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>> exposed to wind and some 4-5 trees near the house; about 35 trees total All, And as you might expect, I have to comment here regarding Corbett-Dalhousie Peninsula's hardwood forest which has many wonderful massive Yellow Birch, as well as Sugar Maple, Red Maple, Red Spruce, Beech -- If you stand in the part which has not yet been logged - that which we have been trying to have left as it is -- the moss is deep and soft and so is the duff beneath. It's all pit and mound -- very deep -- and the soil retains a great deal of moisture. There are plenty of young Yellow Birch, Beech and other hardwoods getting growing under the high canopy. However, move just 10 or 20 meters out of the un-cut part into the section that was logged last autumn -- and stand in the extraction lanes where all of the trees have been removed and it's just sharp, crushed slash -- and in between those lanes to where a large percentage of the "leave strips" are also removed, and you'll find a very different story. The soil is now hard and bare and it feels "hot" - like standing on concrete on a hot summer's day -- and that's even on a cool, sunny spring day in April. The moss is all crispy and crumbled away to dust. There are few forest plants hanging on -- while just a stone's throw away, back in the un-cut part, you will find Hobblebush, Ladyslipper, Indian Cucumber Root, Painted Trillium, and so on. Two forests -- one still quite natural and full of life -- full of nesting birds in summer -- active bear dens -- vernal pools. The other part, parched and dry. Who knows how many years it will take for it to even begin to resemble the unlogged forest to one side -- only they intend to log IT AS WELL this autumn -- to make it all the same --- hard as concrete and devoid of native plants and bushes -- crush all the young Beech and Yellow Birch to get at who knows what. bev On 8/11/19, David Patriquin <davidgpatriquin@gmail.com> wrote: > And just as significant, pretty well all Old Growth in NS is characterized > by a Pit and Mound topography, really that should be amongst the criteria > for calling a stand Old Growth (but is not mentioned in the Old Forest > Policy). The mounds preserve the old microbial processes, and the mounds > are favoured habitat for seedlings - most of the Big Trees in the Old > Growth occurs on the mounds, the mounds formed when a very big tree is > blown over. That process also produces vernal pools and shelter for > wildlife. When the mounds erode over time, the tops of the roots are > exposed, and cavities formed which are again used by wildlife.So when we > "salvage" blowdowns, we are also interrupting a natural process. How much > attention is being given to such processes in L&F's Retention > Guidelines...? >
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