As a follow up to the last post, as if we needed a reminder. Another study questioning the wisdom of cutting forests for profit rather than habitat. A clearcut is not a forest. A second growth tree farm is not a forest. It’s a monoculture.
A new study stands as a striking reminder that logging watersheds has an outsized impact on salmon and trout. Led by Kyle Wilson at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, the study looked at the successes and failures of five species of salmonids in the Keogh River (called Giyuxw by the local Kwakiutl First Nation) on northern Vancouver Island. For steelhead trout, the salmonid Wilson and his colleagues had the most data for, the problems the fish faced in the BC river hit the population just as hard as the challenges they faced out at sea. Wilson suspects the same holds true for other species with similar life cycles. Nicola Jones reports. (Hakai Magazine)
As much as I like Hakai Magazine, real life is more like an ecosystem than an isolated study. Sure salmon need trees, but trees need salmon too, why not paint a more well-rounded picture? Here are some articles that are more inclusive: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=407 and https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/salmon-trees/