Search

Forests are an essential part of the ecosystem and play an irreplaceable role in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem and protecting biodiversity. The monitoring of forest distribution plays an important role in the conservation and management of forests. This paper analyzes and compares the performance of imagery from GF-1 WFV, Landsat 8, and Sentinel-2 satellites with respect to forest/non-forest classification tasks using the random forest algorithm (RF). The results show that in the classification task of this paper, although the differences in classification accuracy among the three satellite datasets are not remarkable, the Sentinel-2 data have the highest accuracy, GF-1 WFV the second highest, and Landsat 8 the lowest. In addition, it was found that remotely sensed data of different processing levels show little influence on the classification accuracy with respect to the forest/non-forest classification task. However, the classification accuracy of the top of the atmosphere reflectance product was the most stable, and the vegetation index has a marginal effect on the distinction between forest and non-forest areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests are subject to a huge variety of often competing socio-economic demands and environmental change. This paper assesses the related conflicts that occur along what we label to be a "Global Forest Environmental Frontier". Assessing 11 contributions to a special issue on the same topic, it summarizes the main contents of these papers and concludes with an assessment of major trends. The contributions to the special issue take both a regional and topic-related approach, assessing forest environmental conflicts on all five forested continents and investigating issues such as forest biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, environmental justice and equity, development, and forest management and conservation discourses. Taken together, they provide an overview on the multiple facets of the Global Forest Environmental Frontier, but also identify some shared patterns and trajectories, which are outlined at the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1 Forested landscapes as multidisciplinary spaces contributing to all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (modified from Mansourian [12]) However, forest landscapes are under pressure with the loss of forest areas by conversion to other land uses and degradation of existing forests, and reduced biodiversity. The paper of Jandl et al. ([11]) considers the strategy of non-management and of the reliance solely on natural forest dynamics as an optimal approach for adapting forests to climate change. Forests and forest landscapes, characterised by dominant forest areas with other embedded land uses, fulfil multiple essential ecosystem services (ES). With this, forests and forest landscapes may lose their characteristic structural and ecological features, and societies worldwide face diminishing levels of ecosystem services provided by forest landscapes. [Extracted from the article]

Social forestry (SF) has long been implemented in production and protected forests in Indonesia. SF is considered to be a win–win solution for occupied and cultivated forest areas. The aim of this paper was to review the implementation of social forestry in Indonesia and its strengths and challenges. The secondary purpose was to synthesize the lessons learned and recommendations for the government about designing SF that can integrate the objective of forest biodiversity conservation and the social welfare of the surrounding communities. The study used a systematic literature review (SLR) of international and national peer-reviewed articles. The results of the study indicate that SF is intended to achieve benefits in three main areas: social, economic, and ecological. However, the review found that the ecological aspects of biodiversity conservation often receive less attention compared to the social and economic goals. A strong point of SF implementation is increasing community access to forest land use, while a challenge that must be resolved is that including communities in forest management can result in fragmentation and changes to animal habitats; thus, there is the potential for population decline and extinction. This study advises policymakers to pay more attention to ecological functions to ensure forest sustainability in SF development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prof. Liu Shirong, the associate editor-in-chief of the Journal of Resources and Ecology (JRE), was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) in 2023. He has made significant contributions to China's ecological civilization through his work in natural forest conservation, restoration, and multipurpose forest management. Prof. Liu has a PhD in forest ecology and has conducted research in this field for over thirty years. He has published numerous academic papers and led national-level projects. His work has been recognized with awards, including the Second Prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. [Extracted from the article]

Plant diversity is an important parameter in maintaining forest ecosystem services, functions and stability. Timely and accurate monitoring and evaluation of large-area wall-to-wall maps on plant diversity and its spatial heterogeneity are crucial for the conservation and management of forest resources. However, traditional botanical field surveys designed to estimate plant diversity are usually limited in their spatiotemporal resolutions. Using Sentinel-1 (S-1) and Sentinel-2 (S-2) data at high spatiotemporal scales, combined with and referenced to botanical field surveys, may be the best choice to provide accurate plant diversity distribution information over a large area. In this paper, we predicted and mapped plant diversity in a subtropical forest using 24 months of freely and openly available S-1 and S-2 images (10 m × 10 m) data over a large study area (15,290 km2). A total of 448 quadrats (10 m × 10 m) of forestry field surveys were captured in a subtropical evergreen-deciduous broad-leaved mixed forest to validate a machine learning algorithm. The objective was to link the fine Sentinel spectral and radar data to several ground-truthing plant diversity indices in the forests. The results showed that: (1) The Simpson and Shannon-Wiener diversity indices were the best predicted indices using random forest regression, with ȓ2 of around 0.65; (2) The use of S-1 radar data can enhance the accuracy of the predicted heterogeneity indices in the forests by approximately 0.2; (3) As for the mapping of Simpson and Shannon-Wiener, the overall accuracy was 67.4% and 64.2% respectively, while the texture diversity's overall accuracy was merely 56.8%; (4) From the evaluation and prediction map information, the Simpson, Shannon-Wiener and texture diversity values (and its confidence interval values) indicate spatial heterogeneity in pixel level. The large-area forest plant diversity indices maps add spatially explicit information to the ground-truthing data. Based on the results, we conclude that using the time-series of S-1 and S-2 radar and spectral characteristics, when coupled with limited ground-truthing data, can provide reasonable assessments of plant spatial heterogeneity and diversity across wide areas. It could also help promote forest ecosystem and resource conservation activities in the forestry sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-scale private forests cover large areas in Europe and often contain structures and habitats of high nature conservation value that are increasingly put under pressure due to a rising interest in fuelwood and wood products. We investigate the distribution of variables like living tree and deadwood volumes, management intensity, diversity and density of tree-related microhabitats recorded in 81 small-scale private forest parcels in the Lower Saxon Hills (northwest Germany). We provide an assessment of the influence of predictors like the individual forest owners' goals and activities, as stated by them in a quantitative survey, as well as landscape parameters like parcel size, slope, landscape fragmentation and forest continuity. Our results indicate that there are two types of structures of conservation value in small-scale private forests: slowly evolving structures (type A) like large-diameter living trees and tree-related microhabitats which mostly depend on landscape parameters that act on longer time scales, and fast evolving structures (type B) like deadwood that are influenced by both owner attitudes and landscape parameters. The resulting implications for integrative forest and conservation management are discussed. When considering the conservation of the slowly evolving type A structures, long-term commitments to conservation legislation, financial incentives and generation-spanning education of forest owners are necessary. Efforts to promote the faster evolving type B structures might prove particularly advantageous in small-scale private forests given the structural diversity of the stands, but also the often strong identification of owners with their land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A gamut of abiotic and biotic factors is related to the amount of above-ground biomass (AGB) produced in ecosystems. Some factors have direct and others indirect relationships with AGB. Detailed analyses in tropical forests are few but much needed for better understanding the potential impacts of global change drivers and for mitigating impacts. Here, we examined the relationship between AGB and different predictor variables and quantitatively evaluated their relative importance in lowland to lower montane deciduous and lower montane – montane evergreen forest types. We hypothesised that the relationship between AGB and climate, topography, structural diversity, species diversity (alpha and beta) and phylogenetic diversity would differ between the two forest types. We inventoried trees from 114 plots (each 0.1 ha) and used partial least square structural equation modelling to test the direct and indirect relationship between AGB and the predictor variables. We found that structural diversity variables, stem density and tree girth, were significantly and positively related to AGB in both forest types, displaying a stronger relationship in montane evergreen forests (w = 0.65 for density and 0.89 for tree girth). In the deciduous forest, alpha and phylogenetic diversity were also important factors, whereas beta and phylogenetic diversity were important in the evergreen forest. The effects of topography and climate varied between forest types, with elevation and precipitation being related to AGB directly and indirectly through their relationship with structural diversity. Our results suggest that structural diversity is a key driver of tropical forest biomass, both directly and indirectly. This fundamental understanding can aid in the predictive efforts of biodiversity conservation and forest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing forests for biodiversity conservation while maintaining economic output is a major challenge globally and requires accurate and timely monitoring of imperiled species. In the Pacific Northwest, USA, forest management is heavily influenced by the status of northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina), which have been in continued population decline for the past four decades. The monitoring program for northern spotted owls is transitioning from mark–resight surveys to a passive acoustic framework, requiring development of alternative analysis approaches. To maintain relevance for conservation and management, these analyses must accurately track underlying population changes, identify responses to disturbance, and estimate occupancy of owl pairs. We randomly selected and surveyed 5‐km2 hexagons for 6 weeks using passive acoustic monitoring in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington and the Oregon Coast Range during the 2018 spotted owl breeding season. We used a convolutional neural network to identify spotted owl calls, followed by logistic regression to determine the sex of vocalizing owls to assign pair status. We implemented multistate occupancy models to estimate probabilities of detection, species‐level landscape use, and pair occupancy of spotted owls. We also quantified detections of barred owls (Strix varia), a congeneric competitor and important driver of spotted owl population declines. The overall rate of hexagon use by spotted owls was estimated at 0.21 (SD 0.04) after adjusting for imperfect detection, and pair occupancy was 0.07 (SD 0.02). The probability of detecting a pair (i.e., both female and male) during a weekly occasion was relatively low (0.03, SD 0.01), indicating that true pair occupancy was between 1.3 and 4.1 times greater than the proportion of hexagons with observed pair detections. Barred owls were ubiquitous, with a naïve occupancy rate of 0.97. The intensity of calling by barred owls had a weak, negative effect on the probability of spotted owls being paired when present but had little measurable effect on their detectability. This work establishes a framework that may be effective for spotted owl population monitoring and illustrates that pairs have very low detection probability, which—combined with increasingly low numbers of spotted owl pairs—is an important consideration for conservation and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest management affects conditions for both early‐ and late‐seral organisms, and managers and conservationists require information for balancing the ostensibly opposing habitat needs of both these guilds. We conducted meta‐analyses that examined silvicultural systems with a range of postharvest retention and their impacts on mature‐forest and shrubland bird species densities in eastern North America during the breeding season. Densities of mature‐forest bird species generally declined as canopy tree retention and basal area decreased, although some mature‐forest species had similar densities among unharvested and partially harvested (e.g., first‐entry shelterwood) stands, and others had their highest densities in shelterwoods. We conducted a previous meta‐analysis study, which showed most shrubland bird species in the region increase with harvest intensity, but some shrubland species had similar densities in clearcuts and shelterwoods. Given the contrasting effects of harvest intensity on the two avian guilds, we used Partners‐in‐Flight conservation values to generate objective community‐wide conservation indices relative to postharvest tree retention. Clearcuts and shelterwoods typically had the highest conservation values, and unharvested and lightly thinned stands (70%–100% tree retention) had the lowest conservation scores. Many declining shrubland bird species of conservation concern are abundant in low‐retention stands, thus elevating the conservation value of these stands. Additionally, high conservation values of harvested stands with 40%–70% tree retention represent the presence of both shrubland and mature‐forest species; the latter are potentially responding to enhanced understory structure needed for avian nesting or foraging. In contrast, contemporary closed‐canopy forests in eastern North America are generally characterized by low structural diversity and are mid‐seral stands due to historical patterns of land use and tree harvesting. Although avian community conservation values were lowest in high‐retention stands and many other threatened, non‐avian taxa depend on open‐canopy, managed forests, managers should note that late‐seral, unharvested stands can provide important habitat for old‐growth‐dependent taxa and any intensive forestry should also take into account other factors. Considering the growing interest in using postharvest retention of canopy trees to meet ecological objectives, our novel synthesis can assist managers in assessing species‐specific and community‐wide avian responses to tree retention levels along the entire gradient of canopy treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of forest management on biodiversity is difficult to scrutinize along gradients of management. A step towards analyzing the impact of forest management on biodiversity is comparisons between managed and primary forests. The standardized typology of tree-related microhabitats (TreMs) is a multi-taxon indicator used to quantify forest biodiversity. We aim to analyze the influence of environmental factors on the occurrence of groups of TreMs by comparing primary and managed forests. We collected data for the managed forests in the Black Forest (Germany) and for the primary forests in the Western (Slovakia) and Southern Carpathians (Romania). To model the richness and the different groups of TreMs per tree, we used generalized linear mixed models with diameter at breast height (DBH), altitude, slope and aspect as predictors for European beech (Fagus sylvatica (L.)), Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.)) and silver fir (Abies alba (Mill.)) in primary and managed temperate mountain forests. We found congruent results for overall richness and the vast majority of TreM groups. Trees in primary forests hosted a greater richness of all and specific types of TreMs than individuals in managed forests. The main drivers of TreMs are DBH and altitude, while slope and aspect play a minor role. We recommend forest and nature conservation managers to focus: 1) on the conservation of remaining primary forests and 2) approaches of biodiversity-oriented forest management on the selection of high-quality habitat trees that already provide a high number of TreMs in managed forests based on the comparison with primary forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Applied Ecology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

With 20% of the world's forests, Russia has global potential in bioeconomy development, biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. However, unsustainable forest management based on 'wood mining' reduces this potential. Based on document analysis, participant observations and interviews, this article shows how non-state actors—environmental NGOs and forest companies—address forest resource depletion and primary forest loss in Russia. We analyse two key interrelated forest discourses driven by non-state actors in Russia: (1) intensive forest management in secondary forests as a pathway towards sustained yield and primary forest conservation; (2) intact forest landscapes as a priority in primary forest conservation. We illustrate how these discourses have been integrated into policy debates, institutions and practices and discuss their relation to relevant global discourses. The article concludes that despite successful cases in conserving intact forest landscapes, there is still a frontier between sustainable forest management discourses and forestry practice in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The previous studies show soil microbes play a key role in the material and nutrient cycles in the forest ecosystem, but little is known about how soil microbes respond to plant distribution, especially in the soil bacterial community in woody bamboo forests. Cephalostachyum pingbianense (Hsueh & Y.M. Yang ex Yi et al.) D.Z. Li & H.Q. Yang, 2007 is known as the only bamboo species producing shoots all year round in natural conditions. Endemic to the Dawei mountain in Yunnan of China, this species is a good case to study how soil bacteria respond to plant endemic distribution. In this work, we assayed the soil chemical properties, enzyme activity, changes in the bacterial community along the distribution range of the C. pingbianense forest. The results showed that soil nutrients at the range edge were nitrogen-rich but phosphorus-deficient, and soil pH value and soil urease activity were significantly lower than that of the central range. No significant difference was detected in soil bacterial diversity, community composition, and function between the central and marginal range of C. pingbianense forest. Notably, the relative abundance of heterotrophy bacteria, such as Variibacter and Acidothermus, in the soil of the C. pingbianense forest was significantly higher than that of the outside range, which may lead to a higher soil organic carbon mineralization rate. These results imply that abundant heterotrophy bacteria were linked to the endemism and full-year shooting in C. pingbianense. Our study is amongst the first cases demonstrating the important role of heterotrophy bacteria in the distribution formation of endemic woody bamboos in special soil habitats, and provides insight into germplasm conservation and forest management in woody bamboos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]