{"id":3233,"date":"2020-09-06T06:42:58","date_gmt":"2020-09-06T06:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/?p=3233"},"modified":"2020-09-07T07:08:52","modified_gmt":"2020-09-07T07:08:52","slug":"what-will-happen-to-the-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/en\/animal_plants\/what-will-happen-to-the-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"What will happen to the trees?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Forests in Israel\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/79FPQigS_JA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In its early\nyears, most of the State of Israel was a sparsely vegetated region with a very\nlow tree cover. Especially further in the south close to the desert edge, the\nenvironmental conditions were not particularly favorable for human habitation.\nHowever, thanks to unprecedented tree-planting efforts, mainly during the\n1950s, 60s, and 70s, the country&#8217;s face was utterly transformed. Thriving\nforests can now be found in large parts of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a research collaboration between Keren Kayemet LeYisrael &#8211; the Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) and the Institute of Plant Sciences at the Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, researchers set out to shed light on how the forests of the country have been developing since their cultivation in the 1950s and 60s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/43274086381_fbdc1fa7b7_o-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/43274086381_fbdc1fa7b7_o-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/43274086381_fbdc1fa7b7_o-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/43274086381_fbdc1fa7b7_o-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/43274086381_fbdc1fa7b7_o-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/43274086381_fbdc1fa7b7_o-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>In its early years, most of the State of Israel was a sparsely vegetated region with a very low tree cover. Thriving forests can now be found in large parts of Israel. Photo by Gary Todd on Flickr.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>First-generation\nforests <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the\nKKL-JNF forests that were planted during Israel&#8217;s early days are now between 50\n\u2013 70 years old, which means they are fully-grown and mature. Some of those\nforests, which consist predominantly of pine trees, can even be considered\naging forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese are\nall first-generation man-made forests, so we actually don\u2019t really know how\nthey are going to develop and function in the future, or how much longer they\nare going to persist,\u201d says Dr. Yagil Osem, a plant researcher at the Institute\nof Plant Science at the Volcani Center and head of the research study. \u201cSo the\nmain question we were asking at the outset of the study was \u2018what is happening\nwith those first-generation forests? What are the trends? Are they still developing?\nAre they declining? Are they able to regenerate and establish the next forest\ngeneration by themselves?\u2019\u201d, he continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According\nto Osem, when JFN-KKL began planting trees around 70 years ago, the initial\nidea was to manage the forests as commercial forests, which means that each\nstand of planted trees has a rotation age of roughly 60-70 years. After that,\nthe trees would be cut down and replanted to establish the next forest\ngeneration. &#8220;However, around the early 2000s, the whole concept of forest management\nin Israel changed, and new policies were introduced. The new focus lies on\nsustainability and the natural dynamics of regeneration and development of the\nforests. The trees are considered an integral part of a complex ecosystem and\nare no longer regarded and managed as timber stocks,&#8221; Osem explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;With the departure from commercial-like forestry, I would say that now, we manage the forests as semi-natural systems that are complex, biodiverse, and capable of self-regeneration.&#8221; Ultimately, we want them to turn into resilient, adaptive, and self-sustained systems, which is a big scientific and professional challenge,&#8221; he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/29483225314_8639cc7dcc_o-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3238\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/29483225314_8639cc7dcc_o-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/29483225314_8639cc7dcc_o-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/29483225314_8639cc7dcc_o-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/29483225314_8639cc7dcc_o-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/29483225314_8639cc7dcc_o-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Most of the KKL-JNF forests that were planted during Israel&#8217;s early days are now between 50 \u2013 70 years old, which means they are fully-grown and mature. Photo by nafrenkel88 on Flickr.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Rain\nsupreme<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to\nunderstand how the planted pine forests have been developing and functioning in\nthe different regions of Israel, the study had to consider various\nenvironmental factors, including geology, topography, and climate; most\nimportantly, rainfall patterns. While the center and the south of Israel see\ncomparatively little rain, the study has shown that no other factor impacts the\nhealth, growth, and reproduction of the local trees as much as the yearly\nrainfall \u2013&nbsp; and the differences in\nrainfall amount throughout the country are substantial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nresearchers monitored a wide range of forested areas, from the northern Negev\nin southern Israel that receives as little as 250 mm of average annual rain up\nto the Upper Galilee in the north that receives as much as 850 mm of rain per\nyear on average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According\nto Osem, the amount of rain is the &#8220;one overriding factor throughout the\nentire rainfall gradient of Israel,&#8221; determining forest development and\nstructure, including the planted trees and the surrounding vegetation like\nshrubs, vines, and herbs. This includes various aspects such as tree size, the\ndensity of tree cover, level of tree reproduction, regeneration and mortality,\nthe number of different tree species (native broadleaf trees: primarily the\ncommon oak along with various others), the density and growth of native\nbroadleaf trees, and many more. &#8220;Our findings have shown that all of those\naspects increase with increasing rainfall amount.&#8221;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;For\nthe study, we had a large setup of more than 100 plots of mature pine forest\nthroughout the country, which we monitored by ground surveys along with\nsatellite imagery. &#8220;The plots were situated on various bedrock types with\nindividual topographic aspects and at elevations ranging from 40 to 800 meters\nabove sea level&#8221;, Osem says. &#8220;However, none of these parameters have\nproven to be as crucial as the amount of rainfall,&#8221; he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Based on our findings, some of the forests in Israel are still growing while others are in a state of stagnation or even declining. Generally speaking, if we look at the environmental conditions, it is quite safe to say that most of the forests in areas that receive more than 600mm of rain per year are still growing. At the same time, many of the forests that grow in areas with less than 400mm of rain per year tend to decline,&#8221; says Osem. Forests that grow in between show mixed behavior lacking a clear trend,&#8221; he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/441084510_cca3fd4f8f_o-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3242\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/441084510_cca3fd4f8f_o-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/441084510_cca3fd4f8f_o-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/441084510_cca3fd4f8f_o-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/441084510_cca3fd4f8f_o-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/441084510_cca3fd4f8f_o-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>According to Osem, the amount of rain is the &#8220;one overriding factor throughout the entire rainfall gradient of Israel,&#8221; determining forest development and structure, including the planted trees and the surrounding vegetation like shrubs, vines, and herbs. Photo by Amir Yalon on Flickr<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Pine\ntrees: &nbsp;less planting but more natural\nregeneration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the\nfact that precipitation turned out to be the single-most-important parameter of\nthe study, the scientists have also found that natural pine tree regeneration\ncannot just be limited to rainfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAt an\nannual amount of about 400 mm and more of rain, pine trees can regenerate\nnaturally, at which point you very quickly get all different kinds of\ngeneration levels mainly depending on bedrock type,\u201d says Osem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According\nto Osem, young forests that were planted on soft calcareous bedrock types\ndeveloped better than those planted on hard bedrock types. This is because soft\nbedrock can absorb and store water more efficiently than hard bedrock, where\nthe water quickly percolates through the cracks into the deep ground. &#8220;The\ninteresting thing we see now in our mature forests is that as the years went\nby, this relationship has shifted. Forests that were planted on hard bedrock\nare now still developing, while many of the forests that were planted on soft\nbedrock are already declining.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Osem stresses that this finding is just one of the many complex variations in forest development that the researchers are beginning to notice. The overall picture is much more complicated and needs further in-depth research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"685\" src=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/8121528626_1215ae1eb5_o-1024x685.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3246\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/8121528626_1215ae1eb5_o-1024x685.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/8121528626_1215ae1eb5_o-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/8121528626_1215ae1eb5_o-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/8121528626_1215ae1eb5_o-1536x1028.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/8121528626_1215ae1eb5_o-2048x1371.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Young forests that were planted on soft calcareous bedrock types developed better than those planted on hard bedrock types. Photo by StateofIsrael on Flickr.<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Planting\nmore native broadleaf trees?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According\nto Osem, JNF-KKL is hardly planting any new pine trees and has almost\ncompletely switched to planting broadleaf trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Here\nin Israel, we have a variety of naturally occurring broadleaf trees like Oak\nand Pistacia which regenerate naturally within our pine forests in areas above\n400 mm of annual rain. Further down south, where the climate is drier, other\nbroadleaf species like Carob and Ziziphus are planted. &#8220;The JNF-KKl often\ndoes that with the help of water harvesting methods concentrating the water\naround the trees,&#8221; Osem explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We\nhave arrived at a point where we have to decide how we are going to manage our\nforests in the future, with respect to both human needs and environmental\nconstraints such as climate change and increasing drought. &#8216;Do we want to\nrecreate pine forests? Do we want to establish different forest structures\nbased mainly on native broadleaf trees or a mixture of conifer and broadleaf\ntrees? Do we want nature to take its course?&#8217;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;What\nI want to highlight,&#8221; Osem continues,&#8221; is that deciding what kind of\nforest to establish or how to manage a specific forest area always depends on\nour objectives and targets. According to the new forest policy of Israel, each\nforest area should be managed under predefined management objectives. Seven\ndifferent forestland designations direct these objectives and instruct the\nmanagement policy. For example, forestland can be managed for recreational\nactivities, specific cultural or natural assets, or other purposes, such as\nfire break zones. Some of the forest areas are managed specifically for\nresearch purposes, like the forest plots we&#8217;ve been working with. So depending\non the forestland designation, specific management decisions have to be\nmade.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Osem\nemphasizes that the country\u2019s forests have entered a transitional phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Forestry in Israel was always about creating new forests. But now we have them. So the goal now is to manage them in the best way possible, which means we have to change our way of thinking and consider our management goals. All of the first-generation planted trees will sooner or later reach their end, some in 10 years from now, others in 30-40 years. But in order for the forests to persist and flourish, we need to manage their transition into their next phase. To do this in the best way, we need to keep monitoring our forests and keep a close eye on their aging processes on the one hand, and their reproduction and regeneration on the other hand,&#8221; he concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This ZAVIT article was also published in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/j-spot\/the-future-of-trees-in-israel-641194\">The Jerusalem Post<\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/health-science\/the-environmental-tariff-of-drinking-water-637947\" target=\"_blank\">&nbsp;<\/a>on 09\/06\/2020.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In its early years, most of the State of Israel was a sparsely vegetated region with a very low tree &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":3250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"post-meta-fields":{"_edit_lock":["1599462532:11"],"_thumbnail_id":["3250"],"_oembed_761273f3c0fb69ed160f8c9a774d229f":["<iframe title=\"Forests in Israel\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/79FPQigS_JA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>"],"_oembed_time_761273f3c0fb69ed160f8c9a774d229f":["1599374562"],"_edit_last":["11"],"subtitle":["In hardly any other country of the world has planting trees changed the landscape and the living conditions as much as it did in Israel. In an ongoing research study on the country\u2019s forests, researchers are looking for an answer to the question: \u201cHow will Israel manage and preserve its forests in the future?\u201d"],"_subtitle":["field_59d3d36ea7fe1"],"_wpml_media_duplicate":["1"],"_wpml_media_featured":["1"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3233"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3263,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3233\/revisions\/3263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}