Home > Sciences > Earth Science > Ecology & Environment
Forest thinning is essential for keeping forests healthy and people safe
Results so far:
| Agree | 50% | 431 votes | Total: 855 votes | |
| Disagree | 50% | 424 votes |
Agree
by Dominick Murray
Created on: November 08, 2007
The thinning of forests is a natural process as much as it is an anthropogenic one. It has been carried out since the emergence of trees and forests as organisms and communities by the effects of wind. Wind plays an important and natural role in regulating the size and structure of many stands of trees. Human beings, either as individuals or on behalf of forestry agencies also play a role in the thinning of forest stands. There are several reasons for the practice of thinning forests by humans. These reasons, and the subsequent benefits of the practice are mirrored by the impact of natural, wind-blown trees.
1)Thinning increases the growth rate of trees.
In commercial forest plantations the juvenile trees, lets say for example Sitka Spruce, are planted very densely, perhaps as close as one meter apart. As they grow they compete with each other for nutrients from the soil and sunlight. As the stand increases in age and subsequent size, due to the competing nature of trees they will ultimately begin to grow with thinner girth but taller in height, henceforth competing to get the sunlight. This competition will leave commercial forestry operation with trees which do not have adequate girth to fulfill the needs of their markets, for example producing timber for building. This is obviously not in the best interests of forestry operators so thinning is seen as the best possible solution to getting rid of this problem.
Once the trees have been thinned this opens up the stand, allowing more space between individual trees and reducing competition. This will allow the trees to grow with increased girth and thereby increase their value and the health of the stand.
2)Thinning can lead to increased levels of nutrients in the forest.
The thinning of trees can lead to an increase in the available nutrients in the forest. If the brash (branches, stems, needles etc) is left on the forest floor, as is common practice in the U.K. this can allow the nutrients contained within to leach back into the soil, and therefore increase the fertility of the stand. The root system may also be left in the ground after the trunk of the tree has been harvested. This will also return large amounts of nutrients into the ground. In the case of whole tree harvesting, the tree, stems and root system are all removed, however, in order to prevent the whole sale removal of nutrients from the forest, the tree will be left in-situ in the forest in order to dry out, and therefore shed it's branches and needles, allowing the return of vital nutrients to the forest.
3)Thinning can have beneficial impacts on levels of biodiversity.
Thinning in dense forest plantations or over grown natural plantations can have beneficial impacts on the levels of biodiversity within the forest. The Scottish Capercaillie, a large woodland grouse, is a prime example of a species that benefits hugely from the thinning of forests. The Scottish Capercaillie, only five years ago was critically endangered, with only an estimated 1,000 individuals remaining. The population crash, from 20,000 in the 1970's to 1,000 at the turn of the millennium, can be attributed to poor breeding success due to the loss of habitat and increased predation. These factors were tackled by a conservation project, "Urgent Conservation Management for Scottish Capercaillie". This project aimed to increase the amount of available habitat for adults and juveniles, included in which was the provision of shelter from predators. Thinning of the Capercaillie's densely overgrown woodland home provided them with food and shelter.
The main food plant of the Capercaillie is the blueberry, which grows on the forest floor. The adults feed on the berries and the chicks feed on the insects to which the blueberry plant plays host to. In dense forest stands, not enough light can penetrate through the canopy to provide the right conditions for the growth of blueberry. This therefore removes a major source of food for the Capercaillie and their chicks. Without the insects which thrive on the blueberry plant, the chicks will not receive enough protein and will die, thereby decreasing breeding success. In addition, the rate of adult mortality can be increased by the birds flying into trees within dense forests. Thinning will open up the stand and reduce trees strikes and subsequent adult mortality.
The brash provided by thinning operations in dense forests will also be able to provide the Capercaillie and the chicks with shelter from both adverse weather conditions and predators, thereby increasing the chances of survival and breeding success.
The Capercaillie is what is known as an "Umbrella Species". This means that the efforts to conserve the Capercaillie, be it through thinning or other habitat management techniques will also have beneficial impacts on many other species inhabiting the same environment, e.g. Red Squirrels and The Hairy Wood Ant to name but a few.
4) Thinning can keep people safe.
Thinning operations can also have beneficial impacts to humans also. The removal of some trees in a forest stand may reduce the likelihood of the spread of forest fire. Also, by the removal of dense stand growth there is also the reduction of the likelihood of injury being caused by the stems and branches of the trees. If the trees are competing for sunlight and nutrition, this means they will grow as tall, as quickly as possible. To do this the tree must sacrifice it's expansion of girth in favour of height. In doing so the tree becomes taller and more susceptible to being blown over by the wind. A tree which is susceptible to being blown over by the wind is a threat to humans, be it through damage to homes, vehicles or personal bodily harm
Thinning is a necessary practice for all of these reasons. Any plant which is growing in a dense stand is going to be competing with those around it. Competition will mean that sacrifices will be made, which in turn may have detrimental impacts on the individual itself, not to mention the sheer quantity of nutrients being stripped from the forest soil. Thinning can have beneficial impacts on the well being of humans as well as forest health, in the form of the growth of trees, the nutrient level, the biodiversity.
Learn more about this author, Dominick Murray.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Disagree
by Mei Pomeroy
Created on: June 25, 2009
Imagine yourself in a green forest. Hear the brightly colored birds singing above you; see the trees stretching over your head for hundreds of feet, rain trickling down the trees, filling up leaves with water. Imagine monkeys swinging from branch to branch and green mosses and grasses filling the area around you. Then suddenly you smell fires burning a little farther away, and hear large machines tearing down the forest. You hear trees cracking and falling; animals are swarming at you trying to escape the destruction.
The resources you use every day, being replenished by this forest, are disappearing right before you. Chico Mendes, a leader who died fighting for the Amazon described the importance of the rainforest, through his efforts, At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity. (108 quotes) CO2 we humans put into the earth everyday is sinking into the rainforests everyday, and the forests replenish us with oxygen. Now there is so much destruction in the Amazon it is becoming dry and temperatures are increasing. Not only is the destruction contributing to global warming, but it is the second leading cause of climate change just behind fossil fuels. Why do we continue to do this to ourselves?
Between 1978 and 1996, 12.5% (200,000 sq. miles) of the Amazon rainforest had been destroyed. It continued to be destroyed at a rate of 8000 sq. miles per year until 2000 (Timeline Brazil). In 1997 200,000 sq. miles were destroyed by fire. Then in 1998 another forest fire spun out of control and 400 firefighters were sent to the northern Amazon. Forest fires continue to destroy the forest. In 1998 and 2005, Brazil had seen two of the worst droughts since 1983. What is causing these severe changes? And how is all the destruction affecting us?
Large amounts of the Amazon are turning to dry savanna every year. Temperatures are rising, and less rain is falling every year in Northern South America. The rainforest normally absorbs our CO2 and acts as lungs for the earth, producing 20% of the world's oxygen. Now the deforestation is contributing to global warming, and less forest is available to soak up the CO2 in our atmosphere. Water levels are lowering and causing severe changes in our weather. Both the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation must be urgently and significantly reduced in order to save the world's biodiversity and people from catastrophic climate change (Volpi).
In the worst case scenario, by the turn of the century, temperatures will raise 5 to 8 degrees Celsius, converting the Amazon into a full savanna. 'If pollution is controlled and deforestation reduced, the temperature would rise by about 5 degrees Celsius in 2100,''within this scenario, the rain forest will not come to the point of total collapse.' (Astor). Already between 1990 and 2000 the air temperature in the Amazon increased by .5 to .8 degrees Celsius. Because of the higher temperatures, the area has become much drier, less fertile for forest growth, and less precipitation. This drying has enormous effects on the amount of forest fires.
Trees come crashing down, dying from the dry temperatures. Plant and animal life normally shaded by these trees are exposed to the sun, and begin to dry. Within a year the fallen tree releases 2/3 of its carbon dioxide stored during its lifetime. Just last year the Amazon Basin suffered the worst drought recorded in history. Their tides fall 30-40 feet between seasons, which are more than most areas in the world. The Amazon River shrunk so low people were able to walk across. He [Otavio Luz Castello] pointed out what was happening on Wednesday, standing on an island in a quiet channel of the giant river. Just a month ago, he explained, it had been entirely under water. Now it was jutting a full 15 feet above it. (Lean). Water life became endangered, and transportation in the area became scarce.
Not only is the temperature change causing extremes within the area of the Amazon, but it is affecting the world around us. "We believe there is a vicious cycle (Lean). The rain forests, which are becoming much drier and hotter, supply a large amount of moisture in the air. The winds blow the moisture northeast and the moisture sinks into the Atlantic Ocean. A substantial amount of temperature in the ocean is controlled by the temperature of the moisture in the rain forest. Now, as a result there is less moisture in the air, causing drought. Then, because heat rises, moisture stays closer to the surface of the Atlantic causing more frequent hurricanes. A few degrees higher and small hurricanes get big, while big hurricanes turn to monsters (Running Out of Air).
This brutal climate change is constantly affecting the plants and animals in the area. The Amazon River dolphin, for example, is severely endangered due to deforestation along the river, overfishing of its food source, and agriculture pollution from the area being put into the river. Not only is wildlife being destroyed, but the food chain is constantly losing pieces to its puzzle. One tree is destroyed. All the birds that then depended on that tree become endangered. They lost their food source, and their home. What about the green grasses below that needed nutrients left from the bird in order to grow? Or the shade from the tree to survive? Those are now gone. Any animals that fed off of those grasses have now become endangered. It is a never ending cycle that continues to get worse as deforestation continues.
Why do we continue with slash and burn agriculture, and illegal logging? What can be so important that we kill hundreds, if not thousands of species of wildlife? Cattle, soy, mahogany furniture: are they all important enough to destroy our planets well-being?
Ranchers continue to plow down the Amazon for cattle grazing, while soy farmers prefer the land that is underneath the rainforest. It is fertile and able to produce better products. After a few years of farming the land becomes much less fertile, and more forest is chopped down for more land. The new findings suggest that the international demand for soybeans and other Brazilian crops is driving industrialized farming operations to clear-cut and cultivate large tracts of virgin forest.(Plowing Down The Amazon.) Farmers leave 80% of the land the previously destroyed unworked, and 75% of logging is illegal.
An average of 4,000 mahogany trees are exported every year, and it is predicted that within the decade that species of tree will become extinct. Using wood more sparingly and buying recycled products then avoiding wood products without the "FSC-certified" label are just two small steps that can contribute to solving this problem. It would take $60 billion a year to keep the deforestation under control, in comparison it is less than a third of the money spent on Iraq. Brazil continues to lack law enforcement on the deforestation. It has only 1,100 fulltime employees for its forest reserves, while US National parks have 32,000 (Running Out of Air).
Global warming is increasing drastically, and we are losing our rainforests that are supposed to protect us from it. Animals are dying, as agriculture operations and logging are growing. Temperatures continue to increase, causing severe droughts and hurricanes across the western Atlantic. Amazon countries need to commit to stop deforestation, for the benefit of present and future generations. (Volpi).
Imagine yourself standing in the middle of a dry hot desert, out of breath, and no water. A desert once home to the world's largest tropical rainforest, and second largest river.
Works Cited
Astor, Michael. Researchers: Warming May Change Amazon. Washington Post. December 29, 2006. March 8,
2007. < http://www.washingto npost.com/wp-dyn/con tent/article/2006/12 /29/AR2006122901144. html>.
Lean, Geoffrey. Amazon Rain Forest 'could become desert'. Independent News. July 23, 2006. March 8, 2007.
< http://news.independ ent.co.uk/environmen t/article1191932.ece>.
Timeline Brazil. Timelinesdb.com. March 8, 2007. < http://timelines.ws/ countries/brazil.htm l>.
Running Out of Air. November 2006. Latin Trade. March 2, 2007. <http://proquest.umi. com/pqdweb? did=1167307561&sid=3&Fmt=4&clientId=3111&RQT=309&VName=PQD>.
Volpi, Giulio. March 26, 2006. WWF. March 2, 2007. < http://www.panda.org /news_facts/
newsroom/index.cfm?u NewsID=64220>.
108 quotes and quotations on THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. Quotes Corner. March 21, 2007.
<http://www.oursouthw est.com/news/quotes2 env.htm>.
Works Consulted
Gibb, Tom. Deforestation of Amazon 'halved'. BBC News. August 26, 2005. March 2,
2007. < http://news.bbc.co.u k/2/hi/americas/4189 792.stm>.
Lean, Geoffrey. Dying Forest: One Year to Save the Amazon. CommonDreams.org. July 23,
2006. March 8, 2007. <http://www.commondre ams.org/headlines06/ 0723-03.htm>.
Lobe, Jim. Hamburger Consumption Spurs Amazon Deforestation. CommonDreams.org. April 9, 2004. March 8,
2007. < http://www.commondre ams.org/headlines04/ 0409-05.htm>.
Paul, Scott. Government Announces Second Highest Rate of Amazon Deforestation in Brazilian History.
CommonDreams.org. May 20, 2005. March 8, 2007. < http://www.commondre ams.org/news2005/052 0-
06.htm>.
Plowing down the Amazon. September 9, 2006. Science News. March 2, 2007.<http://proquest.umi. com/pqdweb ?did=1130708191&sid=3&Fmt=3&clientId=3111&RQT=309&VName=PQD>.
Learn more about this author, Mei Pomeroy.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Write and get published
Share with other writers
Polish your freelancing skills
Quality articles from proven freelancers
Exclusive rights, fast turnaround
Brand engagement, business blogging -- our writers do it all
INFORMATION
Copyright © 2002-2012 Helium, Inc. All rights reserved.
Helium.com: A Service of RR Donnelley