Wollastonite is actively used in forestry research (for over 20 years in New Hampshire) with some profound benefits:
- Increases tree & shrub growth to reverse forest decline
- Enhances the health of coniferous and deciduous trees
- Cleans water balances acidic ph and lowers heavy metals and phosphorus levels
- No adverse effects observed to date
- Reduced soil aluminum levels & improved calcium levels
In 1999, The Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) reserve in New Hampshire began a long-term study by adding 1.2 tonnes per hectare to approximately 35 hectares in size.
Interestingly the research to date has focused on the role of calcium as a replacement for limestone to supply calcium. The amount of wollastonite used in this experiment was calculated to double the amount of calcium in the forest system. Choosing wollastonite has likely increased the amount of available silicon in the system up to 100x times (our speculation for highly weathered soils probably deficient in plant-available silicon). Without looking at silicon, there is a large gap in the research that focuses on measuring, monitoring, and evaluating calcium impacts. We hope the researchers can break new ground by including silicon cycling and the effects silicon has on the forest system.
Click here to see summaries and links to related studies
