ARTIFICIAL REGENERATION
Sometimes foresters supplement natural regeneration.
When there is an area within the forest that has
undesirable canopy-sized trees, and no good crop of
desirable saplings or seedlings in the understory,
foresters use artifical regeneration. That is, they
plant seedlings or seeds of desirable species - like
oak, walnut, and shagbark hickory.
Obviously, this method takes more effort than natural
regeneration. In both methods, the canopy-level trees
must be eliminated to make room for the sunlight to
reach the seedlings. However, in artificial regeneration
the planting of seedlings is normally done by hand, with
little mechanical help. Further, good forestry practice
requires at least 300 seedlings per acre. There are
differences in the results between the two methods.
First, the native seedlings (natural regeneration) are
well-established with a well-developed root system. They
respond well to the sunlight. The introduced seedlings
(artificial
regeneration) must recover from the shock of being
transplanted and develop their roots. Some think this
"transplant shock" sets the seedlings back about two
years.
Another option would be to plant seeds and nuts in place
of seedlings. The advantage is that there is no
"transplant shock" period. The disadvantages are
three:
(1) squirrels may dig up the nuts;
(2) the emerging seedlings must compete for sunlight
with even
the smallest of plants in the understory; and
(3) not all of the seeds will germinate - resulting in
the wasted effort of planting those duds. |