Publicação
Behaviour of degradable tree shelters in an agro-forestry environment
| Resumo: | Tree shelters help tree establishment by offering advantages such as protection against browsing by animals and better growth and survival of trees. They have widely been used in agroforestry, forestry, landscaping and gardening since their first development more than 30 y ago. The material used for manufacturing is very stable an offers stability against the weathering conditions in forests or the open land. However, after their functions have been completed, tree shelters often do not degrade fast enough. Additional costs are needed to take them off and also to dispose them according to the legal specifications. Some manufacturers thus started to develop tree shelters, that degrade on site not leaving any dangerous residues (so-called third generation of tree shelters). Accelerated laboratory ageing testing to determine the degradation profile is not felt to be reliable. Therefore, real field testing of the whole product life cycle of the treeshelters is necessary. Our investigation shows first results of degradable tree shelters after < 3 y on site in open field conditions. The manufacturer has set up various experimental plots in the Black Forest (South-western Germany) in a reforestation site with oaks. 5000 plants have been protected with 50 different types of degradable tree shelters. The product finally developed offers precise time-dependent degradation while meeting with standard criteria for tree shelters like protection, transparency, stability and sufficient ventilation. |
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| Autores principais: | Hein, S. |
| Outros Autores: | Parbhoo, B.; Hammer, A. |
| Assunto: | agroforestry tree shelters |
| Ano: | 2014 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | outro |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade de Lisboa |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa |
| Resumo: | Tree shelters help tree establishment by offering advantages such as protection against browsing by animals and better growth and survival of trees. They have widely been used in agroforestry, forestry, landscaping and gardening since their first development more than 30 y ago. The material used for manufacturing is very stable an offers stability against the weathering conditions in forests or the open land. However, after their functions have been completed, tree shelters often do not degrade fast enough. Additional costs are needed to take them off and also to dispose them according to the legal specifications. Some manufacturers thus started to develop tree shelters, that degrade on site not leaving any dangerous residues (so-called third generation of tree shelters). Accelerated laboratory ageing testing to determine the degradation profile is not felt to be reliable. Therefore, real field testing of the whole product life cycle of the treeshelters is necessary. Our investigation shows first results of degradable tree shelters after < 3 y on site in open field conditions. The manufacturer has set up various experimental plots in the Black Forest (South-western Germany) in a reforestation site with oaks. 5000 plants have been protected with 50 different types of degradable tree shelters. The product finally developed offers precise time-dependent degradation while meeting with standard criteria for tree shelters like protection, transparency, stability and sufficient ventilation. |
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