Which tree species are best suited for reforestation?
This question was answered by forester Elena Schmidtmeyer in an interview:
It is important to plant tree species that are equipped for climate change. In other words, those that are thermophilic and can cope with less precipitation, such as Norway maple, bird cherry and service tree. Foreign tree species can also be mixed in to a lesser extent, e.g. Douglas fir, red oak and sweet chestnut. A healthy mix is best here. However, no tree species should be completely ruled out, but rather seek specific advice should from the specialist at the respective location and the local climate forecasts should be taken into account.
Which type of tree binds the most CO2?
In principle, the storage capacity of an individual tree always depends on its height, diameter, wood density and age. If you examine a beech and a spruce of the same height and diameter, you can see that the beech can bind 40% more carbon than the spruce. This is due to the significantly lower wood density of the spruce. It is therefore possible to draw up a kind of ranking list of tree species in terms of their CO2-binding capacity. Beech, chestnut, lime and cherry trees store the most, while conifers such as spruce, pine and fir store significantly less. Looking at the entire forest stand, the decisive criterion for the carbon sequestration of trees is stability. Only a stable forest can bind CO2 in the long term and stable forests are mixed forests. Studies have shown that mixed forests bind twice as much CO2 as pure forests.
And which tree species are particularly bee and insect-friendly?
The willows are definitely the most valuable species. They are considered the most valuable bee forage in the forest. As willows are one of the first major food sources in the course of the year, they are particularly important. Many butterfly species are also dependent on willows. For example, the female and male of the large fritillary butterfly usually meet to mate on willows. Other important tree species for insects are the Norway maple, lime, black locust, bird cherry and wild apple.
The background to the interview:
We are committed to reforestation. One way of doing this is to make donations and to plant trees. On the other hand, we also contribute to making the topic of “reforestation” more visible to the general public. We interviewed forester Elena Schmidtmeyer and filmed a series of video clips with her that answer many interesting questions on the subject.
Why do we get involved and how exactly do we do it? Please read our separate article here.
Would you like to watch all the videos with forester Elena Schmidtmeyer now? You can already find them on our YouTube channel.
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