Today, the answer to the burning issue that has been keeping you awake at night - why is it so hard to get young Cypress trees to grow? Well the answer is Lavender and symbiotic fungi.
Lavender and Mushrooms.
According to the latest research by the Institut de Recherche Pour le Developpment, the Cypress tree has a symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi.
Mycorrhizae are symbiotic associations that form between the roots of most plant species and fungi. These symbioses are characterized by bi-directional movement of nutrients where carbon flows to the fungus and inorganic nutrients move to the plant, thereby providing a critical linkage between the plant root and soil. In infertile soils, nutrients taken up by the mycorrhizal fungi can lead to improved plant growth and reproduction. As a result, mycorrhizal plants are often more competitive and better able to tolerate environmental stresses than are non-mycorrhizal plants. In the case of the Cypress, the micro-fungi that helps the tree's roots uptake water, nitrogen, and phosphorous from the surrounding soil.
But wait - there's more!
In the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, several species of lavender and thyme are also associated with Cypress. These shrubs appear to enhance soil productivity, which in turn, helps spur growth of Cypress trees. All of which turns out to be the key to Cypress reforestation in Morocco. Cypress reforestation efforts are unsuccessful without the dual cultivation with lavender and fungi.
"Increased understanding of the process of natural regeneration of cypress trees has allowed the application of this new method of replanting of this species in the Moroccan High Atlas," claims the Institut de Recherche Pour le Developpement "In the sites that must be re-wooded, bands of lavender were planted in strips of earth built up perpendicularly to the slope so as to retain water. The cypress saplings were planted the following year. The first results confirm the beneficial role lavender has on these young plantations: their mortality after one year proves to be very low and soil erosion remains limited."
The researchers next plan to look at the role of other shrubs in creating optimal growing conditions for other tree species.
While we are on about Cypress....
Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov has ordered a forest planted to change his desert nation's climate - the latest of the autocratic leader's elaborate projects that include an artificial lake and an ice palace. Niyazov said that the new "millennial" cypress forest will cover an area of 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles).
Last time The View from Fez checked, desert covered 80 percent of Turkmenistan 's territory and summer temperatures reached 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).
"The climate will improve considerably if we do that," Niyazov told a Cabinet meeting that was televised Tuesday. "The cypress tree, lives a thousand years. This will be a millennial forest."
He said that each ministry will have an allocated area where it will have to plant a certain number of trees within three years. The 20-kilometer (12-mile) -wide and 50-kilometer (31-mile) -long forest outside the capital Ashgabat must grow by 2015, Niyazov said.
Niyazov also ordered that the construction of an artificial lake in the middle of the Kara Kum desert that began in 2001 be sped up.
"We need to finish the construction of the Turkmen lake and start filling it with water. This will change the flora, nature and boost livestock breeding," he said.
An ice palace is being built near the capital under Niyazov's orders. Last year he expressed an interest in building a ski resort.
We wish him well with his plans and hope he reads the info about lavender and mushrooms.
UPDATE: Damn! I knew we shouldn't have wished Niyazov well - he died a couple of weeks ago. Our thanks for the very quick blogger, BO18, who informed us of the tragic news! So, as Niyazov has checked out, check out BO18 instead.
PREVIOUS LITTLE KNOWN FACT: Little known facts about Morocco #4576!
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
1 comment:
Euh well, its kind of late to wish him well.
He died a couple of weeks ago ;)
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