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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]

This paper presents spider faunistics from abandoned coppice oak forest stands located along the South Moravia region. Spiders were collected from May to July 2012 by pitfall trapping at eight different localities. We collected 1945 adult spiders representing 20 families, 53 genera, and 90 species. More than one-third of all the species are known to be xerothermophilous with ecological restrictions to open and partly shaded habitats such as forest-steppe and sparse forests which belong to endangered habitats along central Europe. The most abundant species were Pardosa alacris, P. lugubris and Arctosa lutetiana from the family Lycosidae. In the surveyed area, 24 species were found listed in the Red List of Threatened Species in the Czech Republic (CR -- 1 species, EN -- 2 species, VU -- 15 species, LC -- 6 species). In general, we discovered a substantially diversified spider community with a large presence of rare and endangered species characteristic for open and xeric habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and use of acoustic recording technology, surveys have revealed the composition, relative levels of activity, and preliminary habitat use of bat communities of various forest locations. However, detailed examinations of acoustic surveys results to investigate temporal patterns of bat activity are rare. Initial active acoustic surveys of bat activity on the Quabbin Reservoir watershed in central Massachusetts recorded high numbers of call sequences by five bat species. The results showed the importance of aquatic and open habitats for bats in this diverse forest landscape. Because the preliminary surveys were restricted in extent (habitats), number (replicates), and duration (active surveys only, limited number of repeated surveys), the authors strongly recommended more comprehensive and extensive surveys of bat activity on the area. This paper reports the results of active (manual) and passive (automated) acoustic bat activity surveys in three replicates of ten habitats, conducted three to four times per year over the course of the study between 2004 and 2006. Over the full study, 2,800 actively-recorded 37,632 passively-recorded call sequences were examined and identified to species when possible. General patterns in activity did not differ by habitat between the two survey methods. Call sequences were recorded more often in open, especially aquatic habitats than in cluttered habitats. The use of passive surveys allowed for the assessment of temporal patterns of activity and an analysis of the relationship between ambient temperature and activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the protection of forest-interior species in both natural forest islands and anthropogenic forest fragments knowledge on the size of forest-core areas is a central issue. In an intact mosaic of semi-deciduous forests and savanna in the Comoé National Park 31 forest islands were selected (2.1-146.1 ha). Values for the depth-of-edge influence (DEI) of the study area recently published range from 0 m up to nearly 150 m. Thus, core-area analysis was carried out for this range in 5 m steps. For a DEI of 55 m—e.g. computed for tree-species composition of large trees—half of the total forest area can be considered as core area, but only 9 of the studied forest islands still contained a relative core area (rCA) of more than 50%. From non-linear regression it was estimated that for a DEI of 55 m an rCA of 50% can be expected for forest islands with a size of 36.6 ± 7.6 ha. This value increased exponentially with increasing DEI. The GIS-based core-area analysis presented in this paper proved to be suitable to give a well interpretable overview on rCA with respect to varying DEI, and we recommend to incorporate this type of analysis in existing GIS-tools. As the presented study is the first sound core area analysis at forest islands in West Africa, data contribute to a better understanding of this field of ecology that is of high relevance for planners and decision makers to protect biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precise knowledge about factors influencing the habitat suitability of a certain species forms the basis for the implementation of effective programs to conserve biological diversity. Such knowledge is frequently gathered from studies relating abundance data to a set of influential variables in a regression setup. In particular, generalised linear models are used to analyse binary presence/absence data or counts of a certain species at locations within an observation area. However, one of the key assumptions of generalised linear models, the independence of observations is often violated in practice since the points at which the observations are collected are spatially aligned. In this paper, we describe a general framework for semiparametric spatial generalised linear models that allows for the routine analysis of non-normal spatially aligned regression data. The approach is utilised for the analysis of a data set of synthetic bird species in beech forests, revealing that ignorance of spatial dependence actually may lead to false conclusions in a number of situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International forest policies have recently increased the focus on involvement of local communities in forest monitoring and management as a strategy to improve biodiversity conservation efforts and local livelihood in developing countries. However, little is known about feasible methods, costs and accuracy of participatory monitoring schemes in developing countries. This paper examines the costs, accuracy and local reproducibility of three simple cost—effective methods for monitoring forest disturbance by local participants: (1) 20-trees method, (2) Bitterlich gauge method and (3) Disturbance Checklist transect. Using one of these methods the costs of monitoring forest habitats are only between US$ 0.04 and 0.12 ha-1 annually, depending on the methods used, this is significantly cheaper than the costs of traditional scientific methods for biodiversity monitoring. Results indicate that local community members without former scientific training can collect accurate data on habitat loss and forest disturbance after only a few days of introduction to the methods, and thereby contribute with valuable information for natural resource management. The strengths and weaknesses of monitoring done, respectively, by local community members and educated biologists, respectfully, are discussed. It is suggested that these approaches should be seen as supplements to each other rather than substitutes. Finally, it is argued that monitoring schemes in developing countries can be sustained after donor funds have ceased only if the local communities play a central role and clear financially and/or socially incentives for members of the local community are incorporated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the cumulative effects of the actions of multiple owners have long been recognized as critically relevant to efforts to maintain sustainable forests at the landscape scale, few studies have addressed these effects. We used the HARVEST timber harvest simulator to predict the cumulative effects of four owner groups (two paper companies, a state forest and non-industrial private owners) with different management objectives on landscape pattern in an upper Michigan landscape managed primarily for timber production. We quantified trends in landscape pattern metrics that were linked to Montreal Process indicators of forest sustainability, and used a simple wildlife habitat model to project habitat trends. Our results showed that most trends were considered favorable for forest sustainability, but that some were not. The proportion of all age classes and some forest types moved closer to presettlement conditions. The trend for the size of uneven-aged patches was essentially flat while the average size of patches of the oldest and youngest age classes increased and the size of patches of the remaining age classes decreased. Forest fragmentation generally declined, but edge density of age classes increased. Late seral forest habitat increased while early successional habitat declined. The owners use different management systems that cumulatively produce a diversity of habitats. Our approach provides a tool to evaluate such cumulative effects on other landscapes owned by multiple owners. The approach holds promise for helping landowner groups develop and evaluate cooperative strategies to improve landscape patterns for forest sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska, USA, includes the Alexander Archipelago and narrow North American mainland, comprising one of the largest remaining, largely pristine, coastal temperate rainforest in the world. Management of the Tongass has become increasingly challenging because of expectations of a conservation framework designed to maintain viable populations of native wildlife species while decades of extensive clearcut logging of old‐growth forests has continued. We used the findings of multiple published studies conducted on the Tongass from 1998 to 2017 to examine 4 assumptions of its wildlife conservation strategy (WCS): forest planning assessments of wildlife viability were realistic, forest management and conservation policies are implemented at appropriate ecological scales, old‐growth reserves are effective habitat conservation areas and ensure functional connectivity, and forest‐wide standards and guidelines ensure sufficient habitat for sensitive species in managed landscapes. Several ecological field studies, population and spatial analyses and modeling, and statistical analyses revealed that wildlife viability assessments to evaluate forest plan alternatives underestimated the risk of extinction by only examining individual vulnerable species rather than considering joint probabilities across multiple species; the ecological scale of management and conservation policies do not adequately consider area‐sensitive vulnerabilities of island communities as evidenced by the increasing risk of extirpation of island endemics whose populations have become isolated and reduced; old‐growth reserves are unlikely to maintain viable populations of endemic small mammals in isolation or as functionally connected metapopulations; and a spatially explicit analysis of individual home ranges demonstrated that forest‐wide standards and guidelines provide about half the breeding habitat needed by a federally listed endemic raptor, the Queen Charlotte goshawk (Accipiter gentilis laingi), of which only half of that is secure. Thus, assertions that the WCS is properly functioning as designed are dubious because a comprehensive monitoring plan has not been implemented and vital underlying assumptions are not supported by available science. We recommend 3 forest management and conservation policy adjustments: limit size and location old‐growth forest harvests, restore forests through intermediate stand management of second growth, and conduct a formal review of WCS elements and assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests provide a wide variety of ecosystem services (ES) to society. The boreal biome is experiencing the highest rates of warming on the planet and increasing demand for forest products. To foresee how to maximize the adaptation of boreal forests to future warmer conditions and growing demands of forest products, we need a better understanding of the relative importance of forest management and climate change on the supply of ecosystem services. Here, using Finland as a boreal forest case study, we assessed the potential supply of a wide range of ES (timber, bilberry, cowberry, mushrooms, carbon storage, scenic beauty, species habitat availability and deadwood) given seven management regimes and four climate change scenarios. We used the forest simulator SIMO to project forest dynamics for 100 years into the future (2016–2116) and estimate the potential supply of each service using published models. Then, we tested the relative importance of management and climate change as drivers of the future supply of these services using generalized linear mixed models. Our results show that the effects of management on the future supply of these ES were, on average, 11 times higher than the effects of climate change across all services, but greatly differed among them (from 0.53 to 24 times higher for timber and cowberry, respectively). Notably, the importance of these drivers substantially differed among biogeographical zones within the boreal biome. The effects of climate change were 1.6 times higher in northern Finland than in southern Finland, whereas the effects of management were the opposite—they were three times higher in the south compared to the north. We conclude that new guidelines for adapting forests to global change should account for regional differences and the variation in the effects of climate change and management on different forest ES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Litter weevil communities were investigated in two different types of montane forest in Ecuador: foothill evergreen forest, present in the Otongachi Integral Reserve between 800 and 1000 m, and tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), present in the Otonga Integral Reserve between 1600 and 2300 m. Sampling was conducted along elevation gradients, applying the entomological sifting method to 19 sampling transects (11 in Otonga and 8 in Otongachi). The taxa collected were identified as morphospecies, since the majority of them are still undescribed. A total of 510 specimens were sampled, belonging to 100 different morphospecies, 85 of which were found in Otonga and 15 in Otongachi. No species in common between the two areas were found, despite the fact that the distance is extremely small (approximately 12 km). The Otonga area, regardless of primary or secondary forest habitats, had higher mean species richness. In both areas, the majority of species were found in a small number of stations and were sampled in a small number of specimens. A dominant and ubiquitous species was present only in Otongachi. The analysis of the community composition was carried out according to different categories of environmental variables (Otonga vs. Otongachi, forest type, elevation, litter and canopy coverage characteristics). Two well-differentiated coenoses were found, influenced firstly by the differences between the two reserves, secondarily by the elevation gradient and, to a lesser extent, by the forest type and other environmental variables. Some morphospecies characteristic of a specific type of biocoenosis could be identified. The study highlighted how most litter weevil species are strictly associated with a peculiar microhabitat and have a very narrow elevation and spatial range; the weevil communities can be strongly affected by heavy human impact. The results confirm that the tropical forests, in particular the TMCFs, host great biodiversity and that the majority of species are strictly associated with a single site; therefore, particular protection for these habitats should be granted. However, the non-significant variation between primary and secondary TMCFs indicates that, when correct management is carried out, a limited disturbance can be tolerated with only a limited loss of biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensive forest and agroforestry management has greatly reduced the biodiversity of saproxylic organisms. Large trees are one of the most important refuges of saproxylic beetles. These large trees that grow outside and inside the forest are declining in the wider landscape. Heritage trees are one of the essential groups of beneficial trees in the landscape. We investigated saproxylic beetles associated with 35 selected oak heritage trees in Litovelské Pomoraví in the eastern Czech Republic. The study aimed to investigate the distribution of saproxylic beetles on trees growing inside or at the edge of forest stands, or on free-growing heritage trees. The other studied variables were the height, DBH, and light condition (sunny or shady) of heritage trees. The results showed that sunny habitats were the only significant factor found for all saproxylic species. However, the significance of increasing tree trunk dimension was found for the endangered species. Diversity indices q = 0 (species richness) and q = 1 (exponential of Shannon entropy index) were also higher for sunny trees, while solitary trees showed a high Shannon index value despite the low number of samples. Redundancy analysis of saproxylic species showed that the preferred habitats of most species were sunny massive solitary oaks. The results indicated that strictly protected heritage trees scattered in the landscape are crucial sanctuaries for many species—especially in landscapes where there are not enough suitable habitats for saproxylic beetles. Finding, conserving, and protecting these rare types of massive trees in the landscape has a significant impact on the conservation of saproxylic beetle biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calicioids are a group of lichenized and non-lichenized fungi that are superficially similar to each other in appearance. Many members of this group tend to be restricted to old-growth forests, for which they have been used as indicators. However, the definition of old-growth varies among jurisdictions and forest types. In addition, variables other than tree age, which is often used to define old-growth, have been postulated to be important for influencing the presence of calicioids (e.g., continuity, scale, and ecological and structural variability). These variables, in combination, can be taken to indicate something about forest condition, particularly its ecological integrity. To understand better the ability of calicioids to serve as indicators of forest condition, we recorded the number of species in 51 stands across a chronosequence in Canada's most homogenous forest ecosystem with the most frequent natural disturbance regime; the boreal forest. We restricted our sampling spatially and temporally in stands with similar tree cover and soil type. We recorded the number of species and biomass of all lichens in each stand along with forest stand attributes. We constructed 13 competing models to explain calicioid species diversity and show that stand age is important, but only in combination with stand condition. The strongest positive correlations were between calicioid density and lichen biomass and richness. Therefore, calicioid diversity appears to be a good indicator of habitat condition or conservation value in the boreal forest, which includes continuity. Similar research in other forest types that are more heterogeneous and have longer natural disturbance regimes will help build a better understanding of how calicioids can be reliably used as indicators of forest quality more broadly for conservation purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production of marketed commodities and protection of biodiversity in natural systems often conflict and thus the continuously expanding human needs for more goods and benefits from global ecosystems urgently calls for strategies to resolve this conflict. In this paper, we addressed what is the potential of a forest landscape to simultaneously produce habitats for species and economic returns, and how the conflict between habitat availability and timber production varies among taxa. Secondly, we aimed at revealing an optimal combination of management regimes that maximizes habitat availability for given levels of economic returns. We used multi-objective optimization tools to analyze data from a boreal forest landscape consisting of about 30,000 forest stands simulated 50 years into future. We included seven alternative management regimes, spanning from the recommended intensive forest management regime to complete set-aside of stands (protection), and ten different taxa representing a wide variety of habitat associations and social values. Our results demonstrate it is possible to achieve large improvements in habitat availability with little loss in economic returns. In general, providing dead-wood associated species with more habitats tended to be more expensive than providing requirements for other species. No management regime alone maximized habitat availability for the species, and systematic use of any single management regime resulted in considerable reductions in economic returns. Compared with an optimal combination of management regimes, a consistent application of the recommended management regime would result in 5% reduction in economic returns and up to 270% reduction in habitat availability. Thus, for all taxa a combination of management regimes was required to achieve the optimum. Refraining from silvicultural thinnings on a proportion of stands should be considered as a cost-effective management in commercial forests to reconcile the conflict between economic returns and habitat required by species associated with dead-wood. In general, a viable strategy to maintain biodiversity in production landscapes would be to diversify management regimes. Our results emphasize the importance of careful landscape level forest management planning because optimal combinations of management regimes were taxon-specific. For cost-efficiency, the results call for balanced and correctly targeted strategies among habitat types. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The formation of tree-cavities is an important ecological factor since many animals in woody habitats are cavity users. Recent research focuses on tree-cavity formation and the associated cavity networks in forest ecosystems. However, although traditional European orchards are important habitats for secondary cavity users, ecological research on the factors associated with the occurrence of cavities in fruit trees is widely missing. In particular, fruit tree pruning management may affect decay-cavity formation due to the pruning wounds allowing heart rot and decay to enter the tree. Here, we present a cross-sectional study investigating 608 fruit trees in 30 study plots of three European fruit-growing regions to identify factors associated with decay-cavity occurrence in fruit trees. Presence of decay-cavities was positively related to trunk diameter. Moreover, fruit trees of low vitality and with woodpecker-cavities featured more often decay-cavities than trees of high vitality or without woodpecker-cavities. Apple trees featured higher numbers of cavities at younger age than other fruit trees. Occurrence of decay-cavities was also related to the past removal of large main branches. Accordingly, traditional orchards are cavity-rich habitats if they comprise high proportion of old fruit trees, in particular apple trees, and if pruning management produces large pruning wounds. Thus, differential tree pruning and fruit-growing traditions across Europe result in different cavity densities in traditional orchards. Preservation of existing and potential cavity trees and selective removal of large branches from apple trees are recommended as conservation measures establishing high cavity densities and increasing the associated biodiversity in the agricultural landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The conservation of biodiversity in Europe is defined by Directive 92/43/EEC – commonly known as the Habitats Directive – relating to the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna. This Directive established the creation of an ecological network of European protected areas – the Natura 2000 network – , and also recognised the need to manage these areas to maintain their “favourable conservation status”. This paper proposes a methodology which enables the conservation of biodiversity to be integrated into the management of Natura 2000 forest spaces. The methodology comprises an “environmental diagnosis” in three phases. The first phase evaluates the current conservation status of habitats using the following criteria: vital functions; floristic richness; forest structure; area occupied by the habitat; and recovery capacity. The second phase assesses the fragility of the space to determine the degree of vulnerability of habitats. This involves evaluating the fire hazard, erosion hazard, and the fragility of the vegetation. The last phase combines the two previous ones to generate management areas (optimum, intermediate or unfavourable) and to prioritise management actions. This methodology was applied in a protected forest area in the Natura 2000 network, located in Avila (Spain). Different management areas were generated for biodiversity conservation, and each habitat was associated to one of them. Finally, actions were prioritised and designed to raise the habitats to a “favourable conservation status”. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Forestry Chronicle is the property of Canadian Institute of Forestry 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.)

Abstract: A perennial issue for land use policy is the evaluation of landscape biodiversity and the associated cost effectiveness of any biodiversity conservation policy actions. Based on the CUA methodology as applied to species conservation, this paper develops a methodology for evaluating the impact on habitats of alternative landscape management scenarios. The method incorporates three dimensions of habitats, quantity change, quality change and relative scarcity, and is illustrated in relation to the alternative landscape management scenarios for the Scottish Highlands (Cairngorms) study area of the BioScene project. The results demonstrate the value of the method for evaluating biodiversity conservation policies through their impact on habitats. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study addresses questions pertaining to the effective use of habitat suitability models as tools for biodiversity assessment in forest management. Specifically, it discusses, in relation to recent literature, how habitat suitability models could be made more accountable for the multidimensionality of the biodiversity concept, means to generalizing single-species models and addressing population viability, and how to integrate habitat suitability models and forest management planning. Single-species models dominate in the literature, but working with many species, e.g. the focal species concept, provides a feasible option to broaden the conceptual scope of habitat suitability models as tools for biodiversity assessment. The advent of spatially explicit models scaled to the ecologies of species has made habitat suitability models better able to deal with habitat quality and to identify and quantify functional habitat at different spatial scales. The output of habitat suitability models as spatial templates for the simulation of population dynamics is increasingly used to address population viability. Linking species’ habitat requirements with landscape projection models and scenario analysis is the important next step to take in order to make habitat suitability models more efficient as planning tools in forest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While animals may use many habitat types, relatively few are preferred and fewer yet are superior in quality (referring to individual fitness as the measure of quality). Historical reduction in habitat quality for some wildlife species has occurred such that we may now have limited reference to original superior-quality habitats. As time passes, managers may be unaware that superior habitats are slowly disappearing and that the slow but cumulative change is significant to a species at the population level. The perception of superior quality habitat also changes with each successive generation of managers based on their experiences. This paper raises the concern that retrospective work may often be required to determine past forest habitats and associated animal populations to avoid the risk of falling into a trap of not recognizing ever-declining habitat quality through time and relegating animals to what is in fact much poorer quality habitat than those to which they are actually best adapted. Further, the relationship between relative abundance and habitat quality may often be uncertain owing to maladaptive habitat selection by animals, inappropriate survey timing or inter-annual population differences. While we have begun to appreciate aspects of habitat selection for many forest species, few data are yet available that relate selected habitats to fitness of individual animals. Hence, while we may have models to predict habitat use, considerable research remains to be done to be able to predict long-term sustainability of species in managed landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sierra Leone constitutes the western boundary to the West Africa Upper Guinea Rainforest, one of 35 global biodiversity hotspots. The country is home to the third‐largest western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) population, a subspecies upgraded to Critically Endangered on the 2016 IUCN Red List. The main threats facing chimpanzees in Sierra Leone are habitat loss and increasing interactions with humans. The Mobonda Community Conservation Project (MCCP) is a component of Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary's Community Outreach Program and Kids Environmental Education Program. The aim of MCCP is to promote community‐based forest management in combination with wildlife conservation through carefully designed programs that benefit communities, wildlife, and ecologically significant habitats. MCCP also aims to promote self‐sustained and integrated community landscape conservation, to facilitate policy discussions to strengthen wildlife laws, and to build the capacity of the Government to implement community‐based wildlife and forestry protection projects. Since Tacugama began collecting data in Moyamba District in June 2015, the project has evolved into an assembly of components. MCCP currently works with five communities, running programs including environmental education, ecological research, biomonitoring including wildlife law enforcement, habitat rehabilitation through reforestation of identified wildlife corridors, improved sustainable livelihoods, and ecotourism initiatives. These programs contributed to a reduction in the threats facing wildlife in the area; the project has seen stable chimpanzee numbers where decrements to chimpanzee populations continue to be experienced elsewhere. Other MCCP outcomes include boosted sustainable agricultural production and higher oyster yields while decreasing the negative impact on the mangrove ecosystem allowing it to recover and support an array of important fauna and flora. Highlights: The Mobonda Community Conservation Project aims to promote community‐based forest management in combination with wildlife conservation through programs that benefit communities, wildlife, and ecologically significant habitats.Main components of the project include environmental education and sensitization, wildlife and habitat assessments, biomonitoring, reforestation and sustainable and alternative livelihood support.Threats facing wildlife have reduced with stable chimpanzee populations recorded over 5 years. Other outcomes include higher oyster yields while decreasing the impact on mangroves allowing them to support other important fauna and flora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of habitat enhancements is typically assessed by subsequent monitoring of the focal taxonomic group. However, enhancement actions are likely to affect other, non-targeted species. On a south-facing slope in the Swiss Jura mountains, a mixed-forest stand was thinned out by irregular removal cuttings to improve the habitat conditions for reptiles. We used this enhancement action as a case study to monitor changes in the macrofungal community that came along with it. During 3 years before and after forest thinning, the site was visited between six and twelve times per year. Thereby, all apparent fungal species were recorded along a ringlike transect, split into 32 transect sections. We used site-occupancy models to estimate fungal species richness and abundance. These models allow to separately estimate occurrence probability and detection probability of species, and to account for differences in detection probability, depending on habitat and season. After the forest thinning, the occurrence probabilities of ectomycorrhizal and saprobic fungi were significantly higher than before. As a result, we estimated a mean increase in overall species richness by 4.4% (median 4.3%, CI 2.1–6.8%) and an increase in abundance by 20.0% (median 19.9%, CI 14.8–25.7%). The two major habitat changes associated with forest thinning, the decrease in living wood and the increase in dead wood on most transect sections, could not explain the whole extent of the estimated increase in species richness and abundance. We believe that forest thinning may have fostered fungal species richness by creating a larger density and diversity of suitable microhabitats. With some caution, we conclude that the small-scale habitat enhancement for reptiles at the Bolberg, creating islands of open forest, did not negatively affect species richness and abundance of macrofungi, a non-targeted species group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standing and downed deadwood at different stages of decay provides a crucial habitat for a wide range of organisms. It is particularly abundant in unmanaged forests, such as strictly protected areas of national parks and nature reserves. The present work used the available data for such sites in Poland, analyzing a total of 113 studies concerning 79 sites to determine the causes contributing to variation in deadwood volume based on the duration of conservation, changes in deadwood volume over time (for those sites which were examined multiple times), elevation above sea level, forest type, stage of forest development, input of dead trees from the years preceding deadwood measurements, live tree volume, and the proportion of downed to standing deadwood). Depending on species composition and site altitude, most tree stands fell into one of four categories: subalpine spruce forests, montane beech-fir forests, low altitude beech-fir forests, or oak-hornbeam and riparian forests. The mean deadwood volume for all forest types amounted to 172.0 m3/ha. The mean volume of deadwood in montane beech-fir forests (223.9 m3/ha) was statistically significantly greater than in the other three forest types, for which it ranged from 103.5 to 142.5 m3/ha. A direct effect of the duration of conservation on deadwood volume was not identified. Nevertheless, analysis of repeated measurements on the same sample plots at 10-year intervals showed a consistent rise in mean deadwood volume. A linear regression model for all the analyzed factors reported from montane beech-fir forests and subalpine spruce forests showed that in addition to site altitude, another statistically significant variable was the input of dead trees (R2 = 63.54%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Botany is the property of Canadian Science Publishing 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.)

We used Species Distribution Modeling to predict the probability of Iberian pine (Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii [Dunal] Franco) occurrences in southern Spain in response to environmental variables and to forecast the effects of climate change on their predicted geographical distribution. The ensemble modeling approach "biomod2" was used, together with present Iberian pine data, to predict the current potential distribution based on bioclimatic explanatory variables (200 m resolution) and to forecast future suitability by studying three periods (2040, 2070, and 2100), considering the Global Circulation Models BCM2, CNCM3, and ECHAM5, and the regional model EGMAM, for different scenarios (SRAB1, SRA2, SRB1). Model evaluation was performed using Kappa, True Skills Statistic (TSS), and Area Under the Curve (AUC) values. The biomod2 approach highlighted the average number of days with a minimum temperature equal to or below 0°C, annual precipitation, and aridity index as the most important variables to describe the P. nigra occurrence probability. Model performances were generally satisfactory and the highest AUC values and high stability of the results were given by GAM and GLM, but MaxEnt and the SRE model were scarcely accurate according to all our statistics. The ensemble Species Distribution Modeling of P. nigra in Andalusia predicted the highest probability of species occurrence in the eastern areas, Sierra de Cazorla being the area with the highest occurrence of P. nigra in Andalusia. In the future habitat, the general probability of P. nigra occurrence in Andalusia will decrease widely; the species is expected to lose habitat suitability at moderate altitudes and its occurrence probability will have decreased by nearly 70% on average by 2100, affected by the selected scenario. Populations in Sierra de Cazorla are those most suitable for P. nigra growth, even under the most pessimistic scenarios. It is likely that the natural southern populations of P. nigra will be very sensitive to changes in climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Overall species richness in habitat remnants is seldom explained by the island biogeography theory ( IBT). In this study, we tested the effectiveness of the IBT in explaining species richness of forest birds with or without considering the effect of the different forest specialization of species ( generalist, edge and interior; community analysis). We also identified single species and groups of species that could serve as indicators of different fragmentation degrees (indicator species analysis). Location Broadleaved forests in western Lombardy (northern Italy). Methods We evaluated bird species richness in 344 forest fragments. Fragment area ( FA), distance from the nearest source area (> 1000 ha) ( DSA) and number of neighbouring fragments ( NF) were calculated for each fragment. Using Poisson generalized linear models, we compared a model that evaluated the relationships between fragment covariates and species richness to a model that also considered the effect of forest species specialization on each relationship. Moreover, we investigated the association between each species and particular fragmentation conditions by calculating the IndVal index. Results The application of the IBT to species richness performed significantly better if we took into account forest species specialization when evaluating the effect of fragment covariates. In particular, the positive effects of FA and NF and the negative effect of DSA were significantly stronger on interior species rather than on generalist and edge species. Using the IndVal index we identified six species in three groups strongly associated with specific fragmentation degrees. Main conclusions The results showed the strong influence of the specialization of species on their distribution in fragmented landscapes. Interior species were the best candidates as a proxy of fragmentation effects. However, the indicator species analyses revealed that not all interior species showed the same sensitivity to fragment covariates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To account for ecological objectives in forest management planning, potential habitats need to be mapped, characterized and evaluated for utility in alternative management practices. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is increasingly used to derive predictive maps of habitat quality. Unlike ecologically driven approaches that require spatially and temporally co-located training data of the specific species, we tested whether indicative information on the habitat potential could be obtained by means of an unsupervised classification of ALS data. Based on a literature review, altogether five ALS features quantifying vegetation height, cover and diversity were expected to capture the essential variation in the habitat requirements of western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus L.) and hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia L.), which are the most important game birds occurring in the studied area. The features were extracted from sparse density, leaf-off ALS data at a resolution of 256 m² and partitioned using an unsupervised k-means algorithm. By analysing the persistence of the cluster ensemble formed by the partitioning, altogether 158 plots in 16 structural classes were assigned for field measurements to determine which real-world forest phenomena affected the clustering. The clustering was found to stratify the area mainly in terms of size-related attributes such as timber volume and basal area. The under storey, shrub and herb layers had less correspondence with the clustering, indicating that an unsupervised classification is not directly suitable for habitat mapping. The result was improved using empirical threshold values for the ALS features determined according to the plots labelled as the most potential habitats in the field measurements. This semi-supervised classification of the data indicated 4 per cent of the total forest area as suitable for the specific species, which appears a reasonable estimate of the core area of the habitats considered. Overall, the partitioning formed aggregated, stand-like spatial patterns, even though the neighbourhoods of the individual 256 m² cells were not considered at all. The result could be further refined by spatial optimization to produce indicative maps for forest management planning with ALS as the sole data source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forest area in Ukraine covers 10.4 million ha, including commercial forests (37.9 %); protective forests (32.9%); recreational forests (15.3%); natural reserves, and forests for scientific, historical and cultural purposes (13.9%). The annual wood increment is 35 million m3, timber harvesting is about 20 million m3 (85% of which resulting from clear cutting). The tendencies towards forest-resistance decrease, caused by excessive forest exploitation, require the transition to the implementation of a close-to-nature forestry management strategy, first of all, at intensively used hardwood forests, with a view to preserving the natural habitat and biodiversity. A shift is needed from the so called "reforming cuttings", to the selective system of forestry management, cultivation of uneven-aged mixed forest with multilayer, vertically and horizontally closed structure on the basis of natural seed regeneration. Preservation and target-oriented forests restoration are determined by the necessity to recover their ecological functions and sustained forest exploitation. Therefore, it is important to implement forest restoration and preservation, close-to-nature forestry principles, as well as a multi-purpose forest management system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organisms sharing the same habitats may differ in small-scale microhabitat requirements or benefit from different management. In this study, set in Italy, we focused on two species of high conservation value, the cerambycid beetle R osalia alpina and the bat B arbastella barbastellus, which often share the same forest areas and in several cases the same individual trees. We compared the potential distribution and, at two spatial scales, the niches between such species. The predicted distributions largely overlapped between the beetle and the bat. The niches proved to be similar on a broad scale, yet not on the plot one. Compared with B . barbastellus, R . alpina tends to occur at lower altitude in more irradiated sites with lower canopy closure and uses shorter trees with wider diameters. B . barbastellus occurred more often in trees within forest or along its edges, whereas R . alpina lays eggs in trees found in clearings. B . barbastellus plots were more frequent in forest, R . alpina plots in forested pasture and open-shredded forest. Overall, exposure to sun influenced more critically site and tree selection by R . alpina, as a warm microclimate is essential for larval development. Although B . barbastellus reproduction may be favored by warmer roosting conditions, bats may also find such conditions in dense forest and in strongly irradiated cavities high up in tall trees that project above the canopy. We emphasize that subtle differences in the ecological requirements of syntopic taxa could be missed at broad scales, so multiple-scale assessment is always advisable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential effects of increasing herbicide use on vegetation communities and wildlife habitat have implications for biodiversity conservation and sustainability. We examined the response of understory vegetation to a gradient of plantation establishment intensity 6-8 years after planting in southern Mississippi, USA. Treatments were combinations of mechanical site preparation, chemical site preparation, and banded or broadcast herbaceous weed control. We compared species richness, coverage, and diversity indices for seven vegetation growth forms. Increasing pine coverage appeared to be the primary driver of vegetation change during this period. Herbaceous vegetation coverage declined each year in concert with increasing slash and litter coverage. Vines and woody species comprised most understory vegetation cover; woody species richness and coverage increased each year in all treatments. Mechanical site preparation maintained greater vegetation diversity and coverage than chemical site preparation at crown closure; the effects of different herbaceous weed control regimes were no longer detectable. Our results suggest that the influence of intensive stand establishment regimes, particularly chemical site preparation, can persist to crown closure. However, effects on wildlife habitat quality during this period were slight, and managers interested in promoting biodiversity should concentrate on managing for a variety of early succession communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Current decision analysis techniques are ineffective for planning thinning operation to improve the forest structure. Aims: The purpose of this study is to use multi-coefficient goal programming (GP) to plan a thinning schedule that allows more carbon sequestration and diverse forest structure. Methods: A multi-coefficient GP is applied to plan a thinning schedule for a 2,633-ha plantation forest. Results: This technique efficiently fine-tunes the thinning schedule to obtain 420,500 tons of carbon sequestration which was a little higher than the result by a multi-segment goal programming (MSGP). Moreover, a fixed-ratio multi-coefficient GP is applied to efficiently generate mosaic of thinned areas with various thinning intensities. Although the captured carbon by a fixed-ratio multi-coefficient GP is lower, the thinned areas can provide various habitats for forest life with multiform contrasting edges. Conclusion: The use of a multi-coefficient GP allows practicable planning of better thinning alternatives to increase carbon sequestration and forest structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing interest worldwide in managing forests to maintain or improve biodiversity, enhance ecosystem services and assure long-term sustainability of forest resources. An important goal of forest management is to increase stand diversity, provide wildlife habitat and improve forest species diversity. We synthesize results from natural spruce forests in southeast Alaska and suggest strategies for managing Sitka spruce plantations in other parts of the world to benefit biodiversity and enhance a variety of forest ecosystem services. We also discuss the roles of fungi in increasing both biological and structural diversity in Sitka spruce forests. New silvicultural systems that use partial cutting in older spruce forests could alleviate some of the problems associated with conventional even-aged management and increase both stand structural diversity and biodiversity. We found that mixed red alder-conifer stands in Alaska provided more heterogeneous structures than the pure conifer stands that typically develop after clearcutting. Well-planned silvicultural systems that include broadleaved species such as alder or birch could provide trees for timber production, improve wildlife habitat and a variety of other ecosystem services that are often compromised in young pure conifer forests. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Forest management can have a strong negative effect on biodiversity, especially for saproxylic species. To protect this biodiversity, we must understand the specific requirements of the concerned species. However, information on mycetophagous Aradidae in temperate forests is scarce, and the factors influencing their abundance are poorly known. We studied the habitat requirements of the Aradidae (Heteroptera) Aneurus avenius and Aneurus laevis in two french deciduous forests. We first defined their habitat preferences at the piece-of-wood scale; we compared the effects of tree species, degree of decay, bark dehiscence and surface area. At a larger (stand) scale, we tested the effects of surface area and volume of standing or fallen dead wood, and the presence of fungi. Three other species, i.e. Aradus brenskei, A. conspicuus and A. versicolor were encountered during our study, but their occurrences were too rare to perform statistical tests, so only descriptive data are given for these species. We concluded that the two Aneurus species have slightly different habitat requirements, with A. avenius being more abundant on oak and under dehiscent bark, and favoured in stands with small branches and the presence of fungi, while A. laevis is more abundant on decayed wood and under various types of bark in stands with small branches. All species of Aradidae vary in their habitat preferences, and can be sensitive to different types of exploitation. Some species need large senescent trees, while others, like the Aneurus species, depend on small fresh deadwood and are therefore more sensitive to woodfuel harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European forest management guidelines include conservation and enhancement of biodiversity. Within plantation forestry, trackways provide contiguous permanent open-habitat with potential to enhance biodiversity. We examined the ground-active spider assemblage in the trackway network of Thetford Forest, Eastern England, the largest lowland conifer forest in the UK, created by afforestation of heathland and farmland. Results are relevant to other forests in heath regions across Europe. We used pitfall trapping to sample the spider assemblage of trackways within thicket-aged stands (n = 17), mature stands (n = 13) and heathland reference sites (n = 9). A total of 9,314 individuals of 71 species were recorded. Spider assemblages of the trackway network were distinct from those of the heathland reference sites; however, trackways were found to support specialist species associated with grass-heath habitats, including nationally scarce species. Richness of grass-heath species was similar for trackways in thicket-aged forest and heathland reference sites, although the abundance of individuals was three times greater in the reference sites. Trackways in mature stands had lower grass-heath species richness and abundance than both thicket trackways and heath reference sites. Wide trackways within thicket stands contained greater richness and abundance of specialist xeric species than narrower trackways. However, fewer xeric individuals were found in trackways compared to heathland reference sites. Either inferior habitat quality in trackways or poor dispersal ability of specialist xeric species may largely restrict these to relict areas of heathland. Targeted widening of trackways to allow permanent unshaded habitat and creating early successional stages by mechanical disturbance regimes could improve trackway suitability for specialist species, helping to restore connectivity networks for grass-heath biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food availability for forest birds is a function of habitat type, forest management regime, and season. In winter, it is also impacted by variations in the weather. In the current study we assessed the food preferences of wild bird populations in two types of forest (spruce and beech) during the months of November 2010 to April 2011 in the Schwäbische Alb Biodiversity Exploratory, south-western Germany. Our aim was to investigate whether local bird communities preferred fat-rich, carbohydrate-rich or wild fruits and to determine how forest structure, seasonality and local weather conditions affected food preferences. We found higher bird activity in beech forests for the eleven resident species. We observed a clear preference for fat-rich food for all birds in both forest types. Snow cover affected activity at food stations but did not affect food preferences. Periods of extreme low temperatures increased activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective tools must be developed that include consideration of biodiversity in the traditional forest planning process. The objective of this study is to present a spatial habitat suitability model that could be included in the optimization of long-term forest planning where the problem can be solved with an exact solution method. This could be an advantage, since, e.g., many forest planning systems available today are designed for problems that could be solved with an exact solution method. The habitat model consists of two parts: suitability assessment of stand-wise conditions and spatial conditions. To investigate whether the model works in a realistic setting, we used a case study and applied the model to the habitat demands for Hazel Grouse (Bonasa bonasia L.). The results from the case study indicate that the model is effective for including spatial habitat consideration and that the model could be used for creating different degrees of the clustering of habitats. Further, the loss in net present value as a result of the spatial habitat demands was limited in the case study. We suggest that this modeling approach could be extended to other species with large area requirements and add to the existing tools for forest biodiversity assessment in forest management planning. Il faut développer des outils pour que les processus traditionnels de planification forestière puissent tenir compte de la biodiversité. Cet article vise à présenter un modèle spatialisé de la qualité d'habitat qui pourrait être incorporé à la planification forestière à long terme où le problème pourrait être résolu avec une méthode de solution exacte. Cela peut être avantageux puisque plusieurs systèmes courants de planification forestière sont conçus pour être résolus avec une solution exacte. Le modèle d'habitat comporte deux composantes correspondant à une évaluation de la qualité du peuplement et une évaluation du contexte spatial. Pour déterminer si le modèle fonctionne dans des conditions réalistes, nous avons appliqué le modèle aux exigences d'habitat de la gélinotte des bois (Bonasa bonasia L.) dans une étude de cas. Les résultats indiquent que le modèle prend bien en compte les composantes spatiales de l'habitat et qu'il peut être utilisé pour créer différents degrés d'amalgamation des habitats. De plus, la perte de valeur actualisée nette liée aux demandes spatiales d'habitat était limitée dans l'étude de cas. Nous suggérons que cette approche de modélisation soit élargie à d'autres espèces exigeant de grandes superficies d'habitat et incorporée aux outils existants d'évaluation de la biodiversité forestière dans la planification de l'aménagement forestier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation of biodiversity on forest landscapes dominated by plantations has become an increasingly important topic, and opportunities to maintain or enhance biodiversity within these forests need to be recognized and applied. Riparian buffers of mature forest retained along streams in managed forest landscapes offer an opportunity to enhance biodiversity across these landscapes. However, influence of buffer width and structure of adjacent plantations on habitat use by birds is not well understood. We modeled probability of occupancy, while accounting for variable detection probabilities, for 16 bird species of regional conservation importance in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas, USA. We examined occurrence of breeding birds in streamside management zone (SMZ) buffers embedded in three structural classes of pine plantation: young open-canopy, closed-canopy, and older thinned plantations. Our occupancy models included a positive association with SMZ width for nine bird species associated with mature forests. Models for three early successional species (prairie warbler [ Dendroica discolor], white-eyed vireo [ Vireo griseus], and northern bobwhite [ Colinus virginianus]) included a negative association with SMZ width. Occupancy models for Acadian flycatcher ( Empidonax virescens), summer tanager ( Piranga rubra), pine warbler ( Dendroica pinus), prairie warbler, and northern bobwhite also included structural condition of adjacent plantations, but most species did not appear affected by condition of surrounding plantations. We found diverse responses among species to width of retained SMZs and structure of adjacent plantations; some species apparently benefitted from SMZs >100 m wide, while others benefitted from narrow buffers. Furthermore, most species traditionally associated with mature forests were common in narrow SMZs, regardless of width. Thus, optimal width of SMZs relative to avian conservation depends on the species of greatest conservation interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The woodland key habitat (WKH) concept has become an essential instrument in biodiversity-orientated forest management in northern Europe. The philosophy behind the concept is basically the same in all of the countries: to conserve the biodiversity of production landscapes by preserving small habitat patches that are supposed to be particularly valuable. This article reviews the definitions, inventories and implementation processes of WKHs in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. Sweden and the Baltic countries have similar WKH models, while the models in Finland and Norway are clearly deviating. Depending on the country, the definitions emphasize different factors, such as soil and bedrock properties, stand structure and occurrence of indicator species. The mean size of the WKHs varies considerably, from 0.7 ha (Finland) to 4.6 ha (Sweden). The degree of formal protection also differs. Preservation of WKHs is primarily based on forest legislation in Finland, Estonia and Latvia, and on forest certification in the other countries. The implementation of the WKH concept is inconsistent between the countries, resulting in different sets of habitats being included in the WKH networks. This makes direct comparisons between the countries difficult, and may hamper the generalization of research results into other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reservation of forest in riparian buffers is common practice in commercial forestry areas worldwide, potentially providing valuable habitat for biodiversity dependent on mature forest. However, the habitat value of narrow reserve corridors can be compromised by edge effects. We investigated the habitat value of streamside buffers in wet eucalypt forest for ground-dwelling beetles in Tasmania, Australia. Beetles were collected with pitfall traps in five replicates of four habitats: unlogged corridors of mature forest in streamside reserves (buffers) with clearfelling-derived logging regeneration either side; continuous mature upslope forest; continuous mature riparian forest; and <20-year-old upslope clearfelling-derived logging regeneration. Streamside reserve widths on each side of the stream were on average 40 ± 6 m (±95% CI) from reserve edge to stream. Beetle assemblages in logging regeneration differed substantially from those in the unlogged habitats, including the streamside reserves. Streamside reserve assemblages nevertheless differed from those of the continuous unlogged areas. Assemblage composition in streamside reserves was most similar to that in continuous mature riparian forest, although beetle diversity was higher in the reserves. Our results suggest that although streamside reserves provide habitat for the majority of commonly collected beetle species occurring in continuous mature forest, wider reserve corridors in the wet eucalypt forests of Tasmania may be required to provide habitat that is not edge-affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid acceleration of industrial development in north-eastern British Columbia is currently occurring without a comprehensive assessment of the effects it will have on ecological or cultural systems. The cumulative effects of past development are already being felt within the Treaty 8 First Nations of the region but these effects have not been quantified from a landscape point of view. Using habitat modeling and GIS analysis the effects of 35 years of agricultural and industrial development on forest biodiversity and ecological integrity were investigated for a 410,000 ha landscape in north-eastern British Columbia. The study identified a significant increase in area impacted by developments which lead to a shift in landscape structure and significant change in forest biodiversity. Forest fragmentation and habitat loss has resulted in an increase in open, early seral and edge habitats at the expense of contiguous mature forests. The change in landscape structure resulted in a significant increase in species richness as generalist and early seral species responded positively to increases in these habitats. A significant increase in brown-headed cowbird parasitism risk was also detected. Changes in landscape structure, reduction in habitat for 22% of modeled species, increase parasitism and predation risk due to fragmentation, and increased access have resulted in a cumulative effect of recent resource development on ecological integrity that is both additive and synergistic. The propose acceleration of future development will increase the risk to maintaining the biodiversity and ecological integrity in the Peace-Moberly region of British Columbia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The target rate of afforestation in Ireland over the next 30 years is 20,000 ha per year, which would result in an increase of the forest cover from the current 10% to 17%. In order to promote sustainable forest management practices, it is essential to know the composition and conservation value of habitats where afforestation is planned and the effects of subsequent planting upon biodiversity. The objectives of this study were to investigate changes in vegetation composition and diversity of grasslands 5 years after afforestation with Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and determine the primary ecological and management factors responsible for these changes. Species cover, environmental and management data were collected from 16 afforested and unplanted improved and wet grassland site pairs in Ireland. Our results indicate that 5 years after tree planting, there were significant changes in richness, composition, and abundance of species. Competitive and vigorous grasses were more abundant in planted than in unplanted sites, as were generalist species found in both open and wooded habitats, while small-stature shadesensitive species were less abundant. Vascular plant species richness and Shannon's diversity index were higher in unplanted wet grassland, than in the planted sites. Bryophyte species richness was higher in planted improved grassland than in unplanted sites. The differences were primarily the result of the exclusion of grazing, ground preparation, changes in nutrient management and drainage for afforestation. Drainage ditches provided a temporary habitat for less competitive species, but the overall effect of drainage was to reduce the diversity of species dependent on wet conditions. Variance partitioning showed differences in the relative influences of environmental and management variables on biodiversity in the two habitats, probably due to the greater pre-afforestation grazing pressure and fertilisation levels in improved grasslands. The differences in biodiversity between planted and unplanted grasslands indicate that afforestation represents a threat to semi-natural habitats where distinctive and highly localised plant communities could potentially occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine existing and developing approaches to balance biodiversity conservation and timber production with the changing conservation roles of federal and nonfederal forest land ownerships in the US Pacific Northwest. At landscape scales, implementation of the reserve-matrix approach of the federal Northwest Forest Plan in 1994 was followed by proposals of alternative designs to better integrate disturbance regimes or to conserve biodiversity in landscapes of predominantly young forests through active management without reserves. At stand scales, landowners can improve habitat heterogeneity through a host of conventional and alternative silvicultural techniques. There are no state rules that explicitly require biodiversity conservation on nonfederal lands in the region. However, state forest practices rules require retention of structural legacies to enhance habitat complexity and establishment of riparian management areas to conserve aquatic ecosystems. Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) under the US Endangered Species Act provide regulatory incentives for nonfederal landowners to protect threatened and endangered species. A state-wide programmatic HCP has recently emerged as a multispecies conservation approach on nonfederal lands. Among voluntary incentives, the Forest Stewardship Council certification comprehensively addresses fundamental elements of biodiversity conservation; however, its tough conservation requirements may limit its coverage to relatively small land areas. Future changes in landscape management strategies on federal lands may occur without coordination with nonfederal landowners because of the differences in regulatory and voluntary incentives between ownerships. This raises concerns when potentially reduced protections on federal lands are proposed, and the capacity of the remaining landscape to compensate has been degraded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the relative merits of alternative forest biodiversity targets, which give different weights to species according to their conservation status and abundance. A site selection framework is used for choosing the habitat-protection strategy that maximizes biodiversity subject to an upper bound on funding with six alternative conservation goals. By using Finnish data on old-growth forests, we found that alternative conservation goals yield different benefit-cost tradeoffs. Goals relying on complementarity between protected stands result in great marginal costs at a high conservation level. Therefore, under these conditions it may not be economically efficient to establish a large conservation network to protect all species in a given area. In contrast, a large conservation network is more likely to be justified when the habitat-protection strategy focuses on species abundance. The trade-offs between alternative objectives are explicitly measured by incrementally varying the weights given to the species. We found that the targets for all species representation and species abundance can largely be met simultaneously. Protecting red-listed species reduces overall species coverage and species abundance particularly at low budget levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity is declining throughout southern African miombo woodlands due to poor land use practices that are detrimental to soil, vegetation and habitat. We aimed at examining tree and shrub species diversity and distribution in Uapaca kirkiana-dominated woodlands under three land tenure types; forest reserves, customary and leasehold land. The study was conducted at different forest sites within similar agroecological zone in southern Malawi. Study sites were located at a range of altitudes between 900 and 1,200 m a.s.l. Three circular plots each with 32.60 m radius were established at each study site to sample tree and shrub species composition, structure and distribution under three land tenure types. We found that forest reserves had higher species diversity with an average of 16 tree families, 27 genera and 34 species as compared to only 10 tree families, 6 genera and 6 species on customary forest lands. Comparisons of diameter at breast height size class distributions showed that customary land had significantly low numbers of small (5.0–10.0 cm) and very large (≥30 cm) diameter classes suggesting lower levels of regeneration and high rate of anthropogenic activities. The high species diversity and richness in forest reserves and leasehold land indicate high potential for protected lands to restore tree species diversity. It is concluded that levels of human activities as influenced by land tenure type reduce tree species diversity, composition and distribution at the different sites, and this confirms the hypothesis that open access lands are not compatible with conservation of tree and shrub species diversity because of high anthropogenic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Old forest stands comprise a very small proportion of the managed forested landscapes of Scandinavia today compared with the preindustrial era. Therefore, it is important to develop conservation measures for old forest remnants and temporarily available old stands in managed forests in the most optimal way. This study examines the spatial functionality of old spruce-dominated forest in several regions of Sweden through the perspective of organisms with different ecologies, in terms of their area requirements and mobility. Instead of real species, virtual species were used representing a gradient of these two ecological traits. The main tool was habitat suitability modelling. Countrywide estimates of forest variables derived from the satellite data and field data from the National Forest Inventory using the k -nearest neighbour method were used as sources of habitat distribution data. There was large regional variation in old spruce forest functionality depending on natural conditions and forest history. The relationship between functionality and amount was largely curvilinear. Areas with?>?10% of old spruce forest generally had high levels of spatial functionality, whereas high variation in functionality was observed in areas with little old spruce forest cover. This method for multiple-scale assessment of old forest functionality, using virtual species, may be helpful in regional forest biodiversity planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding patterns and processes of habitat change is essential for managing and conserving forest fragments in anthropogenically altered landscapes. Digitized aerial photographs from 1944 and 1996 were examined for changes to the indigenous forest landscape in the Karkloof-Balgowan archipelago in KwaZulu–Natal, South Africa. Attributes relating to proximate land-use, patch shape, isolation and position in the landscape were used to determine putative causes of forest change. The total change in forest area was−5.7% (forest covered 6739 ha in 1996). This is contrasted with previous reports for the period 1880–1940 that estimated change in total forest area of up to−80%. Attrition was the predominant process of forest transformation between 1944 and 1996. Despite little overall change in forest area, 786 mostly small (<0.5 ha) forest patches were lost from the landscape, leaving 1277 forest patches in 1996. An increase in patch isolation, but no change in patch cohesion accompanied the changes in forest area. Ignoring patches that were eliminated, 514 patches decreased in area. This was partly a function of patch size, but the conversion of natural grassland to commercial plantation forestry in the matrix also influenced forest decline. Their small size and irregular shape caused forest patches in the region to be vulnerable to edge effects. Core area declined in a negative exponential way with increasing edge width and the total area of edge habitat exceeded that of core habitat at an edge width of only 50 m. Nevertheless, total core area decreased by only 2% (65 ha) between 1944 and 1996 because most of the eliminated patches were small and contained no core area. The large Karkloof forest (1649 ha) is a conservation priority for forest interior species, but the ecological role and biodiversity value of small forest patches should not be overlooked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-species habitat management strategies are often undertaken without explicit consideration of their effects on the larger community. Here we explore the potential effects of managing eastern Ontario deciduous forests for the Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) by examining its potential as a biodiversity indicator species and as an umbrella species. Our results indicate that the Cerulean Warbler would not be an effective biodiversity indicator, as its distribution across the studied landscape did not coincide with areas of high avian species richness. However, the Cerulean Warbler may be effective as an umbrella species for the maintenance of populations of other canopy-nesting species that require mature deciduous forest habitats. It is hoped that the conclusions reached in Ontario, while perhaps not directly transferable to all parts of the breeding range, encourage other Cerulean Warbler researchers to ask similar questions in their study areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fundamental problem of sustainability is how to reduce the double complexity of ecological and social systems into simple operational terms. We highlight that the conservation concept of focal species (selected species sensitive to a set of anthropogenic threats to their habitat) links multiple issues of ecological sustainability, and their habitat models can provide a practical tool for solving these issues. A review of the literature shows that most spatial modeling of focal species focuses on vertebrates, lacks the aspect of aquatic and soil habitats, and has been slow in the uptake by actual management planning. We elaborate on a deductive modeling approach that first generalizes the main influential dimensions of habitat change (threats), which are then parameterized as habitat quality estimates for focal species. If built on theoretical understanding and properly scaled, the maps produced with such models can cost-effectively describe the dynamics of ecological qualities across forest landscapes, help set conservation priorities, and reflect on management plans and practices. The models also serve as ecological hypotheses on biodiversity and landscape function. We illustrate this approach based on recent additions to the forest reserve network in Estonia, which addressed the insufficient protection of productive forest types. For this purpose, mostly former production forests that may require restoration were set aside. We distinguished seven major habitat dimensions and their representative taxa in these forests and depicted each dimension as a practical stand-scale decision tree of habitat quality. The model outcomes implied that popular stand-structural targets of active forest restoration would recover passively in reasonable time in these areas, while a critically degraded condition (loss of old trees of characteristic species) required management beyond reserve borders. Another hidden issue revealed was that only a few stands of consistently low habitat quality concentrated in the landscape to allow cost-efficient restoration planning. We conclude that useful habitat models for sustainable forest management have to balance single-species realism with stakeholder expectations of meaningful targets and scales. Addressing such social aspects through the focal species concept could accelerate the adoption of biodiversity distribution modeling in forestry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]