[Terrapreta] Sustainable Forest Management

[Robert Klein]

I see no good reason to plow biochar into a forest,
unless we no longer have cropland to put it in.  The
reason is that a forest ecosystem is reaching deep
into the underlying soils and even rocks to extract
nutrients and transporting them to the surface.

It makes way more sense to convert this supply of
fresh nutrients into a cropland soil dressing.

--- rongretlarson at comcast.net wrote:

> Jon, Lou, etal
> 
>    1.  This being written from China - which is
> prominent in the article cited by Lou.  
> 
>    2.  I haven't seen enough of China to be an
> expert - but I have seen a lot of trees - and the
> countryside looks quite healthy (and bustling).
> 
>    3.  The article fails to mention anything about
> managing forests with a heavy use of biochar
> production and the plowing back of a lot of biochar
> into the forests. I believe the article's analysis
> of albedo effect without considering char production
> and sequestration is too outdated to mean anything.
> 
> Ron
> 
> -------------- Original message -------------- 
> From: "Jon C. Frank" <jon.frank at aglabs.com> 
> 
> Lou,
> 
> I think that sustainably managed forests should
> include the following practices:
> 
> 1) Be selectively thinned of the misshapen growth. 
> This material would be great to use as biomass to
> make charcoal.  This charcoal could be mixed with
> remineralizing rock powders and returned to the
> forest floor.  By keeping the forest somewhat
> thinned it will increase the growth rate of the
> remaining trees.
> 
> 2) Quality trees should be selectively harvested for
> timber.  This should be done on a here a tree there
> a tree basis.  Harvesting quality timber is a good
> way to lock up carbon for a longer duration.
> 
> 3) Forests must be remineralized with rock powders
> in order to keep growth at an active rate.  A heavy
> remineralization should last about 30-40 years. 
> This remineralization can include, charcoal,
> limestone, gypsum, glacial rock dusts, and other
> specialty rock powders.
> 
> I believe this type of management is better than
> just leaving a forest alone.  The production of
> timber can help pay for the remineralization.
> 
> Lou, I share your awe of the forest.
> 
> Jon
> -----Original Message-----
> From: terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org
> [mailto:terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org]On
> Behalf Of lou gold
> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 12:46 PM
> To: Sean K. Barry
> Cc: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] CO2 rising
> 
> 
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> The relationships between forests and global warming
> are quite complex and function differently at
> different points in the life-cycle of a forest.  
> 
> For example, while it is true that young fast
> growing forests draw more carbon from the atmosphere
> than do old-growth forests, the latter is a much
> bigger sink (long-term but temporary) of sequestered
> carbon. Put simplistically, a young fast-growing
> tree will have to grow for 500 years in order to
> store as much carbon as an existing 500 year old
> tree. But this is a as an overly simplistic way to
> look at a forest which is an extremely complex
> ecosystem. 
> 
> The study referenced may have been the one about the
> "albedo effect" or the extent to which forests
> absorb or reflect heat and it works quite
> differently in temperate forests than in the
> tropics. Forest may contribute to warming in the
> colder climates whereas they are cooling forces in
> the tropics. 
> 
> Truly significant carbon emissions from forests do
> occur another part of nature's cycle -- forest
> fires. As temperatures and droughts increase, so do
> fires creating a positive feedback loop. Under some
> models of global warming, forests become so stressed
> and fires become so prevalent that forests become
> not only net emitters, but huge 'tipping-point'
> emitters of CO2. At present, tropical deforestation
> for logging and agriculture uses fire as a clearing
> or 'management' tool. It's approximated 70% of
> Brazil's significant greenhouse gas pollution is
> from forest fires. The important thing to appreciate
> is that most of nature's carbon sinks are temporary
> and function in long-term equilibrium only if left
> undisturbed. 
> 
> We should not get caught up in thinking about trees
> separate from the "biosphere" of atmosphere, plants,
> water and soil. The main reason to preserve
> old-growth or primary forest ecosystems is that they
> have attained a mature order (equilibrium) that
> maximizes internal recycling, increased soil
> fertility, water retention, a complex biodiversity
> AND retention of sequestered carbon. When the system
> is disturbed all kinds of things are released in a
> chaotic and potentially catastrophic fashion. It's
> all connected. 
> 
> Here's a good article:
> http://www.conbio.org/CIP/article82sin.cfm
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> lou> From: "Jon C. Frank" <jon.frank at aglabs.com>
> To: "Terrapreta" <terrapreta at bioenergylists.org>
> Subject: [Terrapreta] Sustainable Forest Management
> Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:03:08 +0000
> 
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