Saving local forests - why deciduous trees play an important role

The images of a blazing and barely controllable bush fire will probably be seen more frequently on our home turf in the future. If we normally only know the horrific images from television, for example when we see pictures from the USA or Australia, we may soon have to deal with this issue more often than we would like due to the increasingly warm climate conditions here in Germany. Good and above all continuous climate protection is certainly the best prevention against the uncontrollable power of the flames, but who would have thought that the use of deciduous trees could be a great solution? Several foresters in Germany want to save the local forest and specifically include the useful trees in their plan. We at WOLFGANGS have put together what this plan looks like for you in this article.

Not all forests are the same

If there is no rain for a while and the country is dry, then the risk of fire will continue to increase. This is the case in many regions prevailing increased fire risk In some places it actually turns into a real forest fire, which often presents the rescue services with challenging situations.

Everyone would certainly have come up with this summary of the various chronological sequences. However, very few people consider that a forest is not just a forest, but rather that every patch of green or every region has significant differences in the composition of the trees . This is where deciduous trees come into play.

The introduction of deciduous trees into the forest

Sometimes you don't even have to take the work of planting the deciduous trees yourself, as you get reliable animal support. For example, many jays ensure that the acorns are distributed throughout the forest and that new trees can grow from them. The birds manage to do a first-class " work " over many kilometers, because over the years, a decent growth of trees can be observed. A lot of deciduous trees now stand proudly in the forest without man having to sacrifice even a bead of sweat.

Unfortunately, this animal help is not enough if you are planning on a large scale and want to achieve a certain level of security. However, humans can do an excellent complementary job with their measures. In addition to pure planting, this also means the implementation of supporting measures.

Above all, some fine-tuning must be done in the crowns of the existing trees so that enough light can reach the ground to enable the newly planted plants to grow. Thinning the crowns of the trees to allow more light to enter is usually easy to do and brings noticeable success.

Saving local forests - why the introduction of deciduous trees is important

The state of Brandenburg is a perfect example to explain why the introduction of deciduous trees is important. When a German state is rated as having the same high fire risk as Spain, then you know that the situation is serious. The combination of sandy soils and an extremely high proportion of pine trees is particularly problematic there.

In view of the weather statistics, which increasingly confirm that strong winds and storms will become more frequent, one can already guess that this will be very conducive to the formation of new fires. Pine and other coniferous woods are the perfect embers for fire and, due to their high flammability, they fan the flames further.

The integration of deciduous trees can bring about improvement and save the local forest. These burn much worse and can therefore buy valuable time for the fire brigade. Instead of simply accepting a sea of ​​flames, you can use an effective method by scattering deciduous trees, which also visually integrates perfectly into the existing tree composition.

Lack of groundwater is also problematic

Since climate change will inevitably be associated with fewer water resources, it is therefore important to rely on trees that are able to store water. Deciduous trees fit this profile perfectly, as they can also absorb water with their leaves and branches. In critical times when there is no water in the soil, they are able to release it into the subsoil.

A coniferous forest behaves completely differently in such a situation. Hardly any groundwater can accumulate under them, which in turn would not be beneficial for the future forecast conditions.