I agree with a lot of the information here, but there is much inaccuracy. The story to how a stand like this came to existence is far longer than a short video can tell. This is coming from someone who would prefer that most private landowners with a large enough land area manage for longleaf with an herbaceous understory, instead of plantation loblolly, slash, or sand pine. First, fiber length of pine is not suitable for toilet paper, is goes into the craft paper market. Boxes, brown bags, that sort of material. Order from Amazon? Pine fiber box. Second, slash did get planted a lot on sandhill uplands in Florida, but it is not the best species and this is known. It tends to stagnate prematurely, and while this stand is very dense and needs to be thinned, the lack of herbaceous plants is so severe that it may have been an old field. Typically, pasture grasses or some other species survive pine establishment. Managers struggle with modern techniques to keep them down on moist slash pine appropriate flatwood sites. If this site is a sandhill, there was no need for drainage, the soil is well drained to begin with. If it was a flatwood, they are not allowed to alter the hydrology in the manner described anymore, but you would see allowed bedding rows, of which there are none. Slash is an appropriate pine for flatwoods, but I prefer non-industrial landowners establish longleaf forests long term, not slash. However, slash could be used initially. Slash has problems, as does loblolly. At 0:45 you can see a small fusiform rust deformity by his right hand, but that isn't the main issue with a stand of slash like this. This stand was planted dense, and is now at it's maximum basal area and has needed to be thinned. This also accounts for the lack of plants on the ground. The soil acidity of natural longleaf forests in the south was already fairly acidic. Needle cast doesn't change this significantly. The pH or percent of hydrogen ions, is the result of low available cations, and high decaying organics, basically. Yes, frequent fire did alter this, but it wouldn't become neutral or 6.5 to 7.5 from a pH of 4.5 to 5, and an informed person knows that pines don't typically do well on non-acid sites. The Alabama Black belt, and central Texas between the Bastrop Pines and East Piney Woods are on alkaline soils, more or less devoid of pine but having adequate precipitation. However, if you look closely, there are piles of sticks around the stand, and the leaves on the ground which he kicks are really not that thick. This stand appears to be under commercial leaf raking, with pine straw being harvested and sold for mulch. After Longleaf, slash is the second preferred species for this. Should this be the case, they are herbiciding the stand as they don't want weed species ruining this operation. Commercial pine straw harvesting is usually done on old field sites which were pretty clean to begin with, and while it can cost the investment, this may account for the delay in thinning if pulp prices are depressed. Actually, depending on ownership, this stand might be ideal for creating a new longleaf forest. Row thinning with selective and small group removal to increase slash pine yield, and in-planting of longleaf seedlings in the group openings can be accomplished to start an advanced regeneration of longleaf. Desirable understory plants like bluestems, wiregrass, and the herbaceous flowers mentioned can be done for wildlife. Fire can be introduced, and in another 8 to 12 years, the slash can be further thinned or removed with longleaf on the site, potentially as a seed source for further reproduction.
"Today I went walking in the amber wind, There's a hole in the sky where the light pours in I remembered the days when I wasn't afraid of the sunshine. But now it beats down on the asphalt land Like a hammering blow from god's left hand What little still grows cringes in the shade like a bad vine." -BRM/JPB
Good question! On an initial 10-minute search of Google Scholar, I could only find references to the Ph lowering temporarily from needle cast, since needles have a pH around 3.5 or 4. But, apparently, that increase in acidity quickly goes away as the needles decompose (rates vary depending on decomposition rates and needle amount). I read in several places that slash pines grow best on acidic soils so, perhaps, the lack of other, native plants is attributed to a limited number being able to grow on the acidic sandhills in the first place, coupled with acidic needles that make recruitment more challenging and a lack of light. I found a lot of gardening blogs that said that needles do not increase acidity like you mentioned, but no scientific articles stating that. But, then again, I didn't find any that said that needles increase the acidity of soils long-term. Someone needs to publish some research on this subject!
OH GOOD GRIEF. It's a tree farm. It's SUPPOSED to look like that. It's a 20 year crop. Your presumption is false. This is a managed farm. Just like a soybean farm, corn, etc. These are grown for the simple purpose of harvesting them like any other crop. And pull up your pants.
All of which are terrible for the environment. Unless humans revert back to living like cavemen or die off by the billions, we will continue to destroy the natural ecosystem. It is all a numbers game. The larger the human population, the more damage to the environment.
I would say, plant the bamboos, they grow faster than other trees, and they are very useful in many ways, but somehow people have bias that bamboos are Chinese trees, that's dead wrong, we have them at different countries.
@@paulbriggs3072 bamboo fibers can replace cotton, they can resist pests unlike cottons, especially after the wildfires we have an urgent need of this kind of invasive plant to provide oxygen
@@Pandawill123 I'm sure that bamboo does indeed have fiber uses, but it does not grow well here and as for oxygen, according to the USDA, one acre of corn removes about 8 tons of carbon dioxide from the air in a growing season. At 180 bushels per acre, corn produces enough oxygen to supply a year's needs for 131 people. According to NASA satellites, at the peak of the growing season, the Midwest U.S. corn belt is the most productive place on Earth-there's more photosynthesis going on here than even in the Amazon.
@@paulbriggs3072 China and Israel already have the technology to planting at desert. We like to use corn oil and starch, bamboo made bath tissues and clothes are very soft and absorbable
This whole video doesn't make sense. The environment is set up for the crop. When it comes to the actual environment this farming means nothing. Oh, they are growing trees to make paper. That's not a bad thing. Do you want more plastic? It's like he's making an issue out of nothing. Thumbs down.
There's a pretty substantial body of evidence out there that farming does not mean nothing in terms of its impact on the environment. Not saying that farming is wrong, but to say that it has no impact on the environment would be a very inaccurate statement.
I agree with a lot of the information here, but there is much inaccuracy. The story to how a stand like this came to existence is far longer than a short video can tell. This is coming from someone who would prefer that most private landowners with a large enough land area manage for longleaf with an herbaceous understory, instead of plantation loblolly, slash, or sand pine.
First, fiber length of pine is not suitable for toilet paper, is goes into the craft paper market. Boxes, brown bags, that sort of material. Order from Amazon? Pine fiber box.
Second, slash did get planted a lot on sandhill uplands in Florida, but it is not the best species and this is known. It tends to stagnate prematurely, and while this stand is very dense and needs to be thinned, the lack of herbaceous plants is so severe that it may have been an old field. Typically, pasture grasses or some other species survive pine establishment. Managers struggle with modern techniques to keep them down on moist slash pine appropriate flatwood sites.
If this site is a sandhill, there was no need for drainage, the soil is well drained to begin with. If it was a flatwood, they are not allowed to alter the hydrology in the manner described anymore, but you would see allowed bedding rows, of which there are none. Slash is an appropriate pine for flatwoods, but I prefer non-industrial landowners establish longleaf forests long term, not slash. However, slash could be used initially.
Slash has problems, as does loblolly. At 0:45 you can see a small fusiform rust deformity by his right hand, but that isn't the main issue with a stand of slash like this. This stand was planted dense, and is now at it's maximum basal area and has needed to be thinned. This also accounts for the lack of plants on the ground. The soil acidity of natural longleaf forests in the south was already fairly acidic. Needle cast doesn't change this significantly.
The pH or percent of hydrogen ions, is the result of low available cations, and high decaying organics, basically. Yes, frequent fire did alter this, but it wouldn't become neutral or 6.5 to 7.5 from a pH of 4.5 to 5, and an informed person knows that pines don't typically do well on non-acid sites. The Alabama Black belt, and central Texas between the Bastrop Pines and East Piney Woods are on alkaline soils, more or less devoid of pine but having adequate precipitation.
However, if you look closely, there are piles of sticks around the stand, and the leaves on the ground which he kicks are really not that thick. This stand appears to be under commercial leaf raking, with pine straw being harvested and sold for mulch. After Longleaf, slash is the second preferred species for this. Should this be the case, they are herbiciding the stand as they don't want weed species ruining this operation. Commercial pine straw harvesting is usually done on old field sites which were pretty clean to begin with, and while it can cost the investment, this may account for the delay in thinning if pulp prices are depressed.
Actually, depending on ownership, this stand might be ideal for creating a new longleaf forest. Row thinning with selective and small group removal to increase slash pine yield, and in-planting of longleaf seedlings in the group openings can be accomplished to start an advanced regeneration of longleaf. Desirable understory plants like bluestems, wiregrass, and the herbaceous flowers mentioned can be done for wildlife. Fire can be introduced, and in another 8 to 12 years, the slash can be further thinned or removed with longleaf on the site, potentially as a seed source for further reproduction.
This is excellent information, thank you!
I remember these trees when I was a kid in the 1950's all planted in rows. Mile after mile.
Nice plantation
"Today I went walking in the amber wind,
There's a hole in the sky where the light pours in
I remembered the days when I wasn't afraid of the sunshine.
But now it beats down on the asphalt land
Like a hammering blow from god's left hand
What little still grows cringes in the shade like a bad vine."
-BRM/JPB
Hi, i want to ask if you have any bibliography about pine trees acidifying the soil, because i have seen a lot of info that says the opposite.
Good question! On an initial 10-minute search of Google Scholar, I could only find references to the Ph lowering temporarily from needle cast, since needles have a pH around 3.5 or 4. But, apparently, that increase in acidity quickly goes away as the needles decompose (rates vary depending on decomposition rates and needle amount). I read in several places that slash pines grow best on acidic soils so, perhaps, the lack of other, native plants is attributed to a limited number being able to grow on the acidic sandhills in the first place, coupled with acidic needles that make recruitment more challenging and a lack of light. I found a lot of gardening blogs that said that needles do not increase acidity like you mentioned, but no scientific articles stating that. But, then again, I didn't find any that said that needles increase the acidity of soils long-term. Someone needs to publish some research on this subject!
Bring back hemp
OH GOOD GRIEF. It's a tree farm. It's SUPPOSED to look like that. It's a 20 year crop. Your presumption is false. This is a managed farm. Just like a soybean farm, corn, etc. These are grown for the simple purpose of harvesting them like any other crop. And pull up your pants.
HERE HERE
All of which are terrible for the environment. Unless humans revert back to living like cavemen or die off by the billions, we will continue to destroy the natural ecosystem. It is all a numbers game. The larger the human population, the more damage to the environment.
Industrial hemp
Do you own or maintain a forest of your own? if not then you are the problem.
I would say, plant the bamboos, they grow faster than other trees, and they are very useful in many ways, but somehow people have bias that bamboos are Chinese trees, that's dead wrong, we have them at different countries.
They don't grow in the U.S and if they did, they would be an invasive species.
@@paulbriggs3072 bamboo fibers can replace cotton, they can resist pests unlike cottons, especially after the wildfires we have an urgent need of this kind of invasive plant to provide oxygen
@@Pandawill123 I'm sure that bamboo does indeed have fiber uses, but it does not grow well here and as for oxygen, according to the USDA, one acre of corn removes about 8 tons of carbon dioxide from the air in a growing season. At 180 bushels per acre, corn produces enough oxygen to supply a year's needs for 131 people. According to NASA satellites, at the peak of the growing season, the Midwest U.S. corn belt is the most productive place on Earth-there's more photosynthesis going on here than even in the Amazon.
@@paulbriggs3072 China and Israel already have the technology to planting at desert. We like to use corn oil and starch, bamboo made bath tissues and clothes are very soft and absorbable
Why dont they just plant trees where old ones die or get cut
They do. Usually slash pine is planted, cut, and planted again on a 15-30 year rotation. That can vary, but that's generally true in North Florida.
please lower the volume of your intro with respect to the audio of the rest of the video
Thank you for the feedback. Will do!
This whole video doesn't make sense. The environment is set up for the crop. When it comes to the actual environment this farming means nothing. Oh, they are growing trees to make paper. That's not a bad thing. Do you want more plastic? It's like he's making an issue out of nothing. Thumbs down.
There's a pretty substantial body of evidence out there that farming does not mean nothing in terms of its impact on the environment. Not saying that farming is wrong, but to say that it has no impact on the environment would be a very inaccurate statement.
growing them pines to build these god forsaken pop up mini junk mansion neighborhood developments