Search

Biodiversity in tropical and subtropical forests are at high risk of decline due to rapid anthropogenic development. Planned activities that potentially benefit communities near forests are often undertaken at the expense of forest biodiversity. Recently, the Government of Bangladesh released plans to develop a safari park in Lathitila forest in northeastern Bangladesh. This mixed evergreen, stream-fed, trans-border forest harbors 26 globally threatened species. The proposed plan aims to bring several exotic game animals such as the lion (Panthera leo), spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) and cheetah (Acionyx jubatus) to be maintained in captivity. Additionally, exotic bird aviaries, gardens, a dolphinarium, a marine aquarium exhibit, and a carp pond have been proposed for construction. Here, we (i) summarize some of the key attributes of safari parks and the misconceptions associated with them; (ii) highlight some of the planned development activities of the proposed safari park; (ii) list the threatened species found in the area, and (iii) explain why establishing a park in the area would be detrimental the region's biodiversity. We urge the government to abandon the plans to develop a safari park and suggest that the area be brought under formal protection for the benefit of biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the European Green Deal which highlights the role of forestry in environmental improvement and restoration. It mentions reduction of net emissions of greenhouse gases and climate neutrality and reversal of the trend towards biodiversity loss. It also mentions increased demand for biofuels is leading to the deforestation of mature and more valuable forest ecosystems.

Extensive and recurrent severe wildfires present complex challenges for policy makers. This is highlighted by extensive wildfires around the globe, ranging from western North America and Europe to the Amazon and Arctic, and, most recently, the 2019–2020 fires in eastern Australia. In many jurisdictions, discussions after significant losses of life, property, and vegetation are sometimes conducted in the absence of nuanced debates about key aspects of climate, land, and resource management policy. Improved insights that have significant implications for policies and management can be derived from spatial and temporal analyses of fires. Here, we demonstrate the importance of such analyses using a case study of large-scale, recurrent severe wildfires over the past two decades in the Australian state of Victoria. We overlaid the location of current and past fires with ecosystem types, land use, and conservation values. Our analyses revealed 1) the large spatial extent of current fires, 2) the extensive and frequent reburning of recently and previously fire-damaged areas, 3) the magnitude of resource loss for industries such as timber and pulplog production, and 4) major impacts on high conservation value areas and biodiversity. These analyses contain evidence to support policy reforms that alter the mode of forest management, target the protection of key natural assets including unburnt areas, manage repeatedly damaged and potentially collapsed ecosystems, and expand the conservation estate. Our mapping approach should have applicability to other environments subject to large-scale fires, although the particular details of policy reforms would be jurisdiction, ecosystem, and context specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.)

• High functional diversity continued after intensive post-logging treatments. • Treated forests had similar dung beetle richness to primary and untreated logged forest. • Treated and untreated forest shared alike compositions distinct from primary communities. • Post-logging silviculture may return timber yields in a biodiversity-friendly way. Commercially logged tropical forests hold high conservation value but are rapidly being converted to lucrative low-diversity plantations. Post-logging interventions that accelerate forest timber and carbon recovery—such as enrichment planting and cutting of woody vines—may reduce both the spatial extent of logging and economic pressures to convert forests, delivering considerable conservation benefits. However, they could also seriously undermine logged forest biodiversity, simplifying forest structure and removing important wildlife microhabitats. To date, no study has investigated the impact of post-logging interventions on invertebrates. Focusing on dung beetles, we explore the effects of intensive vine-cutting and enrichment planting within a largescale post-logging silvicultural project in northern Borneo. We find that for four measures of functional diversity (the facet of diversity that accounts for species traits and functions) and for species richness, treated forest communities are similar to those in unlogged and naturally regenerating forest. Moreover, although community composition in treated forest remains distinct from old-growth forest, it is no different than that in naturally regenerating forest and in fact more closely resembles old-growth than naturally regenerating forest in terms of effective diversity. Our results indicate that logged forests continue to host diverse and functioning dung beetle communities even after silvicultural intensification. Post-logging interventions could therefore play an important role in forest and biodiversity conservation via their incorporation into emerging agendas including REDD+ and the Bonn Challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests provide a wide variety of ecosystem services and international conventions and national policies for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation recommend forest protection and restoration. However, global forest cover continues to decline, and recent evidence suggests deforestation rates are accelerating. Against this background the area of planted forests has increased globally. Recognizing the substantial potential of well-managed forest plantations, the new generation plantations (NGP) platform was launched in 2007. NGP encourages well-managed planted forests in the right places to conserve biodiversity and meet human needs. Here we describe the NGP approach and analyze data and information from NGP participants and others over 10 years. This shows that NGP participants are responsible for c.11.1 million ha of land, much of it previously degraded or abandoned; 43% is managed as timber plantations, with the remainder being wildlife reserves, restored natural forest, grassland and agriculture. NGP case studies illustrate a range of biodiversity, conservation and socio-economic achievements. These achievements, considered together with future projections of timber demand and of the land available for restoration to tree cover, demonstrate the potential of well-managed plantations to protect natural forests, provide timber, conserve biodiversity and mitigate climate change. The NGP concept works in a variety of countries and contexts; participants have shown that it is possible to produce timber while maintaining and enhancing ecosystems and contributing to socio-economic development. We present the case for forest production, restoration and mitigation/adaptation to limit climate and other environmental risks and to improve the resilience of landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective conservation of forest biodiversity and effective forest restoration are two of the biggest challenges facing forest managers globally. I present four general principles to guide strategies aimed at meeting these challenges: (1) protect and restore populations of key species and their habitats, (2) conserve and restore key attributes of stand structural complexity, (3) maintain and restore natural patterns of landscape heterogeneity, and (4) maintain and restore key ecological processes. The complexity associated with these principles is that how they will be practically implemented on the ground will invariably be ecosystem specific as what constitutes stand structural complexity or landscape heterogeneity will vary between ecosystems. Here I demonstrate the practical application of the four general principles in a detailed case study of conservation and restoration in the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria, south-eastern Australia. These forests are characterized by declining species, loss of key elements of stand structural, loss of old growth forest, altered patterns of landscape heterogeneity, and altered ecosystem processes. I highlight how altered management practices in Mountain Ash forests that are guided by our four general principles can help conserve existing biodiversity and underpin effective forest restoration. Consideration of our general principles also can identify policy deficiencies that need to be addressed to enhance restoration and biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) are 20-year State-Federal agreements first signed between 1997 and 2001. They underpin the management of the majority of Australia’s commercially productive native forests. Their objectives are to deliver certainty of resource access to forest industries, ensure that forest industries are profitable and protect environmental values, including biodiversity. I argue the objectives of RFAs have not been met with five key areas being unsuccessful. RFAs have: (i) failed to protect biodiversity and maintain ecosystem processes; (ii) been characterized by poor governance and watered down forest protection; (iii) overseen a demonstrable lack of profitability of, and declining employment in, native forest logging industries; (iv) led to the overcommitment of forest resources to wood production and (v) failed to account for other forest values that are often much greater than wood production. There is an urgent need for a comprehensive environmental, economic and social re-assessment of Australia’s RFAs and forest industries per se. Efforts to thoroughly review RFAs must take better account of recent scientific and economic information, and explore new ways to manage forests values beyond only timber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how reclamation practices influence plant community assembly and succession is an important step in developing realistic indicators and targets for reclamation of oil sands mine sites to upland forest ecosystems. We currently have a poor understanding of factors affecting plant community assembly and succession in reclaimed oil sands sites. Through synthesis of research completed over the last 24 years, we identify four key findings: (i) use of surface soil and forest floor material salvaged from mined areas increases plant species cover, richness, and diversity relative to the use of various other cover soil materials (such as clay subsoil); (ii) stockpiling of salvaged surface soils decreases the abundance of native plant propagules and delays early vegetation community development; (iii) differences in plant community composition between reclaimed and adjacent mature forests remain two decades after placing cover soils; however, differences are smaller with use of forest floor–mineral mix than peat–mineral mix; and (iv) plant community assembly is in progress but communities remain different to those found in natural undisturbed conditions. Our review identified critical knowledge gaps for further research to improve understanding of: (i) long-term (60 to 100 years) plant community composition in reclaimed oil sands sites; (ii) how residual forest patches near disturbed oil sands sites act as seed and propagule sources in newly reclaimed sites; (iii) plant community assembly processes in reclamation sites; (iv) the effect of micro-topographic heterogeneity on plant community development; and (v) how soil nutrient availability in different substrates influences plant community development over the long term. Ongoing support for selected existing studies and establishment of new studies focusing on plant community development through long-term monitoring are highly recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

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

We evaluated the long-term implications from modifying rotation lengths in production forests for four forest-reliant species with different habitat requirements. By combining simulations of forest development with habitat models, and accounting both for stand and landscape scale influences, we projected habitat availability over 150 years in a large Swedish landscape, using rotation lengths which are longer (+22% and +50%) and shorter (−22%) compared to current practices. In terms of mean habitat availability through time, species requiring older forest were affected positively by extended rotations, and negatively by shortened rotations. For example, the mean habitat area for the treecreeper Certhia familiaris (a bird preferring forest with larger trees) increased by 31% when rotations were increased by 22%, at a 5% cost to net present value (NPV) and a 7% decrease in harvested volume. Extending rotation lengths by 50% provided more habitat for this species compared to a 22% extension, but at a much higher marginal cost. In contrast, the beetle Hadreule elongatula , which is dependent on sun-exposed dead wood, benefited from shortened rather than prolonged rotations. Due to an uneven distribution of stand-ages within the landscape, the relative amounts of habitat provided by different rotation length scenarios for a given species were not always consistent through time during the simulation period. If implemented as a conservation measure, prolonging rotations will require long-term strategic planning to avoid future bottlenecks in habitat availability, and will need to be accompanied by complementary measures accounting for the diversity of habitats necessary for the conservation of forest biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pine plantations established on former heathland are common throughout Western Europe and North America. Such areas can continue to support high biodiversity values of the former heathlands in the more open areas, while simultaneously delivering ecosystem services such as wood production and recreation in the forested areas. Spatially optimizing wood harvest and recreation without threatening the biodiversity values, however, is challenging. Demand for woody biomass is increasing but other pressures on biodiversity including climate change, habitat fragmentation and air pollution are intensifying too. Strategies to spatially optimize different ecosystem services with biodiversity conservation are still underexplored in the research literature. Here we explore optimization scenarios for advancing ecosystem stewardship in a pine plantation in Belgium. Point observations of seven key indicator species were used to estimate habitat suitability using generalized linear models. Based on the habitat suitability and species' characteristics, the spatially-explicit conservation value of different forested and open patches was determined with the help of a spatially-explicit conservation planning tool. Recreational pressure was quantified by interviewing forest managers and with automated trail counters. The impact of wood production and recreation on the conservation of the indicator species was evaluated. We found trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and both wood production and recreation, but were able to present a final scenario that combines biodiversity conservation with a restricted impact on both services. This case study illustrates that innovative forest management planning can achieve better integration of the delivery of different forest ecosystem services such as wood production and recreation with biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European beech-dominated forests are crucial for maintaining biodiversity in forested mountain landscapes of the European temperate zone. This paper presents the results of research and assessment of management strategy for mountain beech-dominated forests in the Jeseníky Mountains (Czech Republic). Our approach is based on combining research on historical development of the forest ecosystem, assessment of its current state, and predictions of future dynamics using a forest growth simulation model. Using such a method makes it possible to understand the current state of the mountain beech-dominated forest ecosystem and predict its future development as a response to specific management strategies. The application of this method is therefore appropriate for assessing the suitability of selected management strategies in mountain protected areas. Our results show that a non-intervention management for mountain beech forest in the next 80 years complies with the Natura 2000 requirement to maintain the existing character of the forest habitat. Thus, the current management plan for the beech-dominated forests in the Jeseníky Mountains does not require significant corrections in the context of its conservation targets (i.e. maintaining biodiversity and current character of the forest ecosystem dominated by beech). The results of this study suggest that combining the knowledge on historical development with forest growth simulation can be used as a suitable support tool to assess management strategies for forest habitats in protected areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A main goal of protected areas is to maintain species diversity and the integrity of biological assemblages. Intensifying land use in the matrix surrounding protected areas creates a challenge for biodiversity conservation. Earlier studies have mainly focused on taxonomic diversity within protected areas. However, functional and especially phylogenetic diversities are less studied phenomena, especially with respect to the impacts of the matrix that surrounds protected areas. Phylogenetic diversity refers to the range of evolutionary lineages, the maintenance of which ensures that future evolutionary potential is safeguarded. Functional diversity refers to the range of ecological roles that members of a community perform. For ecosystem functioning and long-term resilience, they are at least as important as taxonomic diversity. Aim: We studied how the characteristics of protected areas and land use intensity in the surrounding matrix affect the diversity of bird communities in protected boreal forests. We used line-transect count and land-cover data from 91 forest reserves in Northern Finland, and land-cover data from buffer zones surrounding these reserves. We studied if habitat diversity and productivity inside protected areas, and intensity of forest management in the matrix have consistent effects on taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversities, and community specialization. Results: We found that habitat diversity and productivity inside protected areas have strong effects on all diversity metrics, but matrix effects were inconsistent. The proportion of old forest in the matrix, reflecting low intensity forest management, had positive effects on community specialization. Interestingly, functional diversity increased with increasing logging intensity in the matrix. Conclusions: Our results indicate that boreal forest reserves are not able to maintain their species composition and abundances if embedded in a severely degraded matrix. Our study also highlights the importance of focusing on different aspects of biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the response of understory vegetation to fire disturbance is vital to biodiversity conservation and management of boreal forests. We surveyed understory vascular plant richness and composition, and measured related environmental variables along a toposequence within three successional stages, initial (3 years post-fire), early (13 years post-fire) and late (>100 years post-fire) successional stages. Using permutation multivariate ANOVA and nonmetric multidimensional scaling, we analyzed how understory species richness and composition change as time-since-fire proceeds, and their correlative relationships with environmental variables. Species richness and composition showed significant differences among the three successional stages. Understory species richness and abundance were significantly associated with time-since-fire, topographic position, elevation and organic layer depth. Among these variables, time-since-fire had the strongest effect and topographic position was the second major factor on affecting understory community assembly. In addition, time-since-fire overwhelmed the effects of soil pH in the initial successional stage and gravimetric soil moisture in early and late successional stages on understory species composition [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selection of forest fragments for conservation is usually based on spatial parameters as forest size and canopy integrity. This strategy assumes that chosen fragments present high conservation status, ensuring biodiversity and ecological functions. We argue that a well-preserved forest fragment that remains connected by the landscape structure, does not necessarily hold attributes that ensure the presence of keystone species. We also discuss that the presence of keystone species does not always mean that it has the best conditions for its occurrence and maintenance. We developed a model to select areas in forest landscapes to be prioritized for protection based on suitability curves that unify and compare spatial indicators of three categories: forest fragment quality, landscape quality, and environmental conditions for the occurrence of a keystone species. We use a case study to compare different suitability degrees for Euterpe edulis presence, considered an important functional element in Atlantic Forest (São Paulo, Brazil) landscapes and a forest resource for local people. The results show that the identification of medium or advanced stage fragments as singular indicator of forest quality does not guarantee the existence or maintenance of this keystone species. Even in some well-preserved forest fragments, connected to others and with palm presence, the reverse J-shaped distribution of the population size structure is not sustained and these forests continue to be threatened due to human disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the limited spatial extent and comprehensiveness of protected areas, an increasing emphasis is being placed on conserving habitats which promote biodiversity within production forest. For this reason, alternative silvicultural programs need to be evaluated with respect to their implications for forest biodiversity, especially if these programs are likely to be adopted. Here we simulated the effect of varied rotation length and associated thinning regimes on habitat availability in Scots pine and Norway spruce production forests, with high and low productivity. Shorter rotation lengths reduced the contribution made by production trees (trees grown for industrial use) to the availability of key habitat features, while concurrently increasing the contribution from retention trees. The contribution of production trees to habitat features was larger for high productivity sites, than for low productivity sites. We conclude that shortened rotation lengths result in losses of the availability of habitat features that are key for biodiversity conservation and that increased retention practices may only partially compensate for this. Ensuring that conservation efforts better reflect the inherent variation in stand rotation lengths would help improve the maintenance of key forest habitats in production forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to quantify the relative effort for biodiversity surveys across the public forest estate in the south-west of Western Australia. We collated information on historical surveys into a metadatabase and recorded locations where surveys had been conducted in a spatial geodatabase. We then used multicriteria modelling to rank land conservation units on the basis of relative survey effort. The results indicated that the western, particularly the southwestern, parts of the study area were relatively well surveyed while eastern parts were relatively poorly surveyed. This is likely to reflect greater habitat loss and fragmentation of vegetation on the eastern margins of the forest estate where it adjoins the extensively cleared Western Australian wheatbelt. There was also an emphasis on monitoring biodiversity in forest habitats closer to the main population centres of the south-west. The results of this analysis provide a basis for assessing future survey needs for the region, which should also consider: patterns of distribution in species richness; the extent, connectivity and conservation status of native vegetation and the relative risks posed to biodiversity by infrastructure and industrial land uses. We discuss the potential limitations of the multicriteria modelling approach in the context of our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tropical forest ecosystems across the globe are under major threats from spread of exotic invasive plant species. Identification of biodiversity rich areas prone to large-scale plant invasion and their prioritisation is vital for targeting prevention and control programmes. Recent availability of field inventoried forest native and forest invasive species (FIS) data from a nation-wide biodiversity project in India, has served as a valuable source of information for conservation prioritization. Our approach considers prioritisation of phytogeographic areas based on congruence of spatial pattern of phytorichness distribution and spatial pattern of potential spread of hotspots of multiple FIS. We modelled native phytorichness at landscape scale following a three-tier methodology of mapping of habitat types, field sampling of vascular plants and spatial modelling with landscape matrices for central Indian landscape in India. The hotspots of multiple FIS were modelled with occurrences of 98 species, and optimally chosen environmental covariates using MaxEnt. We then integrated phytorichness and FIS invasion hotspots information to identify priority zones (high, medium and low) for informed policy decisions for conservation actions. Study emphasises that potential hotspots of invasive species should be considered for conservation priority setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retention of living trees in harvested stands is widely promoted as a way to conserve forest biodiversity; however, the quantity, quality and distribution of retention required to best meet biodiversity conservation goals are uncertain. We compared saproxylic beetle assemblages in dead white spruce among two sizes of retention patches (0.20 ha and 0.46 ha) surrounded by three different levels of dispersed retention (2% = clearcut, 20%, and 50%) in 10 ha cut-blocks included in the EMEND (Ecosystem Management Emulating Natural Disturbance) experiment in northwestern Alberta, Canada. Significant blow-down in forest patches of these sizes appeared to reduce their conservation capacity for saproxylic beetle assemblages 10–11 years post-harvest. However, higher amounts of dispersed retention in the matrix surrounding patches increased their capacity to maintain saproxylic beetle assemblages in comparison to clearcuts. Predatory species were most sensitive to harvesting intensity in the surrounding matrix. Our data suggest that ecosystem-based management that leaves combinations of aggregated and dispersed retention has much potential for conservation of saproxylic beetles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns in land use and land cover (LULC) change is a key issue for conservation efforts. In the Chilean hotspot, different studies have attempted to understand variations of LULC change. Nevertheless, a broader understanding of common patterns and variability of LULC over the entire range of the hotspot is lacking. We performed a complete review of the different studies reporting LULC changes and performed a joint analysis of their results using an integrated comprehensive approach. We related the variation of LULC change to latitude, time period and vascular plant richness using generalized linear models. Overall, there were nine studies, which covered 36.5 % of the study area, and reported the loss of 19 % of native forest (782,120 ha) between 1973 and 2011. The highest net forest loss was observed in the 1970-1990 period. This decreased in the 1990-2000 period and rose again in the 2000-2010 period. This result reveals a continuous forest loss in the last 40 years. Conversion of native forest to shrublands is the most important contributor to net native forest loss, accounting for 45 % of the loss. However, in the area of greatest species richness native forests are mainly converted to exotic tree plantations. Chilean forestry model has proved successful in expanding exotic tree plantation, but so far it has not been compatible with native forest conservation and restoration. It is imperative to design a new forestry policy to assure the conservation of one of the most unique biodiversity hotspots worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative consequences of intensive forest management on biodiversity are often mitigated by setting aside old forest, but alternative strategies have been suggested. We have compared using simulations the consequences of two of these alternatives − setting aside young forests or extending rotation periods − to that of current practice in managed boreal forest. In all scenarios we applied a constant conservation budget and predicted forest development and harvesting over 200 years. As a proxy for biodiversity conservation, we projected the extinction risk of a dead wood-dependent beetle, Diacanthous undulatus , in a 50 km 2 landscape in central Sweden, using a colonization-extinction model. During the first century, setting aside young forest stands rather than old stands increased extinction risk because young stands have lower habitat quality. However, habitat quality of young forests increased as they aged and they were much cheaper to set aside than old stands. Therefore, the strategy allowed a larger set-aside area (within the budget constraint), resulting in lower extinction risk and harvested timber volumes in the second century. Prolonging rotations also decreased the extinction risk but was in the long-term less cost-effective. The most cost-effective strategy in the long-term (200 years) was to set aside a mixture of old and young forest. However, setting aside young stands rather than prolonging rotations or setting aside old stands delays both the benefits (lower extinction risk) and costs (lost harvest volumes), so the optimal strategy depends on the assumed societal values and hence discount rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global surface temperature shows an increment of 0.5±0.1°C per decade and 1.05±0.3°C per century from 1880-2014 with greater increases in cities than non-urban areas. Global communities are shifting towards urbanization due to various factors. Urbanization has caused lack of stable condition for dwellers due to environmental and anthropogenic factors such as land cover changes. Urban temperature rising is the main factors hindering urban dwellers at global level due to insufficient green areas. Social institutions are playing important role in urban greening and urban climate regulation. Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church has long history in indigenous trees biodiversity conservation that plays largely greening role in urban and rural parts of the country. However, there is a research gap in Ethiopia regarding the role of urban green area in the church yards in regulating urban temperature and microclimate change. Therefore, the study evaluated the role of church managed forests in Addis Ababa in regulating surface temperature. Surface temperature inside four church forests at a buffer radius of 0-50 m, 50-100 m, 100-200 m and 200-500 m estimated using Landsat image thermal band 6 of 1986, 2000 and 2010 and ground measurement by ambient thermometer at 10:00 am, 12:30 am and 3:00 pm local time. The ground measurement was done in order to validate satellite image analysis. Plant species diversity, DBH, H, HC, BH and BA was measured. There were 1167 trees in the four studied churches. The mean temperatures of the studied sites were 22.5±0.1, 23.25±0.2, 24±0.6, 24.6±1.1 and 25.5±2.2°C on site,0-50 m, 50-100 m, 100-200m and 200-500 m respectively for 1986 images; 23.2±0.5, 23.3±1.0, 24.3±2.1, 24.8±2.2 and 25.5±1.8°C on site, 0-50 m, 50-100 m, 100-200 m and 200-500 m respectively for 2000 images and 23.2±0.3, 23.27±0.2, 23.7±1.6, 24±1.4 and 24.7±1.3°C on site, 0-50 m, 50-100 m, 100-200 m and 200-500 m respectively for 2010 images. The result illustrated a significant influence of green area on urban temperature in the buffering radius and implies the possibility of regulating urban temperature by planning urban green area in appropriate radius intervals. The study indicated that church forests in particular, social institution and urban green area in general have significant role in urban temperature regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ecosystem Management Emulating Natural Disturbances ( EMEND) project tests the hypothesis that varying levels of green tree retention maintain and retain forest biodiversity better than conventional clear-cutting. We studied epigaeic spiders to assess biodiversity changes 2, 5, and 10 yr following a range of partial retention harvests (clear-cut, 10-75% retention) and unharvested controls in four boreal mixedwood cover types. A total of 56 371 adult spiders representing 220 species was collected using pitfall traps. Lasting effects on forest structure were proportional to harvest intensity. These changes strongly influenced spider richness, abundance, and species composition, as well as assemblage recovery. Distinctive assemblages were associated with disturbance level, especially with partial harvests (≤50% retention), and these were dominated by open-habitat species even 10 yr after harvest. Assemblages were more similar to those of controls in the highest (75%) retention treatment, but significant recovery toward the structure of pre-disturbance assemblages was not detected for any prescription in any cover type. Although early responses to retention harvest suggested positive effects on spider assemblages, these are better explained as lag effects after harvest because assemblages were less similar to those of unharvested controls 5 yr post-harvest, and only minor recovery was observed 10 yr following harvest. Retention of forest biodiversity decreased over time, especially in conifer stands and the lower (10-50%) retention treatments. Overall, retention harvests retained biodiversity and promoted landscape heterogeneity somewhat better than clear-cutting; however, there was a clear gradient of response and no retention 'threshold' for conservation can be recommended on the basis of our data. Furthermore, results suggest that retention harvest prescriptions should be adjusted for cover type. We show that low retention ameliorated impacts in broadleaved forests characteristic of earlier stages in mixedwood succession, but only higher retention was associated with less impact in successionally older conifer forests. Although these short-term responses (10 yr) of spider assemblages support use of retention harvests, understanding the true conservation merit of these practices, relative to conventional approaches, requires evaluation over longer time scales, with work more focused on recovery of biodiversity than on its preservation after harvest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]