While forest fires are destructive and cause damage to life and property, replacing them is paramount to eliminating carbon from the troposphere.
I think of it this way. For as much as existing forests are important for their carbon sequestration, the replacement of trees is just as important in the case of wildfires.
Young trees use far more carbon dioxide because they grow faster in their early years. That doesn't mean old growth forests should be sacrificed. The old growth forests in the USA are more valuable as ecosystems and climate stability methods than any young trees can offer.
But, where forests are devastated by wildfires, being sure a young forest is started as soon as the ground cools to take back the CO2 lost to sequestration by the fire. Hydration will have to be provided to encourage the growth and root systems of forests. If a forest service can bring water from fresh water lakes to put out fires, the same process can provide water for the growth of the trees that replace the old forest.
Little Known or Interesting Factoids About Tree Physiology (click here)
I think of it this way. For as much as existing forests are important for their carbon sequestration, the replacement of trees is just as important in the case of wildfires.
Young trees use far more carbon dioxide because they grow faster in their early years. That doesn't mean old growth forests should be sacrificed. The old growth forests in the USA are more valuable as ecosystems and climate stability methods than any young trees can offer.
But, where forests are devastated by wildfires, being sure a young forest is started as soon as the ground cools to take back the CO2 lost to sequestration by the fire. Hydration will have to be provided to encourage the growth and root systems of forests. If a forest service can bring water from fresh water lakes to put out fires, the same process can provide water for the growth of the trees that replace the old forest.
Little Known or Interesting Factoids About Tree Physiology (click here)
- Trees both produce AND consume oxygen.
- Young forests capture more carbon from the atmosphere than old forests.
- Old forests have more stored carbon in the biomass than young forests.
- The food that trees produce for themselves are sugars.
- The purpose of photosynthesis is to capture and store energy.
- Green light is the only part of the visible light spectrum that plants can’t use.
- The timing of Autumn color change is largely controlled by lengthening nights.
- Conifers lose needles each fall, just the same as broad-leaf trees.
- Trees grow TWO rings each year, one in the spring and another during the summer.
- Swamp trees don’t necessarily prefer swamps.
- Tree species have highly variable requirements for light, nutrients, and moisture.
- Oceans produce more oxygen and store more carbon than forests.
