Posted on 12/06/2002 10:18:17 AM PST by cogitator
Thinning May Benefit Certain Young Forests
WASHINGTON, DC, November 21, 2002 (ENS) - Thinning of young forests can increase biodiversity and boost the development of old growth characteristics, but only if methods are used that protect and promote the development of shrubs, hardwoods, and large or old trees, new research shows.
The findings, which were made by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oregon State University (OSU), hold special significance for the management of many young forests, with trees less than about 60 years old, which cover vast portions of the Pacific Northwest.
The conclusions are based on a number of related studies funded in recent years by the USGS.
According to John Tappeiner, a professor at OSU and retired USGS forest scientist, the forests in the Pacific Northwest that were clearcut in past decades were replanted with dense, uniformly spaced tree seedlings. The original management goal of most plantations was to produce high yields of timber and associated wood products.
This management goal shifted for millions of acres of young forests on federal lands with the adoption of the Northwest Forest Plan in 1994. Many dense, young forests were incorporated into a network of large conservation reserves intended to provide habitat for plants and animals more often associated with older forests.
Although researchers and land managers had assumed that these dense, young forests would, in time, grow to resemble the old growth forests they replaced, a group of researchers have accumulated a wide range of evidence suggesting that this may not occur unless the young forests are thinned to allow the remaining, uncut trees to grow under less dense conditions.
Crowded young trees develop differently from more open grown individuals, the scientists found. Widely spaced trees have larger crowns and diameters than closely spaced trees of the same species and age.
Dense young forests typically have over 200 trees per acre at 50 years of age, but studies of 90 old growth forests revealed an average of just six to eight large trees per acre, each measuring more than 40 inches in diameter.
The research also shows that thinning of young, dense tree stands may increase the diversity and abundance of some lichens, particularly those that are important as forage for wildlife. The abundance of forest songbirds was also greater in thinned young stands and old growth stands than in young unthinned stands.
There are more caterpillars and other insects in thinned stands that encourage more hardwood shrubs, though there were few differences in the number of species of moths.
"Taken together, these studies suggest that thinning may have positive results for plants and animals if the methods used protect shrubs, hardwoods, large trees, and old trees," Tappeiner said.
Pat Muir, a professor of botany at OSU, said it also important to consider that the sites studied were thinned only 15 to 20 years ago, with a primary objective of commercial tree harvest.
"As a group we found indications of positive benefits for some plants and animals less than two decades after thinning, even though the thinning was conducted without bearing in mind the effect on these organisms, and some benefits of thinning may not be seen for many decades," Muir said. "I suspect even greater benefits would be evident if thinning were conducted with a long term goal of enhancing forest biodiversity."
If you want "biodiversity", you HAVE to thin parts of th the forest, to allow the sun to get to the new growth. Today's timber management practices allow the oldest trees to be harvested periodically to regenerate new growth while still retaining the area as woodland.
Back a few years ago, I acquired about 15 acres of hardwoods in the mountains of western Pennsylvania. I managed to get the land from relatives for the tax assessment because I wanted to have a hunting camp there.
A few years after I bought it, I allowed a local timber company to come in and selectively harvest some of the older timber. (Yeah, I like big trees too, but the fact is, after a certain age they die and fall down in the winter, so harvesting the mature trees is a wise use of the resource.)
Not only did I get $16,000+ for the timber, I still have my woods, with lots of big trees still there. And opening up the canopy caused lots of new shrubs and saplings to spring up - and I've never seen so much varied wildlife up there before!
It was a "win-win" situation all around - I benefited and the wildlife benefited as well, and the income from the timber paid the taxes for the property, so I afford can maintain it in a natural state rather than developing it.
Does someone need to be paid to see these results? All it takes is to do some traveling through different areas and enviroments. I could be a scientist, Wow!
$175 a year. That's with 5 oil well sites. Great deer, turkey and bear hunting, trout fishing in the valley... it's a little slice of paradise, all right. The property's on a pinnacle overlooking the town I was born in and has been in the family since 1815. When I retire I'm going to move up there.
I also studied the history of oil in the area.
There are 150 year old photos showing those mountains totally stripped of trees and full of derricks.
I'm sure a lot more oil & gas can come out of there, most of those wells got capped and forgotton about when old style production wasn't as profitable as sucking almost free crude from you know who.
But all that may change, n'est pas?
Are your wells workable?
Workable, yes, but not currently in production. I haven't had a contract to pump since I bought the property ten years ago. Prior to that they were working, but I believe the last person to hold a drilling contract there went out of business. Nobody has approached me about it yet, but I imagine that if and when there is a profit to be made from Pennsylvania crude, they will come.
Like I said, I bought the property for a hunting camp, any income from timber or oil is a pure bonus!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.