So what if you received an unexpected call asking you to join a Giant Tree Trek visiting what probably are the tallest trees in Europe... and you said "Yes, Sir (of course!!!)"?
What if as a result of such an adventure you had gathered several hundred measurement data & biological samples, several hundred photographs documenting the whole expedition, and several dozen minutes of video footage depicting such unique Eucalyptus Tree Giants?
The only possible reasonable answer to those three question is... you do it... you enjoy it... and you tell the story!
So... What about joining us & the friends making this all possible in a virtual trek to the "Nova Australia" of Spain & Portugal while chasing Eucalypt Giants with Dean Nicolle?
If your answer is also "Yes, Sir", the only thing you have to do is fastening your seatbelts, and staying tuned... to Eucalyptologics!
And who is that guy?
Dr. Dean Nicolle, "El Cazador de Eucaliptos", has discovered or co-discovered +50 new eucalypt taxa in Australia, helping the known eucalypt biodiversity threshold surpass 1000 taxa. He is the Director of Currency Creek Eucalypt Research Arboretum, the most complete eucalypt collection and genetic repository in the world, with +90% of those taxa represented and cultivated for scientific purposes. He has collected and preserved +5000 eucalypt genetic lines, many of them endangered species or subspecies, some facing extinction risks. He is author or co-author of +50 scientific articles on eucalypt botany, and his work has made +40 extra articles by several international scientific research groups possible. Arborist and ecologist, his remarkable eucalypt tree inventory surpasses +9000 specimens, and from it, +4000 technical reports on remarkable eucalypts have been produced, including +150 new additions to the Australian Giant Tree National Register.
XXIII IUFRO World Congress - Opening the International Trade & Exhibition on Forest Science & Technology. 68 Governmental Agencies, Forest Education & Research Organizations & Forest Industry Firms around the world stand in Seoul.
XXIII IUFRO World Congress - Forest Discussion at Sub-Plenary Sessions, outlining the key topics on each of the 9 main Congress Themes.
XXIII IUFRO World Congress - Forest Specialists share & discuss at the Technical Sessions during 943 oral presentations of the latest advances of Forest Science in issues related to Climate Change, Biodiversity, Environmental Services, Sustainable Production, Emerging Technologies, Forest Health, Social Forestry & Environmental Security.
XXIII IUFRO World Congress - The New Lights of International Forest Science, the impressive amount of 1153 posters displaying the latest advances in Forest Research around the world.
XXIII IUFRO World Congress - The Decission Board of IUFRO, the equivalent to the "United Nations of Forest Research", meets in Seoul to review recent activities & establish the new directions for future work. Representatives of +100 countries around the World participate of this Congress and its activities.
XXIII IUFRO World Congress - Over 2,500 foresters, forest scientists, forest policy makers, forest educational organizations & forest science students from the 5 continents have gathered in Korea to share the results of their research & knowledge and to discuss how to build the Forests of the Future.
XXIII IUFRO World Congress - The Bibimbap ("Korean Mixed Rice") Symbolic Performance, with all its ingredients conveniently placed in the same bowl, ready for mixing & feeding Forest Research around the World. (If you wonder, yes, they also mixed those in the picture & later ate them for lunch!).
XXIII IUFRO World Congress - The Drums of Forest Science beat in Seoul, and from Korea, their sound is to be heard worldwide.
Some high quality Food for Thought on Planted Forests has been recently delivered by FAO & CABI. If you are concerned about these issues and want to learn on the History of Tree Planting & Planted Forests, the Multiple Roles they fulfill around the world, what the Trends for Wood Production from planted forests up to 2030 are, who owns and invests in these forests, where they are or what are the trends for Sustainable Silviculture... you should try this as a starting point.
Everything depicted... is part of Planted Forests! (Click image to enlarge)
Planted forests, although only 7% of the world's forest resources, have superseded naturally regenerating forests as the principal source of industrial wood products. Lessening the pressure for wood production, tree planting has released natural forests to be managed for other purposes: carbon sinks, soil & water protection, conservation of biological diversity, recreation & amenity.
Examining the significance of this rapidly emerging world resource, the chapters of this book consider the strengths & weaknesses of planted forests, the varied management objectives for their use as source of wood and non wood products and as source of positive externalities; and aspects of planted forest ownership & policy development.
Planted forest statistical data from key production countries are used by the authors to evaluate the implications and sustainability of planted forests as a source of industrial forest products, as well as their related social and ecological issues. Their critical role for sustainable forestry management and varied perspectives of interest for forestry research, forest policy making, forest planning, land use planning, environmental management and climate change, are also explored.
Fig. 1: BEPP (Brazilian Eucalyptus Potential Productivity) Field Forestry Laboratory: Different clonal Eucalyptus tree stocking areas are subject to variations of availability of light, water and nutrients to simulate different silvicultural practices, different cultivation areas along Brazil and different genotypes for Eucalyptus tree crops.
Fig. 2: Brazilian BEPP Eucalyptus Field Laboratory: Different experimental designs are applied to the range of tree stocking plots in order to gain insight and be able to predict how and in which amounts do clonal Eucalyptus plantations use the available building materials (light, water, nutrients) to produce woody biomass in fast growing timber crops.
Fig. 3: Brazilian BEPP Eucalyptus Field Laboratory: Modelling water and nutrient cycles in clonal Eucalyptus plantations is achieved by monitoring soil status before, along and after the cultivation cycle, plus designing and building on site water collection infrastructures. Water cycle balances can hence be studied, and variations depending on rainfall, canopy interception, trunk percolation, soil absorption and excess runoff can be measured and modelized. This can later be linked to different silvicultural practices, to predict the impacts of clonal Eucalyptus plantations and to refine cultivation techniques to achieve as sustainable production as possible.
Fig. 4: Brazilian BEPP Eucalyptus Field Laboratory: Modelling water and nutrient cycles and predicting growth rates in clonal Eucalyptus plantations. Different rainfall patterns or soil water availability ranges are simulated by artificial irrigation, allowing to expand the models, predictions and estimations to different cultivation areas of Brazil, different seasonal types, different soil types, different topographic conditions for clonal Eucalyptus timber crops.
Fig. 5: Brazilian BEPP Eucalyptus Field Laboratory: FIBRIA's (Aracruz + Votorantim) staff installing water use monitoring sensors. Target: modelling Eucalyptus water use efficiency and its impact on growth rates. Individual tree water use studies are conducted by monitoring how, when and how much water (or "nutrient soup" if you preffer) is used by the trees to produce biomass.
Fig. 6: Brazilian BEPP Eucalyptus Field Laboratory: Modelling Eucalyptus water use efficiency and its impact on growth rates. Subject to the range of variation in genotypes, tree stocking and water inputs, empirical monitoring of water use can allow an estimation of both growth rates for varied environments suitable for timber crops and of water consumption and impacts on water availability at catchment level.
Fig. 7: Brazilian BEPP Eucalyptus Field Laboratory: Modelling the carbon capture process in clonal Eucalyptus plantations. Eucalyptus timber crops convert solar energy, available water and soil mineral nutrients into organic, renewable, recyclable and carbon rich biomass. Part of that biomass becomes fiber or wood based products, thus temporary CO2 sinks of diverse lifetimes at once they are the basement for industrial timber production. Another part of that biomass becomes a permanent stock of stored CO2 in sustainably managed plantations. Yet another part of that biomass decays naturally along time and emits carbon, but at once returns mineral nutrients to the soil cycles, diminishing the need of external inputs of other fertiliser with a more noticeable carbon footprint. The emitted plus an impressive extra amount of CO2 is captured again by the trees to build biomass in continuous cycles making clonal Eucalyptus plantations become air purifiers and net carbon stockers, hence contributing twice to the fight against climate change.
Binkley, D., Laclau, J., Stape, J., & Ryan, M. (2010). Applying ecological insights to increase productivity in tropical plantationsForest Ecology and Management, 259 (9), 1681-1683 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2010.01.023
Ryan, M., Stape, J., Binkley, D., Fonseca, S., Loos, R., Takahashi, E., Silva, C., Silva, S., Hakamada, R., & Ferreira, J. (2010). Factors controlling Eucalyptus productivity: How water availability and stand structure alter production and carbon allocationForest Ecology and Management, 259 (9), 1695-1703 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2010.01.013
Binkley, D., Stape, J., Bauerle, W., & Ryan, M. (2010). Explaining growth of individual trees: Light interception and efficiency of light use by Eucalyptus at four sites in BrazilForest Ecology and Management, 259 (9), 1704-1713 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2009.05.037
Hubbard, R., Stape, J., Ryan, M., Almeida, A., & Rojas, J. (2010). Effects of irrigation on water use and water use efficiency in two fast growing Eucalyptus plantationsForest Ecology and Management, 259 (9), 1714-1721 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2009.10.028
Almeida, A., Siggins, A., Batista, T., Beadle, C., Fonseca, S., & Loos, R. (2010). Mapping the effect of spatial and temporal variation in climate and soils on Eucalyptus plantation production with 3-PG, a process-based growth model Forest Ecology and Management, 259 (9), 1730-1740 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2009.10.008
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Welcome to the blog space of GIT Forestry Consulting. Here you can find regular comments on a wide range of topics concerning practical knowledge onEucalyptus cultivation, be it at nursery stage, at your gardens or at wider scale forestry plantations in cold temperate climates. Our main objective is trying to help growers worldwide with their doubts or comments in a more interactive way. In addition to the material here you are also welcome to visit our main website or contact us.
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