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Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------C6A3264A3E5A06247B589A41 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Hi Donna & All. I am puzzled by your statement that "the frequent land clearance and logging slash fires during European settlement changed much of our forest character, right down to the soils in many cases." It is no doubt true that brush was burned on land intended to be cleared. In my parent's time and somewhat in my time, the steps for clearing land were brush burning, followed in the spring by tillage with a burntland harrow then used as pasture till the stumps could be removed.... And logging brush was no doubt burned, to remove a fire hazard, if it was near buildings. But I have never heard of logging brush being burned otherwise. But, burned or not, how would this burning change the soil ? The relevant features of a soil profile may, in extreme cases, lay more than two meters below the surface. Small volumes of soil, near the surface, may be rendered non-wettable by fire but, having examined a large number of soil profiles to study current/historical root distribution I am sure that many other profile features are far more important. For example just an abrupt change in soil texture can cause shallow rooting. More frequently the barrier is soil compaction due to prolonged exposure to excess water; as in mudpuddles. Soils and soil problems remind me of Leo Tolstoy's opening passage in Anna Karenina; "Happy families are all alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Also I wonder about "It is easy to confuse the heightened fire frequencies during the 1780s-/ca./1900 as being 'natural' when they were ignited by our forefathers for one reason or another." Certainly fire would have been feared more then than currently. Now one could call the fire department and relax while they put it out. Not so then. And no doubt fire breaks were burned near buildings as was traditional in rural areas as recently as 1945. And fire break fires sometimes get out of hand leading to loss of buildings or woodland. But I can not imagine why anyone would set fires in woodland. What is the evidence that nearby woodland was burned on purpose during this period ? YT, DW, Kentville On 8/8/2019 7:24 PM, Donna Crossland wrote: > > Regarding the article below, I would caution that this story was > centered on western Montana and, while it is a good article about > western forests, the take-home messages cannot be directly applied to > Nova Scotia forests (not that anyone one has said this in the email > commentary, but in case anyone is thinking it, I cannot resist raising > a red flag). Rocky Mountain ecosystems, for the most part, require a > short fire cycle, with forest ecosystem health relying on fire as a > key renewal agent. Eastern forest ecosystems are not reliant on fire > as an agent of forest renewal. Natural fires in the Acadian forest > occur at very long intervals, 100s to more than 1000 years between > catastrophic wildfire events. It seems that some of our forests may > have never burned at all, in fact. The natural cycle of fire varies > across Nova Scotia depending on the ecoregion, weather patterns, > geology, soil moisture, elevation, natural fire barriers, etc. More > commonly, Acadian forests are renewed through insects, wind events, > disease pathogens, and senescence/decay, causing gaps of varying sizes > and intervals. Large stand-replacement events were rare. Hence old > growth was common. The scientific literature backs this up. Even the > early shipping and mill records support that we featured large > dimension timber, much of it old growth and late successional. Those > were the days. > > Unfortunately, the frequent land clearance and logging slash fires > during European settlement changed much of our forest character, right > down to the soils in many cases. Presently we have new forest > disturbance agents called feller bunchers and processors becoming the > dominant over-riding signal on the forest landscape to the point that > mature to old forests are becoming hard to find and are very > fragmented. In Annapolis County, few natural patches of forest > remain. Some levels of government continue to focus on disturbance > regimes, but for the wrong reasons. Encouraging us to become > concerned about getting enough disturbance from fire and other agents > into our forest systems, rather than concentrating on a greatly-needed > long period of recovery and restoration. Most of our forests > presently require centuries of recovery just to nurse depleted soils > back to health from fires, acid rain, and clearcutting. One thing each > of us can do is encourage hardwood growth, with deep rooting > structures that help improve soil conditions. > > Nonetheless, there are some 'experts' within the Maritimes who will > continue to proclaim that our NS forests are fire dependent > ecosystems, failing to recognize the unique disturbance dynamic and > complexity of Acadian forest. It is easy to confuse the heightened > fire frequencies during the 1780s-/ca./1900 as being 'natural' when > they were ignited by our forefathers for one reason or another. It's > rare that a dry lightening strike actually ignites a wildfire of any > consequence in NS, though it can happen in rare instances, > particularly in droughts. In the Rockies it is common and western and > northern ecosystems are adapted to that. > > My 'fire 'n brimstone' sermon for this evening, haha. (I've > researched fire history in NB and to a lesser extent in NS, and am > aware of some of the misinterpretations used by forest industry to > justify clearcutting, stating that it emulates fire. There is a lot > that is plain wrong with this thinking. And so, I take opportunity to > write about fire as it relates to the Acadian forest whenever I can.) > > Donna Crossland > > Tupperville > > On 2019-08-08 8:24 a.m., Richard Stern wrote: >> Great article! >> >> Richard Stern >> sent from my Android device >> >> On Thu., Aug. 8, 2019, 7:58 a.m. Don MacNeill, >> <donmacneill@bellaliant.net <mailto:donmacneill@bellaliant.net>> wrote: >> >> An interesting take on t