(5.2 & 5.17) Forestry

Forestry

the planting, growing, and harvesting (logging) of trees

clear-cutting

The process of cutting down all the trees in an area at once. Economically efficient and profitable, but degrading to the ecosystem

selective cutting

cutting down only some trees in a forest and leaving a mix of tree sizes and species behind. Less degrading to the ecosystem

ecologically sustainable forestry

an approach that has a goal of maintaining all species in as close a natural state as possible. Involves replacing machine labor (trucks & chainsaws) with human and animal labor (hand saws, horses, etc.)

Reforestation

planting young trees or seeds on lands where trees have been cut or destroyed

Tree plantations

large areas typically planted with a single rapidly growing tree species planted and harvested continually

Fire management

a set of procedures designed to make decisions about which fires to allow to burn, and when to intervene and put out natural forest fires

Prescribed burn

A fire deliberately set under controlled conditions in order to reduce the accumulation of dead biomass on a forest floor. This prevents future forest fires from growing out of control

Crown fire

extremely hot forest fire that burns ground vegetation and treetops

Carbon sequestration

the storage of carbon in a form that does not readily release the carbon to the atmosphere or water (such as trees storing CO2 in their tissues)

Old growth forests

Forests free from disturbance for long enough (generally 150 to 200 years) to have mature trees, physical conditions, species diversity. Long-term carbon sinks

Reusing wood

Recycling or reusing wood from old buildings in order to reduce demand for new trees to be harvested for wood