>David Knepper writes: >Subject: MANAGEMENT: Pine Straw & Fuel >Although I would appreciate input from all list subscribers, I am >particularly interested in responses relating to the southeastern United >States: > >1. I recently came across the following paper: > >Ku, T.T. and J.B. Baker. 1993. Understory biomass from southern pine >forests as a fuel source. in Energy, Environment, Agriculture, and >Industry: 1st Biomass Conference of the Americas: Proceedings, Volume 1. >August 30 - September 2; Burlington, VT. pp. 284 to 289. [clip] >2. Harvesting of pine needles for landscaping use can be a lucrative >venture. Again, I would appreciate any information as to how widespread this >activity is in the southeast U.S., if it is only worthwhile to harvest from >monoculture pine plantations, and the number of litter harvests that can be >made each year. Dear David, Leaf and needle litter are a precious resource of forest nutrients. Their recycling to the forest floor is essential for keeping them in the system. If too much litter is taken out of the forest, serious depletion may result. This problem has been recognized very early in forest ecology, around 1875 by Ebermayer in Germany. The abolishment of litter raking in the wake of his research was followed by a dramatic improvement of forest productivity. Modelling studies and practical experiments in China have also shown, that litter raking can be a serious threat to sustainable forestry. A reference here is Schäfer, H., Krieger, H., Peng Shao-Lin, 1990 Modelling growth and yield of a eucalypt stand in tropical China, IUFRO world Congr Montreal 5.-8.08.1990, Subj gr. 6.02 So, if one were trying to assess the effects of litter raking, I think it is a good idea to get information about the possible loss of nutruients by this practice. > >Thanks. > >David Knepper >U.S. Army Corps of Engineers >Norfolk District >Norfolk, VA 23510-1096 >e-mail: david.a.knepper@qm.nao-wc.usace.army.mil > Please, let me me know if my answer was relevant to your question. Good luck Christian Hoffmann Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland phone: ++41-1-739 22 77 fax : ++41-1-739 22 15 e-mail: hoffmann@wsl.ch
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