Let’s take a look at how ecological forest restoration can help create healthier lands and communities! 🙌🌲 About 60 years ago this forest was clearcut logged and all of these trees here regenerated naturally from the seed bank in the soil, creating an even aged stand with a few... big problems. The high competition between all these trees creates a single-layer canopy as they all compete for resources, letting very little light to the understory so little else grows. This lack of understory as well as increased stem flow increases erosion of soils and organic matter on the forest floor, while the competition between these trees creates ladder fuels as they focus on growing up and not out, so that when fire comes through here it quickly climbs to the canopy, burning hotter and faster than fire would naturally. To restore this forest, we came in here about 20 years ago with a 30% thinning prescription, removing smaller stunted trees and opening up gaps in the canopy while also creating standing dead snags…and the results are pretty incredible! The light pouring into the understory has allowed for trees, shrubs, mosses and fern species on the forest floor to grow, which all absorbs moisture that drips through this multilayered canopy, making these forests more drought resistant. Biodiversity increases as the age and species diversity of trees develops complexities that creates food and shelter for wildlife, while increased spacing allows room for bigger animals like ungulates and bears to move freely. By creating more space between the trees, those that remain are able to get more resources and light to grow healthier and stronger with more complexity while also dropping their ladder fuels. Ecological restoration like this helps speed up the successional processes of these forests to create healthier ecosystems in a changing climate, more resilient wildlife populations, and economic opportunities for communities to selectively harvest and maintain forest health in the future without replicating our clearcut mistakes of the past. @ReddFishRestoration #restoration #forest #education #nature #dobetter #solutions #clearcut #logging #forestry #climateshow more

Nerdy About Nature (Ross Reid)

241,800 subscribers

Поделиться Скачать