[NatureNS] Cornell Article

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&gt;&gt;     An interesting take on t
Hi Donna & All,

Here I am being the devil's advocate again--- but I have problems with 
the following passage.

"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."

First of all have most of our forests been burned ? If not then they 
don't need centuries to recover from fires,.

     Acid rain is a different story entirely. The LRT hype has been 
tucked into a back room somewhere but acid rain is ongoing and, even if 
it had stopped, recovery of naturally acidic soils in a podsol region, 
from the effects of acid rain is a pipe dream.

     Failure of government to act has been a great disappointment. 
Salmon and Trout have taken a hit and there is no excuse for this other 
than irresponsible government and perhaps the notion that with time 
everything will be nice again. High soil acidity and exchangeable Al go 
hand in hand. Consequently one may expect the Al concentration of 
groundwater, entering natural waterways from acidic uplands to increase 
as soil acidity increases; unless the soils are derived from and 
underlain by basic rocks such as limestone or Basalt so the acidity of 
leachates can be moderated in transit.

     In my view it should be standard practice to apply agricultural 
grade limestone to all clearcut areas at a rate of 20 tons per acre. To 
clearcuts because application of limestone using soil based equipment is 
prohibitive by air and clearcuts make application by ground equipment 
possible.

     Apart from perhaps physical damage when soils are puddled by 
traffic when the soil is too wet or eroded along wheel tracks (In the 
70's I saw the impact hauling wood out with narrow tires on wet soil; 
ruts eroded more than 3'deep down long slopes. That would be much less 
likely to happen now. And I have subsequently not seen it.) what is the 
evidence that clearcutting  damages soils ?

     In one area which I had clearcut, except for scattered deciduous 
trees, when all Spruce shed needles in June there was breast high rank 
growth by late summer of Goldenrods etc (perhaps due to a tree-free area 
to the west which acted as a seed source ). But I understand from 
contact with those who thin regrowth on clearcuts that ground cover is 
typically complete within a year. In case of doubt it would make sense 
to sow something which would take root rapidly. This is why I am fond of 
Buckthorn. If seeds are present they establish within a year thereby 
decreasing leaching loss.

     With regard to Hardwoods, I understand these are currently 
suppressed or killed in regrowth after cutting. I think this is unwise 
and consequently wrong. In diversity there is strength. But I am not 
clear how "each of us" can encourage hardwood growth.

     It is easy enough if you own woods and cut your firewood but I 
think relatively few on Naturens are that fortunate. But getting back to 
the deep rooting of Hardwoods. This is myth to a large degree; they can 
be deep rooted but so can many other trees. Given the right well drained 
sandy soil (e.g. Cornwallis  Sandy Loam) White Pine is very deep rooted. 
And one rarely sees Yellow Pine windfalls so I suspect they also are 
deep rooted. Spruce can cope with constantly wet soil but given well 
drained soil is windfirm in the open and therefore deep rooted. (There 
were two Spruce hedges on the farm where I started life, well spaced so 
exposed to wind and some 4-5 trees near the house; about 35 trees total 
and typically about 1.5' diameter at breast height. At least one broke 
off in a high wind but none were ever uprooted and therefore deep rooted.)

     My experience with planting trees has been largely negative. Many 
decades ago I read that Oaks were dependent upon absent minded squirrels 
who buried acorns and then forgot where they were; sure. So I gathered 
about 5 litres of acorns, spread them on a small area of garden and 
covered them with a mulch of leaves. Next summer, except for a few duds 
with a hole in the acorn wall, all or nearly all rooted. So having many 
Oak seedlings and being fond of Oaks I planted them in North Alton. Some 
died but many lived only be chewed off within a year except for 3-4 
which survived into year two thanks to wire protection and then got 
chewed off.  [When I bought the woodlot in 1981 I admired a small breast 
high Oak. It has subsequently been girdled leading to top death, 
numerous sprouts thinned to one, etc and in 2019 it is again about 
breast high.] One year a friend had about 50 too many pine seedlings so 
I inherited them; all lived for a while but some animal chewed them off.

     I had a sweet cherry seedling on the lawn for many years and sowed 
likely at least 3 litres of pits in total in North Alton. I am aware of 
only two survivors.

     Having dug a few Red Maple stumps out in the course of road 
building I can verify that they are exceedingly well anchored. The 
stump, when rolled out of the hole looks like a hedgehog with cut roots 
for hair. But I suspect rooting depth will be conditioned by soil 
properties. Ample depth on eskers and drumlin crests/well drained slopes 
but not especially deep on poorly drained profiles (based on apple not 
maple or other native hardwoods).

     Yt, DW, Kentville




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