Most of Europe’s original natural #forests have been transformed for agriculture and managed forests producing energy, paper and timber.
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Most of Europe’s original natural #forests have been transformed for agriculture and managed forests producing energy, paper and timber.
The few remaining “old-growth” natural forests are relics of the past that illustrate how forests would have looked in the absence of human management.
Most Swedish forests are so-called #boreal forests.
This type of coniferous woodland #ecosystem encompasses most of the northern regions of the planet.
After mapping and measuring the most natural old-growth forests in Sweden, scientists found that they differ much more from managed forests than previously thought, even if some of those managed forests looked old.
Old-growth forests store 78-89% more #carbon than managed forests do, a difference in carbon storage larger than Sweden’s cumulative emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels since 1834.
These new results underscores the much larger carbon storage benefits that flow from protecting forests than using them to produce bioenergy and wood products.
#climate #nature #ecology #biological
https://theconversation.com/swedens-old-growth-natural-forests-store-83-more-carbon-than-managed-woodlands-new-study-277150 -
Most of Europe’s original natural #forests have been transformed for agriculture and managed forests producing energy, paper and timber.
The few remaining “old-growth” natural forests are relics of the past that illustrate how forests would have looked in the absence of human management.
Most Swedish forests are so-called #boreal forests.
This type of coniferous woodland #ecosystem encompasses most of the northern regions of the planet.
After mapping and measuring the most natural old-growth forests in Sweden, scientists found that they differ much more from managed forests than previously thought, even if some of those managed forests looked old.
Old-growth forests store 78-89% more #carbon than managed forests do, a difference in carbon storage larger than Sweden’s cumulative emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels since 1834.
These new results underscores the much larger carbon storage benefits that flow from protecting forests than using them to produce bioenergy and wood products.
#climate #nature #ecology #biological
https://theconversation.com/swedens-old-growth-natural-forests-store-83-more-carbon-than-managed-woodlands-new-study-277150@mustapipa This is not my field, but isn't the idea that forests were unmanaged a little old fashioned? We know that populations of previously thought to be unmanaged forests worldwide actually manage their forests quite a bit by promoting certain species or by creating specific ecological niches. I have always imagined European forests (at least after the last ice age when populations followed the retractions of the ice) to be more like that? What evidence do we have that they were untended?
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@mustapipa This is not my field, but isn't the idea that forests were unmanaged a little old fashioned? We know that populations of previously thought to be unmanaged forests worldwide actually manage their forests quite a bit by promoting certain species or by creating specific ecological niches. I have always imagined European forests (at least after the last ice age when populations followed the retractions of the ice) to be more like that? What evidence do we have that they were untended?
@firn Boreal forests indeed largely were unmanaged. In more temperate climates the situation has been different.
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@firn Boreal forests indeed largely were unmanaged. In more temperate climates the situation has been different.
@mustapipa I think the Cree have always managed the Boreal forests in their regions, and there's tradition about it. But I'd have to chase up the details and I am not sure how that would map onto Europe.
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Most of Europe’s original natural #forests have been transformed for agriculture and managed forests producing energy, paper and timber.
The few remaining “old-growth” natural forests are relics of the past that illustrate how forests would have looked in the absence of human management.
Most Swedish forests are so-called #boreal forests.
This type of coniferous woodland #ecosystem encompasses most of the northern regions of the planet.
After mapping and measuring the most natural old-growth forests in Sweden, scientists found that they differ much more from managed forests than previously thought, even if some of those managed forests looked old.
Old-growth forests store 78-89% more #carbon than managed forests do, a difference in carbon storage larger than Sweden’s cumulative emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels since 1834.
These new results underscores the much larger carbon storage benefits that flow from protecting forests than using them to produce bioenergy and wood products.
#climate #nature #ecology #biological
https://theconversation.com/swedens-old-growth-natural-forests-store-83-more-carbon-than-managed-woodlands-new-study-277150@mustapipa young trees these days, all they wanna do is get high and not breathe carbon. Back when I was a sapling, we ate soot for breakfast, AND LIKED IT!
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Most of Europe’s original natural #forests have been transformed for agriculture and managed forests producing energy, paper and timber.
The few remaining “old-growth” natural forests are relics of the past that illustrate how forests would have looked in the absence of human management.
Most Swedish forests are so-called #boreal forests.
This type of coniferous woodland #ecosystem encompasses most of the northern regions of the planet.
After mapping and measuring the most natural old-growth forests in Sweden, scientists found that they differ much more from managed forests than previously thought, even if some of those managed forests looked old.
Old-growth forests store 78-89% more #carbon than managed forests do, a difference in carbon storage larger than Sweden’s cumulative emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels since 1834.
These new results underscores the much larger carbon storage benefits that flow from protecting forests than using them to produce bioenergy and wood products.
#climate #nature #ecology #biological
https://theconversation.com/swedens-old-growth-natural-forests-store-83-more-carbon-than-managed-woodlands-new-study-277150@mustapipa That's really interesting. Were the managed forests at a variety of times following harvest? If so, how correlated was C storage with time since harvest?
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
