Dear Collegues,
This follows Stewart Cameron's comments on the effect of "high-grading"; in
which he said that the effects may take some time to appear because of the
residual gene pool.
Some years ago I visited the Peoples Republic of China and was told by the
foresters there (Guandgong Province) that Masson's pine (Pinus massoniana)
had been degraded by 2000 years of exploitation. They said that examples of
the species which had survived in remote areas, away from exploitation,
were much superior in growth. The figures that they quoted supported that
statement but I did not see the highly productive trees at first hand.This
is clearest example of the effects of so-called "high grading" that I have
heard of and perhaps reflects the long history of civilisation in China and
the history of pressure on the natural resources of that country. Perhaps
Chinese subscribers to the list can clarify this matter.
Ryde James
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Dr. Ryde James, Senior Lecturer, Department of Forestry.
Specialty, Plantation Forest Management
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Tel: (61+6)249-4330 | Australian National University
Fax: (61+6)249-0746 | Canberra, ACT 0200
email: Ryde.James@anu.edu.au | Australia
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http://online.anu.edu.au/Forestry/dept/staff/james/james.html
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