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This paper presents the results of an inventory of plant communities of the urban forests in Warsaw. It covers the occurrence of forest associations and forest plant communities in individual forest complexes. Due to their location within the boundaries of a large urban agglomeration, Warsaw's city forests are particularly exposed to anthropopressure. The share of various degrees of degeneration and dominant forms of degeneration in individual complexes and over the whole surface under investigation was assessed. Possible causes of the conditions existing in the forests have been discussed; in particular, within the context of the development and use of these forests for tourism and recreation. Particular forests' distinct historical origins, forestry management, and existing forms of surface protection possess fundamental significance for the determination of their current state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present an approach employing multiobjective optimization to support decision making in forest management planning under risk. The primary objectives are biodiversity and timber cash flow, evaluated from two perspectives: the expected value and the value-at-risk (VaR). In addition, the risk level for both the timber cash flow and biodiversity values are included as objectives. With our approach, we highlight the trade-off between the expected value and the VaR, as well as between the VaRs of the two objectives of interest. We employ an interactive method in which a decision maker iteratively provides preference information to find the most preferred management plan and learns about the interdependencies of the objectives at the same time. The method is illustrated with a case study in which biodiversity is assessed through an index calculated from the characteristics of the forest. Uncertainty is included both through modifying the input data according to the accuracy of current inventory methods and through growth model errors. This uncertainty is described using a set of 25 scenarios. Involving multiple components of risk is a highly relevant approach in multiobjective forestry; however, estimation of the uncertainty of biodiversity needs further attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Questions: Many Western European and North American countries have been experiencing strong reforestation in the last two centuries due to agricultural abandonment. Other land‐use changes, such as urbanization, can simultaneously trigger forest erosion. In this context of habitat turnover, forest understorey plant dynamics depend on the balance between immigration credit in post‐agricultural forest and extinction debt in ancient forest. The transient and final community properties following concomitant habitat creation and destruction are poorly known. In this contribution, we study the projected transient regional forest plant dynamics and identify the determinants of the relaxation duration at both landscape and patch scales. Location: Seine‐et‐Marne region, France. Methods: Species’ incidences are projected in 9,208 patches of the Seine‐et‐Marne region characterized by strong development of post‐agricultural forests and a moderate erosion of ancient forests during the period 1840–2000. We use a metapopulation model with static biodiversity data and landscape history to project forest plant dynamics. We focus on 33 generalist forest species that are able to colonize both ancient and post‐agricultural forests. Results: Our analyses reveal that (1) extinction in ancient forests slows the colonization process, which lasts between 250 and 990 years after habitat turnover, depending on species characteristics; (2) the species incidence in post‐agricultural forests converges towards that in ancient forests long before the overall species incidence stabilizes at the landscape scale (i.e. long before the relaxation time); (3) landscape‐ and patch‐scale relaxation times depend on species colonization ability and patch functional connectivity; (4) the colonization process is rather slow for ancient forest species; and (5) the incidence of ancient forest species becomes larger than the incidence of other species at the end of the colonization dynamics thanks to their strong persistence. Conclusions: Ancient forest species may potentially benefit from a large immigration credit but need centuries to use it. On such time scales, many perturbations are likely to jeopardize the realization of this potential credit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of nature-based tourism has raised the need to better understand tourists’ expectations towards outdoor recreation environments. There is little knowledge, however, of international tourists’ attitudes towards forest management practises or of their effect during winter. This study investigated how commercial forests correspond to the environmental expectations of international nature-based tourists and how the season affects tourists’ landscape preferences. Altogether 750 foreign visitors to Finnish Lapland responded to a survey and evaluated photographs presenting various types of forest landscapes in summer and winter. Beautiful scenery was the most important motive for the choice of travel destination and for participating in outdoor recreation. The results highlight the strong impact of seasons on the perceived quality of the landscape in commercial forests. Seasonal differences are largest in regeneration areas as snow cover mitigates the effects of forestry operations. Even-aged, middle-aged and mature forest stands were considered to be suitable for tourism in both summer and winter. There is a demand for adapted management regimes in commercial forests targeting year-round nature-based tourism. In conclusion, forestry and tourism can coexist in the same area with good planning and with management actions that take visual quality and recreational values of the environment into account. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents the author's views on the article Conceptual Ambiguities and Practical Challenges of Ecological Forestry: A Critical Review published in this issue. He opines that four principles that form the broader framework of ecological forestry are timing, context, continuity and complexity. He comments that ecological forestry is more a framework for management whose goal is to sustain healthy productive forests.

WIS.2 is a DSS for monitoring and implementing the goal-oriented and sustainable management of forest ecosystems, especially with regard to the integral management of significant spatial and temporal scales in forest ecosystems. WIS.2 considers multiple ecosystem goods and services in silvicultural management and the implementation of silvicultural interventions, which are in accordance with the Swiss silvicultural tradition. WIS.2 takes a top-down approach, starting with the entrepreneurial strategy, and ending at short and mid-term interventions at stand level. WIS.2 structures the overall decision process across multiple scales and provides decision support for each decision to be taken by organizing and connecting available data and models. WIS.2 is based on MS Access and ArcGIS View and is composed of different applications, each handling a main aspect of the management of forest ecosystems. The tool is used at the level of higher education in forest management in Switzerland. WIS.2, initially developed during 2001-2005 within the framework of a PhD thesis at the ETH in Zurich (Rosset 2005a), has been successively improved through practical use in more than 10 case studies in five Swiss Cantons. The main challenge is now to advance from a prototype to an easily available consolidated IT product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To test the direct regeneration hypothesis and support natural disturbance-based forest management we characterized the structure and composition of boreal mixedwood forests regenerating after large wildfires and examined the influence of pre-fire stand composition and post-fire competing vegetation. In stands which had been deciduous ( Populus sp.)-dominated, conifer (white spruce)-dominated, or mixed pre-fire we measured regeneration stocking (presence in 10 m plots), density and height 10-20 years post-burn in five wildfires in Alberta, Canada. Most plots regenerated to the deciduous or mixed stocking types; plots in the older fire and in stands that were pure conifer pre-fire had higher amounts of conifer regeneration. Surprisingly, regeneration in pre-fire 'pure' white spruce stands was most often to pine, although these had not been recorded in the pre-fire inventory. Pre-fire deciduous stands were the most resilient in that poplar species dominated their post-fire regeneration in terms of stocking, density and height. These stands also had the highest diversity of regenerating tree species and the most unstocked plots. High grass cover negatively affected regeneration density of both deciduous and conifer trees. Our results demonstrate the natural occurrence of regeneration gaps, pre- to post-fire changes in forest composition, and high variation in post-fire regeneration composition. These should be taken into consideration when developing goals for post-harvest regeneration mimicking natural disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae), is one of the most destructive insects infesting spruce forests in Europe. Data concerning infestations of I. typographus occurring over the last 19 years (1994-2012) on the Southern Alps were analyzed in seven spruce forest types: (1) pure spruce plantations; (2) pure spruce reforestations; (3) pure spruce mountain forests; (4) pure spruce alpine forests; (5) spruce-conifer mixed forests; (6) spruce-broadleaf mixed forests; and (7) spruce-conifer-broadleaf mixed forests. The collected data included the amount of I. typographus damage and the location and composition of the infested forests. The results indicate that different forest types are differently susceptible to I. typographus. Plantations, reforestations and mountain spruce forests show mean damage and mean number of infestations higher than other forest types. Within pure spruce forests, alpine forests growing at high elevations (>1300 m) suffer low damage. Furthermore, the mean number of infestation spots recorded annually in the different spruce forest types is negatively correlated with a Naturality Index value. The results suggest that forest composition and elevation are the main factors driving the risk of I. typographus damage. A new management strategy for some spruce forest types is needed, with a progressive reduction of pure spruce forests at low altitude and an increase of broadleaf composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many regions of the world are dependent on snow cover for frost protection and summer water supplies. These same regions are predominantly forested, with forests highly vulnerable to change. Here we combine a meta-analysis of observational studies across the globe with modeling to show that in regions with average December-January-February (DJF) temperatures greater than −1°C, forest cover reduces snow duration by 1-2 weeks compared to adjacent open areas. This occurs because the dominant effect of forest cover shifts from slowing snowmelt by shading the snow and blocking the wind to accelerating snowmelt from increasing longwave radiation. In many locations, midwinter melt removes forest snow before solar radiation is great enough for forest shading to matter, and with warming temperatures, midwinter melt is likely to become more widespread. This temperature-effect in forest-snow-climate interactions must be considered in representations of the combined ecohydrological system and can be used advantageously in forest management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the mathematical expression of a new structural model, defined by the tree number distribution per hectare. This structural model should ensure maximal efficiency in exercising the forest functions, essentially aiming at continuously obtaining the greatest production or protection effects. From a practical point of view it helps improving the technique for the elaboration of the site specific yield tables. Another expected benefit is optimizing the solutions for controlling the structural and functional organisation and management of the forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest harvesting can negatively affect nature-based tourism operations. Using observable and interpretable indicators of operating tourism establishments and associated prices charged for fishing packages, we illustrate how one can assess these forest harvesting effects. From a case of floatplane-accessible tourism in Ontario, Canada, we found no evidence to implicate recent (less than 10 years) forest harvests in decisions by tourism operators to close their establishments between 2000 and 2010. Using a hedonic price analysis, we found a significantly reduced effect of forest harvests on prices charged by these tourism operators between 2000 and 2010. These conclusions were robust to different specifications of forest harvesting. On the one hand, the results suggest that changes to forest management planning, policies, and practices in Ontario appear to have mitigated the negative effects from forest harvesting on nature-based tourism. On the other hand, the results show a method that other researchers and policy analysts can adopt to monitor the changing effects of forest management on economic activities such as nature-based tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) is an important tree species of the southeast U.S. Currently there is no comprehensive stand-level growth and yield model for the species. The model system described here estimates site index (SI) if dominant height (Hdom) and stand age are known (inversely, the model can project Hdom at any given age if SI is known). The survival (N) equation was dependent on stand age and Hdom, predicting greater mortality on stands with larger Hdom. The function that predicts stand basal area (BA) for unthinned stands was dependent on N and Hdom. For thinned stands BA was predicted with a competition index that was dependent on stand age. The function that best predicted stand stem volume (outside or inside bark) was dependent on BA and Hdom. All functions performed well for a wide range of stand ages and productivity, with coefficients of determination ranging between 0.946 (BA) and 0.998 (N). We also developed equations to estimate merchantable volume yield consisting of different combinations of threshold diameter at breast height and top diameter for longleaf pine stands. The equations presented in this study performed similarly or slightly better than other reported models to estimate future N, Hdom and BA. The system presented here provides important new tools for supporting future longleaf pine management and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have recently been devoted to the study of landscape change, and some have even focused on an analysis of the dynamics of forest cover change. However, few of the studies have worked on a methodology for making a detailed investigation of long-term forest change dynamics based on historic cartographic sources. The goal of this study is to further develop a method for analyzing long-term changes in forest cover on the basis of old maps and orthophoto maps in the GIS environment. The study area is located in Central Bohemia, to the east of Kutná Hora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The area consists of 21 cadastral units with a total area of 113 km. The maps of the First (1780), Second (1851) and Third Military Surveys (1877) and the present-day orthophotomap (2007) of the Czech Republic were used as data resources. Source data have been processed in GIS. Forest cover is the subject of our study. However, the term is perceived from a broader perspective. What we call forest cover in our study refers to forest wood elements and other wood species in the landscape. In this study, forest cover has been structurally considered as a whole, without dividing it into the two categories mentioned. We counted the extent of the forest cover in each particular time horizon in hectares and as a percentage of the area under study, also the absolute changes in forest cover between the individual time horizons in hectares as well as the intensity of the changes in forest cover in hectares per year. The spatial changes in forest cover were evaluated in a GIS environment using specialized features to analyze spatial variation. The forest cover occupied 16.60% (1,880 ha) of the total area in the First Military Survey (1780). In 2007, the proportion was slightly higher at 16.64% (1,884 ha). More than half of all forest land (53%) from the time of the Second Military Survey (1851) survived until 2007. Not only the information on absolute changes but also the information on the rate of change is of great importance. The old Military Survey maps and the orthophotomap enable us to carry out studies of long-term changes in forest cover. However, the geodetic inaccuracy of the First Military Survey maps precludes reliable and exact quantification of the landscape changes between the First Military Survey and the Second Military Survey, and also between the First Military Survey and present-day (orthophoto map). These maps cannot be used for evaluating forest cover changes on the level of individual plots. The method presented in our paper may contribute to a better understanding of the long-term dynamics of forest land, covering a period of more than 250 years. This knowledge can be applied in forest management planning procedures. Apart from their application in forestry, the methods presented in this study may be of interest for historians and biologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Green India Mission (GIM) is one of the eight Missions as announced by Prime Minister under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) in 2008. The proposed Mission aims, at addressing the issue of climate change by enhancing carbon sinks in the State's forests while enabling forest dependent communities for adaptation in the face of climatic vulnerability. Against the backdrop the present article would critically examine the Mission's strategy for decentralizing forest governance in the context of ongoing participatory forest management practices which involve an inclusive technique of exploitation of forest communities under the rubric of 'public-people participation'. The paper would expose further the neo-liberal schemata for incentivization of the community service for raising carbon stock to promote an integrated carbon market leading ultimately to defacement of the organic relationship between the community and the forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Nutrient acquisition of forest stands is controlled by soil resource availability and belowground production, but tree species are rarely compared in this regard. Here, we examine ecological and management implications of nitrogen (N) dynamics during early forest stand development in productive commercial tree species with narrow ( Populus deltoides Bartr. and Platanus occidentalis L.) and broad ( Liquidambar styraciflua L. and Pinus taeda L.) site requirements while grown with a range of nutrient and water resources. Methods: We constructed N budgets by measuring N concentration ([N]) and N content ( N) of above- and belowground perennial and ephemeral tissues, determined N uptake ( N), and calculated N use efficiency (NUE). Results: Forest stands regulated [N] within species-specific operating ranges without clear temporal or treatment patterns, thus demonstrating equilibrium between tissue [N] and biomass accumulation. Forest stand N and N increased with stand development and paralleled treatment patterns of biomass accumulation, suggesting productivity is tightly linked to N. Inclusion of above- and belowground ephemeral tissue turnover in N calculations demonstrated that maximum N demand for narrow-sites adapted species exceeded 200 kg N ha year while demand for broad-site adapted species was below this level. NUE was species dependent but not consistently influenced by N availability, suggesting relationships between NUE and resource availability were species dependent. Conclusions: Based on early stand development, species with broad site adaptability are favored for woody cropping systems because they maintain high above- and belowground productivity with minimal fertilization requirements due to higher NUE than narrow site adapted species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Thinning is an important strategy for carbon sequestration in forest management. Linear programming (LP) and goal programming (GP) can only set fixed parameters for the left hand side constraints, which are incapable of simulating different thinning intensities at thinned stands to map an appropriate thinning schedule for optimum carbon sequestration efficiently. However, multi-segment goal programming (MSGP) with the flexibility to set multi-level parameters can be applied by forest managers to quickly choose an appropriate level from different thinning intensities. The purpose of this study was to combine MSGP with LP to efficiently adopt thinned area and thinning intensity together as decision variables. In a demonstrated case, an appropriate thinning schedule for three age-classes was chosen from 768 combinations of thinning intensity in just one step. Each age-class was allocated well such as practicing medium thinning intensity on young age-class and strong thinning intensity on the old age-class. Totally 1379643.03tons of carbon sequestration was obtained after two planning horizons, which was 34.75% higher than no thinning. Besides, a stable supply of wood form thinning is made for carbon sequestration in each period and the stocking of each age-class is also improved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A common concern is that damage by insects will increase in forests as a consequence of climate change. We are assessing the likelihood of this predicted outcome by examining how other factors (especially changes in forest management practices) may interact with effects of climate change. Here we describe the strategies for improving understanding of the causes of insect outbreaks and predicting the likelihood of insect-mediated damage increasing in the future. The adopted approaches are: (i) analyses of historical data, (ii) comparison of life history traits of outbreak and non-outbreak species, (iii) experiments along climatic gradients to quantify the strength of trophic interactions, and (iv) modeling. We conclude that collaboration by researchers from many disciplines is required to evaluate available data regarding the complex interactions involved, to identify knowledge gaps, and facilitate attempts to progress beyond speculation to more robust predictions concerning future levels of insect damage to forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing soil quality changes following clear-felling is important for guiding the sustainable management of forests. In this study we identified changes after 4, 5, 10 and 17 yr in soil physical and chemical properties from clear-felling in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. These properties were also compared with those of soil from an adjacent primary forest. The results show that: (i) bulk density at 0-20 and 20-40 cm soil layer continuously increased; (ii) soil C and total N in the 0-20 cm soil layer continuously declined following clear-felling; and (iii) available soil nutrients and exchangeable cations were significantly influenced by clear-felling. Almost all soil properties showed deteriorating trends within a short time from clear-felling and subsequent seasonal grazing by cattle. Therefore, improved management is imperative for sustaining soil quality and maintaining the long-term nutrient balance in clear-cut stands. The cessation of anthropogenic activities such as grazing should be the main strategy for soil restoration in clear-felled areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bats are sensitive to forest management and different silvicultural treatments are likely to impact on species in different ways. We compared the early responses of ultrasonic bat activity to alternative silvicultural treatments in the Warra Long-term Ecological Research Site, in the tall wet eucalypt forests of Tasmania. We sampled 45 sites and recorded 2424 bat passes early in the maternity season of 2008, which provides a base-line for future comparisons. Total bat activity differed little between the silvicultural treatments, but locations within treatments did influence activity. Pre-planned contrasts revealed significantly lower activity at the centre of clear-fell and dispersed retention coupes than control coupes. However, there was no detectable difference between the centre of aggregate retention and control coupes, indicating that this silvicultural treatment appears effective at ameliorating the impacts of logging on bat activity. However, the retained aggregates themselves, both in their centre and along the edge, were seldom used by bats. Activity on the coupe edge was similar to control treatments, and greater than the centre of clear-fell coupes, but not the other treatments. Individual bat taxa responded to treatments consistent with predictions from ecomorphology. We also compared species level activity at paired bat detectors on the ground and in the sub-canopy (20-37 m) along the nearby Tahune airwalk. Activity was 4.5 times greater in the sub-canopy compared to ground detectors set in openings within the understorey. Adjusting the ground activity by this factor in the tall forests of the control coupes suggests that the logging impacts on bat activity are considerably greater than those described above. However, this conclusion makes the assumption that all bats flying in the range of ground-based detectors within logged gaps and adjacent to retained trees are recorded and require no adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest vegetation in view of some scenarios of climate change in Italy. The study analyses the relationship between the distribution of the main Italian forest vegetation types and the conditions during average temperature of the coldest month, at present and those predicted for scenarios A2a and B2a of the GCM HADCM3 until the year 2080. With an increased average temperature of the coldest month up to 4.4 °C in 2080, current temperature values for the main forest species will change greatly, creating favorable preconditions for an increased presence of broadleaved deciduous species in mountain altitudes of the Alps, more termophilous broadleaved species on those of the Appennines and more Mediterranean species on lower mountains, hills and lowlands of the country. The results are compared with previsional models of tree species distribution due to predicted climate changes, and the possible influence of some ecological factors is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable forest management is a key challenge for local and global governance. The Forest Stewardship Council has emerged as one of the solutions to global forest deterioration and is generally regarded as the prime example of certification as a global governance tool. This article examines the macro-effectiveness of certification on halting deforestation and examines the relationship between certification and governance institutions. The article finds that the macro-effectiveness of certification on halting deforestation is still limited due to the 'stuck at the bottom' problem of developing countries, which are kept out of the certification process, and the market-driven nature of certification initiatives. The article does not find a relationship between certification and governance institutions at the macro level. It does find, however, significant variation in certification uptake between countries, pointing to the potential of this policy tool. The implications of the results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, optimal spatial patterns for seed-tree cuttings and green-tree retention in Scots pine stands were investigated. The optimization approach is based on functions that describe the effects of single, retained trees on Scots pine regeneration. Two spatial optimization techniques were applied to this intrastand-level problem. The model approach assumes smooth, non-convex optimization problems with a convex set of feasible solutions. These problems were solved with a deterministic optimization algorithm with 500 initial tree position sets, also taking into account different forest management objectives such as high, homogeneous seed and seedling density. This required the use of multicriteria optimization procedures. The best spatial patterns identified differed significantly according to the objective functions considered. This was demonstrated by aggregation index values of stem maps and from visualization. Thus, the objective functions must be defined carefully to obtain best solutions for the management aims. A small degree of clumping in seed-tree cuttings did not appear detrimental to seedling density objectives. Therefore, short-term retention trees should be selected primarily by phenotype, not solely by a specific distribution scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerial application of herbicides continues to be a dominant method of vegetation control in Canadian forest management. In this paper, we describe a suite of relatively modern technologies and emphasize their potential for integrated use in optimization of aerial herbicide treatments. The potential is illustrated using several case studies involving fixed-wing applications of glyphosate-based herbicide in the boreal forest region of Ontario, Canada. Results indicate that integration of geographic information systems, differential global positioning, electronic-guidance, on-site meteorological monitoring and remote sensing can be used to effectively plan, enhance application control and provide detailed post-treatment assessment and archival data for herbicide spray programs. SprayAdvisor, a GIS-based decision support system with the capacity to directly integrate all of these elements is briefly described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To forecast the potential effects of forest management on wildlife habitat, I surveyed late-seral features in boreal forest near Fairbanks, Alaska. I sampled 75 randomly selected plots stratified among nine stand types to count and recorded physical characteristics of snags, cavity trees, and Picea spp. trees with rust brooms. Snag density differed among some stand types (range, x = 10 -72/ha) and increased with mean age of stand type, whereas cavity density (2-17/ha) and broom density (3- 46/ha) showed no trend with stand age. Only 15% of 199 cavity openings were large enough (>50 cm2) and had a shape (width:height ratio, 0.5-1.5) that made them likely to be suitable for use by larger birds or arboreal mammals. The oldest and most valuable stand type for timber harvest (Picea glauca >23 cm dbh) often had trees with larger cavity openings and larger broom volumes than trees in other types. I recommend retention of rare specimens of late-seral features, considerations for feature recruitment in managed forests, and further documentation of wildlife use and associated fitness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forests of Austrocedrus chilensis in Argentina suffer mortality from what is locally known as ‘ mal del ciprés’. This disturbance usually appears as aggregations of dead trees of varying sizes. The mortality process seems unpredictable, and regeneration establishment is variable under these conditions. The highly variable mortality rates results in a natural experiment that allows the correlation of overstory mortality with regeneration rate. This correlation should then make it possible to estimate the regeneration success which would follow after different levels of partial cutting, allowing the purposeful direction of the regeneration process. We collected data from eight Austrocedrus chilensis-dominated stands and reconstructed overstory mortality over time and correlated it to the regeneration recruitment. Mortality showed two patterns: increasing ‘continuous’ mortality over time, and ‘pulses’ of important basal area loss in short periods. Overstory mortality had an effect on the recruitment and composition of the regeneration by allowing different species establishment depending on the degree of mortality. By quantifying mortality basal area and recruitment over time, we calculated estimates that can provide partial cutting guidance. Partial cuttings would then allow the purposeful direction of the regeneration process. Stand reconstruction studies provided a useful tool to help designing regeneration systems using a natural experiment. Some specific management implications for symptomatic A. chilensis forests are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can we accommodate the diversity in tree species and sizes in mixed-species/size/age stands in the sustainable management of natural forests and woodlands in Africa for diverse timber and non-timber forest products and services, and during rehabilitation of degraded forests? The evergreen moist tropical to warm-temperate forests, from the equator to 34°S, generally function through relative shade tolerance. The tropical, strongly seasonal, drier deciduous woodlands generally function through adaptation to fire and/or grazing/browsing. Silvicultural systems, when implemented, are often not aligned with the ecological characteristics of the particular forest systems or the specific targeted species. This paper presents the concept of using the basic disturbance–recovery processes, with recovery development via stand development stages, as the basis for the development of silvicultural systems suitable for maintenance of forest complexity. Grain analysis and stem diameter distributions, analysed from resource inventories, are used to determine the specific shade- or fire-tolerance characteristics of key economical and ecological tree species. The gained knowledge of the ecosystem and species characteristics (including modes of regeneration, i.e. from seed or vegetative regrowth) and processes is used to simulate the ecological disturbance–recovery processes through the development of mixed silvicultural systems, such as a single-tree selection system, a group felling system and a coppice management system in the same forest. Very similar concepts are used to develop rehabilitation strategies to recover the processes towards regrowth stands of diverse species and structure: through stands of introduced plantations and invader tree species; and through early regrowth stages in deciduous woodlands and evergreen forests, after fire, slash-and-burn traditional agriculture, charcoal production or open-cast mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Both international forest and climate negotiations have failed to produce a legally binding treaty that addresses forest management activities—either comprehensively or more narrowly through carbon capture- due, in part, to lack of US leadership. Though US cooperation is crucial for facilitating both forest and climate negotiations, the role of federalism in constraining these trends has been given scant attention. We argue that, as embodied in the US Constitution, federalism complicates the US's role in creating any legally binding treaty that directly regulates land uses (e.g. forest management). Because federalism reserves primary land use regulatory authority for state governments, voluntary, market-based mechanisms, like REDD and forest certification, should be included within any binding treaty aimed at forest management, in order to facilitate US participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is a crucial element needed to understand the biodiversity patterns of forest landscapes in most Mediterranean countries. However, little is known about the quantitative responses of bird communities to postfire forest management in this region, in which the logging of burnt trees is a common practice. Several studies have already described the negative effects of felling burnt trees on birds but none has focussed on the remaining wood remnants. We investigated this question in a large burnt area located in north-east Iberian Peninsula. The amount of logging remnants left on the ground had positive linear and negative quadratic relationships with the indices of bird abundance and bird richness. The results obtained at a species level were similar, since 36% of the most abundant species revealed the same type of relations with logging remnants, whereas none showed an opposite pattern. Thus, birds in general seem to be positively influenced by the amount of wood remnants left on the ground to a certain point, from which the relation reverses. The results of this study indicate that a moderate amount of wood remnants left on the ground may be positive for the overall bird community. We suggest that management plays a role in the recovery of the bird community after fire and, therefore, biodiversity criteria should be incorporated in the guidelines driving postfire actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To promote programs for the conservation and restoration of the endangered species Primula sieboldii, we examined genetic variation at eight microsatellite loci among and within 32 remnant wild populations throughout Japan. Total allelic diversity within a population was higher in larger populations, but not so after rarefaction adjustment. The positive relationship between population size and the inbreeding coefficient may suggest that more heterozygous genets tend to survive the habitat contraction possibly because of the higher fitness associated with heterozygosity. By principal coordinate analysis and Bayesian analysis, we detected four genetic groups (Hokkaido, northern Honshu, central Honshu, and western Japan), which could be recognized as management units of P. sieboldii. If supplementation with plants from other populations were planned, it should be conducted among populations which belong to the same management unit and which are likely to represent the same adaptive variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper includes the manner of classification of the behavioural events associated to the component parts of a transverse hydrotechnical work, as well as the statistic study upon the distribution of these events. What could be enhanced is the existence of a cluster of 7 behavioral events, associated to the 20 component parts of a transverse work, as well as the flexible character of three theoretical distributions (normal, Charlier type A and Beta) used in fitting the experimental distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of forests in absorbing atmospheric carbon has been recognized under the Kyoto Protocol, which allows signatory countries to use forests as a mitigation option. Although several studies have estimated carbon stock changes in Japanese forests, most only estimate changes up to 1995 or ignore carbon stock changes in natural forests. This study is the first attempt to estimate carbon stock changes in Japanese forests from 1966 to 2012, to coincide with the final year of the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period. Forest area and growing stock data were analysed. Then, two models for predicting the change in forest area and growing stock were developed. Results showed that most natural forest loss resulted from conversion to plantation forest. The total above-ground and below-ground carbon stock in Japanese forests has been estimated to have increased from 1114.8 TgC in 1966 to 2076.0 TgC in 2012, representing an increase of 20.9 TgC year-1 over the same period. During the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2008-2012), annual carbon sinks were estimated at 20.1 TgC, of which ~76.9 per cent were sequestered in plantation forests. Of the 20.1 TgC year-1, eligible carbon sinks are estimated at 10.2 TgC or ~78.7 per cent of the maximum or capped amount as allowed under the Marrakesh Accord. Although further effort is needed so that the capped amount of 13 TgC year-1 could be achieved, this study suggests that carbon sinks through forest management could be used to offset industrial carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the institutional factors which can effect the biophysical outcomes in forest management. According to the data analyzed from 46 forests located in six countries, active monitoring and sanctioning by locals is associated with positive forest conditions. It is found that conditions in community-managed forests are statistically same with that of government or privately-managed forests. Therefore, positive forests conditions can be achieved by the contribution of local communities with a focus on full management responsibilities.

Seedling emergence from scarified seeds and mortality of different seedling cohorts of five African savanna woody species ( Acacia polyacantha, A. sieberana, Bauhinia thonningii, Dichrostachys cinerea and Ziziphus abyssinica) were studied under field conditions at a site in central Zambia. The study was conducted over a 4-year period, from 2003 to 2007. The objectives of the study were to determine climate factors that significantly influence seedling emergence rate and mortality in order to assess likely responses of the studied species to a warmer climate. Mean seedling emergence rate was 12% in D. cinerea and Z. abyssinica, 17% in B. thonningii, 47% in A. poyacantha and 62% in A. sieberana. Climate factors did not significantly affect seedling emergence in A. sieberana while temperature significantly influenced seedling emergence rate in the other species. Under a 1° warmer climate, seedling emergence rate was predicted to decline in A. polyacantha, B. thonningii and Z. abysssinica but is likely to increase slightly in D. cinerea. Time of seedling emergence during the wet season did not appear to affect seedling survival. Temperature also significantly influenced seedling mortality in all the studied species such that under a warmer climate, mortality was predicted to increase in A. sieberana and D. cinerea but decrease in A. polyacantha, B. thonningii and Z. abyssinica. As the studied species exhibited differential optimum temperature conditions for seedling emergence and seedling survival, they are likely to respond to climate warming in different but predictable ways. The results of the study are useful to forest management and development of climate change adaptation strategies in southern Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented study investigated the energy demand of a sample of 201 households adjacent to Kakamega Forest. The aim of the study focused on the evaluation of possible threats to the forest under the scenario that the local population continues to heavily use Kakamega Forest, disregarding the restrictions posed by national law. The data collected serves as a base for an estimate of the potential demand on forest resources and as a resource for developing management strategies. Sooner or later the demand for energy and plant material by an ever increasing population needs to be satisfied, and the only easily available resource is Kakamega Forest, in particular in an environment without industrial and commercial benefits. This study showed that the demand for energy is still very high, and that legal restrictions do not protect forests from over-use and destruction. The current restrictions prevent the population from understanding the need to protect the forest. This results in disinterest in protection efforts, even though there is high interest and efforts in protection of common goods. The early awareness of these conditions could protect natural forests from being destroyed, and help to sustainably manage them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compared three methods of sampling forest vegetation for their ability to reliably estimate changes in species richness, plant abundance, and overstory basal area and composition. Methods include the US Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) method and two other methods being considered for use in monitoring National Parks in the Northern Great Lakes ecoregion. All methods were successful at detecting changes in composite variables but lacked sufficient enough power to detect a 20% change in the abundance of most individual species. All three methods had high power for detecting changes in overstory tree communities but differed greatly in their ability to track shifts in understory composition and diversity. Although complete walk-through surveys of all species present provided adequate power for tracking changes in diversity, sampling only 12 ground layer quadrats limited the power of the FIA method. Methods that sample the understory more intensively provide a better balance of sampling effort and provide higher power to detect changes in forest understory communities. Aggregating data across sites of similar habitat also provides more powerful estimates of change. Nous avons comparé la capacité de trois méthodes d’échantillonnage de la végétation forestière à estimer avec fiabilité les changements de richesse en espèces, d’abondance des espèces, de surface terrière et de composition de la canopée. Ces méthodes incluent la méthode d’inventaire forestier et d’analyse du Service forestier des .-U., ainsi que deux autres méthodes qui échantillonnent le sous-bois de façon plus exhaustive. Nous examinons ces méthodes en vue de leur utilisation dans le cadre d’un programme de suivi de la végétation dans un parc national de l’écorégion du nord des Grands Lacs, aux .-U. Toutes ces méthodes peuvent détecter les changements dans les variables composites mais ne sont pas capables de détecter un changement de 20 % ou moins dans l’abondance de la plupart des espèces. Les trois méthodes peuvent facilement détecter les changements dans les communautés d’arbres de la canopée mais leur capacité à suivre les variations de la diversité et de la composition du sous-bois est très différente. Ainsi, les méthodes qui échantillonnent le sous-bois de façon plus intensive sont beaucoup plus performantes que celle du Service forestier pour détecter un changement de richesse et de composition du sous-bois. Même si des relevés complets qui échantillonnent toutes les espèces présentes sont adéquats pour suivre l’évolution de la diversité, un échantillonnage de seulement 12 quadrats au sol limite la performance de la méthode du Service forestier. Les méthodes qui échantillonnent le sous-bois de façon plus exhaustive procurent un meilleur équilibre de l’effort d’échantillonnage ainsi qu’une plus grande capacité à détecter les changements dans les communautés forestières de sous-bois. Le regroupement des données provenant de stations qui constituent des habitats similaires permet également d’obtenir de meilleures estimations du changement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the effectiveness of forest certification in establishing forest management. It states that the certification has made various stakeholders to have a discourse on forest management and has brought additional demand for timber products from sustained forests. This certification may also help to assure the legality of timber products since illegal logging and trade is a menace in sustainable forest management.

The aim of this study is to identify and analyse the institutional arrangements that regulate the forest lease and related markets of industrial timber in Russia. A theoretical framework is derived from institutional economics. Institutions, their hierarchy and cohesion are surveyed at constitutional, collective-choice and operational levels. The organization of the long-term forest lease and its contribution to the sustainable forest management and development of forest industries are described and regional differences in the organization of forestry are tested. In addition, the expected impacts of the new federal Forest Code are analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obtaining detailed information about the amount of forest cover is an important issue for governmental policy and forest management. This paper presents a new approach to update the Flemish Forest Map using IKONOS imagery. The proposed method is a three-step object-oriented classification routine that involves the integration of 1) image segmentation, 2) feature selection by Genetic Algorithms (GAs) and 3) joint Neural Network (NN) based object-classification. The added value of feature selection and neural network combination is investigated. Results show that, with GA-feature selection, the mean classification accuracy (in terms of Kappa Index of Agreement) is significantly higher (p <0.01) than without feature selection. On average, the summed output of 50 networks provided a significantly higher (p <0.01) classification accuracy than the mean output of 50 individual networks. Finally, the proposed classification routine yields a significantly higher (p <0.01) classification accuracy as compared with a strategy without feature selection and joint network output. In addition, the proposed method showed its potential when few training data were available. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although there have been several studies on the spectral characteristics related to leaf water content, it remains unclear whether the spectral property of leaves can be extended to the canopy-level. In this study, we attempt to compare the spectral characteristics of forest vegetation in moderate drought condition observed by laboratory measurement and satellite hyperspectral image data. Spectral reflectance data were measured from detached pine needles and oak leaves in the laboratory with a spectroradiometer. Canopy reflectance spectra of the same species were collected from temperate forest stands with dense canopy conditions using EO-1 Hyperion imaging spectrometer data obtained during the moderate drought season in 2001, and then compared with those obtained in the normal precipitation season of 2002. The relationship between leaf-level spectral reflectance and leaf water content was the clearest at the shortwave infrared (SWIR) regions. However, the canopy-level spectral characteristics of forest stands did not quite correspond with the leaf-level reflectance spectra. Further, four water-related spectral indices (WI, NDWI, MSI, and NDII) developed mainly with leaf-level reflectance were not very effective to be used with the canopy-level reflectance in dense forest condition. Forest canopy spectra under moderate drought status may be more influenced by canopy foliage mass, rather than by canopy moisture level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adapting forest management practices to the changing environment of Komi Republic requires an understanding of the response of unmanaged natural forests to climatic changes. Komi Republic is a region of north-western Russia where large areas of natural boreal forest still exist. Apical growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) (108 trees, 529 discs) and Siberian spruce (Picea obovata Ledeb.) (88 trees, 423 discs) was analysed using stem analysis techniques. Mean apical growth curves were calculated for four zones of boreal forests in two subsequent 50 year periods starting from 1900. A statistically significant increase in height increment of 40% for Siberian spruce and 30% for Scots pine was identified from samples representing the Komi Republic. Within this region statistically significant height increment increases were found in the middle taiga zone for Siberian spruce of 240% and Scots pine of 140%, while northern taiga Siberian spruce increased by 164%. Taking into account that trees were samples in remote untouched pristine forests, the main causes of increased height increment are suggested to be climatic, which shows a large increase in temperature (0.43°C during the past 30 years) and a modest decrease in precipitation (2.2% over the past 30 years). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research was conducted to evaluate the potential of using remote sensing technology to assess feeding damage on the invasive woody plant species, saltcedar, Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb., by a leaf beetle, Diorhabda elongata (Brulle). Field reflectance measurements showed that saltcedar plants exhibiting feeding damage had lower visible green reflectance than healthy plants, and could be distinguished from healthy plants on conventional color aerial photographs. Accuracy assessments performed on supervised classification maps of aerial photographs from two years showed that damaged and healthy saltcedar plants had producer and user accuracies ranging from 88% to 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governmental interventions that set out to improve the world are assembled from diverse elements - discourses, institutions, forms of expertise and social groups whose deficiencies need to be corrected, among others. In this article I advance an analytic that focuses on practices of assemblage - the on-going labour of bringing disparate elements together and forging connections between them. I identify six practices that are generic to any assemblage, whatever its specific contours: 1) forging alignments, 2) rendering technical, 3) authorizing knowledge, 4) managing failures, 5) anti-politics, and 6) reassembling. I demonstrate the power of this analytic through an extended study of community forest management. This is an assemblage that brings together an array of agents (villagers, labourers, entrepreneurs, officials, activists, aid donors, scientists) and objectives (profit, pay, livelihoods, control, property, efficiency, sustainability, conservation). Its very unwieldiness helps to sharpen analysis of how such an assemblage is, in fact, assembled, and how it has been sustained for more than thirty years, absorbing hundreds of millions of dollars in programmes from the west coast of Canada to the eastern islands of Indonesia. I do not attempt to adjudicate the rights and wrongs of this assemblage. Rather, I deploy an analytic of assemblage to explore the practices that fill the gap between the will to govern and the refractory processes that make government so difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greece currently has no national forest certification standard. This paper explains how a draft forest management standard for Greece was developed to be compatible with both the Forest Stewardship Council and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes requirements. The draft standard was tested in two contrasting forest areas to investigate its ease of operation, to indicate necessary refinements to the standard and to reveal major areas of weakness in current forest management practices. Field testing showed that the standard was operationally efficient and that relatively few changes to the standard were necessary. Major weaknesses in current management practices were identified as breaches of health and safety, poor training of forest workers and inadequate consultation with stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the boreal forest landscape, aspen has been effectively selected against in favour of conifers. The decrease in aspen is of particular concern since it has more host-specific species associated with it than any other boreal tree species. Recently forest management systems have begun to include green-tree retention in order to maintain structural diversity. We initiated this study in order to investigate whether retained aspen trees provide suitable habitats for epiphytic lichens and, if so, whether this varies according to species characteristics, such as morphology and photobiont. We chose to investigate the abundance and vitality of five species: three foliose cyanobacterial lichens (Collema curtisporum, Collema furfuraceum and Leptogium saturninum) and two crustose green-algal lichens (Biatora epixanthoides and Mycobilimbia carneoalbida). These lichens were examined on aspen within forest stands and on remnant aspen in clear-cuts at eight localities, in northern Sweden. Our results show that the response to exposure following clear-felling differs between species according to their morphology. The two crustose lichens were more abundant in the forest stands compared to the clear-cuts. In the clear-cuts, they mainly occurred on the northern sides of the trunks. Even 24years after cutting, the three cyanolichens were equally or even more abundant on trees in the clear-cuts than in the forest stands. However, they were mainly found on the northern sides of the remnant aspen. We suggest that remnant aspen trees may function as suitable substrate and as stepping stones for colonisation of new stands, at least for the cyanolichens studied here. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The spatial distribution of forest management activities has become increasingly important with, most notably, rising concerns for biodiversity. Addressing both timber production and non-timber goals requires planning tools that support spatially explicit decision-making. The paper examines the capability of a co-evolutionary cellular automata (CA) approach to address forest planning objectives that are both spatial and temporal with global constraints. In this decentralized self-organizing planning framework, each forest stand and its associated management treatment over the planning horizon is represented as a cellular automaton. The landscape management goals are achieved through a co-evolutionary decision process between interdependent stands. A novel, computationally efficient CA algorithm for asynchronous updating of stand states is developed. The specific problem considered in the paper is maximization of cumulative harvest volume and amount of clustered late-seral forest. The global constraints considered are stable harvest flow and minimum amount of late-seral stands in each period of the planning horizon. Applied to a test area from the Northeastern forest region of Ontario, Canada, the model demonstrates short computation time and consistent results from multiple runs. It also compares favorably with outputs from a simulated annealing search. The CA-based algorithm developed in the paper successfully identifies sustainable forest outputs over the planning horizon. It shows sensitivity to both local constraints, strategic goals and strategic constraints and generates spatially explicit forest plans. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Enough advances have recently been made in income accounting theory to recommend that environmental services accruing either to the forest owner or to the general public should be included in the forest accounting system. In this study, the results of two case studies, one in Bonifatu, Corsica (France) and the other in Alcornocales, Andalusia (Spain), show that private environmental services provide the majority share of social total sustainable income in Alcornocales (29%), whereas public environmental services are the most relevant in Bonifatu (32%). The social total sustainable income measured by the agroforestry accounting system is, respectively, 1.6 and 2.4 times higher than the income estimated by economic accounts for forestry in Alcornocales and Bonifatu forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years increased interest in sustainable forest management initiatives has encouraged the development of market-based certification schemes, each with a different political economy. This paper examines the emergence of certification practices within four resource periphery contexts (Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand). Seen from the context of resource peripheries, certification is part of an emerging regime of production-consumption relationships, where political barriers to trade, production and investment are complemented by technical practices purportedly designed to codify wood and fibre quality. This paper argues that forest certification and ensuring standards represent a new basis of value creation and competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A measure of annual cone production is needed for evaluating potential seed crops and for the study of population changes of seed-eating species, but is rarely available in long time series or over extensive areas. The Forest Condition Monitoring (FCM) programme, which contributes to the International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP-Forests), has been collecting coning data for Scots pine, Norway spruce and Sitka spruce since 1989, from plots located throughout Britain. A visual assessment system is used to measure a coning index at four levels of abundance as part of the overall crown health assessment. This study tested whether the FCM abundance assessment was related to coning density, and therefore its potential for wider use in future research. Data from the survey have been compared with a field-of-view method that assesses cone density, and the cone production represented by the FCM index has thus been determined. A direct relationship between increased cone index and increased cone density was found; the use of a four-level scoring system allows different cone densities to be distinguished with some reliability. Allocation of cone scores by surveyors from year to year was shown to be consistent except in the case of abundantly coning Sitka spruce. These findings indicate that the FCM programme scoring method does reflect cone production levels and that the data can be used to assess variation in coning between sites and between years. The resolution of the coning data is adequate for assessing the potential for natural regeneration of woodlands but not for selecting stands for seed collections. It is also appropriate for use as a measure of food resource to relate to population changes in seed-eating birds and mammals, and the long-term and Britain-wide nature of these data are of particular value. There is potential for the field-of-view method to be used more widely to evaluate the quality of cone data collected at ICP-Forest sites throughout Europe where the same cone index method has been employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]