If the conifer trees are so prone to fire damage that they require millions of acres of glyphosate to help them recover, maybe it’s time to let more fire-hardy species replenish instead.
The area has historically been populated by fire-hardy species in the past. Why not return it to a more natural cycle, especially now that it’s being exacerbated by increasingly erratic weather systems?
*Edit: I just checked, and…Oh no… the conifers are the fire-hardy species. They’ve been in California surviving fire cycles for 50 million years.
A diversity of species isn’t the only thing that leads to fire prevention, what is also required is a diversity of age in trees. A stand of the same species of tree at the exact same age is vulnerable to everything including forest fires, it is the maximally unstable position to place a forest in.
If the conifer trees are so prone to fire damage that they require millions of acres of glyphosate to help them recover, maybe it’s time to let more fire-hardy species replenish instead.
The area has historically been populated by fire-hardy species in the past. Why not return it to a more natural cycle, especially now that it’s being exacerbated by increasingly erratic weather systems?
*Edit: I just checked, and…Oh no… the conifers are the fire-hardy species. They’ve been in California surviving fire cycles for 50 million years.
A diversity of species isn’t the only thing that leads to fire prevention, what is also required is a diversity of age in trees. A stand of the same species of tree at the exact same age is vulnerable to everything including forest fires, it is the maximally unstable position to place a forest in.
That further reinforces the complexity of intervention strategies, rather than just spraying glyphosate on everything…
agreed