When practiced correctly, selective cutting has the following benefits. Removes trees that are low quality while they are young . Removes some of the profitable mature growth. Allows more light to penetrate the upper story of growth.
Why is selective cutting better than clear cutting?
Selective Cutting Harvest Method
This process allows for better yield and productivity over several decades . Each year provides trees for harvest, rather than having to wait a minimum of sixty years after a clear cut.
How does selective cutting improve biodiversity?
Selective cutting reduces crowding , encourages growth of younger trees, maintains an uneven-aged stand of tress of different species, and allows natural regeneration from surrounding trees.
What are the pros and cons of clear cutting and selective cutting when harvesting lumber?
- Pro: Financial Reasons. Clearcutting advocates argue that the method is the most efficient for both harvesting and replanting trees. ...
- Con: Effects on Plant and Wildlife. ...
- Pro: Increased Water Flow. ...
- Con: Loss of Recreation Land. ...
- Pro: Increased Farmland.
Which is more expensive clear cutting or selective cutting?
Still destroys large sections of the ecosystem. Not as efficient as clear-cutting , and therefore more expensive. Selective Cutting: The object of selective cutting is to reduce visual scarring and preserve species diversity in forests.
What are the disadvantages of clear cutting?
- They look bad. Until the newly planted trees “green up” a hillside, a clearcut is not considered appealing to the general public.
- Habitat disturbance. Clearcutting alters the habitat where trees once stood, and forest wildlife is displaced into new areas.
- Increased stream flow.
Why is selective cutting bad?
“Selective logging, unless it is practiced at very low harvest intensities, can significantly reduce the biomass of a tropical forest for many decades , seriously diminishing aboveground carbon storage capacity, and create opportunities for weeds and vines to spread and slow down the ecological succession.”
How is selective cutting done?
Selective cutting is the cutting down of selected trees in a forest so that growth of other trees is not affected . This is done according to criteria regarding minimum tree size for harvesting, specifications of the number, spacing and size classes of residual trees per area, and allowable cut.
What are the benefits of selective logging?
Logging and replanting – selective logging of mature trees ensures that the rainforest canopy is preserved . This method allows the forest to recover because the younger trees gain more space and sunlight to grow. Planned and controlled logging ensures that for every tree logged another is planted.
What is an alternative to clear cutting?
As an alternative to clearcutting, selection management is the method of cutting only individual or small groups of trees in a healthy natural forest at periodic intervals, such as every ten years.
What is selective cutting what are the pros and cons?
Selective cutting allows ecosystems to support more wildlife than clear cutting and allows forests to retain some of their resistance to disease and pests . ... Some of the disadvantages are that some species may not regenerate quickly, and thinning the forest may lead to increased damage from ice, storms or fires.
What are the pros and cons of cutting down trees?
- Pro #1: Extra Space. If you’re building on a small piece of land, you may have no choice but to cut some trees down. ...
- Pro #2: Safety. ...
- Pro #3: Easy Yard Maintenance. ...
- Con #1: Damaged Ecosystem. ...
- Con #2: Loss of Beauty. ...
- Con #3: Irreversibility.
Is clear cutting good or bad?
Clearcutting can destroy an area’s ecological integrity in a number of ways, including: the destruction of buffer zones which reduce the severity of flooding by absorbing and holding water; the immediate removal of forest canopy, which destroys the habitat for many rainforest-dependent insects and bacteria; the removal ...
Why is clear cutting not sustainable?
The act of clear cutting is not only damaging to the structure and function of the forest , but in particularly erosion-prone areas the loss of root structures significantly affects water quality, and leads to the loss and fragmentation of nutrient rich soil, creating a lack of regenerative biomass and reduces primary ...
What is the difference between selective cutting and clear cutting?
Clear cutting means to cut down every tree in a selected area in an efficient and quick manner. Selective cutting means to go in and harvest only a limited amount of trees that meet a certain criteria.
What animals are affected by clear-cutting?
Four species of ducks, snakes, mice, several owls, nuthatches, chickadees, tree swallows, flying squirrels, bats, kestrels, wild bees , seven woodpecker species and many other animals and birds depend on such tree cavities. Current forest management regimes leave a few, largely useless, clumps of trees in clear cuts.
