When forests are industrially logged, all that complexity is immediately lost, and clearcuts can be over 10 degrees warmer than a mature forest. This heat not only dries up these soils, but colder temps during the winter stunts the growth of things that regrow here.
Secondgrowth forests lack the complexity of understory vegetation of mature forests that stores moisture. The tight canopy may provide shade and reduced temperatures to the understory, but this lack of vegetative growth and rich soils doesn’t hold moisture well, and so these forests tend to dry out very quickly, making them more prone to drought which inadvertently stunts the growth of the trees growing here, increasing their stress and making them more prone to fire.
Ecological restoration of secondgrowth forests through thinning and planting of diverse species can increase the complexity of these forests to store more moisture, reducing drought and keeping temperatures more suitable for the native species here. Though it’s no substitute for preserving intact mature, complex forests in the first place, forest restoration like this can help increase the complexity and oldgrowth characteristics in simplified secondgrowth forests created through industrial logging to speed up their succession and create healthier forests more resilient to the impacts of anthropogenic climate change.
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