Epic fail

Isn't it intensive farming / monoculture that removes nutrients / reduces soil quality?

I'd have though that the time-scales of forestry, and more laissez-faire approach are such that it's not such a problem.

I'd be surprised if commercial afforestation in recent times hasn't been focused on profit.

Depending on the mega.co behind it there could easily have been moves away from laissez-faire approaches in that respect.

Just because a plantation might take appx 40yrs to mature doesn't mean it has necessarily had a net positive impact on the ecosystem once the trees have been removed. I'm not sure how much research there is around this though.

The (sometimes non-native) dense coniferous plantations are an example of intensive farming of trees. There's little growth below canopy and the needles dropped can lead to acidification of the soil. Anyone who has ridden the trails at Llandegla will have seen this up close.

It is not all about the carbon, the NPK in the soil needs to be maintained too. Taking trees away removes some of that too iirc?

Additionally, commercial felling of stands needs careful management too else soil can be washed away, taking nutrients with it.

It still all better than Concrete though I'd guess.

Fwiw: I'm in that dangerous area of trying to recall a little knowledge from a degree module 25yrs ago... Happy to stand corrected on any of the above.

Yep intensive farming reduces nutrients, increases soil erosion etc. Whereas trees or regenerative farming techniques improve water and nutrient retention.

Here's an interesting case-study:

https://www.theflowcountry.org.uk/flow-facts/flow-fact-4/

(Sorry not meant to be a reply to you)

Fwiw: I'm in that dangerous area of trying to recall a little knowledge from a degree module 25yrs ago... Happy to stand corrected on any of the above.

It's probably more useful that my 30+ year-old GCSE in geography.

Don't they just chop the trees and leave the stumps in, so there is less surface disturbance? Or do they rip the seniors and roots out too?

Anyone who has ridden the trails at Llandegla will have seen this up close.

Done a lot of chopping recently and there were bare fly agarics everywhere, and some brown mushrooms at the higher bits.

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Depends what you mean by recent, there was a big demand for wars and for coal mines, and with imports not guaranteed having domestic stock was a national security issue.

I've seen stumps left in at Llandegla. Here's the felling (due to fungal disease, not commercial) at the goyt valley, again stumps left in.

Where forested land is cleared to be repurposed this may well be more of an issue.

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I dunno, it wasn't high up in the uni league table and I wasn't dedicated to my studies... the module was Thursday 9am. Weds was always 2 for £1 club night aka Vodka, Midori & Lemonade night.

Not much else there though, which rather proves my point. Healthy broadleaved deciduous (native) would likely have some stuff growing in and amongst it. At Kenworthy it is gradually becoming more Himalayan Balsam, with a growing influx of Giant Hogweed and Japanese Knotweed, but at least it is something more than a carpet of pine needles.

Yeah, I just remembered I had a cool mushroom photo, that one had a little pool of water in it.

Since the mid 1980's say.

Either way it doesn't affect my central points which are:

Trees and Carpentry are better than Concrete IMO.

Commercial tree growing isn't always the best thing for the environment.

It is a lovely mushroom, it'd get some pulses racing over here.

Trees and Carpentry are better than Concrete IMO.

Commercial tree growing isn't always the best thing for the environment.

Yes I think you're right on both counts. Concrete, cement, bricks etc have a huge carbon footprint. Lots of heat required. Same with steel, glass, other metals. Mining also Very environmentally destructive.

However, pine forests create a monoculture where nothing else can grow.

BMW drivers...

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Wow

That was savage... Constable Savage...

Bare feds bruv oh my god.

Good job he had a first aid kit or she'd really be in trouble with that absolutely shattered leg.

Yup, plantations are plantations, whether they be wheat, pine, bananas....

I suspect that 7.9 billion people cannot exist in perfect balance with nature. Or at least that it requires a genius, hitherto unseen setup like some really clever mass permaculture. But we simply need too many resources. And when we grow/produce/extract those resources I think we're often choosing "least terrible" rather than "most sustainable". It's damaging because of scale.

The global overpopulation feels a bit like trying to throw a 400 person rave in a village tea shop. You cannot expect it to hold up to the abuse.

I suspect that 7.9 billion people cannot exist in perfect balance with nature. Or at least that it requires a genius, hitherto unseen setup like some really clever mass permaculture.

Tech investors are obsessing over agri-tech investments at the moment, largely because they agree with your opinion.

This is very close to home. M̶y̶ ̶w̶i̶f̶e̶ The person I am in a stable partnership with (what is the forum approved language so I don’t upset anyone?) is the co founder of a business doing direct measurement of soil carbon with a view to farms being able to accurately establish current soil carbon baseline and then assess how regenerative farming or rewilding increase carbon sequestration. Pitching for investment has been crazy with people approaching them wanting to get involved.

Fucking epic... 😂

Don’t want to make a big deal about it, but some folks aren’t into watching another person being crushed by a car. Maybe some kind of warning would be appropriate.

I started to write a comment here asking how the word 'wife' might be upsetting but realized that question might be upsetting too. This post is probably even worse.