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think relatively few on Naturens are that fortunate. But getting bac This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------DB3671E8AA68BAFA7D64148A Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Hi Dave P & All, Pit and Mound topography is a consequence of poor drainage, leading to frequent wind fall and it becomes permanent because nearly all infiltration is via the hollows which are consequently underlain by ortstein. And growth is more vigorous in the more favorable soil conditions of mounds so seedlings there prevail. With the development of huge harvesting equipment this topography is no great problem but previously there was an incentive, given an alternative, to not cut in such areas. The trees in not cut areas will have an opportunity to grow older. I have seen isolated patches of old growth in other difficult terrain; the pit and mound in these cases being macro instead of micro. When a tree falls across a road and someone cuts it, to enable traffic on the road, a natural process is interrupted. But that does not mean that the road should remain closed. I am not sure what the technical definition of old growth is. I just had an 'old growth' tree cut; 12' circumference with a top accordingly large; willow. I planted the darn thing as a cutting in 1967. So shame on me; interrupting a natural process twice. YT, DW, Kentville On 8/11/2019 9:33 AM, David Patriquin 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...? > > On Sun, Aug 11, 2019 at 9:11 AM Nick Hill <fernhillns@gmail.com > <mailto:fernhillns@gmail.com>> wrote: > > 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 > <mailto: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 applicatio