Land Use: Forests and Grasslands

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Land Use Forests and Grasslands
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Outline

• World Forests
• Forest Products
• Tropical Forests
• Swidden Agriculture
• Temperate Forests
• Harvest Methods
• Fire Management
• Grasslands
• Land Ownership and Land Reform

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WORLD LAND USES

• Earths total land area is about 133 million km2
  (29 of the globe).
• Approximately 11 of the earths landmass is now
  used for crop production, and half of present
  forests and grazing lands could be converted.
• Immediate and destructive impacts on landscape
  and wildlife.
• Resilient if given enough time.

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World Land Use
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WORLD FORESTS

• Forests play vital ecological roles
• Regulating climate, controlling water runoff,
  providing food and shelter for wildlife, and
  purifying air.
• Provide valuable materials.
• Wood, paper-pulp.
• Scenic, cultural, and historic value.

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How Much Forest Is There ?

• More than half of original forests and woodlands
  have been converted to other uses.
• Currently, forests and woodlands cover 29 of
  earths land surface. (3.8 billion ha)
• Greatest concern is over protection of Old-Growth
  Forests.
• Less than half of forests still retain old-growth
  characteristics.

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Major Forest Types
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Forest Products

• Wood plays a part in more activities of the
  modern economy than any other commodity.
• Industrial timber and unprocessed logs account
  for about half of worldwide wood consumption.
• Developed countries produce less than half of all
  industrial wood, but account for about 80 of
  consumption.

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Forest Products

• U.S., former Soviet Union, and Canada are largest
  producers of industrial wood and paper pulp.
• By 2010, China is projected to surpass Japan as
  worlds largest wood importer.
• U.S. is both major exporter and importer.
• Buy wood and paper from Canada and processed wood
  products from Japan.
• Sell raw logs to Japan and other countries.

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Forest Products

• At least one-third of worlds population depend
  on firewood or charcoal as their principle source
  of heating and cooking fuel.
• Fuelwood accounts for about half of all wood
  harvested worldwide.
• About 1.5 billion people have less than they need.

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Forest Management

• Approximately 25 of worlds forests are actively
  managed for wood production.
• Sustainable harvest is key to regeneration.
• Most countries replant far fewer trees than were
  harvested.
• Many reforestation projects involve monoculture
  forestry.
• Disrupts ecological processes.

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TROPICAL FORESTS

• Although they occupy less than 10 of earths
  land surface, tropical rainforests are thought to
  contain
• More than two-thirds of all higher plant biomass.
• At least one-half of all plant, animal, and
  microbial species in the world.

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Diminishing Forests

• Tropical forests are shrinking rapidly.
• Estimated 0.8 of remaining forest is cleared
  annually.
• Estimates are very rough.
• Countries have economic and political reasons to
  hide extent of losses.
• Real losses may range 5-20 million ha annually.
• The Congo and Amazon River basins have highest
  rate of deforestation.

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Swidden Agriculture

• Can be ecologically sound and sustainable if
  performed carefully and in moderation.
• Slash and Burn
• Hectare plot cleared, dried, and burned.
• Ashes used to prepare seedbed.
• Fast-growing crops planted to control erosion,
  shade crops, and anchor soil.
• Cropped intensively for 1-2 years, and then
  rested 10-15 years.

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Debt-for-Nature Swaps

• Banks, governments, and lending institutions hold
  nearly 1 trillion in loans to developing
  countries.
• Conservation organizations buy debt obligations
  on the secondary market at a discount, and then
  offer to cancel the debt if the debtor country
  will agree to protect or restore an area of
  biological importance.

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TEMPERATE FORESTS

• Northern countries have a long history of
  liquidating forest resources.
• Siberia contains one-fourth of the worlds timber
  reserves.
• Four-million ha felled annually.
• In the U.S. and Canada, two main timber
  management issues are
• Cutting old-growth forest remnants.
• Timber harvest methods.

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Ancient Forests of the Pacific Northwest

• Redwoods can reach 3-4 m in diameter, 90 m in
  height and 1,000 years in age.
• Temperate rainforests are second only to tropical
  rainforests in terrestrial biodiversity.
• Accumulate more biomass in standing vegetation
  per unit area than any other ecosystem on earth.
• Less than 10 of virgin temperate rainforest
  remain (80 scheduled to be cut in the near
  future).

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Wilderness and Wildlife Protection

• Forest products industry employs about 150,000
  people in the Pacific NW, and adds nearly 7
  billion annually to the economy.
• 1989 environmentalist sued USFS over plans to
  clear-cut remaining old-growth forests, arguing
  spotted owls were endangered and must be
  protected.
• Timber industry claims 40,000 jobs lost.
• Environmentalists dispute number.

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Harvest Methods

• Clear-Cutting - Every tree in a given area is cut
  regardless of size.
• Fast and efficient, but wastes small trees,
  increases erosion, and eliminates wildlife
  habitat.
• Early-successional species flourish.
• Coppicing - Encourage stump-sprouts.
• Seed-Tree - Leave few mature trees.

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Harvest Methods

• Selective Cutting - A small percentage of mature
  trees are taken in 10-20 year rotation.
• Can retain many characteristics of mature,
  old-growth forests.

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U.S. FOREST MANAGEMENT

• USFS has historically regarded its primary job as
  providing a steady supply of cheap logs to the
  nations timber industry.
• Often, timber prices have not been enough to
  repay management costs.
• Hidden subsidy to timber industry.
• USFS builds roads in order for timber companies
  to extract trees.

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Fire Management

• For more than 70 years, firefighting has been a
  high priority for forest managers.
• Smokey the Bear - Only you can prevent forest
  fires.
• 2002 was one of the biggest fire years on record,
  with nearly 2.8 million ha of forests and
  grasslands burned.

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Fire Management

• Recent studies show fire plays an important role
  in many forested ecosystems.
• Eliminating fire has allowed shrubs and small
  trees to fill some forest floors, crowding out
  grasses and forbs.
• As woody debris accumulates, chances of a major
  fire increase.
• Often, attempts to stop fires cause more
  ecological damage than the actual fires.

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Fire Management

• Fire ecologists favor small, prescribed burns.
• After a fire, many industry advocates encourage
  salvage logging.
• Removal of dead or dying trees from forests
  damaged by fire or disease.
• The only thinning needed to protect houses is
  within 60 m around a building.

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Sustainable Forestry and Non-Timber Forest
Products

• In both temperate and tropical regions, many
  certification programs are being developed to
  identify sustainably produced wood products.
• Forest Stewardship Council
• Increasingly, non-timber forest products are seen
  as an alternative to timber production.

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GRASSLANDS

• Grasslands currently cover about 27 of the
  worlds land surface.
• More than 3 billion domestic livestock producing
  meat and milk.
• Grasslands and open woodlands are attractive for
  human occupation, thus are frequently converted
  to human-dominated landscapes.

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Overgrazing and Land Degradation

• About one-third of the worlds rangeland is
  severely degraded by over-grazing.
• Grazing animals usually exhibit selective
  grazing, removing preferred species and leaving
  non-preferred species to survive and reproduce.
• Gradually, nutritional value of forage declines.
• Denudation of ground leads to desiccation and
  desertification.

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Forage Conversion by Domestic Animals

• Ruminants are efficient at turning plant material
  into protein because bacterial digestion in their
  multiple stomachs allows utilization of cellulose
  and other complex carbohydrates.
• Worldwide, 85 of ruminant forage comes from
  native rangelands and pasture.
• In U.S. only 15 of livestock feed comes from
  native grasslands. 90 of total grain crop is
  used for livestock feed.

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Harvesting Wild Animals

• U.S. National Academy of Sciences concluded the
  semiarid lands of the African Sahel can support
  20-28 kg of cattle per hectare, but can produce
  nearly three times as much meat from wild
  ungulates in the same area.

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Rangelands in the United States

• U.S. has approximately 319 million ha of
  rangeland.
• Most in the West.
• About 60 is privately owned.
• Only 2 of cattle and 10 of sheep graze on
  public land.
• BLM manages more land than any other agency in
  the U.S..
• Strong agency inclination towards resource
  utilization.

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State of the Range

• Natural Resource Defense Council claims 30 of
  public rangelands are in fair condition, while
  55 are in poor or very poor condition.
• Several wildlife conservation groups regard
  cattle grazing as the most ubiquitous form of
  ecosystem degradation in the southwestern U.S..
• Many call for a complete grazing ban on all
  public lands.

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Grazing Fees

• Fees charged for grazing on public lands are far
  below market value and represent an enormous
  hidden subsidy to western ranchers.
• 1999 minimum charge was 1.35 per cow per month.
• Comparable private land fees were 11.10 per cow
  per month.
• Estimates are that administrative costs alone are
  3.21 per animal unit.

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Rotational Grazing

• Short duration confinement of animals to a small
  area (day or two) before shifting them to a new
  location stimulates the effects of wild herds.
• Maintains forage quality.
• Keeps weeds in check and encourages growth of
  more desirable forage species.

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LANDOWNERSHIP AND LAND REFORM

• In many countries, inequitable landownership is a
  legacy of colonial estate systems.
• World Bank estimates 800 million people live in
  absolute poverty.
• Political, economic, and ecological side effects
  of inequitable land distribution affect people
  far from the immediate location of the problem.

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Land Reform

• Throughout history, many attempts at land reform
  have been undertaken.
• Redistribution of landownership.
• Tenant farmers have little incentive to protect
  or improve land as they do not have any long-term
  benefits.
• Absentee landlords have little personal contact
  with the land.

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Indigenous Lands

• Indigenous people make up about 10 of worlds
  population, but occupy about 25 of the land.
• Possess ecological knowledge of ancestral lands.
• Our appetite for natural resources and land puts
  native people and their ecosystems at risk.
• Many indigenous people are fighting for their
  ancestral territories.

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Summary

• World Forests
• Forest Products
• Tropical Forests
• Swidden Agriculture
• Temperate Forests
• Harvest Methods
• Fire Management
• Grasslands
• Land Ownership and Land Reform

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