Shellfish, fires and forest productivity
by Chris, 30 December, 2018, 0 comments
The loss of woodlands and forest across the world is but another example of human interference with natural ecosystems. Tropical forests are raided for their exotic hardwoods or subject to wholesale clearing for ‘cash crops’ e.g. oil palms. However, it would seem that this destruction is nothing new.
Professors Kaplan and Kolen have analysed soils for ash and suggested that the early (hunter-gatherer) settlers in Europe lit fires to clear the ‘wildwood’ so that grassland or more open woodland / steppe-like areas would develop. Read more...
