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People need to start thinking of natural regeneration / rewilding as an option because "planting trees" per se does not create a self sustaining balanced forest

People need to start thinking of natural regeneration / rewilding as an option because "planting trees" per se does not create a self sustaining balanced forest ecosystem. Forestry plantations are often pretty much green deserts, like any other agricultural monoculture. There's a pernicious influence from government here. It's unhelpfully easier to get funding for "plant 1000 saplings" than for "leave an area to transform into thorny scrub, pioneer tree woodland, and finally full woodland". https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/26/wildwoods-britain-climate-change-northern-forest https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/26/wildwo...

atourgates 7y ago
One of my favorite "case studies" related to this is the Selah ranch in Texas. The TL;DR: version is that because it was choked with trees and brush, the groundwater had been removed. The owners restored it to primarily native grassland, and in the process restored natural water holes, and streams. National Geographic did a really good 8-minute video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSPkcpGmflE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSPkcpGmflE More info on the ranch: https://bambergerranch.org https://bambergerranch.org Trees are great in some environments, but not appropriate for all environments.
Merrill 7y ago
It would be nice if natural regeneration worked, but in this area an idle plot quickly becomes overrun with invasive species. Some of these are foreign trees, such as alianthus, and some are US trees not native to this area, such as black locust. Even these fast growing and short lived species become quickly entangled in non-native vines and dragged down in windstorms. The result is a tangled mess nothing like the theoretical progression from thorny scrub, pioneer tree woodland, and full woodland. Getting to something like a natural woodland may be possible naturally, but it takes many decades, and the resultant species will certainly not be the mixed oak and chestnut forest, since there are no more chestnuts. Nature only goes forward, never back.

atourgates 7y ago

One of my favorite "case studies" related to this is the Selah ranch in Texas. The TL;DR: version is that because it was choked with trees and brush, the groundwater had been removed. The owners restored it to primarily native grassland, and in the process restored natural water holes, and streams. National Geographic did a really good 8-minute video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSPkcpGmflE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSPkcpGmflE More info on the ranch: https://bambergerranch.org https://bambergerranch.org Trees are great in some environments, but not appropriate for all environments.

Merrill 7y ago

It would be nice if natural regeneration worked, but in this area an idle plot quickly becomes overrun with invasive species. Some of these are foreign trees, such as alianthus, and some are US trees not native to this area, such as black locust. Even these fast growing and short lived species become quickly entangled in non-native vines and dragged down in windstorms. The result is a tangled mess nothing like the theoretical progression from thorny scrub, pioneer tree woodland, and full woodland. Getting to something like a natural woodland may be possible naturally, but it takes many decades, and the resultant species will certainly not be the mixed oak and chestnut forest, since there are no more chestnuts. Nature only goes forward, never back.