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Reforestation - Science topic

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The above of our two research articles are two of our important efforts on how to conserve the soil and use it for the enhancement of reforestation to mitigate climate change impacts such as Urban Heat Island, loss of endemic species, scarcity of water and greenhouse gas emissions which are the leading concerns in urban built environment. Our articles have addressed a way to achieve the sustainable development goals such as SDG6, SDG12 and SDG 13.
Soil resources are most critical prerequisites those need to be conserved, utilized and given back to the earth to enhance the sustainable existence of living organisms. Current technological trends are mostly focusing on mining the soil resources and fulfilling the human needs using anthropogenic activities. This trend needs to revisit, addressed the research gaps and more interests need to be shown by researchers and stakeholders to enhance the optimum usage of soil resources with minimal harmful effects to nature.
I request the researchers to provide your opinions in this regard. Thank you.
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Altered climate will have an effect on soil processes and properties at least some soils may become net sources of atmospheric C, lowering soil organic matter levels. Soil erosion by wind and water is also likely to increase. Climate change can also impact soil biota by increasing water and wind erosion of soil, especially where the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events increases and where climate-change driven changes in land use make soils more vulnerable to erosion. Climate change is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss, but destruction of ecosystems undermines nature's ability to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and protect against extreme weather, thus accelerating climate change and increasing vulnerability to it. Soil is by far the most biologically diverse material on Earth. Soil contains a large variety of organisms which interact and contribute too many global cycles, including the carbon and nitrogen cycles. Soil provides vital habitats for micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi, as well as insects and other organisms. They make nutrients available to plants through interactions with other soil organisms and abiotic factors such as temperature, pH, and moisture content. Nutrients derived from organic matter can reduce the reliance and misuse of synthetic inputs. Organisms living in the soil provide many essential services to humankind. They support food production by helping plants to grow, and they play a key role in controlling nutrient cycles and thus in regulating the Earth's climate. Soil provides ecosystem services critical for life: soil acts as a water filter and a growing medium; provides habitat for billions of organisms, contributing to biodiversity; and supplies most of the antibiotics used to fight diseases. Soil provides nutrients, water and minerals to plants and trees, stores carbon and is home to billions of insects, small animals, bacteria and many other micro-organisms.
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How serious is this? I attach an article showing how increasing CO2 naturally increases plant growth and reforestation reduces runoff! So.. planting forests and living among greenery is not saving the environment, it is drying up rivers.
Bring back the beavers.
New tiaga, renewed Eastern American Forest mighty cause Global dessication by decreasing runoff untill late in growing season. I attach an article attempting to calculate the global warming cost due to CO2. There is nothing about the downside to "greening" of the world and the possibility of drying up rivers as a result.
Like "ice stupa". See "icestupa.org". delay of runoff reduces floods but what else?
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General perception is that a fast growing species are better carbon sequester if it holds than all CDM projects will have these species. What will be role of old species and other slow or moderate growth species vis a vis role of site quality with respect to fast growing species. How to determine carbon sequestration potential of and species mean ideal parameters for consideration eg.  age of tree, site factor / surrounds, tree associates/ allelopathy nature, nutrient cycle / physiology/ silvics of the species etc.
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Definitely because of high biomass, but lamina area also matters. Kindly consult this Govt. report
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What is the purpose, usefulness and outcome of climatic simulations, particularly those of ecological LUC measures such as the Sahel afforestation ("Great Green Wall")?
How reliable are they and how can they have an impact on decision making? There are many simulations of the intended afforestation or restoration of the Sahel region, raising warning flags of heat waves and flooding since many years. However, we find that they are based on somewhat unrealistic, hydro-ecologically not feasible vegetational assumptions.
Now, after many years of simulations the most recent study (Camara et al, Atmosphere 2022, 13, 421) at least finds that reforestation should help to improve the climate over the reforested area. - Could scientific results have caused delays in starting badly needed restoration measures? Maybe even worse, as an indirect consequence have an affect on drought events?
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Land related factors contributie to climate change include through carbon dioxide emissions from loss of tropical forest, from degradation of ecosystems and soil; nitrous oxide emissions from excess fertilizer applied in farming; methane emissions from ruminants, rice farming, biomass burning and landfills etc. Responding to climate change involves two possible approaches: reducing and stabilizing the levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (“mitigation”) and/or adapting to the climate change already in the pipeline (“adaptation”).
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Dear RG Colleagues,
We have started a reforestation project in an arid region and we want to know the answer to 'is this project successful ?'.
Quite simply, what are the parameters that will judge this success within 2 years?
Best regards Abdenour
📷
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Community based indigenous ecosystem based adaptation will be successful reforestation program.
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Carbon offsetting and reforestation projects depend on high quality seeds, yet we lack valuable information about storage and germination rates of many tropical tree species.
At what temperature can I safely dry orthodox tree species seeds, so I can store them for months or years? Afzelia quanzensis, Erythrophleum suaevolens and Albizia gummifera are some of the species I am working on.
Working in a rainforest environment and with very little infrastructures means that a sealed dry-room with a dehumidifier is not an option, and I can dry seeds only using a drying hot-air (that can be set between 30 and 90°C) cabinet and silica gel. I will try to stay as low as possible.
Thanks for any input or first hand experience!
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The information you can access with this link can help you understand the agenda you raised.
Thank you!
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The rising sea levels and mangroves are salt-tolerant trees that line tropical and subtropical coastlines. How does the reforestation of mangroves contribute to regulating the global climate through carbon sequestration and storage? Coastal protection from storms? Reduced flood risk? Habitat for distinct species?
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Legumes and Ficus tree is strong candidate as reforestation starter and able to grow in harsh condition. Both are important agent for fixing soil quality.
But in term restore forest birds habitat, which one is can profide more ecological service? Which on is needed first? Ficus to support frugivores species or Legume as insect refugia to attract insectivores?
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Ficus...but Legumes can also play a great role in arid and Saharan areas.
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Reforestation does not necessarily lead to a climate change solution. Without native species and Indigenous land rights, reforestation can lead to colonization, displacement, and genocide on native species and Indigenous people. Climate change solution is deeply interconnected with traditional practice, Indigenous land rights, and native species.
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Thanks Peter Salonius and Mubarak Ali for your comments and suggested readings and videos
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I read an interesting paper (as below) and learnt that grassland habitat is continually declining in South China, largely due to reforestation schemes and vegetation succession (better hillfire control measures). Historically, grassland habitat shouldn't be that extensive in this region which likely supported fewer grassland specialists. However, the very long history of human settlement (more than 100,000 ya if we take Homo erectus into account) has favored the colonization of this group of species, including this rare Chinese Grassbird. In terms of habitat management, how should we address this apparent dilemma - to recover the ancient, original habitat of an area; OR, to actively maintain certain habitats to protect rare species, even such habitat is somewhat anthropogenically-created?
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The degradation of the ecosystem due to deforestation and the subsequent decades or centuries of crop cultivation is usually severe, making it almost impossible to bring the ecosystem back (by reforestation or revegetation) to its original state. Specifically, the massive decline in soil health due to soil degradation triggers the establishment of communities of plants, animals, and soil microorganisms greatly different from that of the original forest soil.
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Ich beschäftige mich derzeit mit dem Thema Technologie und Nachhaltigkeit für den Umweltschutz. Kurz zusammengefasst: wie kann die Technologie die Umweltschutz unterstützen um damit die Simbiose zwischen Technik und Menschlichkeit zu ermöglichen? Ich suche mehr Infos, Autoren, die sich damit beschäftigen. Danke im Voraus.
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Danke an Alle, die hier mitgemacht haben. Das Thema finde ich wahnsinnig spannend. Darüber schreibe ich derzeit eine Hausarbeit. Ich hoffe, ich kann das irgendwann hier veröffentlichen. Oder besser als Masterarbeit.
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In connection with the reform of agriculture in Ukraine, the problem of using postagrogenic soils (fallows) arose. As a rule, spontaneous vegetation growth (reforestation) or artificial planting of forests occurs on these soils.
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You can compare biodiversity in plots using the two different types of growth
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Habitat suitability is the initial step during plantation and reforestation drives throughout the globe. In certain developing countries this is not a common practice. Government organizations as well as NGOs must consult expert ecologist of their respective region to get succssful and sustainable results as they conduct a lot of such studies. As an example I would like to mention here that we are doing such studies over the last decade in our regions and these can be found in our research articles. e.g.!
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This is what we have been doing it ,unfortunately such case studies have gone out of context due to climate related changes . And warrant for newer concepts to be roped in imparting afforestation a great success over time...
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Hi,
I am currently working for a watershed conservation project. My project leader wanted to know the change of groundwater recharge before and after the conservation activity (for example, the current landcover are open land and shrubs, then this area will be reforested). What methods can be used for answer that?
Thank You
I Appreciate your help?
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Рекомендую
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Seeking methods for restoration of tropical dry forest in the Lesser Antilles, including site preparation, species composition, plant spacing, and watering requirements. Thank you.
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Good project....We're in the same target...Good luck Natalia Collier
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Today, there are several ways to prevent flooding. In this regard, two methods of dam construction and reforestation (or afforestation) are in competition. But which one is scientifically more effective? Which one is used in your country? Is there any more successful way to prevent flooding?
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It depends on the region characteritics
look at this
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Im working in a restoration plan in a mountain range in de north Madrid (Spain).
We have planned to reforest a specific area, but we think that the wild boar can destroy the plantation. How can we avoid it?
Thanks
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Thank you both Aleksandra and Joanna. It is very helpful.
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UNFCC has developed many protocols for CDM projects as well as carbon credits but most them fall in the energy sectors. Very few are given in Reforestation and afforestation projects. Why this parity ? Either there is less research on tree based interventions or these projects are more concentrated in developing countries. Similar done validation of carbon credits through plantation based projects in CDM. While in INDC every county commit the reduction of GHGs by plantation activities on hecatres of land but not given effective representation in UNFCC protocol.
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Sir, thease are some weak points of CDM projects on Afforestation and reforestation.
First generation CDM methodologies and
procedures are still complex and time-consuming.
• If marginalized, social issues may threaten project
success.
• High upfront-financing and late returns.
• Projects bear risks of non-approval under the CDM,
forestry and non-permanence risks.
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My student is exploring this question, and they have found no research, not even modeling, on this question. It's a tricky one, I know!
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Dear Robin,
I suggest you to see links and attached files in subject.
- Make it rain: Planting forests could help drought-stricken regions ...
- Eduard Brückner - The Sources and Consequences of Climate Change and ...
- Current Hydraulic Laboratory Research in the United States
- Hydraulic Research in the United States
- Miscellaneous Publication - National Bureau of Standards
Best regards
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The pace at which the private sector is engaging in climate change related activities as well as carbon trade is yet to be convincing? Most forest concessionaires still find it profitable to engage in logging their forests for timber rather than protecting the same forest for carbon. This renders the 'logged to protected forest' concept still unrealistic. New pathways are seemingly needed......
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Obviously there are some climate change deniers around. Read the Wikipedia file on this odd way of earning a living from oil and coal lobbyist funding.
If one recognise that the climate is changing rapidly due to human GHG-emissions one most also accept that humans can influence the speed and magnitude of this change and even select to end it.
Someone who denies this - contrary to the scientific established fact - can spend days commenting negatively on all discussions about climate change mitigation.
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Now a days people claim that many problems can be solved using remote sensing technique. Some of the information claimed to be possible are below 10 to 100 metres below ground level. For example; depth to water table; water quality; bore well locations; etc. Some of these claims are so expressive that it makes one to believe that remote sensing is a replacement to field investigations, but it is a supplement or compliment to field investigations, in my opinion. Though we understand that remote sensing is based on reflectance of radiation from the earth surface, through which technique or images these depth related information can be obtained ? Also what is the maximum depth to which remote sensing technique can be applied AND what are the type of depth related information can be gathered?
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Dear Experts thank you for your answers.
From some of the answers it appears that my question has been misread. I am not at all questioning the utility or usefulness of remote sensing technique, as far as spatial information is concerned. I am only asking the extent of its application with reference to "DEPTH" below ground level (like 50 cm; 100cm; etc); the information one can decipher (temperature, moisture, etc); and also the type of data sets one has to refer.
Kindly do not compare / mix up with geophysical techniques, which may confuse the readers. Thank you. 
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Biomass is considered as a renewable energy source because its inherent energy comes from the sun with the possibiliy to  regrow in a relatively short time. Leaf Trees take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into biomass and when they die, it is released back into the atmosphere. Whether trees are burned or whether they decompose naturally, they release the same amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The idea is that if trees harvested as biomass are replanted as fast as the wood is burned, new trees take up the carbon produced by the combustion, the carbon cycle theoretically remains in balance, and no extra carbon is added to the atmospheric balance sheet—so biomass is arguably considered “carbon neutral.” Since nothing offsets the CO2 that fossil fuel burning produces, replacing fossil fuels with biomass theoretically results in reduced carbon emissions.
In fact, the reality is a lot more complicated. In 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that “carbon neutrality cannot be assumed for all biomass energy a priori.” Whether or not biomass is truly carbon neutral depends on the time frame being studied, what type of biomass is used, the combustion technology, which fossil fuel is being replaced (since the combustion of both fossil fuels and biomass produces carbon dioxide), and what forest management techniques are employed in the areas where the biomass is harvested.
In 2010, a group of prominent scientists wrote to US Congress explaining that the notion that all biomass results in a 100 percent reduction of carbon emissions is wrong.Biomass can reduce carbon dioxide if fast growing crops are grown on otherwise unproductive land; in this case, the regrowth of the plants offsets the carbon produced by the combustion of the crops. But cutting or clearing forests for energy, either to burn trees or to plant energy crops, releases carbon into the atmosphere that would have been sequestered had the trees remained untouched, and the regrowing and thus recapture of carbon can take decades or even a century. Moreover, carbon is emitted in the combustion process, resulting in a net increase of CO2.
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I am not fond of generalizations on biomass. In the discussion thread here, I have a feeling that experts tend to intuitively think about dedicated cultivation of crops and/or combustion of standing woody biomass. Nevertheless there are other forms of biomass: greenwaste from roadside & terrain management, VGF (vegetable/garden/fruit) from households, Agricultural waste (in Europe alone 1,8 BILLION tons of manure each year), organic biological waste from food industry and distribution... Utilizing these as resources for energy (as well as other purposes) makes sense and WILL contribute to GHG emission mitigation.
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Extreme climate events are increasing in Bangladesh and thus destroying agriculture sectore severely. For example, a recent flash flood, not found in the record for more than 50 years, has damaged Boro rice in haor areas (low lying single cropped area).
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Dr Anoop and Dr Heba,
Thanks a lot for the valuable comments and information. We have analyzed historical climate data for one region of bangladesh and found that rainy days are drcreasing but intensity is increasing. This means that total rainfall is occurring in a less number of days. So, flash flood is the result in flat land, like Bangladesh. Since upstream flow of water is the vital issue, joint efforts from India and Bangladesh can minimize flash flood damage through basin management.
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It may be selfish but it's true that long after we're gone, the earth will somehow recover from the consequences of our actions; by "saving" the earth, we're actually saving ourselves. What I mean by the question is, is it too late to save the remaining green spaces on earth? Or are we just waiting for the inevitable? I have read so many articles regarding the statuses of multiple ecosystems in the world. I think the articles claiming the Great Barrier Reef was officially dead and cannot be restored were proven to be false (I think). But that does not remove the fact that coral populations have massively decreased due to numerous factors. The Amazon Rainforest is declining at a rapid rate and locally, forests around the Phlippines are also declining rapidly. I am aware of the conservation practices of people around the world but frankly, I do not know if those are enough. If anyone out there has thought about this, do you have any long-term solution/s that you think is/are actually plausible that can circumvent the inevitable destruction of these ecosystems and thus our race as well?
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Is it true that  Some of the changes that have occurred are becoming permanent on human time scales?
A key question is when greenhouse gas emissions might reach a tipping point, where changes become self-reinforcing and out of human control.
The science is clear – human activity and human behavior are changing the planet, and not in a good way.  Astrophysicist Adam Frank put this point into sharper focus: “The defining feature of a technological civilization is the capacity to intensively ‘harvest’ energy. But the basic physics of energy, heat and work known as thermodynamics tell us that waste, or what we physicists call entropy, must be generated and dumped back into the environment in the process.” Globally, we generate around 100 billion megawatt hours of energy every year and dump 36 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere and oceans, not to mention rivers, coal slurry impoundments (“sludge ponds”), aquifers, and underground “sequestration”, all of which goes a very long way to explaining the  overheating planet and acidifying oceans.
Maybe we can change.  Maybe out indifference will give way to our instinct for survival in time.  Maybe we will come to understand that we have to conserve in order to survive, reorganize our cities and societies, depend less on long-distance transport and travel, and do more on a local level. We have to drive fewer cars fewer miles, build mass transit systems, and subsidize riders for being good citizens. We have to consume less and conserve more of everything — from water and fossil fuel to wildlife and rain forests. We have to do a much better job of protecting the atmosphere, oceans, topsoil.
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Recently I was assigned on a project to restore back the limestone to its original state. The site was an ex-mining area to be exact. The problem here is, is it possible for the plants to survive on the limestone surface without any soil available on it? Indeed there is some species may survive but the mortality rate would be high, i guess. Any papers and suggestion will be appreciated! 
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Please have a look at these PDF attachments.
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I strikes me as rather bizarre that despite all the hype around the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil, there do not seem to be studies that actually show what the environmental benefits of certification are. Or am I missing something?
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There's very few, if any, environmental protections in the RSPO guidelines, certainly not ones that protect forests.  In any case, they cover only a small fraction of oil palm production.   In the attached paper, we were not able to find any way to identify where oil-palm caused deforestation was impacted by the guidelines.  
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aside from being important to promote healthy root for the tree, what are the important of pitting? what is the recommended size of pitting and tools used for pitting?
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Pitting is not the only thing in planting. You have to determine the distance of planting for each kind of species you are choosing. There are small excavators which can be employed without high cost when compared to manual pitting. Planting trees is a much elaborate process, don't think pitting is the most important part.
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For example, would the distance of a reforested tree community from a river (i.e. near or far from the bank) or distance from the source of a river (i.e. nearer the source, nearer the mouth or in between) matter when it comes to its effect on how fast the body of water will overflow in a hypothetically intense rainfall event?
Would there be other factors that have to be considered in making decisions such as to where reforestation efforts must be concentrated on first (especially in an extensively denuded watershed)?
I'm looking at the forest in terms of its hydrological importance and effect on the water dynamics of a watershed. Forests can intercept rainfall and help to slow down the flow of water to a receiving body of water such as a river or lake. 
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It was indeed nice to read apt comments by Dr.Hensen and Dr. Green. Here are some of the observations published in recent publications...
Recent research in forest hydrology points to the fact that the general assumption that more trees equal to more water is based upon our inaccurate understanding of the hydrological cycle in forest ecosystems.   This assumption has so far dominated most forest and water policy. In fact the forest ecosystem is the major user of water. With tree canopies, through interception of precipitation and evpotranspiration from foliage there is reduction in the groundwater and stream flow. Both natural and manmade forests use more water than most replacement land cover including the agriculture and grazing. This may be translated in the fact that even partial forest removal may result in the increase in the downstream water yields. Although there are some suggestions of the  removal of water-demanding forest cover as a means of preventing or mitigating droughts, especially in semi-arid regions. However, such a policy is been weighed against the consequent loss of the many other services and goods that forests supply. These include erosion control, improved water quality, carbon fixation, reduced salinization, recreation and aesthetic appeal, timber, fuelwood, other forest products, and biodiversity.
It is also well established that partial or complete removal of the tree cover accelerates water discharge, increasing the risk of flood during the rainy season and drought in the dry season. Although forest cover’s importance in regulating hydrological flows has often been overestimated, the impacts of forest cover removal are evident only at the micro-level and in association with short-duration and low intensity rainfall events (which tend to be the most frequent). As rainfall duration or intensity increases and the distance down the watershed and river basin becomes greater, other factors start to override or dwarf the effects experienced close to the deforested area. These factors include the size and morphometry of the basin, what happens in other tributary streams, the direction of the storm path and the intensity and duration of the storm
At the macro-scale, natural processes – rather than land management in the upper watershed – are responsible for flooding. Hence, although there are many good reasons for reforesting watersheds (e.g. reducing soil loss, keeping sediments out of streams, maintaining agricultural production, wildlife habitat), reducing flood risk control is certainly not one of them. Reforestation to prevent or reduce floods is effective at only a local scale of a few hundred hectares. Even on the local scale, much depends on the depth of the soil and the character of the precipitation event. Deep soils can store more water before they become saturated, and deep-rooted trees make the soil mantle more receptive for storing water from a new event. Antecedent rainfall and soil water storage have a great influence on the generation of runoff. Thus, for frequently occurring rainfall events of short duration or low intensity, forested soils may reduce or prevent flash floods locally. For the rarer prolonged or high-intensity storms, however, once the soil layer becomes saturated, water will run off, even where there is full, undisturbed forest cover. On shallow soils, especially steep ones, storage is much less and the watershed is more prone to flash floods; trees or other vegetation or land use can do little to stem the fast subsurface and overland flows.
A publication by FAO and the Center for International Forestry Research (FAO and CIFOR, 2005) has this to say: Although forests can play a certain role in delaying and reducing peak floodwater flows at local levels, scientific evidence clearly indicates that forests cannot stop catastrophic large-scale floods, commonly caused by severe meteorological events …. This in no way diminishes the need for proper management and conservation of upland forests. But it does point toward the critical need for integrated approaches in river-basin management that look beyond simplistic forest-based “solutions”.
Forests’ most significant contribution to the hydrological balance of watershed ecosystems is in maintaining high-quality water. This is achieved through minimizing soil erosion on site, reducing sediment in water bodies (wetlands, ponds and lakes, streams and rivers) and trapping/filtering other water pollutants in the forest litter and underwood. Good forest cover is the most effective land cover for keeping water as sediment-free as possible. Forest is certainly the best cover for drinking-water supply watersheds, because forestry activities involve no use of fertilizer, pesticide and fossil fuel, or outfalls from domestic sewage or industrial processes.
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In the field restoration and reforestation
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Hi Mohandass,
Here are some useful pdf attachments for your persual.
Good Luck
Dr. Arvind Singh
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I strongly think and hope very large scale desalination of sea water to irrigate arid zone is the second way to fight against global warming and its consequences as rise in sea level and accelerated desertification of arid.
Of course, the first is the sustainable behavior; desalination might be performed and funded by ecological means.
In a previous discussion :
Pr K. M.Towe said :"There is no way for "photosynthesis" to "pay" for it's subsequent LONG TERM microorganisms aerobic recycling". I must specify : recycling humans, animals and plants carbon. I wonder how is it possible reforestation would not have any significant effect on carbon footprint and over what time period photosynthesis is much greater than the aerobic respiration of microorganisms.
If respiration of microorganisms always prevailed over that of plants, a long time ago we would have no more oxygen. Do the rainforests have a negative balance sheet of oxygen/carbon?
At a rate of two dollars per cubic meter of desalinated water, what would be carbon foot print over several years of a cubic meters of desalted water in arid and sunny area? That is the question?
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 Has anyone had some  experiences related to this topic?
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That's a very intelligent question and we  keep debating this issue quite often . Infact good high quality seedling is no guarantee to long term performance of the plant  . Under reforestation project , quality planting material will ensure good establishment , will be minimum mortality due to abiotic stress during plant establishment stage , but later there is no guarantee to better plant performance . It largely dpends upon the site characteristics , its microbial flora composition , rainfall , time of planting  , post-planting care etc etc ... Its like a healthy child is born in hospital , you bring healthy child at home , but rest will depend upon your management ...
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This is the article where I read about climate-smart reforestation, examples are still vague for me to understand. I am looking for a more concrete example of climate-smart reforestation activity.
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Lenyna,
What the authors refer to as "climate-smart" reforestation activities are more commonly referred to as co-benefits of reforestation projects.  Carbon sequestration typically funds the reforestation effort and the climate-smart or co-benefits are the other non-carbon benefits of the project.  They can include any number of things: improving wildlife habitat, soil stabilization, economic development, etc.  To be registered in a program such as VCS (http://www.v-c-s.org), a project must have a project document that describes the activities.  These often include specific outcomes expected with the project.  
Matt
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Euclyptus lenceolatus is seen to form thick patches on previously disturbed forests. How the mono-cultures will affect the overall biota in an ecosystem?
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Dear Asghar,
The 'effectiveness' of reforestation programmes has varied meaning.
If Euclyptus lenceolatus is native to that place,  then its ok, no complaints. Eucalyptus is a fast growing tree which is important as source of timber.
However, if it is exotic to the local flora then its introduction may lead to following events:
1. Local shrubs and undergrowth may decline in population, mainly due to competence and allelopathy exhibited by Eucalyptus.
2. The canopy coverage of Eucalyptus is already low, in addition as undergrowth starts declining, its direct impact could be rising rate of soil erosion. This is crucial as you have mentioned that the planned reforestation site is a mountain slope.
3. In this 'novel' ecosystem, species with high competency and encroaching capacity may try to invade, but they will eventually fail. Subsequently another species may try to establish itself but it may or may not succeed either. Hence in due course of remnant patches of invading species may gather.
4. Some species of mycorrhizal fungi like Pisolithus, Scleroderma, Ramaria may also be seen at such forest floor during rainy season. However they will only help in establishment of Eucalyptus (and no other plant) in such afforested site. 
Ultimate scenario of such ecosystem may be the loss of soil health, dominance of Eucalyptus, coupled with gradual loss of native vegetation and introduction of new highly competitive 'invasive' population with low species richness.
Best Wishes,
Prakash
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Does anyone know of studies that evaluate the diversity of macrofungi years after having reforested a landscape?
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From 1998–2006, the Oregon Bureau of Land Management conducted two parallel studies comparing fungal diversities in two locations.  The chronosequence study compared epigeous ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in young regrowth (25–32 yo), mature regrowth (55–62 yo), and virgin (>250 yo) Pseudotsuga menziesii forests. The density management study investigated immediate reestablishment of a fungal community in a 55-year old Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir) forest after no treatment, thinning to 100, 200, or 300 trees/ha, and 'clear-cut'. The results have not been fully analyzed, but we did find that some genera (e.g., Inocybe) could be regarded as colonists of regenerated growth while others (e.g., Phaeocollybia) were best in more highly diverse undisturbed forests.  See Norvell & Exeter (2004: Ectomycorrhizal epigeous basidiomycete diversity in Oregon Coast Range Pseudotsuga menziesii forests—Preliminary observations) for full protocols, species preliminary identifications, and other observations.
   Note that our data depended on traditional identifications, and that probably slightly different results would be obtained using core samples and DNA bar codes.
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When a destruced forest site is remained for more than 10 years without restoration plan, the soil condition of the site is bad, which prevent the restoration of original forest. In this case, pioneer tree species is useful for amelioration of soil condition. So I want to know what N-fixing pioneer tree species can be grown in temperate zone. The tree species have to be grown under -10~-15°C in winter and have fast growth. I hope getting species name and literature related to the tree species, if possible.
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Agree with the comments above, but I would like to throw in another perspective. I am sure that there are more recent examples, but I have always liked Dan Binkley's papers for presenting the tree-soil interaction concepts. Take a look at:
Binley & Giardina. 1998. Why do tree species affect soils? The warp and woof of tree-soil interactions. Biogeochemistry 42: 89-106.
What I like about this paper the more holistic view of tree impacts on soils. For example, there are many ways that trees may modify soil conditions without being N-fixers.
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Brazil has visionary (if yet to be implemented) legislation requiring landowners to preserve at least 20% of woodland on their properties. The benefits, especially if reforestation is required, will be considerable in terms of climate change mitigation.
The benefits in terms of biodiversity conservation, however, would be far less with a rigid 20% law than with one countenancing smaller but priority areas. Such flexibility characterises the trading schemes used in carbon markets in which not all polluters are held to the same standard. So some companies can buy the rights to pollute more than their quota from firms that have accumulated 'credits' by investment in cleaner or more efficient technology, for example.
Thus a properly managed forest conservation market which identifies and applies preferential benefits to priority areas - wetlands, Red Listed spp habitat, corridors, etc., could generate far greater ecosystem dividends. Similarly, Lovejoy's bigger-is-better conclusion would reap greater conservation gains by promoting consolidation of little reserves which incur huge edge effect losses into larger ones that suffer less. This concept is presumably being applied in some countries. Can anyone tell me where? Related ideas and comments will also be most welcome.
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"Additionality" is a false human construct after the fact of destroying the forest. Once a forest is clear cut it is no longer sustainable on any level, not ecologically, economically or socially. It is the result of a drunken binge of liquidation that will take geological time to recover, not human scale. A plantation is no more a forest than a golf course is a prairie, one is self sustaining and replicating and the other requires continual 'inputs'.  Our children will curse our greed and stupidity..... as we destroy the very foundations of life support of this once garden planet... The sooner humans go extinct, the better it will be for the planet as we have taken a terminal path based in domination and control, instead of the one sustainable path indigenous cultured practiced based on reverence, respect and inter-generational responsibility. Something our modern cultures have totally abandoned perpetuated by so called, 'higher education'. Degrees are mostly about 'ritualized obedience' not seeing new ways of synthesis or holistic understanding, in my humble opinion.
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We have substantial information that low quality planting materials is one major cause of failure of reforestation in the tropics but less information from temperate countries. We would like to get this information from scientists working on this aspect. Thank you. 
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I would like to stress the importance of seedling handling. You may very well have high quality seedlings but lose this investment if they are not handled properly from the nursery to the planting site (as others have indicated). We did a few studies in Ecuador and then the PNW relating bare root seedling capacity to generate new roots after outplanting to root exposure during handling and found that root regeneration capacity drops off very quickly after just a few minutes of exposure. This implies a need for a degree of care often lacking in plantation operations.  
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I want to have information about the of species, plantation area, plantation age as well as hydrological effects of these species in the semiarid and area climate zones.
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Dear Seyed
You can find information in the FAO web site or look at this old book (Evans, Tree Planting for Industrial, Social, Environmental, and Agroforestry Purposes) or try others approach like remote sensing to obtain some information. 
have a nice day
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In a first approach, I think that the solution consists in a way or a manner (with preferably a living tool) to convert the gaseous CO2 in a deposit or a residue (preferably solid also) which will be “climate-neutral” if I can say so. The best solution, in my point of view, relies in the reforestation since a tree is the best way to stock carbon, or another plant and to avoid it burning anyway.
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Marcho & Julio,
That would be http://www.innovationconcepts.eu/res/literatuurSchuiling/olivineagainstclimatechange23.pdf , and http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/proceedings/01/carbon_seq/6c1.pdf , and http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/proceedings/01/minecarb/oconnor.pdf to get you started (among others). Unfortunately that process has the same problems that I mentioned other natural processes as having - takes a lot of space and extended time. In essence it's like using a doser to clean up acid mine drainage in a stream... except several orders of magnitude bigger. That has some practical problems of implementation folks. The first paper suggests distributing the materials around the planet in likely locations, which would be vastly more expensive than processing the CO2 stream in locations that are near the olivine or serpentine sources, which in turn has it's own issues.
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We currently monitor 2 year-old reforested Rhizopora. Among them, there are few larger trees of the same species, originating from natural autosuccession. They can potentially be included into the monitoring, but for this it is necessary to determine their age. Is there a method that calculates back ages of (young) mangroves by using diameter-at-breast-height-measures and species-specific growth rates?
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Yes, possibly, and only for some species and only for a certain period of time. For instance, if you have independent data on the plastichron interval (i.e the period between the initiation of new leaves) for the site(s) you are working in, then it may be possible to count leaf scars on the seedlings of species of Rhizophora (and perhaps other genera in the Rhizophoraecea) to get a reasonable idea of age. This will only work up until the seedlings start to produce branches.
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I plan to try them in the next planting season because they are cheap to produce and suitable for rural and underdeveloped areas. Any previous experience will be helpful.
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We used durable mulch rings on our trial sites (Pinus nigra, Fagus sylvatica) in Bavaria (Germany). It is neccessary that rodents are under control, because they prefer the protected area under the mulch rings for their nests. We had also problems because the mulch rings carve the stem when the diameter of the stem increases. So you have to remove the mulch rings after 3 to 4 years. Mulch rings made ​​of recycled cardboard should be prefered if you need them for a short time. But if there is a strong pressure by shrubs or high growing grass tending is also neccessary. If you have a vegetation period with much precipitation (or with longer snow cover in winter) mulch rings made ​​of recycled cardboard are less durable.