Clearcutting
Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a
Clearcutting is the most common and economically profitable method of logging. However, it also may create detrimental side effects, such as the loss of topsoil, the costs of which are intensely debated by economic, environmental and other interests. In addition to the purpose of harvesting wood, clearcutting is used to create land for farming.[6] Ultimately, the effects of clearcutting on the land will depend on how well or poorly the forest is managed,[7] and whether it is converted to non-forest land uses after clearcuts.[8]
While deforestation of both temperate and tropical forests through clearcutting has received considerable media attention in recent years, the other large forests of the world, such as the taiga, also known as boreal forests, are also under threat of rapid development. In Russia, North America and Scandinavia, creating protected areas and granting long-term leases to tend and regenerate trees—thus maximizing future harvests—are among the means used to limit the harmful effects of clearcutting.[9] Long-term studies of clearcut forests, such as studies of the Pasoh Rainforest in Malaysia, are also important in providing insights into the conservation of forest resources worldwide.[10]
Types
Many variations of clearcutting exist; the most common professional practices are:[11]
- Standard (uniform) clearcut – removal of every stem (whether commercially viable or not), so no canopy remains.
- Patch clearcut – removal of all the stems in a limited, predetermined area (patch).
- Strip clearcut – removal of all the stems in a row (strip), usually placed perpendicular to the prevailing winds in order to minimize the possibility of windthrow.[12]
- Clearcutting-with-reserves – removal of the majority of standing stems, leaving a few reserved for other purposes (for example as seed treemethod).
- developing and least developed countries. Slash-and-burn entails the removal of all stems in a particular area. This can be a form of deforestation, when the land is converted to other uses. However, some indigenous forest peoples, for example the 19th century Forest Finns rotate over the land and it does return to forest and this would be sustainable. Slash and burn techniques are typically used by civilians in search of land for living and agricultural purposes. The forest is first clear cut, and the remaining material is burned. One of the driving forces behind this process is a result of overpopulation and subsequent sprawl. These methods also occur as a result of commercial farming. The lumber is sold for profit, and the land, cleared of all remaining brush and suitable for agricultural development, is sold to farmers.[6]
Clearcutting contrasts with selective cutting, such as high grading, in which only commercially valuable trees are harvested, leaving all others. This practice can reduce the genetic viability of the forest over time, resulting in poorer or less vigorous offspring in the stand.[citation needed] Clearcutting also differs from a coppicing system, by allowing revegetation by seedlings. Additionally, destructive forms of forest management are commonly referred to as 'clearcutting'.
Clearcutting regeneration, harvesting or system
Clearcutting can be differentiated into
- Clearcutting – clean felling by complete exploitation and removal of all the trees in one operation ... a harvesting method
- Clearcutting method – a method for regenerating an even-aged community by removing all the mature trees
- Clearcutting system – a silvicultural system incorporating the clearcutting method to remove (clear) the mature community over a considerable area at one time[13]
Confusion between these different uses of the term is common. Furthermore, as indicated above many variations mean technically correct usage may not be descriptive enough to know what is meant on that particular occasion.[citation needed]
A clearcut is distinguished from selective logging where typically only a few trees per hectare are harvested in proportions dictated by management objectives. Clearcut logging is also distinct from wildland fire use, and from forest thinning. In these latter two it is common practice to leave trees that are considered undesirable, such as those that are too diseased, stunted or small to be marketable. Selective logging is usually practiced in areas with access to infrastructure.[citation needed]
Effects on the environment
Environmental groups criticize clear-cutting as destructive to water,
Removing trees surrounding stream banks prevents shading of the water body, which raises the temperature of riverbanks and rivers. Because the trees no longer hold down the soil, riverbanks increasingly erode as sediment into the water, creating excess nutrients which exacerbate the changes in the river and create problems miles away, in the sea.[14] Clear cutting on a large scale in a watershed can cause sediment and nutrients that leach into the streams cause the acidity of the stream to increase.[15] The nutrient content of the soil was found to return to five percent of pre-clearcutting levels after 64 years.[16]
Negative impacts
Clearcutting can have negative impacts, both for humans and local flora and fauna.
In
The world's rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation. Between June 2000 and June 2008, more than 150,000 km2 (58,000 sq mi) of rainforest were cleared in the
Positive perspectives
Clearcutting can be practiced to encourage the growth and proliferation of tree species that require high
]Clearcutting can be used by foresters as a method of mimicking a natural disturbance and increasing primary successional species, such as poplar (aspen), willow and black cherry in North America. Clearcutting has also proved to be effective in creating animal habitat and browsing areas, which otherwise would not exist without natural stand-replacing disturbances such as wildfires, large scale windthrow, or avalanches.
Clearcuts are used to help regenerate species that cannot compete in mature forests. A number of them are aspen, jack pine, and, in areas with poor soils, oaks—are important species for both game and nongame wildlife species. Clearcutting can also lead to increased vascular-plant diversity in the area. This is most pronounced after a couple years of clearcutting and in herb-rich forests where scarification took place.[22]
No significant changes in water temperature were observed when patch clearcutting was done 100 ft (30 m) away from a river. This suggests that patch clearcutting is a possible solution to concerns about changes in water temperature due to clearcutting. The effects of clearcutting on soil nutrient content were not examined in this study.[29]
More recently, forest managers have found that clearcutting oak stands helps regenerate oak forests in areas of poor soil. The tree canopies in oak forests often shade out the ground, making it impossible for newly sprouted oaks to grow. When the mature trees are removed, the saplings stand a chance of recruiting into the forest.[30]
Effects on wildlife
Clearcutting's main destruction is towards habitats, where it makes the habitats more vulnerable in the future to damage by insects, diseases, acid rain, and wind. Removal of all trees from an area destroys the physical habitats of many species in wildlife. Also, clearcutting can contribute to problems for ecosystems that depend on forests, like the streams and rivers that run through them.[31]
In Canada, the black-tailed deer population is at further risk after clearcutting. The deer are a food source for wolves and cougars, as well as First Nations and other hunters. While deer may not be at risk in cities and rural countryside, where they can be seen running through neighbourhoods and feeding on farms, in higher altitude areas they require forest shelter.[32]
In Maine
In
See also
- Amazon rainforest
- Clearcutting in British Columbia
- Even-aged timber management
- Land clearing in Australia
- List of tree species by shade tolerance – shade intolerant and some intermediate species are primarily regenerated with clearcuts
- Seed production and gene diversity
References
- ^ Merivale, William (2013-08-14). "Budget for a €2,500/ha reforestation cost after clearfelling mature forest". FarmIreland.ie. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
- ^ a b Dr. J. Bowyer; K. Fernholz; A. Lindburg; Dr. J. Howe; Dr. S. Bratkovich (2009-05-28). "The Power of Silviculture: Employing Thinning, Partial Cutting Systems and Other Intermediate Treatments to Increase Productivity, Forest Health and Public Support for Forestry" (PDF). Dovetail Partners Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-10-29. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
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(help) - ^ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (1992). "Clear cut." Terms of Environment: Glossary, Abbreviations and Acronyms. p. 6. Document no. EPA-175-B-92-001. Accessed 2011-10-12.
- ^ Center for Biological Diversity, Tucson, AZ. "Clearcutting and Climate Change." Archived 2018-06-26 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2011-10-12.
- ^ McIntyre, Iain (2020-11-04). "Environmental Blockading in Australia and Around the World – Timeline 1974–1997". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
- ^ a b "Global Environmental Governance Project: Forests". Archived from the original on 2012-11-18. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
- ^ Rodney J. Keenan, & J.P. (Hamish) Kimmins (1993)."The ecological effects of clear-cutting" Environmental Reviews, 1(2), 121–144. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
- ^ FAO (2016). "State of the World's Forests 2016"
- ^ Kunganavolok (June 25, 1998). "Taiga! taiga! burning bright." The Economist. Retrieved: 2013-08-06.
- ^ Khan, Madeline (February 9, 2004). "Clear cut forests in Malaysia offer lessons for logging worldwide." The Varsity, University of Toronto. Retrieved: 2013-08-06.
- ISBN 978-0-939970-73-5.
- ^ British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Victoria, BC. "Clearcut System Variations." Introduction to Silvicultural Systems. Based on the published workbook: "Introduction to Silvicultural Systems, second edition (July 1999)." Forest Practices Branch.
- ^ Nyland, Ralph D. (2007). Silviculture: concepts and applications, Ch 13 p. 277, 2nd ed. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press.
- ^ a b "Clear-cutting land Greeniacs Articles". Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
- ^ a b Martin, C. W., Pierce, R. S., Likens, G. E., & Bormann, F. H. (1986). Clearcutting affects stream chemistry in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Broomall, PA: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station.
- ^ Covington, W. W. (1981). Changes in forest floor organic matter and nutrient content following clear cutting in northern hardwoods. Ecology, 41-48.
- ^ Forest Encyclopedia Network Advantages and disadvantages of clearcutting
- .
- ^ Bozic, Toso (September 14, 2009). "Woodlot Harvest". Government of Alberta: Agriculture and Rural Development. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
- JSTOR 44126577.
- ^ Foothill Conservancy, Pine Grove, CA (2001). "Clearcutting in local forests." Foothill Focus. Spring 2001. Accessed 2011-10-12.
- ^ a b Pykälä, J. (2004). Immediate increase in plant species richness after clear-cutting of boreal herb-rich forests. Applied vegetation science, 7(1), 29-34.
- ISSN 0282-7581.
- ^ "Reforestation". Arkive. Archived from the original on 2013-03-02. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
- ^ "Brazil & the Atlantic Forest". The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
- ^ Future threats to the Amazon rainforest Archived 2012-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ National Geographic:rain forest threats
- ^ Belt, Kevin and Campbell, Robert (1999). "The Clearcutting Controversy - Myths and Facts." West Virginia University Extension Service. Accessed 2011-12-12.
- ^ Brown, G. W., & Krygier, J. T. (1970). Effects of clear-cutting on stream temperature. Water resources research, 6(4), 1133–1139.
- ^ "DNR - DNR". www.michigan.gov.
- ^ Responses of Wildlife to Clearcutting and Associated Treatments in the Eastern United States. "Responses of Wildlife to Clearcutting and Associated Treatments in the Eastern United States". Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
- ^ "Ancient Forest Alliance - Old Growth Forests British Columbia". www.ancientforestguide.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
- ^ a b "Outcome Based Forestry: Forest Policy and Management: Division of Forestry: Maine ACF". www.maine.gov. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
- Roy, Vincent; Ruelb, Jean-Claude and Plamondon, André P. (1999). "Establishment, growth and survival of natural regeneration after clearcutting and drainage on forested wetlands." Forest Ecology and Management, Volume 129, Issues 1–3, 17 April 2000, pp. 253–267.
External links
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Clearcutting, accessed 14 December 2009
- Forest Policy Research page: California citizens to stop Sierra Pacifics plan to clearcut one million acres of Sierra forest, accessed 14 December 2009
- Ancient Forest News - Clearcutting threatens black-tailed deer
- Nova Scotia Public Lands Coalition: Clearcutting
- "Free Grassy » The Boreal Forest". Archived from the original on 2010-04-05. Retrieved 2014-06-29.