Latest comments posted about China’s “green deserts” on ChinaDialogue en-gb http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1604-China-s-green-deserts- http://staging.chinadialogue.net/images/cdlogo.gif http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1604-China-s-green-deserts- Great article. Sorry that I have been reading it 6 months later. It would be funny that the olympic games couldn't take place because of the lack of the last poplars going to be planted along the main three line avenue driving to the stadium. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:55:17 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1604#comment-7541 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1604#comment-7541 1. Not all artifical boards made from Poplars are short-lasting 2. Fast-growing poplars can consume more CO2 3. I don't know how this comment can be made: "the short life-span of poplar products mean they do not fix carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for any significant length of time, unlike furniture or building materials made with quality woods, which can last a century or more". As far as I am concerned, the major element in wood is fibre, a kind of carbohydrate. 4. Each wood has its own features, so there is no such thing as better or worse quality. My email is: hongxiaowan@gmail.com Welcome to exchange ideas Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:30:10 -0500 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1604#comment-6961 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1604#comment-6961 Gaoming Jiang points out that poplar-based plywood can be readily manufactured from monoculture poplar plantations and sold profitably. This is a short-term economic gain but as he also notes the wholesale replacement of China’s native, mixed-species tree cover with monoculture poplar plantings can have some long-term undesirable ecological effects. To add to his list of undesirable effects, here are a few others. Widespread, poplar monocultures are unlikely to provide the varied habitats needed to support growth of the wide range of medicinal plants collected in the wild. Many of these medicinal plants require a natural habitat of mixed species in order to thrive, and especially to produce the particular chemicals desired in traditional medicines. Birds and other wildlife species play key roles in seed dispersal and thus in the natural spread of forest, shrub, and other vegetation and their associated beneficial effects of slowing soil erosion. Monoculture forests reduce the range of habitats for birds and other wildlife and thereby reduce the environmental and economic benefits people derive from wildlife seed-dispersal. Forest and wildlife ecologists probably can point out additional adverse impacts that such extensive poplar monocultures can generate. On the other hand, monoculture-plantation operators probably could benefit from the advice of such scientists during the design phase to avoid long-term negative consequences. W. Parham parham305@aol.com Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:52:06 -0500 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1604#comment-6887 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1604#comment-6887