[Terrapreta] CO2 rising

[Michael Bailes]

>
>  On 9/21/07, Brian Hans <bhans at earthmimic.com> wrote:
>
>  This is not a full 'study'. No methodology, conclusion, data... but the
> > results are obvious in my opinion...forests and especially old growth
> > forests are not carbon sinks.
> >
> > Prairie is a carbon sink because its producing soil, forests arnt
> > producing soils. This important distinction gets blurred with the advent of
> > TP...whereas forest can INFACT become soil forming carbon sinks. But...so
> > can prairies, deserts, boreal, your herb garden in the back...etc thru the
> > advent of TP.
> >
> >
>
All very interesting because it is so counter intuitive
Like Southern Oceans dissolving more CO2 because they are COLDER
(No, not being an Irish dyslectic as in pH post)
Heaven help us when we start intentionally mucking about with the
weather/planet/ecosystem/Gaia

Australian aborigines developed the forests of Australia by the use of
fire.  Fire cleared the forest allowed grass to grow. (thereby attracting
food-kangaroos), made hollow log shelters for delicious echinas or
goannasand other animals and deposited ash and some carbon.
 Australian soils are very old and very geologically stable, highly
weathered and deficient in phosphorus. Ash from burning helped provide this.
 Many plants  evolved seed germination that depended on fire. Most native
trees are not killed by fire, except now where there are no aborigines to
care for the land, forest litter builds up and fires become to hot and wild.
Bush-fire control people often do controlled burning in winter but often
this is difficult due to the  wheather (too windy to wet too dry etc)or
danger of smoke over roads & expressways, damage to houses, farms etc etc

I am reminded of farmer friends near Tarmor in the S W wheat belt of NSW.
When settlers first went to the area 150 or so years ago it was covered in
grasses higher than a man. Excitedly settlers stared to grow whet in the
area. My friends get a crop of wheat probably once every five years;. and
that is not when there is the 1in 1,000 year drought we have on now.  Normal
rainfall is 8" inches a year. That's in good years.

How much biomass do grasses have underground?

I think this is an interesting comment

> P.S. Did I forget to mention the cooling effect that a large tree canopies
> have on soil organics? I do think this is important also... 10 degrees F?
>
This might be important in our "tarred over" cities, suburbs and malls re
the albedo effect.

The comment about beavers too is interesting.They would seem to have had a
huge impact on the environment  (no double entente intended :))

Michael the Archangel

"You can fix all the world's problems in a garden. . . .
Most people don't know that"
FROM
http://www.blog.thesietch.org/wp-content/permaculture.swf
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