How Christmas tree farms can help wildlife
A few years after the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests started a Christmas tree farm, Nigel Manley, who oversaw the operations, began noticing some interesting developments among the rows of fragrant balsam and Fraser fir trees lining the land.
In the spring, areas around the younger trees attracted ground nesters such as bobolinks – songbirds that migrate to and from South America – killer deer and woodcock, who took advantage of the open spaces to conduct their courtship flights and raise their young. Deer hid their fawns in long grass. Waxwings and robins nested in older trees, and their young fledged many months before harvest. Mice and voles that lived on the land attracted foxes and migratory birds such as kestrels and harriers, which feasted on the cornucopia whenever the grass was mown.
In these climate-perilous times, when the cooling and oxygen-generating properties of trees have never been more highly valued, it seems counterintuitive to support their felling. Yet the ecological benefits of real Christmas trees is why many environmentalists endorse them over the petroleum-based fake versions shipped from half a world away.
Christmas tree farms can function much like young forests, says Andy Finton, a forest ecologist at the Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts. For every tree harvested, two to three saplings are generally planted, and according to Jill Sidebottom, a spokeswoman for the National Christmas Tree Association, Christmas tree farms are often grown on otherwise unused farmland, allowing growers to preserve their green spaces.
“They take carbon out of the atmosphere,” Mr. Finton said of the trees. “They purify the air and in many cases also the drinking water. They keep the landscape undeveloped and prevent impervious surfaces by providing economic incentives to landowners.”
With intense development pressure and accelerating loss of natural forests, he says, tree farms can provide habitats for wildlife, especially birds and mammals that prefer open spaces at forest edges.
a German study Research published last year shows that conifer plantations can provide important refuges for four threatened species of agricultural birds: the linnet, the tree pipit, the woodlark and the yellowhammer. Where ground cover is used, pollinating insects can benefit. Ten years ago, researchers documented 80 plant species on North Carolina tree farms, including milkweed growing waist-high at the edges of fields, attracting 17 genera of bees and predatory insects that gobble up tree pests.
Tom Norby, president of the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association, said a small portion of trees are harvested each year, leaving about 90 percent growing and available for animals. On his own farm, he has seen deer, rabbits, a pygmy owl, bears, coyotes and mountain lions, which follow elk foraging in his fields when the mountain ranges are covered in snow.
Support for farms is not universal. Nathan Donley, director of environmental health at the Center for Biological Diversity, said a real tree is far preferable to a plastic one, and that Christmas tree farms are ecologically superior to golf courses or sports fields.
But he said the large tree farms, especially those in the Pacific Northwest, tended to be tightly packed, single-crop plantations. Although food crops are generally sprayed more often per year, he said he was concerned that the longer growing cycle of Christmas trees could mean a heavier, cumulative amount of pesticides that could end up in nearby rivers or streams. “You’re really grasping at straws for species that benefit from it,” said Dr. Donley. “In the interest of efficiency, sustainability takes a back seat.”
Still, Bert Cregg, a professor of horticulture and forestry at Michigan State University, said that while pesticide use varies by species and by region, Christmas tree growers generally want to minimize use of the chemicals. . Pesticides are expensive, he said, and many growers live locally and don’t want to be exposed. He also said increased use of cover crops such as clover lowered soil temperatures and attracted nitrogen, reducing the need for fertilizers.
Between 2013 and 2018, Christmas tree growers in North Carolina reported a… 21 percent reducing the use of pesticides. Mr Norby also said the use of insecticides is declining.
By the time trees reach consumers, experts agree, there is only minimal residual pesticide left. There are also organic growers who offer untreated trees.
As to whether it is advisable or ethical to cut down trees, David Mizejewski, a naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation, said Christmas trees should be viewed as an agricultural commodity.
“I grew up thinking the same thing: ‘Oh no, killing the tree is bad,’” Mr. Mizejewski said. But that “urban environmentalist” attitude, he said, amounted to a simplified view of the complexities of life and death on this planet. “Just like you eat broccoli, you kill the broccoli plant, right?” he said.
After Christmas, he said, many churches break down Christmas trees for compost or use them as strongholds against beach erosion. They can be sunk into ponds for fish habitats or broken up offer a place to stay for backyard critters.
“None of this is to say that a Christmas tree farm is a substitute for pristine nature,” Mr Mizejewski said. “I encourage people to look at things through an ecological lens, where everything has a life cycle. And what’s more important is that while it’s alive, it actually contributes to that ecosystem.”