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You just have to look at how utterly the Harz pine forests have been completely destroyed by the bark beetle to see what monocultures get you. It's just huge sw

You just have to look at how utterly the Harz pine forests have been completely destroyed by the bark beetle to see what monocultures get you. It's just huge swaths of lands filled with nothing but dead trees

HarryHirsch 3y ago
There's the additional complication that when the beetle or the windstorm come there's suddenly an overabundance of wood on the market, which depresses prices. You'd need to do forest maintenance but cannot afford it, market forces are against it. It's like the Schweinezyklus but worse.
- robocat 3y ago
  > Schweinezyklus Translation is probably Boom-bust cycle (literal: swine cycle?) https://dictionary.reverso.net/german-english/Schweinezyklus https://dictionary.reverso.net/german-english/Schweinezyklus for some rather poor usage examples
  - lysium 3y ago
    It’s pork cycle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_cycle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_cycle
Biologist123 3y ago
I have heard estimates of 100 million trees dead in the Harz. The common refrain is that this was caused by climate change, but also choice of monoculture was a major contributing factor as the area was historically covered by mixed deciduous. Furthermore, choice of forest type will affect soil moisture retention, so reduced rainfall would have been buffered by better choice of forest type. Loss of those trees was an economic disaster. I’m not sure it’s an environmental disaster yet - especially as replanting seems to be with better reference to the agro-climatic zone.
- Xylakant 3y ago
  > Loss of those trees was an economic disaster. Given that most of the trees lost were in the nature reserve, the economic impact is somewhat limited.
  - Biologist123 3y ago
    Is that the case? I didn’t realise. Although as a tourist draw, dead trees are not exactly that appealing. A couple of years ago, I took my three year old daughter up a mountain, and she earnestly said to me: “the once’ler”. We haven’t been back.
- killerpopiller 3y ago
  I‘ve heard from a local that in the onset of the bork beetle infestation, it was decided not to intervene (leaving dead trees there). This contributed to the catastrophe. Not sure if this is true.
  - Biologist123 3y ago
    The non-managed zone is rewilded, so it will be left to regenerate on its own I guess.
pjc50 3y ago
I was not aware of this, and found this very informative https://en.harzinfo.de/pure-nature/the-forest-calls-initiative/background https://en.harzinfo.de/pure-nature/the-forest-calls-initiati...

HarryHirsch 3y ago

There's the additional complication that when the beetle or the windstorm come there's suddenly an overabundance of wood on the market, which depresses prices. You'd need to do forest maintenance but cannot afford it, market forces are against it. It's like the Schweinezyklus but worse.

robocat 3y ago
> Schweinezyklus Translation is probably Boom-bust cycle (literal: swine cycle?) https://dictionary.reverso.net/german-english/Schweinezyklus https://dictionary.reverso.net/german-english/Schweinezyklus for some rather poor usage examples
- lysium 3y ago
  It’s pork cycle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_cycle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_cycle

Biologist123 3y ago

I have heard estimates of 100 million trees dead in the Harz. The common refrain is that this was caused by climate change, but also choice of monoculture was a major contributing factor as the area was historically covered by mixed deciduous. Furthermore, choice of forest type will affect soil moisture retention, so reduced rainfall would have been buffered by better choice of forest type. Loss of those trees was an economic disaster. I’m not sure it’s an environmental disaster yet - especially as replanting seems to be with better reference to the agro-climatic zone.

Xylakant 3y ago
> Loss of those trees was an economic disaster. Given that most of the trees lost were in the nature reserve, the economic impact is somewhat limited.
- Biologist123 3y ago
  Is that the case? I didn’t realise. Although as a tourist draw, dead trees are not exactly that appealing. A couple of years ago, I took my three year old daughter up a mountain, and she earnestly said to me: “the once’ler”. We haven’t been back.
killerpopiller 3y ago
I‘ve heard from a local that in the onset of the bork beetle infestation, it was decided not to intervene (leaving dead trees there). This contributed to the catastrophe. Not sure if this is true.
- Biologist123 3y ago
  The non-managed zone is rewilded, so it will be left to regenerate on its own I guess.

pjc50 3y ago

I was not aware of this, and found this very informative https://en.harzinfo.de/pure-nature/the-forest-calls-initiative/background https://en.harzinfo.de/pure-nature/the-forest-calls-initiati...