Clearfell vs Selective cutting -myco impact?

[Xerxses]

"Nature Culture method" as in title...

 

This is really not my area of knowledge, but

 

I went to a talk at the library last friday, it was held by a Professor Emeritius in forestry, and was on something he refers to as "Nature Culture method" a method of forestry that he has developed and evaluated in a scientific way since early -90s. The method is illegal in Sweden as the Forestry Commision says it is against the Swedish forestry-law... anyhow, the method resembles of selective cutting and continious replant. The method is still in trials.

 

The talk got me thinking about mykorrhiza association in the different methods.

 

Is the clearfell/replant method able to sustain the mycoweb or does the evolution have to restart in the area? In this sence, is selective cutting better in terms of drought resistance, pathogens eg Armillaria and Heterobasidion?

[Fungus]

"Nature Culture method" as in title ... a talk at the library last friday, it was held by a Professor Emeritius in forestry, and was on something he refers to as "Nature Culture method" a method of forestry that he has developed and evaluated in a scientific way since early -90s. The method is illegal in Sweden as the Forestry Commision says it is against the Swedish forestry-law... anyhow, the method resembles of selective cutting and continious replant. The method is still in trials.

The talk got me thinking about mycorrhiza association in the different methods. Is the clearfell/replant method able to sustain the mycoweb or does the evolution have to restart in the area? In this sence, is selective cutting better in terms of drought resistance, pathogens eg Armillaria and Heterobasidion?

 

Tobias,

Illegal ? I've seen several plots of these selective cutting trials in spruce forests in the Finnskoga area close to Höljes, where one healthy and vital tree out of 15 spruces was left behind around which the young spruces were replanted. The newly planted areas - and my wife and I once - were then "sprinkled" with nutrients and lime by helicopter.

This method is preferred over clearfell because of better drought resistance, lower erosion risks, keeping the greater part of the soil food web intact and the presence of spores and hyphae/mycelia of ectomycorrhizal macrofungi attached to the roots of the left behind tree, that easily and rapidly colonize the roots of the planted trees through root-root contact, protecting the roots against pathogens in an early stage of their life cycle.

Edited October 12, 2011 by Fungus

[Xerxses]

Tobias,

Illegal ? I've seen several plots of these selective cutting trials in spruce forests in the Finnskoga area close to Höljes, where one healthy and vital tree out of 15 spruces was left behind around which the young spruces were replanted. The newly planted areas - and my wife and I once - were then "sprinkled" with nutrients and lime by helicopter.

This method is preferred over clearfell because of better drought resistance, lower erosion risks, keeping the greater part of the soil food web intact and the presence of spores and hyphae/mycelia of ectomycorrhizal macrofungi attached to the roots of the left behind tree, that easily and rapidly colonize the roots of the planted trees through root-root contact, protecting the roots against pathogens in an early stage of their life cycle.

 

The trials arent illegal just the method. A man was brought to court trying to force him to clearfell his forrest instead of using this method.

 

Have you been involved in any kind of research on this? In the comercial side of forest production and interaction with fungus and timber output? Is there a link between healthy soilweb and growth rate that is greater than in a clearfell situation?