10-11-2002, 10:16 AM
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Truffles and James Beard and Psilocybe mushrooms: Oh my!
(Scott Murphy) wrote in message . com...
"Joe Zorzin" wrote in message ...
"Scott Murphy" wrote in message
om...
"Joe Zorzin" wrote in message
...
POSTED IN alt.forestry
It should be part of forestry education- all forestry students should
have
to eat psilocybin, while listening to classic idiot right wing forestry
professors rant against preservationists. Better yet, forestry students
should secretly stuff some into the professor's sandwiches while out on
a
field trip. Then watch the fun as everyone starts talking to the trees.
G
You're funny Joe. G When will you finally admit it?
OK, OK, I'm guilty of that. G
It's simply
Newton and his laws of motion... for every action, there is an equal
and opposite reaction. If you don't cut here, you've got to cut
there.
But, much of the cutting HERE is so poorly done, that long term productivity
is a fraction of what it could be- thus, your Newtonian example is
irrelevant. If BETTER forestry were practiced all over America, productivity
would soar. It's not an either-or situation, which is a perspective for
simpletons who can only see in black and white, like the forestry
establishment.
Agreed. Better forestry would definitely improve the situation, but I
don't think it would fix everything. Newtonianism is not irrelevant
g... some practices are just not mutually inclusive; you can't
always have your cake and eat it too, but I know you like cake Joe
g. Your friends at Harvard are probably being extremely naive and
have likely already calculated improved forestry and improved
productivity into the equation, thinking that since they wrote about
it twenty years ago, then everyone must be practising it. G
One of the things that would dramatically increase forest productivity
and growth is inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi. Since these fungi
are not generally introduced in forestry, it is something that private
foresters must look into themselves.
Why are mycorrhizal fungi important? The gather water for their host
trees. The are associated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. They can be a
seperate crop in their own right (truffles, Boletus, matsutake,
chanterelles, pigs ears, Dentinum repandum, etc.). According to Dr.
James Trappe of Oregon State University, they *appear* to act as
fungal prophylactics against root rots. They may increase the lifespan
of trees.
And yet...with a very few notable exceptions, mycorrhizal fungi are
not considered in forestry.
Case in point: The 500,000+ acres Biscuit fire of southern Oregon.
Perhaps the fastest method of regenerating this forest would be to
inoculate Rhizopogons with Lodgepole pine and Douglas fir seedlings,
then disperse them via helicopter. By the time the seeds would begin
to germinate the mycorrhizal fungi are already established, and a
greater liklihood of seedling survival is reached.
How expensive would that be? Believe it or not, a single average sized
Rhizopogon is capable of inoculating a million seedling trees via a
simple slurry just before outplanting, or probably several million
seeds before aerial drop.
Will it be done? Probably not. How many people realize that these
fungi increase tree survival and growth rates?
Daniel B. Wheeler
www.oregonwhitetruffles.com
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