3 ms·

Do they replant the trees each year or do they cut off branches for the hardwood?

by spoiledtechie 17y ago

russell 17y ago
They cut down and replant a certain percentage each year. The trees are quite a bit smaller in diameter than the rain forest giants, so the life cycle is much more like normal tree farming practices. In the rain forest, the giants form a canopy that shades the forest floor, so the floor is much more open than you would expect. Mostly there arent any branches except at the crowns, 100-150 feet off the floor. The seedlings cant survive in the gloom until a giant falls. My guess is that a plantation with its smaller trees can grow much more wood than an equivalent area of giants.
- gchpaco 17y ago
  Quite. The temptation is that those rain forest giants represent a significant one-time windfall; this is what led to the unsustainable forestry practices that denuded most of England of its forests and nearly did it in for the US. International agreements like CITES, if memory serves, regulate and in some cases outright prohibit certain forms of lumber (the most notorious examples are Brazilian rosewood and Cuban mahogany, both of which were tremendously important hardwoods a century ago and are nearly extinct now), and efforts like FSC certification seem to be helping things out somewhat--one can actually buy lignum vitae now, relatively cheaply for an exotic. But I imagine we still have a long way to go.
gchpaco 17y ago
Branches make miserable lumber; they're frequently called "reaction" wood because the strain of growing puts the limb under considerable tension. I've heard of it self destructing (quite literally) midway through planing from these tensions. It is possible to make furniture and other things from it, but the figure I remember is that somewhere between 70%-90% of the wood is unsuitable. You can use them for turning sometimes, though.

3 ms·

Do they replant the trees each year or do they cut off branches for the hardwood?

by spoiledtechie 17y ago

Do they replant the trees each year or do they cut off branches for the hardwood?

russell 17y ago
They cut down and replant a certain percentage each year. The trees are quite a bit smaller in diameter than the rain forest giants, so the life cycle is much more like normal tree farming practices. In the rain forest, the giants form a canopy that shades the forest floor, so the floor is much more open than you would expect. Mostly there arent any branches except at the crowns, 100-150 feet off the floor. The seedlings cant survive in the gloom until a giant falls. My guess is that a plantation with its smaller trees can grow much more wood than an equivalent area of giants.
- gchpaco 17y ago
  Quite. The temptation is that those rain forest giants represent a significant one-time windfall; this is what led to the unsustainable forestry practices that denuded most of England of its forests and nearly did it in for the US. International agreements like CITES, if memory serves, regulate and in some cases outright prohibit certain forms of lumber (the most notorious examples are Brazilian rosewood and Cuban mahogany, both of which were tremendously important hardwoods a century ago and are nearly extinct now), and efforts like FSC certification seem to be helping things out somewhat--one can actually buy lignum vitae now, relatively cheaply for an exotic. But I imagine we still have a long way to go.
gchpaco 17y ago
Branches make miserable lumber; they're frequently called "reaction" wood because the strain of growing puts the limb under considerable tension. I've heard of it self destructing (quite literally) midway through planing from these tensions. It is possible to make furniture and other things from it, but the figure I remember is that somewhere between 70%-90% of the wood is unsuitable. You can use them for turning sometimes, though.