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Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects --000000000000140554058fd609b8 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" A key difference between a known old growth area (eg Abraham's lake, sporting lake and Cape chignecto) is , yes, the big trees uneven aged snags and downed logs, but as much, the depth of humus. Our observations were spotty it was long ago but we went into old growths and then "working" landscapes which had been cut over repeatedly and collected soils for microbial characterization. The hypothesis was the old forests might have stress tolerant actinomycetes that could have useful antibiotics in their long term struggles against fungi and other microbes. We never unfortunately got that far but the working landscapes had virtually no organic covering over he mineral soil while the old growths had deep humus. With forestry, that humus layer will e reduced but it should be valued because of it is enriched in many forest nutrients..N P Ca..that are deficient in the mineral layer. The humus is also the seat of the mycorrhizae and other microbes we may not understand. Forests are said to have u undergone a shift in my original types in response to the break up of this humus root layer. We could do ecological forestry and that would mean working with the key ecological processes..decomposition mineralization mycorrhizal associations.. and doing our best to conserve the humus layer. Ecological forestry means no Amazonia like burn piles, no glyphosate which wipes out early regen and amphibians and plant biodiversity, and attention to mimicking forest processes. It would be excitng to be involved in this post Lahey planning. Stay tuned and stay vigilant Nick On Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 10:55 PM David Webster, <dwebster@glinx.com> wrote: > 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