This photo of forest ‘crop circles’ has done the rounds online, with many wondering how
This photo of forest ‘crop circles’ has done the rounds online, with many wondering how this odd, yet beautiful forest stand came to be.The answer? Good ole’ forest experimentation.In 1973, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries planted these Cedar trees to assess the effect of tree spacing and density on tree growth. To achieve this, they planted trees in 10 degree radial increments, forming 10 concentric circles of increasing diameters.From the image, it is clear that one research question was definitively answered: tree density does indeed have an impact on tree growth.In fact, the height difference between the shortest tree (towards the centre) and the tallest tree (the perimeter) is around 5.3 metres. Of course, this makes perfect sense as more space equates to less competition for sunlight and water, and thus, favours growth.Japanese officials were planning to harvest the trees in about 5 years, but are now considering preserving the tree circles, given their new internet fame.JeanImage courtesy of FNN: https://www.fnn.jp/posts/735UMKThe forest on Google Earth (bit dark):https://www.google.com/maps/@31.7305586,131.3846029,356m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-JP - -- source link
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