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Nitrogen (N), an indispensable mineral nutrient element for plant growth and development, is a major limiting source of productivity in many terrestrial ecosystems. Soil organic nitrogen (SON) is a crucial form of nitrogen (N) in the N cycle within terrestrial ecosystems, acting as either a "source" or a "sink" for environmental N release. In order to illustrate the research trends, evolution process and hotspots of SON, a bibliometric analysis was used to analyze 906 documents based on the ISI (Institute of Scientific Information) Web of Science (WoS) database. The results indicated that (1) the number of published papers on SON research showed a wavy growth from 2000 to 2022 and the research has entered a mature development period; China has been increasing its number of publications and has long been in the lead; (2) the most productive institutions and authors in this subject area are in the USA and China, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences being the key institution performing such research; (3) in the sample, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Science of the Total Environment, and Biogeochemistry are the leading international journals that have played a key role in the evolution of the field and have laid a solid foundation for future research; (4) the characteristics and maintenance of SON in farmland and SON migration in small watersheds under forest conversion have become research hotspots. Through the in-depth analysis of SON research, this paper provides a better understanding of the development trends of SON over the past 20 years, which can also provide reference for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, up to 30% of global carbon emission is estimated to originate from land use and land changes. Existing historic land change reconstructions on the European scale do not sufficiently meet the requirements of greenhouse gas (GHG) and climate assessments, due to insufficient spatial and thematic detail and the consideration of various land change types. This paper investigates if the combination of different data sources, more detailed modeling techniques and the integration of land conversion types allow us to create accurate, high resolution historic land change data for Europe suited for the needs of GHG and climate assessments. We validated our reconstruction with historic aerial photographs from 1950 and 1990 for 73 sample sites across Europe and compared it with other land reconstructions like Klein Goldewijk et al. (2010, 2011), Ramankutty and Foley (1999), Pongratz et al. (2008) and Hurtt et al. (2006). The results indicate that almost 700 000 km² (15.5 %) of land cover in Europe changes over the period 1950 to 2010, an area similar to France. In Southern Europe the relative amount was almost 3.5% higher than average (19 %). Based on the results the specific types of conversion, hot-spots of change and their relation to political decisions and socioeconomic transitions were studied. The analysis indicate that the main drivers of land change over the studied period were urbanization, the reforestation program after the timber shortage since the Second World War, the fall of the Iron Curtain, Common Agricultural Policy and accompanying afforestation actions of the EU. Compared to existing land cover reconstructions, the new method takes stock of the harmonization of different datasets by achieving a high spatial resolution and regional detail with a full coverage of different land categories. These characteristic allow the data to be used to support and improve ongoing GHG inventories and climate research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring an effective scientific method to measure the economic benefits of ecological products is of great significance for green development. Based on the InVEST model, this paper, taking the Pearl River Delta (PRD) as an example, evaluated the FEPs value in the PRD from 2000 to 2015; using a super-efficient DEA model, the conversion efficiency of ecological products was estimated, and its temporal and spatial variation characteristics were analyzed using the Malmquist index. The results showed that the value of FEPs in the PRD shot up during 2000–2015, and that the regulation services value is the main part of FEPs, followed by the value of cultural service. The overall conversion efficiency of FEPs is improving. However, cities differ greatly. Technical efficiency is the key driving factor for improving forest product conversion efficiency. The main reasons for the current efficiency loss are redundant inputs and insufficient outputs. This paper also suggests that conversion efficiency is a convincing method to evaluate the degree of transformation of ecological environment resources into economic benefits and the degree of ecological and economic coordinated development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of forest conversion to poplar plantation on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks were investigated by sampling paired plots in an alluvial area of the Ticino river in Northern Italy. According to land registers and historical aerial photographs, the two sites were part of a larger area of a 200 years-old natural forest that was partly converted to poplar plantation in 1973. The soil sampling of three layers down to a depth of 100 cm was performed at 90 and 70 points in the natural forest (NF) and in the nearby poplar plantation (PP), respectively. The substitution of the natural forest with the poplar plantation strongly modified soil C stock down to a depth of 55 cm, although the management practices at PP were not intensive. By evaluation of equivalent soil masses, the comparison of C stocks (organic layer included) between the different land uses showed a decrease in SOC of 5.7 kgm-2 after 37 years of poplar cultivation, corresponding to more than 1/3 of the initial organic carbon content. The land use change from NF to PP not only affected the stock but also the vertical distribution of SOC: ploughing led to the transfer of SOC from soil surface into the deeper layers resulting in a more uniform allocation of organic carbon in the ploughed layer and disappearance of the SOC stratification observed in the forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discuss the advantages and disadvantages of corridors as biodiversity conservation solutions. Topics discussed include the impact of poorly implemented corridor, corridors as conservation measures to reduce the negative impacts of forest fragmentation on biodiversity and the Central Forest Spine (CFS) Master Plan for Ecological Linkages from Peninsular Malaysia designed to restore ecological connectivity between 4 fragmented forest complexes through 17 primary linkages or corridors.

Many disturbances are shifting in severity, frequency, and extent due to changing climate and human activities. Altered disturbance regimes can trigger shifts in ecosystem state where recovery to the pre-disturbance ecosystem is uncertain. In the western North American boreal forest, the intensification of wildfire can cause canopy dominance to switch from black spruce (Picea mariana) to deciduous trees such as Alaska paper birch (Betula neoalaskana) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides). Understanding the key mechanisms that determine the resilience and stability of these alternative community types is required for the prediction of future forest dynamics. Here, we assess patterns of post-fire tree recovery across a pre-fire gradient of spruce- to deciduous-dominated forests in Interior Alaska and quantify compositional and environmental thresholds that support the resilience of alternative canopy types. We found post-fire organic soil depth of stands on a recovery trajectory to deciduous dominance (7.3 ± 5.5 cm) were similar regardless of pre-fire composition and significantly shallower than spruce (14.9 ± 9.0 cm) or mixed trajectories (10.4 ± 5.9 cm). Deciduous-dominated stands were highly resilient to fire, as 100% remained deciduous-dominated post-fire. Even when deciduous trees only accounted for a small proportion (12%) of the pre-fire stand, deciduous trees often became dominant after wildfire. We conclude that the establishment of deciduous bud banks and seed sources creates a strong hysteresis in stand recovery that reinforces the resilience of deciduous-dominated boreal forests to wildfire. Accounting for the resilience of this alternative stable state to wildfire suggests that shifts from spruce to deciduous dominance caused by shifting wildfire will have long-term effects on future structure and function of boreal forests and vegetation feedbacks to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is conducted in the Korba Coal fields of Chhattisgarh. To classify the land use and land cover of study area at multi-level, various data sets have been used viz. LANDSAT-8 OLI, Sentinel- 2 and Google earth image. The study showed that the level-I classification has five broad land use and land cover classes such as forest, built-up area, degraded land, agriculture land, water bodies. Among five classes, the forest covered largest area followed by agriculture, degraded land, water bodies and built-up area. Of the total geographical area, the forest cover distributed in 3326.91 km² constituted about 50.36% of area. Agriculture area covered in 2010.18 km² accounting 30.43% of the total area, while degraded land constitutes about 15.49% area spread in 1023.62 km². In contrast, the water bodies covered in 2.12% area occupied 140.10 km², while built-up area spread only in 1.6% area spread in 106 km². The classification at Level III helped in site specific micro level planning and development, while level-I and level II classes used for regional planning and development of resources. The paper highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of multilevel classification using various sensors for sustainable planning and development of resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on land change has a long history, has generated numerous publications and continues to receive international research attention. To facilitate the understanding of the patterns and trends of land-change research, this article uses a content-based text-retrieval approach and self-organizing map to analyse more than 700 peer-reviewed remote-sensing and natural-science papers on land-use/cover change (LUCC) from the past two decades. We present the results in map-like displays and discuss papers within the identified clusters to examine the research activities. A new cluster of research, which has emerged in the last 5 years of analysis, has focused on mixed-pixel issues for land-use/cover mapping, particularly in the context of forest catchments. Studies of LUCC consequences after 2000 have been concerned with the effects of forest conversion on soil-nutrient pools and nitrate cycling. Incorporating information on resolutions and extents into the representations reveals a dominant scale of analysis for some research activities. Analysing time frames of examination in the papers suggests that research on long-term LUCC consequences started to use presettlement land survey records. Few attempts, however, have been made to investigate the uncertainties in the historical sources of information for LUCC research, thereby presenting a future research topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has caused vulnerability not only to the forest ecosystem but also to forest-dependent communities. Therefore, its management is essential to increase forest ecosystem services and reduce vulnerability to climate change using an integrated approach. Although many scientific studies examined climate change impact on forest ecosystems, forest vulnerability assessment, including forest sensitivity, adaptability, sustainability and effective management was found to be scant in the existing literature. Through a systematic review from 1990 to 2019, this paper examined forest vulnerability to climate change and its management practices. In this paper, descriptive, mechanism and thematic analyses were carried out to analyze the state of existing research, in order to understand the concept of vulnerability arising from climate change and forest management issues. The present study proposed a framework for integrated forest assessment and management for addressing such issues in future research. The conversion of forest land into other land uses, forest fragmentation, forest disturbance and the effects of climate change on the forest ecosystem are the existing problems. Forest vulnerability, effective adaptation to forest ecosystems and long-term sustainability are priority areas for future research. This study also calls for undertaking researchers at a local scale to involve communities for the effective management of forest ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Soil Science Annual is the property of Polish Society of Soil Science 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.)

Currently, 3D tree modeling in a highly heterogeneous forest environment remains a significant challenge for the modeler. Previous research has only focused on morphological characteristics and parameters, overlooking the impact of micro-environmental factors (e.g., spatial-structural diversification and habitat heterogeneity) and providing less structural information about the individual tree and decreasing the applicability and authenticity of 3D tree models in a virtual forest. In this paper, we chose a mixed-forest conversion of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantations in a subtropical region of China as our study subject and proposed a novel 3D tree-modeling method based on a structural unit (TMSU). Our approach modified traditional rule-based tree modeling (RTM) by introducing a nonlinear mixed-effect model (NLME) to study the coupling response between the spatial structures and morphological characteristics (e.g., tree height (H), height-to-crown base (HCB), and crown width (CW)) of three dominant trees (e.g., Cunninghamia lanceolata (SM), Machilus pauhoi (BHN), and Schima superba (MH)) and develop a prediction model of the morphological characteristic by incorporating forest-based structural parameters. The results showed that: (1) The NLME model in TMSU was found to better fit the data and predict the morphological characteristics than the OLS model in RTM. As compared to the RTM morphological model, the prediction accuracy of the TMSU model of morphological features was improved by 10.4%, 3.02%, and 17.8%, for SM's H, HCB, and CW, respectively; 6.5%, 7.6%, and 8.9% for BHN's H, HCB, and CW, respectively; and 13.3%, 15.7%, and 13.4% for MH's H, HCB, and CW, respectively. (2) The spatial-structural parameters of crowding ( C i ), mingling ( M i ), and dominance ( U i ) had a significant impact on the morphological characteristics of SM, BHN, and MH in TMSU. The degree of crowding, for example, had a positive relationship with tree height, height-to-crown base, and crown width in SM, BHN, and MH; under the same crowding conditions, mingling was positively correlated with tree crown width in SM, and dominance was positively correlated with tree height but negatively correlated with height-to-crown base in BHN; under the same crowding and mingling, dominance was positively correlated with height-to-crown base in MH. (3) Using 25 scenes based on the value class of C i , M i for SM, 25 scenes based on the value class of C i , U i for BHN, and 125 scenes based on the value class of C i , M i , U i for MH, we generated the model libraries for the three dominating species based on TMSU. As a result, our TSMU method outperformed the traditional 3D tree-modeling method RTM in a complex and highly heterogeneous spatial structure of a forest stand, and it provided more information concerning the spatial structure based on the neighborhood relationships than the simple morphological characteristics; a higher morphological prediction accuracy with fewer parameters; and the relationship between the spatial-structural parameters and the morphological characteristics of a reference tree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kakamega National Forest Reserve is a tropical forest ecosystem at high risk of irreplaceable biodiversity loss due to persistent human-induced pressures. The aim of this paper is to assess the effect of fragmentation and forest cover loss on forest ecosystems in Kakamega National Forest Reserve, with the objectives: (1) to quantify the forest cover loss and analyse fragmentation in the Kakamega forest ecosystem and (2) to analyse the effect of forest cover loss on the spatial distribution of the Kakamega forest ecosystem at different timescales. Hansen global forest change data was used as an input training dataset on the Google Earth Engine platform (GEE) to estimate the area of forest cover loss by aggregating the sum of pixel values, and to provide a time series visualization of forest change by the extent of cover loss using Sentinel-2 and Landsat 7 false colour composites (RBG) in QGIS software. Fragmentation analysis was performed using reclassified forest loss and distribution data from the Hansen product as binary raster input in Guidos software. Total forest cover loss over 20 years was estimated at 826.60 ha. The first decade (2000–2010) accounted for 146.31 ha of forest cover loss, and the second decade (2010–2020) accounted for 680.29 ha of forest cover loss. Forest area density (FAD) analysis depicted an increase in the dominant layer by 8.5% and a 2.5% decrease in the interior layer. Morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) illustrated a change in the core layer of 96% and a 14% increase in the openings class layer. Therefore, this study demonstrates that forest cover loss and landscape pattern alteration changed the dynamics of species interaction within ecological communities. Fragmented habitats adversely affected the ecosystem's ability to recover the loss of endemic species, which are at risk of extinction in the backdrop of climate change. Anthropogenic drivers i.e., the clearing of natural forest and conversion of forest land for non-forest use, have contributed significantly to the loss of forest cover in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the clearance of native forests and native vegetation for plantation establishment, otherwise known as forest conversion, in the state-owned plantations of New South Wales, Australia. It begins by describing Australia's forests, plantations, and forest conversion, continues with an outline of the history of public hardwood plantations in New South Wales, and explores the regulatory frameworks that allow this practice to happen, and the responses adopted by non-state environmental governance systems, notably forest certification, to address this problem. The paper presents a case study analysis of conversion in the hardwood plantations of northern NSW, and concludes that the current regulatory environment facilitates deforestation, with cumulative impacts at the landscape level, and that without government intervention, efforts to prevent this by non-state action will only be partially successful, leading to ongoing habitat and species loss. The failure of existing legislative and regulatory frameworks to adequately acknowledge, define, and prohibit conversion will remain an impediment to sustainable forest management, as the entry of such timber into the market contaminates supply chains, resulting in considerable reputation risk. Reform is needed in both public and private governance systems to ensure strong governance, effective planning, and ecosystem integrity at the landscape level. Recommendations are provided for policymakers. • A new methodology to identify original forest inside plantation areas via historical aerial imagery. • A detailed evaluation of a range of spatial datasets demonstrating the increase of plantation cover, potentially at the expense of native forest. • A case study identifying that forest conversion has occurred in public hardwood plantations managed by the Forestry Corporation of New South Wales. • There is an urgent need to undertake reform to ensure New South Wales does not fall foul of the EUDR, or the Glasgow Declaration. • More research is needed to determine how significant these conversion events are , and the impacts on flora and fauna, notably the koala. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies how the practices of climate change governance and development assistance have reshaped the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) process in Mozambique. We look at how the original goals of the Mozambican REDD+ strategy changed in the interplay of different governance-related practices, both those originating locally and nationally, and those coming from international organisations. The paper is based on the frameworks of multilevel governance and practice theory. We identify six combinations of practices that are relevant in the REDD+ programmes and projects. Three of them are incorporated in the general idea of sustainability, including practices of promoting environmental conservation, economic growth and social justice/development, while the remaining three practices are connected to climate-mitigation practices, for which the frame is defined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the spatial distribution and dynamic evolution of land use/cover (LUC) is the basis for land management and ecological protection. However, there is currently a lack of long-term analyses of the evolution of LUC at the national scale in Cambodia. Based on the GLC_FCS30 dataset, this paper analyzes the temporal and spatial evolution of LUC in Cambodia from 2000 to 2020, as well as its relationship with the country's economic and social development and climate change using dynamic degree, flow direction diagram, principal component analysis, and multivariate stepwise regression. The main findings are as follows. (1) Cropland and forest are Cambodia's most significant land cover types. In 2020, the proportions of cropland and forest accounted for 47.67% and 42.22% of the total land area. Among the cropland area, rainfed cropland accounted for 35.90%, irrigated cropland accounted for 7.26%, and other cropland accounted for 4.51%. (2) From 2000 to 2020, rainfed cropland areas increased significantly (+4.69 × 103 km2, +7.77%), while irrigated cropland areas increased less (+0.37 × 103 km2, 2.91%). The forest area continued to shrink (−7.71 × 103 km2, −9.16%), and the area of impervious surfaces expanded most significantly (+161.16%). (3) In 2000–2020, the integrated dynamic degree of land use presented a spatial differentiation pattern of high in the northeast, low in the middle, and lowest in the plain area. The most critical LUC change processes were the conversion of forest and shrubland to rainfed cropland and the transformation of rainfed cropland to impervious surfaces. (4) The change in LUC in Cambodia has mainly been affected by economic development and human activities, especially regarding the agricultural added value, agricultural raw material export value, urban population, and urbanization rate. This study will help the Cambodian government to strengthen national land management and planning in a targeted manner and may provide a reference for the analysis of land use change processes in similar areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ecologia Austral is the property of Asociacion Argentina de Ecologia 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.)

Research on the spatial distribution and dynamic evolution of land use/land cover (LULC) is the basis for land management and ecological protection. However, there is currently a lack of long-term analysis on the evolution of LULC on the national scale in Vietnam. Based on the GLC_FCS30 dataset, this paper analyzed the temporal and spatial evolution of LULC in Vietnam from 2000 to 2020 as well as its driving mechanism using methods such as dynamicity, flow direction diagrams, principal component analysis, and multivariate stepwise regression. The results show that: (1) cropland, forest, and shrubland are Vietnam's most important land-cover types. In 2020, the above three types of land area accounted for 34.77%, 32.36%, and 26.13% of the total land area, respectively. (2) From 2000 to 2020, the area of cropland and forest areas continued to shrink (−5.64%, −3.96%); the area of shrubland, water bodies, and other land areas expanded (+4.87%, +12.29%, +15.04%); and the area of impervious surfaces expansion was the most significant (+100.40%). (3) The integrated dynamic degree of LULC in Vietnam shows a spatial differentiation of high in the south, followed by the north, and lowest in the center. In the early period (2000–2010), the LULC rate of change in each region was rapid, while it gradually decreased in the later period (2010–2020). The most important LULC changes in Vietnam can be divided into two parts: (a) the mutual conversion of forest, cropland, and shrubland and (b) one-way conversion of cropland to impervious surfaces. (4) LULC changes in Vietnam are mainly affected by economic development and human activities, especially the GDP, population, and urbanization rate. There is no reliable statistical relationship between LULC and climatic factors. The results of this study contribute to the analysis of LULC processes in similar regions, and will also help the Vietnamese government strengthen national land management and planning in a targeted manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty and disasters are globally prevalent in ecologically fragile areas. Ecological migration is regarded as an effective way to address these issues. This paper investigates the spatial pattern of ecological migration and the corresponding spatiotemporal changes in land use and vegetation restoration in Gulang County, located in northwest China, between 2010 and 2018. For this purpose, we calculated three indicators: the transfer matrix of land use, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and vegetation restoration degree (VRD). We found that ecological migrants in Gulang County moved from the Qilian Mountain National Park to the intersection between flat area and desert. The spatial patterns ranged from high-altitude to low-altitude, and the slopes became less steep. The distribution of the resettlements is more clustered and shaped by the traffic conditions and guided by the local governments. Unused land in the whole-village migration area and construction land in the resettlement area were dramatically impacted by ecological migration (625% and 279.3%, respectively). The cropland and construction land in the outmigration areas were mainly replaced with grassland and forest. In contrast, the grassland and unused land in the resettlement area were transferred to cropland and construction land. After ecological migration, the mean NDVI and VRD in Gulang County significantly increased, indicating that the vegetation in the outmigration areas quickly recovered. Moreover, the VRD in the whole-township migration areas was greater than that in the whole-village migration areas (121% > 68%). The main contribution to the increase in NDVI was the conversion of forest to grassland, accounting for 33%. In addition, the transition from other types of land to grassland made a larger contribution to the NDVI than conversions to forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guangdong Province is an important ecological barrier and the primary pillar of economic development in China. Driven by high-speed urbanization and industrialization, unreasonable land use change in Guangdong Province has exacerbated habitat degradation and loss, seriously affecting habitat quality. Thus, taking Guangdong Province as the study area, this paper quantifies the response of habitat quality on land use change using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model and constructs a contribution index (CI). The following conclusions can be drawn from the results: (1) The habitat quality exhibits a spatial distribution pattern of low quality in plain areas and high quality in hilly and mountainous areas. (2) The annual average habitat quality gradually decreases from 1980 to 2020, with a total decrease of 0.0351 and a reduction rate of 4.83%; (3) The impact of land use change on habitat quality is mainly negative, and the habitat quality mainly decreases by the conversion of forest land to orchards, paddy field to urban land, and forest land to dry land, with CI values of −24.09, −11.67, and −8.04, respectively. Preventing the destruction of natural forests, increasing the diversity of plantation orchards, and rationalizing and mitigating the growth rate of construction land are key to maintaining and improving the habitat quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the important issues both in the political discussion about climate change and in forest ecosystem research is carbon sequestration. In this paper, we estimated soil carbon sequestration (SCS) in two Persian oak forest stands of different origin (seed and coppice). Soil samples were taken at two soil depths (0-15 and 15-30 cm) and locations (under the tree crown and open area) in each oak stand. Results showed that surface layers (0-15 cm) had the highest soil carbon sequestration ranging from 41.2 t·ha-1 to 47.9 t·ha-1 for both oak forests. The total SCS was higher (between 79.5 and 89.07 t·ha-1) in open areas of the two forest stands than under the crowns of oak trees. Finally, the amount of total SCS in seed originated forest (SOF) (86.52 t·ha-1) was significantly greater (P < 0.05) than in coppice forest (CF) (77.70 t·ha-1). The results indicate that a relatively large proportion of C loss in CF is due to overgrazing, forest degradation and conversion to coppice forests in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In March 2017, twelve of the world's leading cocoa and chocolate companies made a collective commitment to end the deforestation associated with the global cocoa supply chain. This marks one of the latest forms of transnational business governance, whereby state actors share the regulation of environmental and social externalities with private authority. This paper responds to the call for more contextual research into the complex policy ecosystems in which zero deforestation commitments are implemented and how transnational private authority is interacting with, and possibly being reconfigured by, domestic governance and territory. Combining policy analysis, field work on cocoa farms, focus groups, and over 45 interviews, this paper provides empirical evidence to explain how business commitments to zero deforestation cocoa interact with domestic political processes to reduce deforestation in key cocoa‐producing countries. The focus is on three top cocoa producer countries in West Africa, where smallholder cocoa farming causes environmental degradation due to deforestation, and socioeconomic progress for smallholders is difficult to achieve. In these countries, the private sector's commitment to reduce deforestation is situated in government‐led programs to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. The findings show that a codependent relationship is evolving between corporate and state‐led efforts to reduce deforestation, where the success of zero deforestation cocoa relies on synergistic public–private interaction. Cocoa intensification without expansion, supply chain traceability, and jurisdictional commodity sourcing are the three main areas of future collaboration identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation of stakeholders' relationships is a crucial aspect of collective action in natural resource governance as well as in the participatory process to involve all groups of interests in sustainable forest management. The paper aims to identify and analyze stakeholders' interests and roles in the context of secondary spruce forest conversion in the Ukrainian Carpathians. The research is structured into three steps: (1) identification of stakeholders; (2) questionnaire survey; and (3) data processing to analyze the stakeholders' interests and roles. The results show that almost all stakeholders mainly receive benefits rather than losses from the secondary spruce forest conversion. Seven potential "supporters" and six potential "opponents" were identified. The most impacted groups of stakeholders are harvesting enterprises, wood processing enterprises, and users of forest products. The results obtained provide support for the forest policy formulation aimed at implementing sustainable forest management in the Ukrainian Carpathians context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest conversion for agriculture is the most expansive signature of human occupation on the Earth's surface. This paper develops a conceptual model of factors underlying frontier agricultural expansion--the predominant driver of deforestation worldwide--from the perspective of small farm households--the majority of farmers globally. The framework consists of four causal rubrics: demographic, socioeconomic, political--economic, and ecological. Following this approach, the article explores the current state of knowledge on tropical deforestation in tropical agricultural frontiers with a focus on Latin America, the region of greatest deforestation worldwide during recent decades. Neo-Malthusian arguments notwithstanding, in many tropical nations, deforestation has proceeded unabated in recent years despite declining rural populations. However, evidence from the global-to-household scale suggests that population size and composition are also related to farm forest conversion. Existing particularist or behaviorialist theories sometimes fail to capture key geographical and temporal dimensions, yet studies support the notion that certain cultural, individual, and household characteristics are crucial determinants of forest clearing. Conversely, while institutional arguments sometimes fail to emphasize that the ultimate land use change agents are local resource users, their livelihood decisions are shaped and constrained by policies governing economic subsidies, and market and infrastructure development. Further, although ecological change is usually modeled as an outcome in the deforestation literature, increasingly acute climate change and natural farm endowments form a dynamic tabula rasa on which household land use decisions are enabled. To more fully comprehend frontier forest conversion and to enhance protection and conservation while promoting vital local livelihoods, future research may fruitfully investigate the interaction of demographic, social, political, economic, and ecological factors across spatial scales and academic disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Indonesian Government failed in disciplining large-scale peatland users. • Major plantation companies steer their worker unions to resist peatland policies. • Corporations actively influence and seek to weaken peatland protection policies. This paper examines new governmental technologies that are emerging in Indonesia to address socio-ecological crises resulting from the conversion of peat forest landscapes to large-scale agricultural plantations. The early implications of Indonesia's 'peatland-fire-free' policy interventions for palm oil and pulpwood industries, including private sector resistance and contestation to this policy, are investigated. Drawing on the Foucauldian concept of disciplinary governmentality, this article analyses the Government of Indonesia's (GoI) failed attempts to render large-scale peatland users governable. The GoI introduced two peatland disciplinary strategies: a spatial and hydro-governance approach to governing palm oil and pulpwood plantations in peatland landscapes. However, significant contestation and opposition arise from these policies as the state attempts to apply disciplinary logics upon powerful and prickly actors. In this context, contestation reflects the complexities of the existing political economy of peatland exploitation in Indonesia, which is decisively shaped through structural and environmental violence. The paper outlines the elements that limit the prospects for fully-fledged disciplinary governmentality over peatland areas and highlights the messy, insecure and unfinished nature of environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess how spatial heterogeneity and production diversification have affected the efficiency of households participating in the SLCP. Design/methodology/approach – Based on household survey data collected from three sample counties in the Loess Plateau region, the paper analyzes how spatial heterogeneity and business diversification have affected the production efficiency of households participating in the SLCP. Using four-step bootstrap, input stochastic distance frontiers of multi-inputs and multi-outputs are developed simultaneously with a technical efficiency effects model in which participating in the SLCP is treated as an exogenous variable. Findings – The household production in the three counties is constrained by land, labor, capital, and fixed inputs; thus, it is germane to using a multi-input and multi-output household production technology to evaluate the SLCP. However, the relative importance of each input and output, the productive diversification, and the technological structure are differentiated in the three counties; estimating the regression with pooled data appears to conceal the influences of local factors and blur the specific divergence, compared to running county-based, separate regressions. Research limitations/implications – The effects of the SLCP on farm household production are location dependent. It is necessary to include spatial heterogeneity within public policy evaluation. In addition to suggesting localized and differentiated schemes of subsidy, this implies that the government may provide means to facilitate different regions to make the economic transition. Originality/value – This paper intends to make two contributions. First, the analysis will capture and explain the adjustments induced by the SLCP in off-farm and other activities for entire household production, and special attention is given to the diversification of household production outputs. Second, this analysis sheds new light to the significance of spatial differentiation in mediating the effectiveness of a public policy or program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests that have a wide ecological gradient, diversity, and significant cover are confined in the southwestern part vis-à-vis other parts of Ethiopia, while the country is fronting biodiversity losses. The intention of this paper is comparative assessment of Majang, Kafa, Sheka, and Yayo biosphere reserves, located in the southwest of Ethiopia, regarding their status of plant diversity, challenges, and efforts of conservation. To this end, an extensive review of different journals, articles, and proceedings was made. Relevance to the objectives of the review was a selection criterion for sources inclusion. Consequently, the review indicates that all the biosphere reserves contained myriad plant biodiversity, specifically the "hotspot" of Afromontane rainforest biodiversity, with some degree of dissimilarities among them. For instance, the values of Shannon index illustrated a decreasing order in plant diversity as Sheka followed by Kafa, Yayo, and Majang biosphere reserve. Besides, out of the top ten documented plant families, the species richest families are Rubiaceae (15) in Yayo, Asteraceae (12) in Kafa, Euphorbiaceae (11) in Majang, and Asteraceae (11) in Sheka biosphere reserve, while the least species found in the families are as follows: Aspleniaceae and Sapindaceae in Majang; Poaceae, Solanaceae, and Araceae in Sheka; Celastraceae and Piperaceae in Kafa; and Fabacae and Solanaceae in Yayo. However, many challenges were encountered in all the biosphere reserves. The driving force behind is commercial coffee-tea plantation, agriculture expansion, overgrazing, firewood, charcoal, and other factors. Hence, to reduce forest conversion and biodiversity loss, the government of Ethiopia is creating conservation mechanism like the establishment of the protected area and biosphere reserve which is controlled and managed by the community and the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main obstacles to implementing the Conversion of Cropland to Forest and Grassland Program (CCFGP) is the risk of returning forest and grassland to cropland when their livelihoods are challenged after subsidies expire. The implementation of the new old-age insurance system for rural residents has weakened the economic security function of cropland and may motivate farmers to engage in the CCFGP spontaneously and permanently. Based on the utility theory, this paper first developed a theoretical analysis framework for the behaviors of farmers who participated in the CCFGP and were affected by the new old-age insurance system. Then, based on the data of 18 789 fixed rural observation stations set by the Rural Economy Research Center of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Probit model was used to empirically analyze the impact of the new old-age insurance system on farmers' behaviors in the CCFGP. Finally, the robustness of the results was tested using a logistic regression model based on clustering robust standard errors. The results showed that: ① The new old-age insurance system increased expected income, while the CCFGP reduced expected income, but the extra spare time after the action increased farmers' utility. The theoretical analysis framework showed that: the behaviors of farmers participating in the new old-age insurance system affected the amount of arable land, thus affecting the behaviors of farmers' participation in the conversion of cropland to forest and grassland. ② After farmers' participation in the new agricultural insurance, they were more likely to adopt the behaviors associated with the conversion of cropland to forest and grassland. The new oldage insurance system increased the income channels for elderly farmers, thereby weakening the economic security function of cultivated land and, to a certain extent, promoting farmers to take part in the CCFGP. ③ In the robustness test, the logistic regression model with clustering robust standard errors still confirmed the conclusion that 'participating in the new old-age insurance system is beneficial for farmers joining the CCFGP.' ④ The poorer the health conditions of farmers, the lower the possibility of joining the CCFGP. Poor health conditions generally meant large medical expenses, greater uncertainty in future income, and strong dependence on cultivated land, which resulted in farmers' reluctance to be involved in the CCFGP. Farmers with higher original values of productive fixed assets were more likely to join the CCFGP. The policy implications of the conclusions are that it may be more effective to integrate the new old-age insurance system for rural residents with the CCFGP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agroforestry is widely promoted as a potential solution to address multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals, including Zero Hunger, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, and Life on Land. Nonetheless, agroforests in the tropics often result from direct forest conversions, displacing rapidly vanishing and highly biodiverse forests with large carbon stocks, causing undesirable trade‐offs. Scientists thus debate whether the promotion of agroforestry in tropical landscapes is a sensible policy. So far, this debate typically fails to consider land‐use history, that is, whether an agroforest is derived from forest or from open land. Indeed, 57% of papers which we systematically reviewed did not describe the land‐use history of focal agroforestry systems. We further find that forest‐derived agroforestry supports higher biodiversity than open‐land‐derived agroforestry but essentially represents a degradation of forest, whereas open‐land‐derived agroforestry rehabilitates formerly forested open land. Based on a conceptual framework, we recommend to (a) promote agroforestry on suitable open land, (b) maintain tree cover in existing forest‐derived agroforests, and (c) conserve remaining forests. Land‐use history should be incorporated into land‐use policy to avoid incentivizing forest degradation and to harness the potential of agroforestry for ecosystem services and biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Anuario do Instituto de Geociencias is the property of Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Geociencias 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.)

Stakeholder analysis is a crucial step in the participatory process to involve all groups of interests in sustainable forest management. This paper aims to develop a method of stakeholder analysis to identify and classify stakeholders involved in secondary Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stand conversions. The method is based on a questionnaire survey and structured into three stages: (1) stakeholder identification; (2) analytical characterization of stakeholders; and (3) stakeholder aggregation. Stakeholders are classified according to their interest level and importance while considering the relationships among them (social network analysis). Stakeholder analysis is applied in the Ukrainian Carpathians, which is characterized by cultural and economic dependence on forest resources. The results highlight seven "supporters" and six "opponents" as well as three key stakeholders and four primary stakeholders. We propose involving up to three stakeholders from each homogeneous group to balance stakeholder contributions and enhance the democratization of the forest conversion decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sustainability in Debate / Sustentabilidade em Debate is the property of University of Brasilia, Center for Sustainable Development 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.)

• This paper aims at quantifying the factors affecting vegetation growth in the western of Inner Mongolia, and judging the relative contribution of natural factors and man-made factors. • It is obtained through geodetectors (GD) that Rainfall is the most important driving factor, with the q-value of 0.77 and GDP also having a huge impact on vegetation growth, q-value of 0.64. • Different from most studies, human activity also has a positive effect on vegetation growth. • The relative contribution of human activities reached 51.75%, slightly exceeding the influence of natural factors. Vegetation is an essential component of terrestrial ecosystems, and understanding the drivers of vegetation change is of great importance for ecological management. In recent years, vegetation growth has increased under the combined effect of global warming and human activities in Inner Mongolia. The net primary productivity (NPP) was used as an indicator to study the spatial and temporal changes in vegetation in the Qimeng Region (QR). The residual trend analysis method was used to analyze the relative contributions of climate variations (CV) and human activities (HA) to NPP changes across the QR, while their drivers were explored using a geographical detector approach to quantify the driving forces of NPP. The results show that (1) NPP exhibited a fluctuating growth trend from 2003 to 2020, with an overall growth rate of 2.91%/year. (2) Precipitation, GDP and population density were the dominant driving factors for the spatial distribution of NPP. The combined explanatory power of any two dominant factors exceeded the power of any dominant individual factor, and the interaction between climate and human factors had a significant effect on NPP. (3) The change in NPP was influenced by the combined effect of HA and CV, accounting for 37.69% of the total area, with the relative contribution of HA being 51.75%. Finally, the relative contribution of human activities was slightly higher than that of climate change, confirming the initial success of the Grain to Green Program as well as ecological conservation projects. This paper provides a scientific basis for the local government to carry out the conversion of cropland to forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

【Objective】The present paper aimed to explore and analyze the research on forest land resources in Emin county, Xinjiang, and provide references for realizing the temporal and spatial dynamics of forest land resources. 【Method】Based on 3S technology, using Landsat satellite remote sensing images in 1988, 1998, 2007 and 2018, the distribution of forest land resources in the past 31 years was interpreted, and the temporal and spatial dynamics of forest land were analyzed. The center of gravity migration model and the transition matrix quantitatively analyzed the mutual transfer between forest land and other types of ground objects, and expounded the driving force of natural and human factors on the temporal and spatial changes of forest land. 【Result】 (i) The woodland coverage rate in Emin county was relatively high, of which it was as high as 47.41% in 2018. In 31 years, the woodland area showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing, and the area of cultivated land and construction land showed a trend of first decreasing and then increasing. (ii) The mutual conversion of woodland, cultivated land, and bare soil was frequent, and the conversion rate continued to increase, the spatial diversion changed significantly, and the spatial dynamics of other types of ground objects tended to be stable. (iii) The location of the center of gravity of the forest land did not change significantly, and the migration was relatively weak. The substantial increase in construction land was mainly due to the conversion of forest land and cultivated land. The area of bare soil decreased, mainly transforming into cultivated land and woodland, while the increase of cultivated land area was mainly due to the transformation of forest land. (iv) The decrease in precipitation had directly led to the increasing drought of the land, and the gradual increase of bare soil and saline ground. At the same time, the area of water bodies has shown a downward trend, and the intensification of human activities has promoted the continuous expansion of construction land, and cultivated land and woodland. The conversion of bare land resources was frequent. 【Conclusion】By analyzing 31 years of dynamic changes in forest land resources, the study found that forest land resources have decreased, which has promoted the real-time update of forest land resource information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based solutions (NBS) can deliver many benefits to human wellbeing, including some crucial to climate adaptation. We quantitatively assess the global potential of NBS strategies of protection, restoration, and agroforestry by modeling global climate change mitigation and local ecosystem services (water availability, sediment retention, runoff, pollination, nitrogen retention, green water storage, and coastal protection). The strategies with the most potential to help people do not necessarily deliver the most climate change mitigation: per area of conservation action, agroforestry provides substantial benefits (>20% increase in at least one local ecosystem service) to three times more people on average than reforestation while providing less than one tenth the carbon sequestration per unit area. Each strategy delivers a different suite of ecosystem service benefits; for instance, avoided forest conversion provides a strong increase in nitrogen retention (100% increase to 72 million people if fully implemented globally) while agroforestry increases pollination services (100% increase to 3.0 billion people if fully implemented globally). One common disservice shared by all the NBS strategies modeled here is that increased woody biomass increases transpiration, reducing annual runoff and in some watersheds negatively impacting local water availability. In addition, the places with the greatest potential for climate change mitigation are not necessarily the ones with the most people. For instance, reforestation in Latin America has the greatest climate change mitigation potential, but the greatest ecosystem service benefits are in Africa. Focusing on nations with high climate mitigation potential as well as high local ecosystem service potential, such as Nigeria in the case of reforestation, India for agroforestry, and the Republic of Congo for avoided forest conversion, can help identify win-win sites for implementation. We find that concentrating implementation of these three conservation strategies in critical places, covering 5.8 million km2, could benefit 2.0 billion people with increased local ecosystem services provision. These critical places cover only 35% of the possible area of implementation but would provide 80% of the benefits that are possible globally for the selected set of ecosystem services under the NBS scenarios examined here. We conclude that targeting these critical places for protection, restoration, and agroforestry interventions will be key to achieving adaptation and human wellbeing goals while also increasing nature-based carbon mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the impact of typical vegetation types in forest conversion zones on soil organic carbon (SOC) structure and stability is crucial for developing terrestrial ecosystem carbon sequestration strategies. In this study, we selected three typical forest stands in the Nanling National Nature Reserve: a primary evergreen broad-leaved forest (BL), a secondary mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest (ML), and a Chinese fir plantation (CL). Soil samples were collected to examine the SOC fractions and carbon pool management index (CPMI) in three forest stands. The influence of soil property factors on SOC fractions was also analyzed. The results showed that the transformation process from a BL to an ML or a CL changed the structure and stability of organic carbon by reducing the labile SOC fractions and increasing the recalcitrant carbon fraction in the soil. The higher lability index (LI) and CPMI of soils in the BL indicated better carbon accumulation and activity, making this treatment more advantageous for management strategies aimed at promoting natural forest renewal and ecological restoration. Correlation and RDA analysis revealed that the availability of soil P was a key factor limiting the variation in organic C fractions in the acidic soils of tropical forests in South China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case study analyses the structure and dynamics of the diameter growth on the example of two fir-spruce forest stands under conversion to a selection forest. In a series of 51 circular research plots (size 500 m2 ), the biometric characteristics (tree species, diameter at breast height, height) of all the stems with a diameter above 8 cm were registered. From the selected stems, we collected 51 cross-sections and 178 tree cores in total and performed age and growth analyses. In addition, for the lower layer trees, we assessed the competition by the neighbouring stand quantified by the competition index. The results confirmed the differences in the age structure, despite the similar diameter distributions in the investigated stands, as well as the differences in the growth dynamics of the spruce and fir in the lower tree layer. Nevertheless, the competition of the neighbouring stand was not proven as a significant factor for the diameter growth of the lower layer trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: In the context of climate change, several forest adaptation options have to be advocated such as a shift to more resistant species. Aims: We provide an economic analysis of timber species change as a tool for adapting forests to climate change. Methods: We use the framework of cost-benefit analysis, taking uncertainty into account both exogenously (sensitivity analysis) and endogenously [(quasi-)option value calculations]. We apply the method to assess the economic rationale for converting Norway spruce stands to Douglas-fir in the French Black Mountain. Results: We find that the Douglas-fir conversion is land expectation value (LEV) maximizing under a wide range of a priori (subjective) probabilities attached to high mortality of Norway spruce under climate change (for probabilities higher than 0.25-0.31). If information about the impacts of climate change is expected to increase over time, and given the large sunk costs attached to conversion, a delay strategy may be preferable to transition and to status quo when the impacts of climate change on Norway spruce mortality are sufficiently ambiguous. In such cases, getting information earlier increases the LEV by €5-60/ha. Conclusion: Beyond the specifics of the case study, this paper suggests that quasi-option value is a relevant tool to provide insights to forest owners dealing with adaptation decisions in the context of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the use of new environmental policy instruments (NEPIs) and instrument mixes in government forest initiatives (GFIs), in Bavaria. It traces research questions on the repertoire of instruments applied and if an application of NEPIs leads to improving program effectiveness and legitimacy. In accordance with recent literature it assumes that GFIs, being developed and implemented for a long time in Bavaria, will make use of an instrument mix, including modern policy instruments; and that the use of such a mix of instruments would lead to improved effectiveness and legitimacy. The empirical paper aims to test these currently dominant theoretical thoughts and to contribute to further theoretical discussion with new empirical data, but it does not suggest a new theory. The primary data-basis for the analysis is qualitative interviews with 175 people from 16 GFIs, the selection of interviewees being based on social network analysis. The analysis uses an instrument typology as an analytical reference point and reveals that GFIs used a broad variety of instruments, both, traditional and new ones, to support and facilitate a range of activities in priority areas of forest landscapes, as expected. Some traditional instruments were modified for the use in GFIs only, other instruments were newly created for the purpose of GFIs, e.g., voluntary agreements between government forest administrations (AELFs) and private forest owners (PFOs). This supports assumptions from the theory that the most common forms of instrument integration would be layering and fusion. The paper also analyzes if the use of a mix of instruments by GFIs led to improving effectiveness and legitimacy, thereby contributing to a relevant question in the literature, because developing more complex policy instruments (NEPIs), is considered to help to avoid many problems of more traditional instruments in environmental governance. The analysis uses a set of theoretical elements, attributed to the use of NEPIs or modern instrument mixes, and compares these with actual empirical observations, to answer the question, if modern instrument approaches can lead to an improved program effectiveness and legitimacy. The paper concludes that the application of a modern mix of instruments did lead to an increase of short-term effectiveness, especially in road construction or improvement, but not to a noteworthy increase of long-term effectiveness, especially regarding forest conversion to increase forests' climate resiliency, despite the application of nudging 'in the forests'. Instead, nudging in the forests can result in increased conflicts and non-action, in some cases. Hence, the empirical evidence presented in this paper, does not (fully) support the assumption that a modern instrument mix would lead to improvements in effectiveness and legitimacy. It remains to be seen, if, in the longer-term, the improved road access would actually lead to more climate resilient forests; or what role natural hazards will play in this regard. Maybe, a more flexible design of the voluntary agreements and of eligibility criteria of funding schemes, could increase the share of forest owners, willing to participate and could enable processes of civic-knowledge integration and the development of more innovative, alterative-based, local solutions. Considering the strong, recent public engagement in climate change topics, this could be an opportunity to better integrate civil society to GFIs or to new forms of initiatives. A better integration of owners and society could also improve the legitimacy of GFIs, which is thwarted by the marginal participation of individual PFOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sense of ownership is often advocated as an argument for local participation within the epistemic development and nature conservation communities. Stakeholder participation in initiating, designing or implementing institutions is claimed to establish a sense of ownership among the stakeholders and subsequently improve the intended outcomes of the given institution. Theoretical and empirical justifications of the hypothesis remain scarce. A better understanding of the effects of local participation can motivate more extensive and stronger participation of local stakeholders and improve institutional performance. This paper applies theories from psychology and behavioral economics to sense of ownership. The empirical investigation is a framed field experiment in the context of tropical forest conservation and payments for environmental services in Tanzania. The results lend little support to the hypothesis in this context. The participation treatment in the experiment is weak, and a possible explanation is that sense of ownership is sensitive to the participation form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Forest transitions" have recently received much attention, particularly in the hope that the historical transitions from net deforestation to forest recovery documented in several temperate countries might be reproduced in tropical countries. The analysis of forest transitions, however, has struggled with questions of forest definition and has at times focussed purely on tree cover, irrespective of tree types (e.g. native forest or exotic plantations). Furthermore, it has paid little attention to how categories and definitions of forest are used to political effect or shape how forest change is viewed. In this paper, I propose a new heuristic model to address these lacunae, building on a conception of forests as distinct socio-ecological relationships between people, trees and other actors that maintain and threaten the forest. The model draws on selected work in the forest transition, land change science and critical social science literatures. It explicitly forces analysts to see forests as much more than a land cover statistic, particularly as it internalizes consideration of forest characteristics and the differential ways in which forests are produced and thought about. The new heuristic model distinguishes between four component forest transitions: transitions in quantitative forest cover (FT1); in characteristics like species composition or density (FT2); in the ecological, socio-economic, and political processes and relationships that constitute particular forests (FT3); and in forest ideologies, discourses and stories (FT4). The four are interlinked; the third category emerges as the linchpin. An analysis of forest transformations requires attention to diverse social and ecological processes, to power-laden official categories and classifications, and to the discourses and tropes by which people interpret these changes. Diverse examples are used to illustrate the model components and highlight the utility of considering the four categories of forest transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fire Ecology is the property of Springer Nature 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.)

Land-use change (LUC) is a significant contributor to the increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, with previous studies demonstrating its profound impact on soil organic carbon (SOC). The conversion of primary forests to farmland has been recognized as the most significant type of LUC inducing CO2 release from the soil. Therefore, it is critical to understand the impacts of forest LUC on SOC storage, with a particular focus on primary forest to farmland conversion. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis of 411 observations from 41 published works and found that SOC storage decreased significantly following the conversion of primary forests to farmland. Factors such as soil depth and climate zone influenced the degree of SOC storage loss, with SOC loss being less severe in deeper soil following a conversion from primary forests to farmland. Moreover, the loss of SOC storage was more severe in temperate regions compared to tropical regions. The input and output of surface SOC, changes in soil structure, and increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations were significant reasons for the loss of SOC following primary forest to farmland LUC. However, improving tillage methods and implementing sustainable agricultural management strategies can help reduce SOC loss. These findings highlight the importance of sustainable land-use practices in mitigating the negative impacts of forest LUC on SOC storage and the global carbon cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most scholars argue that the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources (PSNR) has been used by developing countries as a legal basis to exploit their natural resources, including forests, for the sake of economic development. Land conversion and forest burning are the primary causes of forest degradation and deforestation in Indonesia. Thus, the biodiversity of Indonesian tropical forests is decreasing tremendously. This article aims to comprehensively analyze the experiences of the Indonesian government to balance the principle of PSNR and sustainable forest management (SFM). The paper argues that the implementation of the PSNR principle in SFM faces many challenges, such as deforestation, forest degradation, and the failures in implementing laws, as well as weak law enforcement. Therefore, to balance the PSNR principle with SFM, the Indonesian government needs to undertake various efforts, such as strengthening law enforcement, carrying out social forest management, and exercising mandatory forest certification. Moreover, all these efforts need to be further improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deforestation poses a global threat to biodiversity and its capacity to deliver ecosystem services. Yet, the impacts of deforestation on soil biodiversity and its associated ecosystem services remain virtually unknown. We generated a global dataset including 696 paired-site observations to investigate how native forest conversion to other land uses affects soil properties, biodiversity, and functions associated with the delivery of multiple ecosystem services. The conversion of native forests to plantations, grasslands, and croplands resulted in higher bacterial diversity and more homogeneous fungal communities dominated by pathogens and with a lower abundance of symbionts. Such conversions also resulted in significant reductions in carbon storage, nutrient cycling, and soil functional rates related to organic matter decomposition. Responses of the microbial community to deforestation, including bacterial and fungal diversity and fungal guilds, were predominantly regulated by changes in soil pH and total phosphorus. Moreover, we found that soil fungal diversity and functioning in warmer and wetter native forests is especially vulnerable to deforestation. Our work highlights that the loss of native forests to managed ecosystems poses a major global threat to the biodiversity and functioning of soils and their capacity to deliver ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]