According to NASA, clear cutting is much more damaging to a tropical rain forest because when all of the trees are removed, the soil loses its nutrients and becomes barren (NASA, 1998). However, according to Ashton, in some cases, it is better to clear-cut a forest than to selectively log it.
What are the differences among selective cutting clear cutting and strip cutting in the harvesting of trees?
Selective cutting- intermediate-aged or mature trees in a forest are cut singly or in small groups; clear cutting- remove all the trees from an area; strip cutting-involves clear-cutting a strip of trees along the contour of the land within a corridor narrow enough to allow natural forest regeneration within a few ...
What are the advantages and disadvantages of strip cutting?
Conclusion. We believe that strip cutting is a very good alternative to clear cutting. Strip cutting maintains the biodiversity of the land a lot more than clear cutting does. However, strip cutting leads to habitat fragmentation, soil erosion, and water runoff because there are no more trees in that strip cut area.
What are the benefits of strip cutting?
(Pros) Advantages of strip-cutting: • This method leaves behind more habitats than clear-cutting. It allows for quicker forest regrowth. Allows natural regeneration within a few years because it reseeds on its own. The forest looks much healthier.
What are the cons of clear-cutting?
Cons
Does clear cutting cause flooding?
It doesn’t take an environmentalist to hate a clear-cut — acres of tree stumps make a lousy backdrop for Smoky the Bear. In terms of flooding, the unimpeded raindrop impact on bare ground leads to heavy erosion and quick runoff. Deforestation has a second impact on flooding — the release of sediment.
Is clear cutting legal?
In California, clearcutting is no longer generally practiced on US Forest Service (public) lands due to the negative impacts on forest resources and wildlife habitat. However, California forestry laws and rules still allow clearcutting on private lands.
Who benefits from clear cutting?
Clearcutting pros: It creates wide, open spaces with lots of sun exposure. This allows the most sunlight to reach tree seedlings that require full-sun conditions to thrive. Clearcutting also creates forest clearings that are habitat for some species of songbirds, deer and elk.
What can I do with clear cut land?
Clear cuts offer more food for game than anything else. If it were mine, I would plant fruit trees, nut trees, wild rose bushes, elder berries, camas and alfalfa. Make food plots scattered all through the clear cut with clear shooting lanes for your pleasure.
Does clear-cutting cause deforestation?
From small farmers slashing and burning a few acres for subsistence to large agribusiness corporations clearing thousands of acres, clear-cutting is part of the worldwide phenomenon of deforestation. According to National Geographic, 30 percent of the Earth’s land is covered by forests.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of clear-cutting versus selective cutting?
Clear-cutting is usually quicker and cheaper than selective cutting. It may also be safer for the loggers. Clear-cutting can damage the environment and the soil where the trees were cut. The soil is exposed to wind and rain.
How does clear-cutting affect wildlife?
Wild animals, insects and plants are killed by large clear cuts. After the trees are gone, groundcover plants wither in the sun and parched soils. Most die. Soil animals, bacteria and fungi, vital to tree growth and health, overheat, shrivel and die.
How does clear cutting affect climate change?
Summary: Clear-cutting loosens up carbon stored in forest soils, increasing the chances it will return to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and contribute to climate change, a new study shows. Clear-cutting involves harvesting all timber from a site at once rather than selectively culling mature trees.
Why is selective cutting sustainable?
Selective Cutting as a Tool of Sustainable Forestry Allows more light to penetrate the upper story of growth. The remaining tree growth will increase dramatically. Allows trees that are shade intolerant to receive more light. Saves some of the healthy mature trees for a future cutting.
