EGGS 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Shelterwood Cutting, Forest Ecology, Tree Farm

• School: Bloomsburg University
• Department: Environ, Geog, & Geol Sciences
• Course: EGGS 105
• Professor: John Bodenman

Document Summary

Forest ecosystems provide ecosystem services far greater in value than the value of raw materials obtained from forests. Chief threats: unsustainable cutting and burning of forest, diseases and insects, projected climate change. Forests provide important economic and ecosystem services: store atmospheric carbon, provides habitats, provide raw materials, provide health benefits. Intermediate-age or mature trees are cut singly or in small groups: high-grading (aka creaming, shelter-wood cutting, seed-tree cutting, clear cutting, all trees in area are removed, strip cutting, clear-cutting in strips (with management plan) Fire, insects, and climate change can threaten forest ecosystems: surface fires, usually burn leaf litter and undergrowth, provide many ecological benefits, crown fires, extremely hot- burns whole trees, kill wildlife, increases soil erosion. Introduction of foreign diseases and insects: accidental or deliberate, global warming, rising temperatures, trees more susceptible to diseases and pests, drier forests- more fires, more greenhouse gases.