so reduces the
amount of fossil fuel needed to keep warm. Burning fossil fuel releases
new carbon into the atmosphere. Burning wood simply returns half of the
carbon extracted by the tree in question back to the atmosphere( the
other half remains in the soil as roots). And if cut selectively, the
trees left behind face less competition and consequently fix carbon at a
more rapid rate. And it is not true that trees can not be cut
selectively using harvesting machinery.
The most rapid way to generate firewood is by using hardwood only;
especially Maple, Oak and Ash; thus the hardwood market. But a mixture
is more convenient at the user end; Pine for kindling, Fir for quick
starts, Birch ok if kept dry, Poplar for quick heat or large chunks for
overnight, Spruce for medium heat and some hardwood.
I began burning wood as the major heat source in 1981 and covered
the tiers, in the woods and in the yard with polyethylene held down with
carpeting and weights; with never a problem until 2017. Starting in
winter of 2017-2018 extreme winds and violent shifts in wind direction
have frequently blown the covering off. This tendency for strong and
erratic wind is bound play havoc with tree roots and eventually tree
life.
This is already too long to be read and digested
Yt, DW. Kentville.
------ Original Message ------
From: "John and Nhung" <nhungjohn@eastlink.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Sent: 3/3/2019 3:34:49 PM
Subject: RE: [NatureNS] Crown land forests - suggestions for
ground-truthing sites
>Sorry, Bev, should have participated sooner but am chronically preoccupied!
>
>An additional concern I have shared with various folks is the effect that overly enthusiastic cutting may have on our water regimes.
>
>(1) Hotter drier summers are on the way, and as folks in the stretch from Queens to Yarmouth Counties can attest, severe droughts seem to be getting more serious.
>
>Someone said country folks need to get back to the old ways and cut back on their water use during droughts. Swim instead of showering and do dishes the old fashioned way.
>
>That’s well-taken, but isn’t enough.
>
>Forests, I understand, are important stabilizers of water. Extensive clearcutting means flashier regimes. Would be interesting to talk to folks who work at some of the older power dams. I was told by someone at the Tusket dam that forty-odd years ago, water would rise slowly after heavy rains, then drop gradually and the effect on electricity generation was limited. Now when it rains hard, the water rises faster and drops faster, leading to less stable electricity generation.
>
>Gotta wonder, too, what the 105-year-old Hwy. 3 dam at Tusket was taken out after a torrential rain in November, 2010. Yup, it was quite a rain, but there have been very heavy rains in the 105 years previously. Gotta wonder ...
>
>Ah, externalities. But destabilization of water resources is pretty serious, and isn’t just an issue for tree-huggers.
>
>(2) Not long ago, the media were reporting on blue-green algal blooms along the Carleton River. The Fur Industry Regulations got enacted in 2013. Phosphorus levels started dropping pretty consistently starting in 2015. Drier summers and less runoff may have played a role, but levels continued to drop in 2017, when rains were more "normal." I think heavy rains in 2013 and 2104, a massive spring runoff in 2015, and lower rainfall in recent years have probably all played a part but so, in my opinion, did the Regulations.
>
>However, the blooms haven’t disappeared; they’re moving upstream to darker-water lakes whose high colour protected them from blooms in earlier years. I am seeing a very strong association between rainfall early in the summer and colour later on. Less runoff, less "tea" ... So with drier summers, we can expect our lakes to become more vulnerable to blue-green algal blooms.
>
>Trees use nutrients. Dead trees gradually liberate them. More seriously, runoff from clearcuts are going to carry a lot more nutrient than runoff from a forested area.
>
>I know I know, nature isn’t simple, but forests help maintain water quality, as well as quantity, and those blooms aren’t just an issue for recreation and property values. Some of those little buggers liberate very nasty toxins when they rupture.
>
>I, by the way, have been writing the water quality monitoring reports on the Carleton system since 2014.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Bev Wigney
>Sent: March 3, 2019 1:03 PM
>To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
>Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Crown land forests - suggestions for ground-truthing sites
>
>Hi John and all,
>
>Thank you for your reply to my email a few days ago. My apologies for
>not replying sooner, but I've been sidetracked by various events. In
>any case, I appreciated reading of your experiences with the fishery.
>In many respects, it is comparable -- especially the overarching
>notion that there will always be plenty of forest to harvest. I know
>that, to many, especially those who never drive down the back roads to
>see the extent of harvesting taking place, all may still seem