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This paper investigates the views of multi-stakeholders on the governance quality of existing forest management strategies for red panda (Ailurus fulgens) protection in Nepal, focusing on forest governance in general, red panda conservation programmes and natural habitat protection in particular. The study deployed two surveys in August and September 2020. The first survey was conducted online for the stakeholders with internet access; for those without, it was conducted over the phone. While the results reveal almost similar perspectives among the stakeholders regarding the effectiveness of the red panda management approaches, they differ significantly between the online survey and telephonic survey, in terms of the relative scores given to these initiatives. In depth, follow-up interviews revealed that marginalised groups had little access to income generation from conservation activities and few capacity-building opportunities. These findings indicate that while management strategies for red panda conservation were generally considered effective by online survey participants which are generally more privileged, this is less effective for marginalised people. Local people, who are typically resource-poor and reliant on the forest, continue to endure inequitable resource distribution and benefit sharing. Consequently, greater attention should be paid to balancing the conservation needs and basic needs of forest-dependent communities through capacity building, income generation and alternative sources of livelihood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although tropical rainforests preserve high levels of biodiversity, they are among the most threatened ecosystems globally due to large-scale fragmentation as a result of anthropogenic activities. Overall, fast human-driven habitat destruction is suspected to be one of the major causes of species extinction. The mosaic of vegetation types, which contributes to the incredible diversity of the tropics is highly impacted by large-scale fragmentation. The main causes of such habitat fragmentation are selective logging for valuable timber and agricultural clearance. The knowledge of the short and long-term effects of removing selected species in the tropical rainforests are scarce and need to be further investigated. Some studies about the effects of tropical forest disturbance in the short term have been conducted, but in the long term, there is limited knowledge. In this paper, I consider a system of coupled ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that modelled the dynamics of tropical rainforest subject to selective logging to understand how and why weeds and vine displace and limit tree species. From the empirical data collected on canopy height and plant diversity and the model proposed, I have the evidence of a decreasing tree diversity in tropical forests subject to management in comparison with to the same but untouched forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acer monspessulanum(maple) is an endemic endangered tree with a wide but fragmented distribution in the Mediterranean mountains. The persistence of its small populations depends often on few adults, which makes it is highly vulnerable to limiting recruitment factors. In this paper, we examined the regeneration status of this maple in three populations through its geographical distribution in the mountain range of the Tunisian dorsal (Jbel Srerej national park and sacred site). Morphological parameters, genetic variability, and diversity were analyzed as species viability indicators. The ecological site of maple was studied based on the soil texture and structure under the population, additionally to the role of shrubs as nurse plants in maple regeneration dynamic. Here, the maple population in Tunisia was investigated for the first time. The results show thatAcer monspessulanumpopulation has a variation terms of height, stem diameter and crown diameter, it also shows that there is a good natural regeneration. Analysis of the soil’s physicochemical parameters showed that the species grows on sandy loam and clay loam soil, shallow and slightly alkaline pH. This study contributes to better characterization of the Tunisian maple population and its ecological niche from the standpoint of soil and vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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]

Forest biomass is a renewable resource that is increasingly utilised for bioenergy purposes in Sweden, which along with the extraction of industrial wood may conflict with biodiversity conservation. The aim of this paper is to present a method for integrated sustainability assessment of forest biomass extraction, particularly from bioenergy and biodiversity perspectives. The landscape simulator LandSim was developed and linked with models for the assessment of biomass yields and habitat networks representing prioritised biodiversity components. It was applied in a case study in Kronoberg County in southern Sweden. Forest growth and management were simulated for the period 2010–2110, following two land zoning scenarios, one applying even-aged forest management on all forest land except for protected areas (EAF-tot), and one applying continuous cover forest management on parts of the forest land, combined with protected areas and an intensified even-aged management on the other parts (CCF-int). The EAF-tot scenario implied higher yields of biomass feedstock for bioenergy, the CCF-int scenario only giving 66% of that yield, while the CCF-int scenario performed substantially better when it came to the habitat network indicators, if habitat suitability was ensured. Conclusively, the case study confirmed that the modelling framework of the LEcA tool, linking the landscape simulator LandSim with the biomass yield assessment and the habitat network model can be used for integrating main policy concerns when assessing renewable energy options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on research papers related to wildlife habitat. The paper "Creation Times and Costs for Five Tree-based Wildlife Cavity Structures (California)," by Christopher R. Keyes, David A. Jaramillo and Branden M. Woolley determines the amount of time and costs spent to create five types of tree-derived wildlife cavity structures to assess the feasibility of incorporating this element of forest restoration into a framework of active forest management. The paper "Fire History Effects on Dakota Skipper Occurrence and Habitat (North Dakota)," by Robert K. Murphy, Andi S. Rogers and Larry Lystad explores the occurrence of Dakota skipper and its key habitat elements in relation to prescribed fire history at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, a mixed-grass prairie in northwestern North Dakota. The paper "Pastures for Upland Birds: Landowner Incentive Program Restores Native Species in Bermudagrass Pastures (Texas)," by Matt Wagner, Fred Smeins and Brian Hays finds cost-effective strategies for establishing and managing native grasses and forbs in Bermudagrass pastures.

The Natura 2000 habitat type 91E0* Alluvial forests of Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior (Alno-Padion, Alnion incanae, Salicion albae) include three subtypes of forests. In the Maramureş Mountains Nature Park (MMNP) the alluvial forests are represented by Alnus incana forest situated on the banks of mountain rivers. Starting from 2007, 70% of the MMNP is also a Natura 2000 site of community interest. In the standard form for the site are listed 18 Natura 2000 habitat types, but that of alluvial forests 91E0* is not listed either due to an error or lack of available research data. Our study seeks to provide information regarding this high conservation value habitat such as: structure, distribution, management measures and monitoring protocol. The purpose of this paper is to offer a management tool for this conservation value habitat which is also exposed to human impact more than any other priority habitat in MMNP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of Canada's terrestrial biodiversity is supported by boreal forests. Natural resource development in boreal forests poses risks to this biodiversity. This paper reviews the scientific literature to assess the effects of natural resource development on terrestrial biodiversity in Canadian boreal forests. We address four questions: (1) To what extent have Canadian boreal forests changed due to natural resource development? (2) How has biodiversity responded to these changes? (3) Will the biodiversity of second-growth forests converge with that of primary boreal forests? (4) Are we losing species from boreal forests? We focus on trees, understory plants, insects, fungi, selected mammals, and songbirds because these groups have been most studied. We review more than 600 studies and found that changes in community composition are prevalent in response to large-scale conversion of forest types, changes in stand structures and age distributions, and altered landscape structure resulting from forest management and habitat loss associated with other developments such as oil and gas, hydroelectric, and mining. The southern boreal forest has been more highly impacted than the north due to more extensive forest management and the cumulative effects of multiple forms of development. There is abundant evidence that most species are not in danger of being extirpated from the boreal forest due to these anthropogenic changes. A few species, including woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus) and grizzly bear ( Ursus arctos), have, however, undergone long-term range contractions. Significant gaps in our ability to assess the effects of natural resource development on biodiversity in the boreal zone are the lack of long-term spatial and population data to monitor the impact of forest changes on ecosystems and species. [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]

Canopy structure, the vertical distribution of canopy material, is an important element of forest ecosystem dynamics and habitat preference. Although vertical stratification, or "canopy layering," is a basic characterization of canopy structure for research and forest management, it is difficult to quantify at landscape scales. In this paper we describe canopy structure and develop methodologies to map forest vertical stratification in a mixed temperate forest using full-waveform lidar. Two definitions—one categorical and one continuous—are used to map canopy layering over Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire with lidar data collected in 2009 by NASA's Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS). The two resulting canopy layering datasets describe variation of canopy layering throughout the forest and show that layering varies with terrain elevation and canopy height. This information should provide increased understanding of vertical structure variability and aid habitat characterization and other forest management activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is a long tradition of sustainable forest policy in Finland. Today, forests should be managed on the basis of the principles of sustainable forestry. However, economics have driven such forestry practices, resulting in dramatic changes to the natural structure and dynamics of Finnish forests. Commercial forests should, however, also provide habitats for various organisms, and forestry activities should not reduce forest biodiversity. Indicators can provide useful information on the ecological status and trends in sustainable forestry, such information can then be used by decision-makers. In attempts to develop accurate and reliable indicators, it has been suggested that statistical data, inventory data and data on many taxa may prove useful. The richness of game species and the abundance of the Siberian flying squirrel have been considered as candidate indicators for sustainable forestry. Indicators of sustainable forestry are commonly used separately and the interrelations between the ecological, economic and social dimensions of forestry have rarely been studied. In this paper we examine associations between the abundance of animal species (16 game species and Siberian flying squirrels) and their co-occurrence with forest structural characteristics that are considered to be indicators of sustainable forestry. We were also interested in examining regional patterns of the variables, and determining which socio-economic indicators and land-use factors were associated (positively or negatively) with areas of forest for which there were indicators suggesting a good ecological condition. The study area consisted of 39 observation units. Based on our exploratory and descriptive analyses we suggest that using indices for different wildlife species groups and relative abundances of the Siberian flying squirrel together with forest structural characteristics and adequate socio-cultural variables could provide relevant information about trends in sustainable forestry. The application of indicators always depends on socio-cultural contexts and biogeographical factors, and these must be taken into consideration when making predictions or comparing different regions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Whether biological diversity within communities is limited by local interactions or regional species pools remains an important question in ecology. In this paper, we investigate how an experimentally applied tree-harvesting disturbance gradient influenced local-regional richness relationships. Plant species richness was measured at three spatial scales (2 ha = regional; 576 m² and 1 m² = local) on three occasions (one year pre-disturbance, one year post-disturbance, and 10 years post-disturbance) across five disturbance treatments (uncut control through clearcut) replicated throughout the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA. We investigated whether species richness in 576-m² plots and 1-m² subplots depended on species richness in 2-ha experimental units and whether this relationship changed through time before and after canopy disturbance. We found that, before disturbance, the relationship between local and regional richness was weak or nonexistent. One year after disturbance local richness was a positive function of regional richness, because local sites were colonized from the regional species pool. Ten years after disturbance, the positive relationship persisted, but the slope had decreased by half. These results suggest that disturbance can set the stage for strong influences of regional species pools on local community assembly in temperate forests. However, as time since disturbance increases, local controls on community assembly decouple the relationships between regional and local diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]