3.04 trillion trees

[treeslayer]

posted this under old lumber pic but that thread wend dead but interesting enough i think to repost it here. Yale researcher Thomas Crowther used 429,775 ground based measurements and satellite measurements to estimate the earth has 3.04 trillion trees. he says 15 billion trees are cut down each year with only 5 billion replanted and estimates that the earths trees will be gone in 300 years. he also says that nearly 1.4 trillion of the earths trees are in tropical or sub-tropical forests and thats where the rate of loss is the highest. so i guess what we have learned is get busy making stuff because there will be no more trees in 300 years

[shaneymack]

Quick, we need to cut down as many trees as we can and start hoarding lumber!!!

[rodger.]

The lesson to be learned here is conservation and sustainability.  I try to plant a new tree after every few projects.  I knew this would be harder when i left my country property, so I planted 65 trees a few months before moving.  Those 65 were fir trees, but I also planted 12 fruit trees, 3 willows, and 3 maples in my time there.

[Tpt life]

This is a simplistic model for an issue with many multiples of variables. I don't think we will run out of trees, but I do think they will become very expensive before sutainable harvest is a global priority. 

[RPCV_Woodworker]

This is a simplistic model for an issue with many multiples of variables. I don't think we will run out of trees, but I do think they will become very expensive before sutainable harvest is a global priority. 

You're absolutely right, and it's actually both better and worse than the summary makes it seem, because of the types forest cover and species palette that we're developing across the world.  A great example is actually the Northeastern US, where the forest cover has stabilized(ish), but the near-extinction of the American Chestnut has created a much different type of forest.  Same with the removal of all but a handful of Old-Growth stands in PA (I grew up near one of the last, Cook Forest).  

I see a really alarming version here in Senegal.  In the 1970s there was a massive drought that pushed the Sahara into this country, accompanied by increased urban demands for fuel wood.  The forest cover dropped to nearly zero.  Then the president brought in Neem trees from a country he visited, and had them planted in every major city.  Now there is "forest cover" again, as the have become invasive in the wild.  Tree count is up, forest cover is up, but in the end it's not exactly a good thing...

[Brendon_t]

I would like to see a world's lumber use graph overlaying a total tree count chart.  

I have a suspicion (with absolutely no facts in front of me) that decade over decade use will have trended flat or slightly down since the industrial revolution. I wonder how deforestation numbers would correlate. 

[Guest]

I would like to see a world's lumber use graph overlaying a total tree count chart.  

I have a suspicion (with absolutely no facts in front of me) that decade over decade use will have trended flat or slightly down since the industrial revolution. I wonder how deforestation numbers would correlate. 

My guess is that lumber use contributes very little to deforestation.    forests are clear cut for agriculture and land development and most of those trees turn to mulch.   in fact it is likely the opposite.   lumber is valuable so forests that go to lumber will be maintained and replanted.     

[RPCV_Woodworker]

My guess is that lumber use contributes very little to deforestation.    forests are clear cut for agriculture and land development and most of those trees turn to mulch.   in fact it is likely the opposite.   lumber is valuable so forests that go to lumber will be maintained and replanted.     

This is overall correct but depends on the ecosystem and environmental regulations at play in the country.  In Great Britain the forest cover has doubled since 1900, due in large part to monoculture plantations of pine for timber harvest.  In West Africa by contrast, when they harvest they rarely re-plant, and the forest codes aren't well enforced, so timber harvest links more closely to deforestation.

Still though, temperate urban sprawl & urbanization is the big killer

[Tpt life]

Things that don't help...

http://m.953mnc.com/News/Michigan/2015/09/16/Officials-Beware-of-scam-artists-seeking-black-walnut-trees.html

Edited September 17, 2015 by C Shaffer

[Brendon_t]

It's kind of a trip that walnut has become precious enough to bring out the con artists and thieves. 

[h3nry]

Things that don't help...

http://m.953mnc.com/News/Michigan/2015/09/16/Officials-Beware-of-scam-artists-seeking-black-walnut-trees.html

from the article:

"Michigan’s forests have about 8.5 million black walnut trees with an economic value of more the $86 million. "

A walnut tree is only valued at $10 in Michigan?  I've been paying that for each bdft. No wonder the scammers are involved.

[Tpt life]

I think there must be some calculation that figures immature trees into the mix. I have also seen Walnut that was useless as lumber. It is also possible the local news is off?

[Cliff]

I wonder what "economic value" means though. If that is the value to whoever owns the tree after processing and selling? Seems awful low. Wouldn't surprise me if someone pulled an equation from somewhere that is  entirely wrong. 

[Tpt life]

How much forest in MI is protected? This is another way they could have misinterpreted two data sets. It is also possible they were quoting an annual impact rather than a total economic impact. 

[G S Haydon]

"In Great Britain the forest cover has doubled since 1900", yeah it went from one acre to two :-)

[TerryMcK]

I keep digging Ash tree saplings out of my garden from seeds that fell year after year from an old ash in my neighbours garden. That was chopped down a couple of years back and still they sprout. If you've ever seen that movie I Am Legend, where New York City hadn't had much activity for a few years. Vegetation and trees grew on highways because of this gradually forming forests. That's what happens in my back yard if I leave it for a year - I've got woodwork to do  . Tree's are very resilient.

[Guest]

I wonder what "economic value" means though. If that is the value to whoever owns the tree after processing and selling? Seems awful low. Wouldn't surprise me if someone pulled an equation from somewhere that is  entirely wrong. 

yeah if you are like me and work with financial data you know that you can't trust any data reported in the media.   Journalists don't know the difference between assets, revenue, income and they certainly cant distinguish between and annual number and the present value of future revenue.   So they just make nothing statements like "estimated economic impact of X".   These stories are usually written by 22 year old journalism majors and fact checked by a guy who would rather be at a bar working on the novel he started writing in 1973.  

Edited September 22, 2015 by Guest

[Brendon_t]

I keep digging Ash tree saplings out of my garden from seeds that fell year after year from an old ash in my neighbours garden. That was chopped down a couple of years back and still they sprout. If you've ever seen that movie I Am Legend, where New York City hadn't had much activity for a few years. Vegetation and trees grew on highways because of this gradually forming forests. That's what happens in my back yard if I leave it for a year - I've got woodwork to do  . Tree's are very resilient.

Terry I am dealing with the exact same thing.  The neighbor had an ash tree lightning struck and cut down two years ago. 

I have new trees sprout all over.  There was one growing on my roof feeding on AC condensation.

[Coop]

Better to have a little ash than nothing ?

[RPCV_Woodworker]

Terry I am dealing with the exact same thing.  The neighbor had an ash tree lightning struck and cut down two years ago. 

I have new trees sprout all over.  There was one growing on my roof feeding on AC condensation.

Give it a few years, then EAB will remove it for you

[Brendon_t]

They aren't even close to this coast. Ash isn't native here.  Only planted by cities. 

Edited September 24, 2015 by Brendon_t

[RPCV_Woodworker]

They aren't even close to this coast. Ash isn't native here.  Only planted by cities. 

Didn't look at your geo-tag, what kind of Ash do you guys use out there?

[Brendon_t]

The ashey kind... I honestly don't know.