Plantation
A plantation is the large-scale estate meant for farming that specializes in cash crops. The crops that are grown include cotton, tea, sugar cane, oil seeds, oil palms, rubber trees, fruits. Protectionist policies and natural comparative advantage have sometimes contributed to determining where plantations were located. A plantation house is the main house of a plantation a substantial farmhouse, which serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and expensive architectural works today, though most were more utilitarian, working farmhouses. Among the earliest examples of plantations were the latifundia of the Roman Empire, which produced large quantities of wine and olive oil for export. Plantation agriculture grew with the increase in international trade and the development of a worldwide economy that followed the expansion of European colonial empires. Like every economic activity, it has changed over time.
Industrial plantations are established to produce a high volume of wood in a short period of time. Plantations are grown by state forestry authorities and/or the paper and wood industries and other private landowners. Christmas trees are grown on plantations as well. In southern and southeastern Asia, teak plantations have replaced the natural forest. Industrial plantations are managed for the commercial production of forest products. Industrial plantations are large-scale. Individual blocks are even-aged and consist of just one or two species; these species can be indigenous. The plants used for the plantation are genetically altered for desired traits such as growth and resistance to pests and diseases in general and specific traits, for example in the case of timber species, volumic wood production and stem straightness. Forest genetic resources are the basis for genetic alteration. Selected individuals grown in seed orchards are a good source for seeds to develop adequate planting material. Wood production on a tree plantation is higher than that of natural forests.
While forests managed for wood production yield between 1 and 3 cubic meters per hectare per year, plantations of fast-growing species yield between 20 and 30 cubic meters or more per hectare annually. In 2000, while plantations accounted for 5% of global forest, it is estimated that they supplied about 35% of the world's roundwood. In the first year, the ground is prepared by the combination of burning, herbicide spraying, and/or cultivation and saplings are planted by human crew or by machine; the saplings are obtained in bulk from industrial nurseries, which may specialize in selective breeding in order to produce fast growing disease- and pest-resistant strains. In the first few years until the canopy closes, the saplings are looked after, may be dusted or sprayed with fertilizers or pesticides until established. After the canopy closes, with the tree crowns touching each other, the plantation is becoming dense and crowded, tree growth is slowing due to competition; this stage is termed'pole stage'.
When competition becomes too intense, it is time to thin out the section. There are several methods for thinning, but where topography permits, the most popular is'row-thinning', where every third or fourth or fifth row of trees is removed with a harvester. Many trees are removed, leaving regular clear lanes through the section so that the remaining trees have room to expand again; the removed trees are delimbed, forwarded to the forest road, loaded onto trucks, sent to a mill. A typical pole stage plantation tree is 7–30 cm in diameter at breast height; such trees are sometimes not suitable for timber, but are used as pulp for paper and particleboard, as chips for oriented strand board. As the trees grow and become dense and crowded again, the thinning process is repeated. Depending on growth rate and species, trees at this age may be large enough for timber milling. Around year 10-60 the plantation is falling off the back side of its growth curve; that is to say, it is passing the point of maximum wood growth per hectare per year, so is ready for the final harvest.
All remaining trees are felled and taken to be processed. The ground is cleared, the cycle can be restarted; some plantation trees, such as pines and eucalyptus, can be at high risk of fire damage because their leaf oils and resins are flammable to the point of a tree being explosive under some conditions. Conversely, an afflicted plantation can in some cases be cleared of pest species cheaply through the use of a prescribed burn, which kills all lesser plants but does not harm the mature trees. Many forestry experts claim that the establishment of plantations will reduce or eliminate the need to exploit natural forest for wood production. In principle this is true. Many point to the example of New Zealand, where 19% of the forest area provides 99% of the supply of industrial round wood, it has been estimated that the world's demand for fiber could be met by just 5% of the world fores
Shrub
A shrub or bush is a small- to medium-sized woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody, they are distinguished from trees by their multiple stems and shorter height, are under 6 m tall. Plants of many species may grow either depending on their growing conditions. Small, low shrubs less than 2 m tall, such as lavender and most small garden varieties of rose, are termed "subshrubs". An area of cultivated shrubs in a park or a garden is known as a shrubbery; when clipped as topiary, suitable species or varieties of shrubs develop dense foliage and many small leafy branches growing close together. Many shrubs respond well to renewal pruning, in which hard cutting back to a "stool" results in long new stems known as "canes". Other shrubs respond better to selective pruning to reveal their character. Shrubs in common garden practice are considered broad-leaved plants, though some smaller conifers such as mountain pine and common juniper are shrubby in structure. Species that grow into a shrubby habit may be either evergreen.
In botany and ecology, a shrub is more used to describe the particular physical structural or plant life-form of woody plants which are less than 8 metres high and have many stems arising at or near the base. For example, a descriptive system adopted in Australia is based on structural characteristics based on life-form, plus the height and amount of foliage cover of the tallest layer or dominant species. For shrubs 2–8 metres high the following structural forms are categorized: dense foliage cover — closed-shrub mid-dense foliage cover — open-shrub sparse foliage cover — tall shrubland sparse foliage cover — tall open shrublandFor shrubs less than 2 metres high the following structural forms are categorized: dense foliage cover — closed-heath or closed low shrubland— mid-dense foliage cover — open-heath or mid-dense low shrubland— sparse foliage cover — low shrubland sparse foliage cover — low open shrubland Those marked with * can develop into tree form
Mozambique
Mozambique the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, Eswatini and South Africa to the southwest. The sovereign state is separated from the Comoros and Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel to the east; the capital of Mozambique is Maputo. Between the first and fifth centuries AD, Bantu-speaking peoples migrated to present-day Mozambique from farther north and west. Northern Mozambique lies within the monsoon trade winds of the Indian Ocean. Between the 7th and 11th centuries, a series of Swahili port towns developed here, which contributed to the development of a distinct Swahili culture and language. In the late medieval period, these towns were frequented by traders from Somalia, Egypt, Arabia and India; the voyage of Vasco da Gama in 1498 marked the arrival of the Portuguese, who began a gradual process of colonisation and settlement in 1505. After over four centuries of Portuguese rule, Mozambique gained independence in 1975, becoming the People's Republic of Mozambique shortly thereafter.
After only two years of independence, the country descended into an intense and protracted civil war lasting from 1977 to 1992. In 1994, Mozambique held its first multiparty elections, has since remained a stable presidential republic, although it still faces a low-intensity insurgency. Mozambique is endowed with extensive natural resources; the country's economy is based on agriculture, but industry is growing food and beverages, chemical manufacturing and aluminium and petroleum production. The tourism sector is expanding. South Africa is Mozambique's main trading partner and source of foreign direct investment, while Belgium, Brazil and Spain are among the country's most important economic partners. Since 2001, Mozambique's annual average GDP growth has been among the world's highest. However, the country is still one of the poorest and most underdeveloped countries in the world, ranking low in GDP per capita, human development, measures of inequality and average life expectancy; the only official language of Mozambique is Portuguese, spoken as a second language by about half the population.
Common native languages include Makhuwa and Swahili. The country's population of around 29 million is composed overwhelmingly of Bantu people; the largest religion in Mozambique is Christianity, with significant minorities following Islam and African traditional religions. Mozambique is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Southern African Development Community, is an observer at La Francophonie; the country was named Moçambique by the Portuguese after the Island of Mozambique, derived from Mussa Bin Bique or Musa Al Big or Mossa Al Bique or Mussa Ben Mbiki or Mussa Ibn Malik, an Arab trader who first visited the island and lived there. The island-town was the capital of the Portuguese colony until 1898, when it was moved south to Lourenço Marques. Between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, waves of Bantu-speaking people migrated from the west and north through the Zambezi River valley and gradually into the plateau and coastal areas.
They established agricultural societies based on herding cattle. They brought with them the technology for smithing iron. From the late first millennium AD, vast Indian Ocean trade networks extended as far south into Mozambique as evidenced by the ancient port town of Chibuene. Beginning in the 9th century, a growing involvement in Indian Ocean trade led to the development of numerous port towns along the entire East African coast, including modern day Mozambique. Autonomous, these towns broadly participated in the incipient Swahili culture. Islam was adopted by urban elites, facilitating trade. In Mozambique, Sofala and Mozambique Island were regional powers by the 15th century; the towns traded with merchants from both the broader Indian Ocean world. Important were the gold and ivory caravan routes. Inland states like the Kingdom of Zimbabwe and Kingdom of Mutapa provided the coveted gold and ivory, which were exchanged up the coast to larger port cities like Kilwa and Mombasa. From about 1500, Portuguese trading posts and forts displaced the Arabic commercial and military hegemony, becoming regular ports of call on the new European sea route to the east.
The voyage of Vasco da Gama around the Cape of Good Hope in 1498 marked the Portuguese entry into trade and society of the region. The Portuguese gained control of the Island of Mozambique and the port city of Sofala in the early 16th century, by the 1530s, small groups of Portuguese traders and prospectors seeking gold penetrated the interior regions, where they set up garrisons and trading posts at Sena and Tete on the River Zambezi and tried to gain exclusive control over the gold trade. In the central part of the Mozambique territory, the Portuguese attempted to legitimise and consolidate their trade and settlement positions through the creation of prazos tied to their settlement and administration. While prazos were developed to be held by Portuguese, through intermarriage they became African Portuguese or African Indian centres defended by large African sl
Phytophthora ramorum
Phytophthora ramorum is the oomycete plant pathogen known to cause the disease sudden oak death. The disease kills oak and other species of trees and has had devastating effects on the oak populations in California and Oregon, as well as being present in Europe. Symptoms include bleeding cankers on the tree's trunk and dieback of the foliage, in many cases leading to the death of the tree. P. ramorum infects a great number of other plant species woody ornamentals such as Rhododendron and Pieris, causing foliar symptoms known as ramorum dieback or ramorum blight. Such plants can act as a source of inoculum for new infections, with the pathogen-producing spores that can be transmitted by rainsplash and rainwater. P. ramorum was first reported in 1995, the origins of the pathogen are still unclear, but most evidence suggests it was introduced as an exotic species. Few control mechanisms exist for the disease, they rely upon early detection and proper disposal of infected plant material; the disease is known to exist in California's coastal region between Big Sur and southern Humboldt County.
It is confirmed to exist in all coastal counties in this range, as well as in all inland counties from Santa Clara County north to Lake County. It has not been found east of the California Coast Ranges, however, it was reported in Curry County, Oregon just north of the California border, in 2001. Sonoma County has been hit hardest, having more than twice the area of new mortality of any other county in California. About the same time, a similar disease in continental Europe and the UK was identified as Phytophthora ramorum, it was first discovered in California in 1995 when large numbers of tanoaks died mysteriously, was described as a new species of Phytophthora in 2000. It has subsequently been found in many other areas, including Britain and some other U. S. states, either accidentally introduced in nursery stock, or present undetected. In tanoaks, the disease may be recognized by wilting new shoots, older leaves becoming pale green, after a period of two to three weeks, foliage turning brown while clinging to the branches.
Dark brown sap may stain the lower trunk's bark. Bark exude gum, with visible discoloration. After the tree dies back, suckers try to sprout the next year. Ambrosia beetles will most infest a dying tree during midsummer, producing piles of fine white dust near tiny holes. Bark beetles produce fine, red boring dust. Small black domes, the fruiting bodies of the Hypoxylon fungus, may be present on the bark. Leaf death may occur more than a year after the initial infection and months after the tree has been girdled by beetles. In coast live oaks and Californian black oaks, the first symptom is a burgundy-red to tar-black thick sap bleeding from the bark surface; these are referred to as bleeding cankers. In addition to oaks, many other forest species may be hosts for the disease. Including rhododendron, evergreen huckleberry, California bay laurel, bigleaf maple, manzanita, coast redwood, Douglas fir, coffeeberry and Shreve oak. P. ramorum more causes a less severe disease known as ramorum dieback/leaf blight on these hosts.
Characteristic symptoms are dark spots on foliage and in some hosts the dieback of the stems and twigs. The disease is capable of killing some hosts, such as rhododendron. Disease progression on these species is not well documented. Redwoods exhibit needle discoloration and cankers on small branches, with purple lesions on sprouts that may lead to sprout mortality. In Europe, Ramorum blight was first observed on rhododendron and viburnum in the early 1990s, where it was found on container-grown plants in nurseries; the principal symptoms were twig blight. By 2007, it had spread throughout nurseries and retail centers in 16 European countries, had been detected in gardens and woodlands in at least eight countries, it has not caused significant harm to European oak species. In 2009, the pathogen was found to be infecting and killing large numbers of Japanese larch trees in the United Kingdom at sites in the English counties of Somerset and Cornwall, it was the first time in the world. Since it has been found extensively in larch plantations in Wales and in southwest Scotland, leading to the deliberate felling of large areas.
The UK Forestry Commission noted that eradication of the disease would not be possible, instead adopted a strategy of containing the disease to reduce its spread. Symptoms of the disease on larch trees include dieback of the tree's crown and branches, a distinctive yellowing or ginger colour beneath the bark. In August 2010, the disease was found in Japanese larch trees in Counties Waterford and Tipperary in Ireland, it had spread to Japanese larch plantations across the south of the country by February 2014. Coillte, who owned twenty forests where the disease was present, felled 16,000 trees in one of its forests, having felled 150 hectares to contain the disease; the related Phytophthora kernoviae causes similar symptoms to P. ramorum, but infe
Secondary succession
Secondary succession is one of the two types ecological succession of a plants life. As opposed to the first, primary succession, secondary succession is a process started by an event that reduces an established ecosystem to a smaller population of species, as such secondary succession occurs on preexisting soil whereas primary succession occurs in a place lacking soil. Many factors can affect secondary succession, such as trophic interaction, initial composition, competition-colonization trade-offs; the factors that control the increase in abundance of a species during succession may be determined by seed production and dispersal, micro climate. Put, secondary succession is the ecological succession that occurs after the initial succession has been disrupted and some plants and animals still exist, it is faster than primary succession Soil is present Seeds and underground vegetative organs of plants may still survive in the soil. Imperata grasslands are caused by human activities such as logging, forest clearing for shifting cultivation and grazing, by frequent fires.
The latter is a frequent result of human interference. However, when not maintained by frequent fires and human disturbances, they regenerate and speedily to secondary young forest; the time of succession in Imperata grassland, Imperata cylindrica has the highest coverage but it becomes less dominant from the fourth year onwards. While Imperata decreases, the percentage of shrubs and young trees increases with time. In the burned plots, Melastoma malabathricum, Eupatorium inulaefolium, Ficus Vitex pinnata. Strongly increase with the age of regeneration, but these species are found in the secondary forest. Soil properties change during secondary succession in Imperata grassland area; the effects of secondary succession on soil are strongest in the A-horizon, where an increase in carbon stock, N, C/N ratio, a decrease in bulk density and pH are observed. Soil carbon stocks increase upon secondary succession from Imperata grassland to secondary forest. Secondary succession in Imperata-dominated grassland A classic example of secondary succession occurs in oak and hickory forests cleared by wildfire.
Wildfires will kill those animals unable to flee the area. Their nutrients, are returned to the ground in the form of ash, thus when areas are devoid of life due to severe fires, the area will soon be ready for new life to take hold. Before the fire, the vegetation was dominated by tall trees with access to the major plant energy resource: sunlight, their height gave them access to sunlight while shading the ground and other low-lying species. After the fire, these trees are no longer dominant. Thus, the first plants to grow back are annual plants followed within a few years by growing and spreading grasses and other pioneer species. Due to, at least in part, changes in the environment brought on by the growth of the grasses and other species, over many years, shrubs will emerge along with small pine and hickory trees; these organisms are called intermediate species. Over 150 years, the forest will reach its equilibrium point where species composition is no longer changing and resembles the community before the fire.
This equilibrium state is referred to as the climax community, which will remain stable until the next disturbance. Generation of carbonates from burnt plant material following fire disturbance causes an initial increase in soil pH that can affect the rate of secondary succession, as well as what types of organisms will be able to thrive. Soil composition prior to fire disturbance influences secondary succession, both in rate and type of dominant species growth. For example, high sand concentration was found to increase the chances of primary Pteridium over Imperata growth in Imperata grassland; the byproducts of combustion have been shown to affect secondary succession by soil microorganisms. For example, certain fungal species such as Trichoderma polysporum and Penicillium janthinellum have a decreased success rate in spore germination within fire-affected areas, reducing their ability to recolonize. Vegetation structure is affected by fire. In some types of ecosystems this creates a process of renewal.
Following a fire, early successional species establish first. This is followed by late successional species. Species that are fire intolerant are those that are desolated by fire. More tolerant species are able to disperse in the event of fire; the occurrence of fire leads to the establishment of deadwood and snags in forests. This creates habitat and resources for a variety of species. Fire can act as a seed dispersing stimulant. Many species require fire events to reproduce and establish. For example, the knobcone pine has closed cones that open for dispersal when exposed to heat caused by forest fires; this particular conifer grows in clusters because of this limited method of seed dispersal. A tough fire resistant outer bark and lack of low branches help the knobcone pine survive fire with minimal damage
Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands
Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands is an ecoregion located in Botswana, northern Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. These woodlands cover the center of southern Africa, from northern Namibia diagonally through to southeast Botswana and just into the Tuli Block of South Africa. In Botswana there is another area running north from the Okavango Delta and the Makgadikgadi Pan towards the border of the Chobe National Park and east to the border with Zimbabwe. All this is semi-arid sandveld with little surface water. Droughts occur every seven years. Rainfall, when it occurs, is in the summer, from October through March; the flora depends on the availability of water. The northern section to the west of the Okavango Delta and into Namibia has a moister climate and the Baikiaea plurijuga woodland with bush savanna is dominant. In the hardveld areas to the south, the climate becomes more arid and the plants are dominated by xerophytic acacia. Fauna includes black rhino. Wild dogs and elephant are notable.
Large mammals that migrate through the region include Blue wildebeest, zebra and red hartebeest. The region is rich in birdllife including the endemic Bradfield’s hornbill. Problems facing the region include the low but growing human population and the increased cattle ranching; the annual movement of the large herbivores are now stopped by veterinary control fences aimed at foot-and-mouth disease in cattle, with devastating effects on their ability to move to water sources in times of drought. Commercial hunting is a major element of tourism in the region but illegal hunting presents the main threat to wildlife. Protected areas within the region include Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana, Khaudom National Park in Namibia, Nxai Pan National Park, but there is little protection in the hardveld area to the south of the ecoregion; the diamond mine at Orapa does not present a threat to wildlife. Wildworld photos Map of the region
Malawi
Malawi the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in southeast Africa, known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, Mozambique on the east and west. Malawi is over 118,000 km2 with an estimated population of 18,091,575. Lake Malawi takes up about a third of Malawi's area, its capital is Lilongwe, Malawi's largest city. The name Malawi comes from an old name of the Nyanja people that inhabit the area; the country is nicknamed "The Warm Heart of Africa" because of the friendliness of the people. The part of Africa now known as Malawi was settled by migrating Bantu groups around the 10th century. Centuries in 1891 the area was colonised by the British. In 1953 Malawi known as Nyasaland, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, became a protectorate within the semi-independent Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; the Federation was dissolved in 1963. In 1964 the protectorate over Nyasaland was ended and Nyasaland became an independent country under Queen Elizabeth II with the new name Malawi.
Two years it became a republic. Upon gaining independence it became a totalitarian one-party state under the presidency of Hastings Banda, who remained president until 1994. Malawi has a democratic, multi-party government headed by an elected president Arthur Peter Mutharika; the country has a Malawian Defence Force that includes a navy and an air wing. Malawi's foreign policy is pro-Western and includes positive diplomatic relations with most countries and participation in several international organisations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the African Union. Malawi is among the world's least-developed countries; the economy is based in agriculture, with a rural population. The Malawian government depends on outside aid to meet development needs, although this need has decreased since 2000; the Malawian government faces challenges in building and expanding the economy, improving education, environmental protection, becoming financially independent amidst widespread unemployment.
Since 2005, Malawi has developed several programs that focus on these issues, the country's outlook appears to be improving, with a rise in the economy and healthcare seen in 2007 and 2008. Malawi has a low life expectancy and high infant mortality. There is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, a drain on the labour force and government expenditures. There is a diverse population of native peoples and Europeans, with several languages spoken and an array of religious beliefs. Although there was periodic regional conflict fuelled in part by ethnic divisions in the past, by 2008 it had diminished and the concept of a Malawian nationality had reemerged; the area of Africa now known as Malawi had a small population of hunter-gatherers before waves of Bantu peoples began emigrating from the north around the 10th century. Although most of the Bantu peoples continued south, some remained permanently and founded ethnic groups based on common ancestry. By 1500 AD, the tribes had established the Kingdom of Maravi that reached from north of what is now Nkhotakota to the Zambezi River and from Lake Malawi to the Luangwa River in what is now Zambia.
Soon after 1600, with the area united under one native ruler, native tribesmen began encountering, trading with and making alliances with Portuguese traders and members of the military. By 1700, the empire had broken up into areas controlled by many individual ethnic groups; the Arab slave trade reached its height in the mid- 1800s, when 20,000 people were enslaved and considered to be carried yearly from Nkhotakota to Kilwa where they were sold. Missionary and explorer David Livingstone reached Lake Malawi in 1859 and identified the Shire Highlands south of the lake as an area suitable for European settlement; as the result of Livingstone's visit, several Anglican and Presbyterian missions were established in the area in the 1860s and 1870s, the African Lakes Company Limited was established in 1878 to set up a trade and transport concern working with the missions, a small mission and trading settlement was established at Blantyre in 1876 and a British Consul took up residence there in 1883.
The Portuguese government was interested in the area so, to prevent Portuguese occupation, the British government sent Harry Johnston as British consul with instructions to make treaties with local rulers beyond Portuguese jurisdiction. In 1889, a British protectorate was proclaimed over the Shire Highlands, extended in 1891 to include the whole of present-day Malawi as the British Central Africa Protectorate. In 1907, the protectorate was renamed Nyasaland, a name it retained for the remainder of its time under British rule. In a prime example of what is sometimes called the "Thin White Line" of colonial authority in Africa, the colonial government of Nyasaland was formed in 1891; the administrators were given a budget of £10,000 per year, enough to employ ten European civilians, two military officers, seventy Punjab Sikhs and eighty-five Zanzibar porters. These few employees were expected to administer and police a territory of around 94,000 square kilometres with between one and two million people.
In 1944, the Nyasaland African Congress was formed by the Africans of Nyasaland to promote local interests to the British g
listen) or wood (or in the U.S., the plurale tantum woods) is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of primary or secondary succession. Higher density areas of trees with a largely closed canopy that provides extensive and nearly continuous shade are referred to as forests.
Media related to Woodlands at Wikimedia Commons
