Originally Posted by
Roody
Yeah, here in Michigan and many other parts of the world, trees are going to grow by themselves if you just don't cut them down. In 20 years, a $10 sapling is going to be a nice shade tree with no fertilizer, irrigation, or anything.
It would certainly be interesting to do an experiment where all mowing and pruning is stopped in a city, to see what the city looks like after 5, 10, 20, 50 years. Idk how fast the growth of organic systems would go, but I'm pretty certain it would be non-zero, assuming no efforts were made to prevent it.
Also, btw, biomass growth without artificial interventions like watering, fertilizing, planting, etc. is important to reforestation because it allows ecologies to re-establish according to the resources naturally available to them and adapt. Using energy to pump water for irrigation, make and transport fertilizer, transport and plant saplings, etc. might be good in some instances to jump-start the process, but ultimately it's better to allow reforestation to occur as naturally as possible, e.g. by allowing established local varieties to multiply and spread, possibly transplanting seeds/acorns and leaves across paved areas where they won't naturally reach across.