Method of compressing and freezing forest floor material for re-vegetation
A method of revegetating a forest is provided, including the steps of: collecting a volume of forest floor material; wetting the volume of material with a wetting agent; compressing the wetted forest floor material; freezing the compressed forest floor material; separating the frozen forest floor material into a plurality of smaller pieces; storing the frozen pieces in a frozen environment; and distributing at least a portion of the pieces on land to be revegetated.
1. A method of revegetating a forest, comprising the steps of:
mechanically collecting forest floor material comprising seeds and vegetative propagules of plant life in the forest;
wetting the forest floor material with a wetting agent;
mechanically compressing the wetted forest floor material;
freezing the compressed forest floor material;
separating the frozen forest floor material into a plurality of frozen pieces having a volume of less than 1 m 3 ;
storing the frozen pieces in a frozen environment; and
distributing at least a portion of the pieces on land to be revegetated.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the forest floor material is wetted with the wetting agent such that the step of freezing the compressed forest floor material creates a frozen solid mass of forest floor material that retains a compressed shape until separated.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the wetting agent comprises water.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the wetting agent comprises water and fertilizer.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the wetting agent comprises an emulsifier.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of freezing the compressed forest floor material comprises freezing the forest floor material using atmospheric conditions.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of freezing the compressed forest floor material comprises freezing the forest floor material using refrigeration.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the freezing is performed within 90 days of the collecting.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein a growing medium is used in distributing at least a portion of the pieces on land to be revegetated.
10. A method of preserving forest floor material, comprising:
wetting collected forest floor material with a wetting agent, wherein the forest floor material comprises seeds and vegetative propagules;
mechanically compressing the wetted forest floor material;
freezing the compressed forest floor material;
separating the frozen forest floor material into a plurality of shapes having a volume of less than 1 m 3 ; and
storing the separated forest floor material in a frozen environment.
11. A method of revegetating a forest, comprising:
mechanically collecting forest floor material comprising seeds and vegetative propagules of plant life;
wetting the material with a wetting agent;
mechanically compressing the wetted forest floor material;
placing the forest floor material into a plurality of containers;
storing the forest floor material in the plurality of containers; and
distributing at least a portion of the forest floor material on land to be revegetated.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the plurality of containers comprises bags.