The cantonal road between Viteboeuf and Ste-Croix (VD) will reopen on Monday after a closure of two months. Significant wooden cuts, carried out above Viteboeuf, have permanently impacted the landscape. They were precipitated by climate change, explains the Directorate General of the Environment (DGE) of the canton of Vaud.
“We have cut almost all the big trees, mainly beech trees, on the bottom of the Viteboeuf coast,” explains the forest inspector, martial of Montmollin, in Keystone-Ats. “As we saw that these trees were going to die in the medium term, we took advantage of the closure of the road for work, so as not to have to close it again for wooden cuts.”
Between 400 and 500 trees, or 500 cubic meters of wood, were thus slaughtered. In addition to beech trees, these are also a few pines, fir trees and maplers. The high mortality of these trees is explained by droughts due to climate change, combined with the specifics of the place.
Surface soil
“We are here facing a complex terrain: the ground is very superficial, since it consists of rock covered with a little humus and it is oriented due south. The trees have very few reserves and cannot endure the repetitive droughts of recent years” continues the specialist.
However, it was the presence of the road that precipitated the cuts. “With trees, especially beech trees, you can have the impression that they are doing very well, that they are all green, and two weeks later they are in the article of death. It is very dangerous. So we had to cut this forest for the safety of motorists,” he concludes.
Let nature
To replace lost plants, the DGE has decided not to replant trees, but to let nature do it. The foresters will however take care of protecting the new shoots from the surrounding chamois population.
In all cases, the metamorphosis of the forest landscape is irreversible. “We are not going to let them the trees become large because it is too dangerous for motorists. It will rather be a bushy forest or young trees”, Martial de Montmollin.
Faster than anticipated
If the canton had taken measures for a few years to adapt the forests to climate change, it was speeded up. “The droughts are more intense than what we had imagined. We do not have time to gently adapt the forest by promoting certain species, because we have massifs which die in one go,” notes the expert. The situation is particularly tense in the Jura forests, probably due to the limestone soils that dry out easily.
Ultimately, the whole landscape will evolve. “Basically, all essences will rise 500 meters,” sums up Martial de Montmollin. The trees of the plain forests, such as beech trees, maples and ashs, will gradually replace the conifers on the highs of the Jura. The latter, like the spruce, will rather find their place in the Alps, while oaks, lime trees and ash trees should settle in the forests of Plaine.
This article was published automatically. Source: ATS