{"id":473961,"date":"2010-03-26T03:48:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-26T07:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1752027331714385066.post-5855184859342941982"},"modified":"2010-03-26T03:49:37","modified_gmt":"2010-03-26T07:49:37","slug":"agricultural-potential-of-boreal-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/473961","title":{"rendered":"Agricultural Potential of Boreal Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I have already posted extensively on the agriculture potential in the boreal forest of my cattail fodder\/moose husbandry\/coho husbandry protocol.  I suspect that the actual productivity of the protocol could match that of the beef rangeland protocol.  A lot of the implied infrastructure should also support beef and pig raising, particularly if the rhizomes turn out to be good pig feed.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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Globally we have 6.5 million square miles of forest out of which at least fifty percent appears suitable for our protocol.  Let us accept 3.0 million square miles.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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If we assume reasonably that a square mile can support a hundred to two hundred head, then it is reasonable that the global forest can support close to half a billion head of moose.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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The same area may also support perhaps at least ten families per mile, not all living on the farms.  Thus this enterprise is capable of supporting 30 million families and possibly a lot more.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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Such endeavor would certainly sustain an equivalent fishery in the available lakes and waterways.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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This gives us a scope of what may be possible.  In Canada<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>, this gives us a life way able to support a population of tens of millions on the agricultural project alone.  <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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If the protocol succeeds, then we have a meat supply able to likely provide protein throughout the entire world.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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I also suspect that these simple steps are only the beginning of what might be possible in the boreal forest.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n


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Boreal Forests Overview<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
In the uppermost Northern Hemisphere, North America, Europe, and Asia<\/st1:place> have significant expanses of land. The boreal forests ring the regions immediately south of the Arctic Circle<\/st1:place> in a vast expanse that easily rivals the rainforest regions of the world. The northern boreal ecoregion accounts for about one third of this planet’s total forest area. This broad circumpolar band runs through most of Canada<\/st1:country-region>, Russia<\/st1:country-region> and Scandinavia<\/st1:place>.<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
 <\/span><\/i>http:\/\/www.borealforest.org\/index.php?category=world_boreal_forest&page=overview<\/span><\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
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The circumpolar range of the boreal forest. About two-thirds of the area is in Eurasia<\/st1:place>. The sector in Eastern Canada<\/st1:place> lies farthest from the North Pole. Map source, Hare and Ritchie (1972).<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
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In North America, the boreal eco-region extends from Alaska<\/st1:state> to Newfoundland<\/st1:state>, bordering the tundra to the north and touching the Great Lakes<\/st1:place> to the south.<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
Known in Russia<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> as the taiga, the boreal forest constitutes one of the largest biome in the world, covering some 12 million square kilometres. Overlying formerly glaciated areas and areas of patchy permafrost on both continents, the forest is mosaic of successional and subclimax plant communities sensitive to varying environmental conditions. It has relatively few species, being composed mainly of spruces, firs, and conifers, with a smattering of deciduous trees, mostly along waterways. The boreal forest seems associated with the location of the summertime arctic airmass – it begins generally where it reaches its southern limit, and it extends to the southern most extension during the winter. Thus, it lies between the summer and winter positions of the arctic front. <\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
The boreal forest corresponds with regions of subarctic and cold continental climate. Long, severe winters (up to six months with mean temperatures below freezing) and short summers (50 to 100 frost-free days) are characteristic, as is a wide range of temperatures between the lows of winter and highs of summer. For example, Verkhoyansk, Russia, has recorded extremes of minus 90 F and plus 90 F. Mean annual precipitation is 15 to 20 inches, but low evaporation rates make this a humid climate. <\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

Also characteristic of the boreal forest are innumerable water bodies: bogs, fens, marshes, shallow lakes, rivers and wetlands, mixed in among the forest and holding a vast amount of water. The winters are long and severe while summers are short though often warm. <\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

Forests cover approximately 19.2 million square miles (49.8 million square kilometres) – (33%) of the world’s land surface area. They are broken down as follows: <\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
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mil. sq. mi.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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mil. sq. km.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Boreal Forests<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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6.4<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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16.6<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Other Forests<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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12.8<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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33.2<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Source: The World Bank 1996<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Forest<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/st1:place> area in selected countries<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Country<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Total forest area (millions of ha.)<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Percentage of global forested area<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Russia<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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764<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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22<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Brazil<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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566<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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16<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Canada<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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247<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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7<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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U.S.A.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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210<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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6<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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China<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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134<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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4<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Indonesia<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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116<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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3<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Zaire<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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113<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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3<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Nordic countries<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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53<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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2<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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All other<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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1239<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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36<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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There are latitudinal zones within the boreal forest. Running north to south, one finds the tundra\/taiga ecotone, an open coniferous forest (the section most properly called taiga) the characteristic closed-canopy needleleaf evergreen boreal forest; and a mixed needleleaf evergreen-broadleaf deciduous forest, the ecotone with the Temperate<\/st1:placename> Broadleaf<\/st1:placename> Deciduous<\/st1:placename> Forest<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>. In the US<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>, this southern ecotone is dominated by white pine (Pinus strobus), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), and American beech (Fagus americanus). <\/span><\/i><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
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Extensions of the boreal forest occur down the spines of mountains at high elevations. In eastern North America, this occurs at high elevation down to New Jersey<\/st1:state>, then West Virginia<\/st1:state> and again in the southern Appalachians<\/st1:place>. The trees are red spruce and balsam fir in the north, and Fraser fir in the south. Fir tends to grow at the highest elevations. Yellow birch becomes prominent also, with a smattering of eastern hemlock. In the southern Appalachians, these forests start at about 4,500 feet and in the north, where it is cooler, can be found at sea level (Maine<\/st1:state> and Canada<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>). The boreal forest in the southern Appalachians<\/st1:place> is disjunct and, due to its relatively small areal coverage, is regarded as a highly endangered ecosystem. <\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
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Boreal forest soils<\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

Soils in this forest are called podzols, from the Russian word for ash (the colour of these soils) and their development podzolization. Podzolization occurs as a result of the acid soil solution produced under needleleaf trees. This means that iron and aluminum are leached from the A horizon, and deposited in the B horizon. Clays and other minerals migrate to lower layers, leaving the upper one sandy in texture. <\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

Because of the low temperatures, decomposition is fairly slow, and soil microorganism activity limited. The highly lignified needles of the dominant trees decompose slowly, creating a mat over the soil. Tannins and other acids cause the upper soil layers to become very acidic, and the permanent shade from the evergreen trees keeps evaporation to a minimum, and the soils are often wet. In some cases they are waterlogged nearly all year. This tends to limit nutrient cycling, compared to more southerly forests. <\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/i>Major plant species<\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

By far the most dominant tree species are conifers which are well-adapted to the harsh climate, and thin, acidic soils. Black and white spruce are characteristic species of this region along with Tamarack, Jack Pine and Balsam Fir. Needleleaf, coniferous (gymnosperm) trees, the dominant plants of the boreal biome, are a very few species found in four main genera – the evergreen spruce (Picea), fir (Abies), and pine (Pinus), and the deciduous larch or tamarack (Larix). <\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

In North America<\/st1:place>, one or two species of fir and one or two species of spruce are dominant. Across Scandinavia and western Russia<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place> the Scots pine is a common component of the taiga. <\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

Broadleaf deciduous trees and shrubs are members of early successional stages of both primary and secondary succession. Most common are alder (Alnus), birch (Betula), and aspen (Populus). <\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

It is now recognized that so-called climax communities in the boreal undergo an approximately 200-year cycle between nitrogen-depleting spruce-fir forests and nitrogen-accumulating aspen forests.<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

The conical or spire-shaped needleleaf trees common to the boreal are adapted to the cold and the physiological drought of winter and to the short-growing season:<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n