Tree growth in the Amazon

[Jim King]

I thought this might be interesting to those who have been hearing that once cut the Amazon will not grow back when cut and is going to become a desert. These photos show the change in two years after moving into our house. The largest trees are "Ficus" the same as you see in the corner of most offices in the States in a flower pot . We started these by sticking one foot tall broken off branches in the ground. The big white wall that you cannot see from this angle any more in completly covered by some flowering vine that looks like the lavender morning glory. In the early morning the wall is lavender. We planted the vines from wild seed to cover the wall as we could not keep paint on it.

[Art Mulder]

So that's like, 6' a year for those Ficus trees?

[Jim King]

Art: Out of curiosity I just measured them, 18 feet tall. Up town there are some ficus that were planted by the rubber barons over a hundred years ago and some are over 6 feet in dia. and must be 75 feet tall.

[Mark Rios]

When did Amazon start selling trees? Do you get free shipping on them also?









:D

[Jim King]

Mark: We only do business with the real Amazon not with that wanna be subsidiary up there.

[Jamie Buxton]

A few trees regrow quickly and easily from the stumps left by harvesting. This is true of the eucalyptus hybrid named lyptus, which is one of the reasons it is being grown in plantations in the Amazon. However, most root systems just die when the tree is harvested, or the regrowth is weak. For them, the only solution is seedlings. If you clear-cut a forest, many trees' seedlings don't grow because they're "tuned" for growing in a forest.

[Frank Fusco]

A few trees regrow quickly and easily from the stumps left by harvesting. This is true of the eucalyptus hybrid named lyptus, which is one of the reasons it is being grown in plantations in the Amazon. However, most root systems just die when the tree is harvested, or the regrowth is weak. For them, the only solution is seedlings. If you clear-cut a forest, many trees' seedlings don't grow because they're "tuned" for growing in a forest.

I can't speak with any personal knowledge of Amazon trees or birds. But, where I come from :D (North America) birds eat fruit and 'stuff' from trees then randomly deposit seeds while they are flying.
More specifically, where I live, if you don't mow a pasture for two years it will be covered with persimmon and sasafrass trees, voluntarily planted by birds and other critters. They don't need no 'blinkin' root systems. This method of reforestation has proven a boon to the brush hog business. ;)

[Norman Hitt]

That's sure a beautiful place you've got there, Jim, and "things" sure do grow faster there than they do in West Texas.;) :D

[Jim King]

Norman: Things are not as they seem here. The house we live in looks very nice but if it was located in the States it would not make code anywhere. It is about 4500 sq. ft. and cost $40,000. That about says it all. 25% of the fresh water passes within two miles of our house and there is no water or sewar from the city but the streets in front and behind have 3 feet of water in them when it rains. It is another lifestyle that my wife and I have adapted to over 25 plus years in the third world but it is not for everyone.

[Norman Hitt]

Norman: Things are not as they seem here. The house we live in looks very nice but if it was located in the States it would not make code anywhere. It is about 4500 sq. ft. and cost $40,000. That about says it all. 25% of the fresh water passes within two miles of our house and there is no water or sewar from the city but the streets in front and behind have 3 feet of water in them when it rains. It is another lifestyle that my wife and I have adapted to over 25 plus years in the third world but it is not for everyone.

I understand what you're saying, Jim. I traveled pretty much all over the world for many years, and was always amazed at how things were done in different parts of the world. Sewer, fresh water and then electricity always seemed to be among the weakest parts of the system, (roads not even considered):rolleyes: no matter what third world country I went to, but there were still many Beautiful sights and some fantastic construction in a lot of places that I would have never expected.

[Jim King]

Norman:

You got it right. I would have answered last night but we had a light breeze and knocked out the power. Then it rained and flooded the street but filled our water storage. Flooded the back yard so we searched out the land turtles with flashlights and got them to high ground. Got up this morning to no internet or telephone but it is now kind of working. I am going to Lima tomorrow night after dark due to too many buzzards on the runway in daylight. The ecologists say that the buzzards cannot be shot but if there weren’t people here making garbage there would be no buzzards and then we could have flights. Make sense ?¿

My wife bought me some new “Lee” blue jeans trying to shine me up for the trip.
The only thing about the jeans that was “Lee” was the fake label. She bought size 36 and I could not get them past my knees. She left with a tape measure and hopefully can find my size. And on it goes. Just another day in the Third World trying its best to get to the fourth world. The strange part is we like it and when we went home to Wisconsin a few months ago we were both uncomfortable and couldn’t wait to get out of there.

This is ironic. The above message was typed in Word four hours ago and I have not been able to get into the SMC site yet as it quit when I was typing but other sites working good. Its contagious. Now the rain clouds are moving in so I am going to loose electricity but it is day light so the turtles are easy to find.. Will keep trying. Now Saturday 1:00 PM Eastern Time. The same time here in Peru as Florida.

It is now sometime after three in the afternoon service was restored. Now 3:58 and am replying.

[Norman Hitt]

Jim, I got a chuckle about your Lee Jeans story, as it reminded me of a 30 hr crew rest/layover we had in Singapore one Christmas. I went shopping for a Crock Pot since I couldn't find one anywhere in Europe at that time and the ones from the states wouldn't work because of the wrong electrics. After I found one, I ran into my copilot, who was out clothes shopping, and we found a very nice clothing store in a "High Class Mall" in the large Hotel complex we were staying at. I was excited to find IZOD shirts in my size there, XLT (I was skinnier then):D , so I bought 4, but the first time I laundered them back in Belgie, they shrunk to less than 2/3 their original size,:( (even though they were supposed to not shrink). Heck, those Tall shirts wouldn't even come down to my belt line anymore, and fit tighter'n a womans corset, so I gave them to a friend for his 11 yr old son, who they fit perfectly. I didn't trust any of the Internationally known labels after that in overseas stores, and sure didn't do any more clothes shopping in Singapore.;) The Crock Pot worked Great though.:D