plantations

Denmark planted trees for carbon storage, but 21 years later natural forests proved more diverse while plantations captured carbon faster

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Denmark planted trees for carbon storage, but 21 years later natural forests proved more diverse while plantations captured carbon faster

Denmark’s long-running effort to create forests on former farmland has revealed a striking trade-off between carbon storage and biodiversity. After 21 years, scientists compared naturally regenerated forests with areas deliberately planted with trees. Plantations accumulated tree biomass and captured carbon faster, while naturally colonised forests developed greater diversity and more varied ecological structures. The University … Read more

Australia planted eucalyptus trees to fight rising soil salinity; decades later scientists found the plantations were changing groundwater but not the soil nature

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Australia planted eucalyptus trees to fight rising soil salinity; decades later scientists found the plantations were changing groundwater but not the soil nature

Eucalyptus cladocalyx ‘nana’. Image Credit: ERA Nurseries Australia planted eucalyptus trees to fight rising soil salinity, hoping that thirsty, deep-rooted vegetation could help control the groundwater processes behind the problem. A long-running experiment in south-western Australia later showed that the effects of such plantations were more complicated than simply planting trees and waiting for the … Read more