Ask a german forest science & ecology student from germany

How depressing is the ecology in the forests of Germany? I know your water bodies are pretty much fucked beyond repair.

Which state are you studying?

>>827173
It´s depressing because of the use of Spruce (Picea) which was planted in areas where it doesnt belong. Theres not a great vegetation in purely stocks of spruce. But they got a program to bring more beech, which would be everywhere if humans doesnt make a change.

You mean water bodies in forests or in agriculture? We got way to much nitrate in agriculture fields, thats true. May water in forests is fucked up because of mono plantings and acid needles from coniferes.

Im studying in lower saxony.

Sorry for my retarded english

>>827184
>We got way to much nitrate in agriculture fields

You can use Chenopodium album to uptake nitrates for cleaning soils.

fuck off to /b/, you retard(s)

>>827186

But there are too much nitrates because of liquid manure. In my area especially due to too many conventional swine barns. We even have to bring our manure far away because of that

>>827186
And we youse herbicids to that plant... I don´t know if someone could control this plant on his field, not to fuck up everything else.

>>827184
By water bodies I was referring mainly to fact that the rivers have been heavily modified to allow for cargo shipping (i.e. deepening and straightening of rivers), and some small tributaries in the Rhine-Ruhr area are essentially just transporting industrial wastewater. Pretty much the only rivers that aren't impacted are the headwaters in the Alps.

Have you done any work with the moors in Niedersachsen? They are also fairly depressing due to draining for agricultural purposes. Not sure how much that overlaps with your studies.

Next question, aside from the Harz and Wattenmeer, are there any good places to visit outside of the towns/cities in Niedersachsen?

>>827191
>conventional swine barns
The word you are looking for is slaughterhouse

>>827168
Where do you want to work when you graduate?

>>827191
>>827194
The "Chenopodium album" collects it from the soil. Then you cut it down and are able to dispose of it properly.

I think you call it "dirtweed"? not really sure, it is Lamb's quarter or pigweed or goosefoot in the USA. It is all over Europe too. When you are not using it for pollution you can eat it like spinach, it is really tasty.

>>827195

Ah ok. Thats probably right. But I don´t know much of it. May I should learn sth about it more.

My Hometown is next to a moor. Doesnt overlaps too much, but we also got a farm. So maybe I know something about it. Youre right, but way less than earlier in time. Today most of these areas are getting protected. But theres also a degrating in some others, where "Torf" (Peat?) is used in potting soils.

I think about places like "Lüneburger Heide" but its a sad story of a land, which got mostly destroyed by the use of it soil and humus

>>827197
I don´t know yet. Maybe in a forest inventory (stocktaking?) department

>>827191
>We even have to bring our manure far away because of that

Do you have a biomethane plant in your area to take the manure to?

>>827209

Yes, a lot. People even plant corn just for these to produce energy, what is in my sight a waste of land

>>827203
Yes, peat is the correct translation. It was used in the olden times as a fuel source, which is why many moors (peatlands) were drained. The problem is that once the moors are drained of water the peat begins to degrade and the entire ecosystem is in danger of collapsing. That's why there are so many projects to restore what moors are left.

Even now, peat it is commonly used as greenhouse substrate because it has very uniform characteristics due to only receiving nutrients from rain water.

It could be worse though, in Indonesia the farmer's just drain the moors and then light them on fire so that they can produce palm oil. Technically illegal, but it hasn't done much to curtail the problem. It is releasing huge amounts of CO2 and having health impacts on the people from all the smoke.

>>827209
Germany is big into biogas production

>>827215
>People even plant corn just for these to produce energy, what is in my sight a waste of land

Agreed.

Planting specifically for making methane is a waste. It needs to be used as a proper food crop then you use the manure and wastes from that for methane. So you get methane and fertilizer back from it.

>>827168
>op starts attention whoring thread that belongs on /b/ or /sci/
>gets blasted by /pol/itards

Is the field of forestry in Deutschland dominated by timber industry shills like it is in the US?

>>827218
Right. Palm oil is a big problem. They cut down tropical forests for that. But it´s too cheap to have an good alternative in food production. Palm oil is nearly in everything...

>>827225
True. But when these biogas machineries come out of the ground like shrooms and the price for corn is not that profitable theres for many people not really another way to make profit I guess. I even can´t understand my area why they produce so much renewable energy, that they cant use it in this amounts. There is/was nearly no limit in my place for building biogas etc. Renewable sources for energy are good, but other states should do it too.

>>827235
True story.

Sorry but I don´t understand the word shills.

>>827248
Should have never said I´m german.

>>827172
Is there any long term plan to try and restore German forests and reintroduce wildlife similar to what was done with the wisent?

>>827168

is it true that german ecology is ancient?

>>827278

I think no consequent plan, but in last time there were many discussions about bringing back the wolves and other predators. Would be great in my view, but I think there are many questions to solve. Also there arent many big non-separated forests anymore except national parks etc.

>>827283

You mean that we got places with untouched nature?

>>827168
more on the ecology side: are there issues with feral and/or invasive animals or plants?

Being from Southwest Florida, we have dozens of invasive non-native plants and many feral animals, notably hogs and pythons.