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Sena, Kenton L., Kevin M. Yeager, Christopher D. Barton, John M. Lhotka, William E. Bond, and Kimberly J. Schindler. "Development of Mine Soils in a Chronosequence of Forestry-Reclaimed Sites in Eastern Kentucky." Minerals 11, no. 4 (April 16, 2021): 422. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/min11040422.
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Surface mining for coal has contributed to widespread deforestation and soil loss in coal mining regions around the world, and particularly in Appalachia, USA. Mined land reforestation is of interest in this and other regions where forests are the dominant pre-mining land use. This study evaluated mine soil development on surface-mined sites reforested according to the Forestry Reclamation Approach, representing a chronosequence of time ranging from 0 to 19 years after reclamation. Soils were sampled in depth increments to 50 cm and analyzed for a suite of soil physical and chemical characteristics. Overall, soil fines (silt + clay) tended to increase over time since reclamation (17% silt at year 0 increasing to 35% at year 11; 3.2% clay at year 0 increasing to 5.7% at year 14) while concentrations of metals (e.g., Al, Mg, Mn, Na) demonstrated varied relationships with time since reclamation. Concentrations of organic carbon (OC) tended to increase with time (0.9% OC at year 0 increasing to 2.3% at year 14), and were most enriched in near-surface soils. Some soil characteristics (e.g., Na, OC, Ca) demonstrated patterns of increasing similarity to the forest control, while others were distinct from the forest control throughout the chronosequence (e.g., Al, clay, Mn, gravel). Future surveys of these soils over time will elucidate longer-term patterns in soil development, and better characterize the time scales over which these soils might be expected to approximate forest soil conditions.
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Sims, R. A., and P. Uhlig. "The current status of forest site classification in Ontario." Forestry Chronicle 68, no. 1 (February 1, 1992): 64–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc68064-1.
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Forest sites are diagnostic forest-landscape ecosystem units that resource managers must deal with during the planning and implementation stages of management. Forest sites are the basic building blocks for undertaking integrated resource management which weighs wildlife, recreation, environmental impact and various other concerns along with timber harvesting. Consequently, accurate and practical systems for classifying and mapping forest sites are becoming increasingly necessary to organize, communicate and use existing and new management knowledge and experience effectively.Over the past four decades in Ontario, a number of studies and resource surveys have provided important background information on forest sites. Many have considered, to varying extents, the integrative roles of vegetation, soil-site, landform and general climate on forests and forest land. Generally, the emphasis has been on description and classification, with results generating a better understanding of how various forests in different areas develop, both qualitatively and quantitatively, in relation to soil-site or other features of the basic land resource. Some of these studies and surveys have been instrumental in advancing the definitions and understanding of forested ecosystems. Others have provided new information on site dynamics, interrelationships and functions, or have contributed to the science (and art) of site evaluation and classification.This paper briefly summarizes the current status of forest site classification in Ontario. Over time, the role of forest site classification has evolved in response to new technologies and information, and to new emphases and values in resource management. In general, site classification research has become increasingly integrative and quantitative. Some of the important future challenges facing forest site classification in Ontario are briefly discussed. Key words: ecological land classification, forest ecology, forest ecosystem classification, forest management interpretations, forest site classification, land use planning, Ontario.
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McLaughlin, D. L., M. Chiu, D. Durigon, and H. Liljalehto. "The Ontario Hardwood Forest Health Survey: 1986 – 1998." Forestry Chronicle 76, no. 5 (October 1, 2000): 783–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc76783-5.
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In 1986 the Ontario government established a long-term program to monitor hardwood forest health. The program was initiated in response to widespread reports of forest decline in North America and Europe and the implication that air pollution, specifically acidic deposition, was a causal factor. Visual symptoms of branch dieback, leaf colour, and leaf size, have been quantitatively evaluated on about 15 000 trees in 110 plots. This report summarizes the results of the first 12 years (1986 to 1998). Over that time period, relative to the 1986 baseline year, 84% of the plots have improved in condition, 12% have not changed, and 4% have deteriorated. Generally, hardwood forest health in the province appears to be quite good; severe decline is limited and very site-specific, occurring only in selected northern regions on acid-sensitive and/or marginal sites, or in southern areas on very shallow soils. Northern forests growing on coarse-textured shallow soils underlain by precambrian rock are in poorer health relative to southern forests growing on finer-textured, deeper soil over limestone. On soils sensitive to acidic deposition, tree health deteriorated as soil pH and exchangeable aluminum levels increased. Key words: forest health, forest decline, decline index, Ontario, hardwood, air pollution, acid rain
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Atkinson, D. "Soil Resource Surveys for Forestry: Soil, Terrain and Site Mapping in Boreal and Temperate Forests." Geoderma 43, no. 1 (October 1988): 75–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0016-7061(88)90056-0.
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Havel, J. J. "Soil resources surveys for forestry: Soil, terrain and site mapping in boreal and temperate forests." Forest Ecology and Management 23, no. 1 (January 1988): 78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0378-1127(88)90017-5.
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Rieger, Isaak, Ingo Kowarik, Daniel Ziche, Nicole Wellbrock, and Arne Cierjacks. "Linkages between Phosphorus and Plant Diversity in Central European Forest Ecosystems—Complementarity or Competition?" Forests 10, no. 12 (December 17, 2019): 1156. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f10121156.
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The phosphorus nutrition status of European forests has decreased significantly in recent decades. For a deeper understanding of complementarity and competition in terms of P acquisition in temperate forests, we have analyzed α-diversity, organic layer and mineral soil P, P nutrition status, and different concepts of P use efficiency (PUE) in Fagus sylvatica L. (European beech) and Picea abies (L.) H. Karst. (Norway spruce). Using a subset of the Second National Soil Survey in Germany, we correlated available data on P in the organic layer and soil with α-diversity indices for beech and spruce forests overall and for individual vegetation layers (tree, shrub, herb, and moss layers). Moreover, we investigated α-diversity feedbacks on P nutrition status and PUE of both tree species. The overall diversity of both forest ecosystems was largely positively related to P content in the organic layer and soil, but there were differences among the vegetation layers. Diversity in the tree layer of both forest ecosystems was negatively related to the organic layer and soil P. By contrast, shrub diversity showed no correlation to P, while herb layer diversity was negatively related to P in the organic layer but positively to P in soil. A higher tree layer diversity was slightly related to increased P recycling efficiency (PPlant/Porganic layer) in European beech and P uptake efficiency (PPlant/Psoil) in Norway spruce. The diversity in the herb layer was negatively related to P recycling and uptake efficiency in European beech and slightly related to P uptake efficiency in Norway spruce. In spruce forests, overall and herb species richness led to significantly improved tree nutrition status. Our results confirm significant, non-universal relationships between P and diversity in temperate forests with variations among forest ecosystems, vegetation layers, and P in the organic layer or soil. In particular, tree species diversity may enhance complementarity and hence also P nutrition of dominant forest trees through higher PUE, whereas moss and herb layers seemed to show competitive relationships among each other in nutrient cycling.
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Saeid, Shabani. "Modelling and mapping of soil damage caused by harvesting in Caspian forests (Iran) using CART and RF data mining techniques." Journal of Forest Science 63, No. 9 (September 21, 2017): 425–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/125/2016-jfs.
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Controlling the soil damage caused by forest harvesting has a key role in forest management due to its effect on forest dynamics and productivity, mainly through modifying the physical, mechanical, and hydrological context of soil. This study was conducted to evaluate the soil damage susceptibility in one of the Caspian forests, Iran. For this purpose, two data mining techniques including classification and regression tree (CART) and random forest (RF) were applied. A total of 224 soil damage locations were identified primarily from field surveys. Then, 10 conditioning variables were produced in GIS. For model performance, the outputs of the analyses were compared with the field-verified soil damage locations. Our results show that slope degree, soil type, and slope aspect had the highest weight on soil damage, in the order of their appurtenance. Additionally, according to the relative operating characteristics curve, RF is a more suitable prediction model for soil damage zoning compared to CART. In summary, the findings of this study suggest that soil damage susceptibility mapping is an effective technique for Caspian forests, Iran.
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BADEA, Ovidiu, Diana Maria SILAGHI, Stefan NEAGU, Ioan TAUT, and Stefan LECA. "Forest Monitoring - Assessment, Analysis and Warning System for Forest Ecosystem Status." Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca 41, no. 2 (December 6, 2013): 613. http://dx.doi.org/10.15835/nbha4129304.
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Forests provide essential benefits and services as an important component of terrestrial ecosystems. Their functionality and health result from multiple and cumulative interactions of biotic and abiotic stress factors such as air pollution, climate change, changes in land use, and poor management practices. A forest monitoring system was established to identify, analyse and assess the degradation of European forests. Two levels of forest monitoring were developed: I) large-scale forest condition surveys, based on an European grid system starting in 1986 and II) an intensive non-systematic survey network placed in representative forest ecosystems starting in 1994. Romania implemented both level I (1990-1991) and level II (1991-1992) forest monitoring surveys with the results showing the effects of increased air temperatures and a drastic decrease of precipitation since the decade of 1971-1980. Thus, the highest values of damaged trees (crown defoliation >25%) percent were recorded in 1993, 1994, 2000 and 2003 both in the national and European networks. Also, in southern and South-Eastern Romania the forests are more frequently damaged as a response to worsening of climatic factors in this region in recent decades, with temperatures rising 0.7-0.8°C. In general, in Romania, ozone concentrations remained below the critical threshold (40-50 ppb) for affecting growth or health of trees. The levels of S-SO4 and N-NO3 declined in the atmosphere but the accumulation continued to increase in the soil, leading to soil acidification, mainly at depths of 10-40 cm). In general, during the last decade, Romanian forests were affected at low to medium intensities with damage rate up to 11% of the trees and the status of general forest health improved slightly.
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Oester, Bernhard, and Markus Bolliger. "Zukünftige Ausrichtung der Waldbeobachtung in der Schweiz | The Future Orientation of Forest Monitoring in Switzerland." Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen 151, no. 5 (May 1, 2000): 161–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.3188/szf.2000.0161.
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In June 1999 the directors of both the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL and the Swiss Forest Agency (Buwal) undersigned an agreement for the continuation of the programme «Forest Monitoring in Switzerland». The aim of this programme is to determine the present condition and to forecast the long-term development of forests in Switzerland, to analyse the dangers to which they are exposed and the causes thereof, to estimate future hazards and to deduce the implications not only for sustained management but also for forest and environmental policies. The study programme will take into account the well-established National Inventory, for which the content and methodology for the third survey are already under way; the annual Sanasilva surveys in Europe, the Plant Health Observation Service,the long-term forest ecosystem research programme on long-term observation areas and, what is new, the sub-programmes«Soil» and «Biodiversity», two very important and problematic fields, which deserve much more attention in future.
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Březina, David, Jakub Michal, Zdeněk Adamec, and Jana Burdová. "Quantification of the economic value of the recreational function of forests in the territory of Městské lesy Hradec Králové a.s." Journal of Forest Science 65, No. 5 (May 31, 2019): 161–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/38/2019-jfs.
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This article aims at the valuation of the potential and economic significance of the recreational ecosystem services of forests. The research was conducted in the area of Městské lesy Hradec Králové a.s. in 2018. A part of the questionnaire survey assessed by means of statistical analysis was based on the travel cost method and the contingent valuation method, which investigate the respondents’ willingness to pay for services resulting from the recreational ecosystem service of forests. The research specifically dealt with the visitors’ willingness to pay for the services resulting from the use of forest logging roads, forest clearings, and small structures of forest infrastructure. The questionnaires were created using foreign publications and case studies. The findings of the questionnaire survey indicated that visitors prevailingly believed that the recreational service provided by the area of interest should not be chargeable. The reason for this opinion was mainly the fact that the visitors perceive the forests in the territory of Městské lesy Hradec Králové a.s. as public goods, hence the access to them should be free of charge.
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Swindel, Benee F., Louis F. Conde, and Joel E. Smith. "Successional changes in Pinuselliottii plantations following two regeneration treatments." Canadian Journal of Forest Research 16, no. 3 (June 1, 1986): 630–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/x86-108.
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In the intensively managed forests of the Lower Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States, clear-cutting and intensive regeneration methods may pose a threat to the existing flora. To assess this danger, our objective was to quantify and describe the changes in community structure and composition following conversion of second-growth pine forests in northern Florida to plantations of slash pine (Pinuselliottii Engelm.). Plantations were established by two different regeneration regimes: a minimum regime effecting little dislocation of the forest floor and the soil and a maximum regime effecting severe dislocation of logging slash, the forest floor, and the soil together with much greater destruction of residual understory. Statistically independent surveys of the crown cover and foliage biomass of all plant species were conducted before harvesting and at plantation age 1, 2, 3, and 5 years. Reductions of woody species during regeneration were more pronounced following maximum treatment, but subsequent response in cover and biomass were similar. Herbaceous species generally increased markedly following forest operations, with differences in magnitude and pattern of response attributable to difference in treatment. However, similarity indices indicate that herbs are not regaining pretreatment composition. Plant species richness generally increased following regeneration; forb species were especially numerous after harvests. Shannon diversity, especially foliage biomass diversity also increased substantially after harvests. Twelve scarce species were identified as plants worthy of special concern in managed flat woods forests.
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Chiang, Shou-Hao, and Miguel Valdez. "Tree Species Classification by Integrating Satellite Imagery and Topographic Variables Using Maximum Entropy Method in a Mongolian Forest." Forests 10, no. 11 (November 1, 2019): 961. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f10110961.
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Forests are an important natural resource that achieve ecological balance by regulating water regimes and promoting soil conservation. Based on forest inventories, the government is able to make decisions to sustainably conserve, improve, and manage forests. Fieldwork for forestry investigation requires intensive physical labor, which is costly and time-consuming, especially for surveys in remote mountainous regions. Remote sensing technology has been recently used for forest investigation on a large scale. An informative forest inventory must include forest attributes, including details of tree species; however, tree species mapping is not always applicable due to the similarity of surface reflectance and texture between tree species. Topographic variables such as elevation, slope, aspect, and curvature are crucial in allocating ecological niches to different species; therefore, this study suggests that integrating topographic information and optical satellite image classification can improve mapping accuracy for tree species. The main purpose of this study is to classify forest tree species in Erdenebulgan County, Huwsgul Province, Mongolia, by integrating Landsat satellite imagery with a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) using a Maximum Entropy algorithm. A forest tree species inventory from the Forest Division of the Mongolian Ministry of Nature and Environment was used as training data and as ground truth to perform the accuracy assessment. In this study, the classification was made using two different experimental approaches. First, classification was done using only Landsat surface reflectance data; and second, topographic variables were integrated with the Landsat surface reflectance data. The integration approach showed a higher overall accuracy and kappa coefficient, indicating that an accurate forest inventory can be achieved by integrating satellite imagery data and other topographic information to enhance the practice of forest management in remote regions.
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Swenson, Jennifer J., Richard H. Waring, Weihong Fan, and Nicholas Coops. "Predicting site index with a physiologically based growth model across Oregon, USA." Canadian Journal of Forest Research 35, no. 7 (July 1, 2005): 1697–707. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/x05-089.
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With expanded interests in sustaining productivity under changing climate, management, and disturbance regimes, we sought a means of mapping the potential productivity of forests across the state of Oregon in the Pacific Northwest, USA. We chose the mapping tool 3-PG, a simplified physiologically based process model that can be driven with monthly averaged climatic data (DAYMET) and estimates of soil fertility based on soil nitrogen content. Maximum periodic mean increment (MAI, m3·ha1·year1), a measure of the forest's productive potential, was generated by the 3-PG spatial model and mapped at 1-km2 resolution for the most widely distributed tree species, Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco). Maximum MAI is linearly correlated with yield table site indices and therefore comparable with field-derived estimates of site indices obtained from measurement of tree heights and ages at 5263 federal forest survey points. The model predicted 100-year site index (SI) reasonably well (R2 = 0.55; RMSE = 9.1), considering the difference in spatial resolution between the modeled (1 km2) and field-measured SI (<0.1 ha) and that field plots were offset for confidentiality by 13 km. We created a map of the differences between modeled and field-measured SI and found that the 3000 points within ±6 m error were relatively evenly distributed across Oregon. Improving the accuracy in modeling and mapping forest productivity using 3-PG will likely require refinements in soil surveys, the quality of climatic data, the location of field plots, and the model functions and species parameters.
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Krejčí, Hana, Marta Stárová, Ivan Hrbek, Miroslava Navrátilová, and Markéta Beranová. "The perception of forests by the Czech Republic general public." Journal of Forest Science 65, No. 6 (June 25, 2019): 226–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/138/2018-jfs.
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Forests as a part of landscape do not fulfil their economic function (timber production) only but a lot of other non-economic functions, especially ecological ones. Both economic and non-economic functions are indisputable and equally important for society. The aim of this paper is to identify current attitudes to forest perceptions by citizens in the Czech Republic. Primary data were obtained by means of a questionnaire research survey which was carried out in 2018. Altogether 824 respondents took part in this survey (n = 824). From the results follows that approximately 70% of respondents visit forest at least three times a month. In connection with this, the relationship between respondents’ forest visit frequency and the forest density in the region where they come from was confirmed. 60% of respondents consider the forest exploitation and forest management to be the most important cause of damage and threats to forest. In relation to forest, 46% of respondents consider forest conservation and protection to be the most important topics.
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Holzwarth, Stefanie, Frank Thonfeld, Sahra Abdullahi, Sarah Asam, Emmanuel Da Ponte Canova, Ursula Gessner, Juliane Huth, Tanja Kraus, Benjamin Leutner, and Claudia Kuenzer. "Earth Observation Based Monitoring of Forests in Germany: A Review." Remote Sensing 12, no. 21 (October 31, 2020): 3570. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs12213570.
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Forests in Germany cover around 11.4 million hectares and, thus, a share of 32% of Germany’s surface area. Therefore, forests shape the character of the country’s cultural landscape. Germany’s forests fulfil a variety of functions for nature and society, and also play an important role in the context of climate levelling. Climate change, manifested via rising temperatures and current weather extremes, has a negative impact on the health and development of forests. Within the last five years, severe storms, extreme drought, and heat waves, and the subsequent mass reproduction of bark beetles have all seriously affected Germany’s forests. Facing the current dramatic extent of forest damage and the emerging long-term consequences, the effort to preserve forests in Germany, along with their diversity and productivity, is an indispensable task for the government. Several German ministries have and plan to initiate measures supporting forest health. Quantitative data is one means for sound decision-making to ensure the monitoring of the forest and to improve the monitoring of forest damage. In addition to existing forest monitoring systems, such as the federal forest inventory, the national crown condition survey, and the national forest soil inventory, systematic surveys of forest condition and vulnerability at the national scale can be expanded with the help of a satellite-based earth observation. In this review, we analysed and categorized all research studies published in the last 20 years that focus on the remote sensing of forests in Germany. For this study, 166 citation indexed research publications have been thoroughly analysed with respect to publication frequency, location of studies undertaken, spatial and temporal scale, coverage of the studies, satellite sensors employed, thematic foci of the studies, and overall outcomes, allowing us to identify major research and geoinformation product gaps.
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Gan, Jianbang, Stephen H. Kolison, and James H. Miller. "Public Preferences for Nontimber Benefits of Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) Stands Regenerated by Different Site Preparation Methods." Southern Journal of Applied Forestry 24, no. 3 (August 1, 2000): 145–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sjaf/24.3.145.
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Abstract This study assesses public preferences for nontimber benefits of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stands regenerated 15 yr earlier using different site preparation treatments at national forest and industrial forestry sites. Treatments tested on the Tuskegee National Forest were none, chainsaw felling, tree injection, and soil-active herbicide. At the industrial site, experimental treatments included chopping and burning, followed by no additional treatment, woody control, herbaceous control, and total control. Both sites were planted with loblolly pine seedlings. Two user surveys employing color photography were conducted to identify the respondents' ratings of the young stands in terms of perceived nontimber benefits, including aesthetics, picnicking, hiking/walking/cycling, camping, hunting, bird watching, wildlife habitat, and biodiversity. The site preparation treatments were rated without consideration of the treatment cost and its distribution. Results indicate that the respondents preferred the minimal or no treatment options at both study sites. The respondents' preferences were significantly affected by their age, education, income, employment status, and living distance from the experimental sites, but not gender. Respondents considered wildlife habitat as the most important benefit and hunting as the least important. Most of the respondents also felt that both national forests and industrial forests should be managed for nontimber as well as timber products. South. J. Appl. For. 24(3):145-149.
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Kermavnar, Janez, Aleksander Marinšek, Klemen Eler, and Lado Kutnar. "Evaluating Short-Term Impacts of Forest Management and Microsite Conditions on Understory Vegetation in Temperate Fir-Beech Forests: Floristic, Ecological, and Trait-Based Perspective." Forests 10, no. 10 (October 16, 2019): 909. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f10100909.
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Forest understory vegetation is largely influenced by disturbances and given local abiotic conditions. Our research focuses on the early response of understory vegetation to various forest management intensities in Dinaric fir-beech forests in Slovenia: (i) control, (ii) 50% cut of stand growing stock, and (iii) 100% cut of stand growing stock. Apart from identifying overstory removal effects, we were interested in fine-scale variation of understory vegetation and environmental determinants of its species composition. Vegetation was sampled within 27 karst sinkholes, which represent a dominant landform in studied forests. Within each sinkhole, five sampling plots, varying in slope aspect (centre, north, east, south, west), were established (135 in total), where pre-treatment (in 2012) and post-treatment (in 2014) floristic surveys were conducted. The sampled understory species were characterized in terms of Ellenberg’s indicator values (EIVs) and plant functional traits (plant height, seed mass, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content). Diversity metrics (species richness, total cover, Shannon index) increased in plots where the silvicultural measures were applied. Tree species richness also increased in 100% cutting. A redundancy analysis revealed that species composition was related to environmental variables, which are directly influenced by management interventions (overstory canopy cover, microclimate—maximum daily temperature, soil properties—thickness of organic soil layer) as well as by topographic factors (slope inclination and surface rockiness). EIVs for light were significantly affected by treatment intensity, whereas soil-related EIVs (moisture, reaction, nutrients) depended more on the within-sinkhole position. Canopy gaps, compared with uncut control plots, hosted a higher number of colonizing species with a higher plant height and smaller seeds, while leaf traits did not show a clear response. We found a negative correlation between pre-treatment species (functional) richness and post-treatment shifts in floristic (functional) composition. Plots with higher richness exhibited smaller changes compared with species-poor communities. Incorporating different perspectives, the results of this study offer valuable insights into patterns of understory vegetation response to forest management in fir-beech forests.
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Sakbaeva, Zulfiia, Veronica Acosta-Martínez, Jennifer Moore-Kucera, Wayne Hudnall, and Karabaev Nuridin. "Interactions of Soil Order and Land Use Management on Soil Properties in the Kukart Watershed, Kyrgyzstan." Applied and Environmental Soil Science 2012 (2012): 1–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/130941.
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Surveys of soil properties related to soil functioning for many regions of Kyrgyzstan are limited. This study established ranges of chemical (soil organic matter (SOM), pH and total N (TN)), physical (soil texture), and biochemical (six enzyme activities of C, N, P, and S cycling) characteristics for nine profiles from the Kukart watershed of Jalal-Abad region in Kyrgyzstan. These profiles represent different soil orders (Inceptisols, Alfisols, and Mollisols) and land uses (cultivated, nut-fruit forests, and pasture). The Sierozem (Inceptisols) soils had the highest pH and contained the lowest SOM and TN contents compared to the Brown, Black-brown, and Meadow-steppe soils (Alfisols and Mollisols). Enzymatic activities within surface horizons (0–18 cm) typically decreased in the following order: forest > pasture > cultivated. Enzyme activity trends due to land use were present regardless of elevation, climate, and soil types although subtle differences among soil types within land use were observed. The significant reductions in measured soil enzyme activities involved in C, N, P, and S nutrient transformations under cultivation compared to pasture and forest ecosystems and lower values under Inceptisols can serve as soil quality indicators for land use decisions in the watershed.
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Pitman, Nigel C. A., Carlos E. Cerón, Carmita I. Reyes, Mark Thurber, and Jorge Arellano. "Catastrophic natural origin of a species-poor tree community in the world's richest forest." Journal of Tropical Ecology 21, no. 5 (July 25, 2005): 559–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0266467405002713.
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Upper Amazonian tree communities are famous for their very high alpha-diversity. This paper describes an anomalous forest just 6 km south of the equator in lowland Ecuador that is structurally mature, surrounded by hyperdiverse forest, but strikingly poor in species. To investigate the anomaly, a 1-ha tree inventory and soil analysis were carried out and compared with 15 similar surveys of upland forest in the same region. The anomalous forest contains only 102 tree species ha−1, compared with a regional mean of 239±28 species ha−1. It is structurally indistinguishable from richer forests, and closest in composition to upland forest, but lacks the uplands' typically rich understorey tree community. Three hypotheses for its origin are examined: recovery from anthropogenic disturbance, unique soil conditions and recovery from a large-scale natural catastrophe. The third hypothesis is the best supported. Mineralogical, geological and remote-sensing evidence, and 14C-dating suggest that the forest grows on a vast debris plain left by a catastrophic flooding event roughly 500 y ago. The forest's low diversity today is most likely due to the failure of a full complement of the region's tree species – especially understorey taxa – to recolonize the outwash plain in the time since the disaster.
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Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh, Aroon Sinbumroong, Benjamin L. Turner, and Stuart J. Davies. "Natural disturbance and soils drive diversity and dynamics of seasonal dipterocarp forest in Southern Thailand." Journal of Tropical Ecology 35, no. 03 (May 2019): 95–107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0266467419000075.
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AbstractIn 2000, we established a 24-ha plot in Peninsular Thailand to investigate how forest composition, structure and dynamics vary with spatial heterogeneity in resource availability. Detailed soil and topographic surveys were used to describe four edaphic habitats in the plot. Disturbance history was inferred from historical records and floristic analysis. The plot included >119 000 trees ≥1 cm dbh in 578 species, and was recensused in 2010. Species distributions, floristic turnover, stand structure, demographic rates and biomass dynamics were strongly influenced by heterogeneity in soils, topography and disturbance history. Over 75% of species were aggregated on specific edaphic habitats leading to strong compositional turnover across the plot. Soil chemistry more strongly affected species turnover than topography. Forest with high biomass and slow dynamics occurred on well-drained, low fertility ridges. The distribution and size structure of pioneer species reflected habitat-specific differences in disturbance history. Overall, above-ground biomass (AGB) increased by 0.64 Mg ha−1 y−1, from 385 to 392 Mg ha−1, an increase that was entirely attributable to recovery after natural disturbance. Forest composition and stand structure, by reflecting local disturbance history, provide insights into the likely drivers of AGB change in forests. Predicting future changes in tropical forests requires improved understanding of how soils and disturbance regulate forest dynamics.
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Correa, Fabricio S., Leandro Juen, Lenise C. Rodrigues, Heriberto F. Silva-Filho, and Maria C. Santos-Costa. "Effects of oil palm plantations on anuran diversity in the eastern Amazon." Animal Biology 65, no. 3-4 (2015): 321–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15707563-00002481.
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The extent of land use for oil palm plantations has grown considerably in the tropics due to climate, appropriate soil conditions for cultivation and its profitability. However, oil palm plantations may endanger biodiversity through reduction and fragmentation of forest areas. Herein we analyzed the effects on anuran species richness, composition and total abundance in oil palm plantations and surrounding forests in eastern Amazon. We installed seven plots in oil palm plantations and seven plots in surrounding forests, which we surveyed for the presence of anurans through active visual and acoustic surveys during periods of high and low rainfall levels. Anuran assemblages found in forests and oil palm plantations differed in species richness and composition, with a loss of 54% of species in oil palm plantations. No difference was observed in total abundance of anurans between both environments. While conversion of forests to oil palm plantations may result in less negative impacts on anuran diversity than other types of monocultures, such loss is nevertheless high, making the maintenance of relatively greater forested areas around oil palm plantations necessary in order to conserve anuran diversity.
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Wei, Wenjun, Bing Wang, and Xiang Niu. "Soil Erosion Reduction by Grain for Green Project in Desertification Areas of Northern China." Forests 11, no. 4 (April 22, 2020): 473. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f11040473.
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The Grain for Green Project (GGP) encompasses most desertification areas in northern China where fragile soils are susceptible to erosion given the arid and semi-arid climate, low vegetation cover, and strong winds. We collected relevant data through ecological surveys and literature review to quantify total sand fixation and dust retention in 2015 based on different restoration methods, forest types, ecological function zones, and key desertification areas. Our results showed that cropland and wasteland afforestation increased sand fixation and dust retention, whereas facilitate afforestation was less effective in doing so. Further, sand fixation and dust retention values were higher in ecological and shrub forests compared with economic forests, as well as in wind erosion zones compared with wind-water erosion and water erosion zones. Moreover, 43.28% and 44.75% of total sand fixation and dust retention, respectively, were concentrated in important windbreak and sand fixation areas. Similarly, 60% and 30% of total sand fixation and dust retention, respectively, occurred in sandstorm paths and sources. Lastly, policy factors primarily influenced the spatial distribution patterns of both sand fixation and dust retention. Based on these results, enhancement of GGP efficacy into the future will rely on increased restoration efforts specifically aimed at planting more drought-resistant shrubs and native vegetation as doing so will enhance sand fixation, dust retention, and thus, the ecological integrity of these valuable and fragile desert ecosystems in northern China.
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Duong, N. D. "AUTOMATED CLASSIFICATION OF NATURAL FORESTS WITH LANDSAT TIME SERIES USING SIMPLIFIED SPECTRAL PATTERNS." ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLIII-B3-2020 (August 21, 2020): 983–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-xliii-b3-2020-983-2020.
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Abstract. Natural forests are a basic component of the earth ecology. It is essential for biodiversity, hydrological cycle regulation and environmental protection. Globally, natural forests are gradually degraded and reduced due to timber logging, conversion to cropland, production forest, commodity trees, and infrastructure development. Decreasing of natural forests results in loss of valuable habitats, land degradation, soil erosion and imbalance of water cycle in regional scale. Thus operational monitoring natural forest cover change, therefore, has been in interest of scientists for long time. Forest cover mapping methods are divided to two groups: field-based survey and remotely sensed image data based techniques. The field-based methods are conventional and they have been used widely in forestry management practice. Satellite-image-based methods were developed since beginning of earth observation. These methods, except visual image interpretation, can be grouped to supervised and unsupervised classification that rely on various algorithm as statistical, clustering or artificial intelligence. However, there is little report about method, which can extract natural forests from generic forest cover. Over the last couple of decades, natural forests have been over-exploited by various reasons. This practice led to urgent need of development of fast, reliable and automated method for mapping natural forests. In this study, a new method for mapping of natural forest by Landsat time series is presented. The new method is fully automated. It uses spectral patterns as principal classifier to recognize land cover classes. The proposed method was applied in study area consisted of Ratanakiri of Cambodia, Attapeu of Laos and Kon Tum of Vietnam. About 2000 Landsat images were used to generate land cover maps of the study area across years from 1989 to 2018.
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Santos, M. F., H. Serafim, and P. T. Sano. "AN ANALYSIS OF SPECIES DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS IN THE ATLANTIC FORESTS OF SOUTHEASTERN BRAZIL." Edinburgh Journal of Botany 68, no. 3 (October 18, 2011): 373–400. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0960428611000254.
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This study analysed phytogeographic patterns of several Atlantic Forest areas in southeastern Brazil, including forest areas in the Espinhaço Range, to identify species with congruent distribution patterns and possible environmental factors that might influence these. A total of 54 floristic surveys, predominantly from semideciduous woodland sites but also including some rainforest areas, were compared using UPGMA and DCA methods as well as Jaccard analyses. The former identified four main groupings: group 1 included forests located throughout the Espinhaço Range; group 2 was formed by forest areas in the Rio Jequitinhonha basin; group 3 was formed by three distinct subgroups, one (3.1) predominantly of forest areas pertaining to the Alto Rio Grande basin, another (3.2) of upland forests of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, and a third subgroup (3.3) of upland forests of the Serra da Mantiqueira; and group 4 encompassed forest areas in the Rio Doce, Rio Paraíba do Sul, Rio Itanhém and Rio Itapemirim basins. The prevailing relief in these basins has influenced rainfall and seasonality in these areas which, in turn, have exerted a major influence on the composition of the semideciduous forests. Geographic proximity and altitude, although important factors, play a minor role in the phytogeographic patterns analysed. Despite the floristic heterogeneity of the Espinhaço Range forests, there are physiognomic and floristic affinities among the forests within the campos rupestre vegetation. These are due to the high altitude and features of the soil.
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Bahn, Gwon-Soo, and Byung-Chul An. "Analysis of Environmental Purification Effect of Riparian Forest with Poplar Trees for Ecological Watershed Management: A Case Study in the Floodplain of the Dam Reservoir in Korea." Sustainability 12, no. 17 (August 24, 2020): 6871. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12176871.
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The Total Nitrogen(T-N) and Total Phosphors(T-P) contents in the soils of three riparian forests with poplar trees were compared with the surrounding cultivated and uncultivated lands. Three key results were obtained by analyzing poplar tree volume and the T-N and T-P content in the plant body. First, in soil surveys covering 36 points, the T-N and T-P content in the riparian forests were 0.064% and 0.036%, respectively, whereas in non-riparian forests, they were 0.147% and 0.101%, respectively. The two areas had significantly different T-N and T-P values. Within the non-riparian-forest category, the T-N and T-P content in cultivated land was 0.174% and 0.103%, respectively, showing significant differences from riparian forest values. When comparing riparian forests and uncultivated land, the T-N contents were not significantly different (p > 0.113), but the T-P content of 0.095% showed a significant difference (p < 0.006). Second, the total poplar tree volumes of the riparian forest test sites 1, 2, and 3 were 466.46 m3, 171.34 m3, and 75.76 m3, respectively. The T-N and T-P accumulation per unit area was the largest in site 1, at 497.75 kg/ha and 112.73 kg/ha, respectively. The larger the tree volume, the larger the T-N and T-P accumulation in the plant body, and the lower the T-N and T-P content in the soil. Third, analyzing the T-N and T-P removal rate in relation to the environmental conditions of the riparian forests showed that site 3 had the smallest total poplar tree content, and the T-N and T-P accumulation per unit area (ha) was also relatively low at just 56% and 68% of the average value. The main causes of this outcome are thought to be the differences in environmental conditions, such as the crop cultivated before poplar planting began and the terrain. The research results verify that riparian forests with poplar trees reduced T-N and T-P content in the soils. The growth of poplar is expected to increase the removal of T-N and T-P from the soil and contribute to the reduction of various nonpoint source pollution flows into rivers and lakes and to the purification of soil in flooded areas. Therefore, riparian forests can act as a form of green infrastructure and as a system to remove nonpoint source pollution in ecological watershed management.
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Wagenhoff, E., R. Blum, and H. Delb. "Spring phenology of cockchafers, Melolontha spp. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), in forests of south-western Germany: results of a 3-year survey on adult emergence, swarming flights, and oogenesis from 2009 to 2011." Journal of Forest Science 60, No. 4 (May 7, 2014): 154–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/5/2014-jfs.
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Cockchafers are among the most dreaded insect pests in many European countries, causing economic losses in agriculture, horticulture and forestry. In forests of south-western Germany, populations of the forest cockchafer (Melolontha hippocastani) and also the field cockchafer (M. melolontha) have been increasing during the past three decades and, therefore, monitoring of these populations has been intensified. In the present field study, data on adult emergence from the soil, male swarming flights and female oogenesis, collected at three infestation sites by visual inspection, with soil eclectors and with light traps in early spring 2009–2011, are presented and discussed in the context of the current knowledge of cockchafer biology. Furthermore, three air temperature sum models for the prediction of the onset of the swarming flight period in spring, published in the early/mid 20<sup>th</sup> century, were validated in view of their applicability in forestry practice.
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Lapin, Katharina, Janine Oettel, Herfried Steiner, Magdalena Langmaier, Dunja Sustic, Franz Starlinger, Georg Kindermann, and Georg Frank. "Invasive alien plant species in unmanaged forest reserves, Austria." NeoBiota 48 (July 15, 2019): 71–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.48.34741.
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Invasive alien plant species (IAS) are one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity and the sustainable functioning of ecosystems and mitigating the threat posed by them is therefore of great importance. This study presents the results of a 15-year investigation into how IAS occur within natural forest reserves (NFR): unmanaged forest ecosystems within Austria, concluding that unmanaged forests are not resistant to plant invasions. The study comprised ground vegetation, regeneration, and stand structure surveys. The presence or absence of IAS in different forest types was assessed and the influencing variables for their presence or absence were determined. In addition, the study analysed whether the abundance of IAS has increased at the site level within the past decade. Significant differences in the probability of IAS presences between forest types (photosociological alliances) were found. The results of the study show that natural riparian and floodplain forests are among the forest types most vulnerable to biological invasions, which is reflected in elevation and soil type being determined as the main factors influencing the spread of IAS in unmanaged forests. The results of this study may be useful for persons responsible for sustainable forest management programmes or for managing forested areas within national parks. They provide a case study on non-intervention forest management policy in order to mitigate the impacts of IAS in protected areas. Forest areas, where IAS begin to spread can be identified, which in turn leads to measures in the early stages of invasion, and to optimise monitoring and control measures for relevant species in Central European forest types.
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Soares, J. J., D. W. da Silva, and M. I. S. Lima. "Current State and projection of the probable original vegetation of the São Carlos region of São Paulo State, Brazil." Brazilian Journal of Biology 63, no. 3 (August 2003): 527–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s1519-69842003000300019.
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A map of the native vegetation remaining in São Carlos County was built based on aerial images, satellite images, and field observations, and a projection of the probable original vegetation was made by checking it against soil and relief surveys. The existing vegetation is very fragmented and impoverished, consisting predominantly of cerrados (savanna vegetation of various physiognomies), semideciduous and riparian forest, and regeneration areas. Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze, found in patches inside the semideciduous forest beginning at a minimum altitude of 850 m, has practically disappeared. By evaluating areas on the map for different forms of vegetation, we obtained the following results for original coverage: 27% cerrado (sparsely arboreal and short-shrub savanna, and wet meadows); 16% cerradão (arboreal savanna); 55% semideciduous and riparian forests; and 2% forest with A. angustifolia. There are now 2% cerrados; 2.5% cerradão; 1% semideciduous forest and riparian forests; 1.5% regeneration areas; and 0% forest with A. angustifolia.
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Serna-González, Marcela, Ligia E. Urrego-Giraldo, Nelson Walter Osorio, and Diego Valencia-Ríos. "Mycorrhizae: a key interaction for conservation of two endangered Magnolias from Andean forests." Plant Ecology and Evolution 152, no. 1 (March 25, 2019): 30–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2019.1398.
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Background and aims – Magnolia species are highly endangered in neotropical forests where they are highly endemic and often very rare. However, little is known about their nutritional and soil conditions in natural forests. In this study, we focused on two endangered Magnolia species that cohabit in the Colombian Andean cloud forests in order to identify their conservation and nutritional status. We hypothesize that these species might exhibit mycorrhizal colonization that enhance nutrients uptake in poor and disturbed soils. Methods – Individuals of Magnolia jardinensis and M. yarumalensis were assessed in 11 000 m2 of Andean forests remnants from Jardín municipality (Antioquia, Colombia). Foliar and soil samples were analysed in the lab. Through a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) we identified the relationship between soil conditions and foliar nutrition. Root fragments and rhizosphere samples from seedlings and juveniles up to 3 m tall were collected to verify mycorrhizal colonization and presence of other microorganisms. Adults were excluded of the sampling due to the difficulties to differentiate their roots among the rest of the species in the forest fragments. Key results – The surveys show that the M. yarumalensis population has an inverted J-shaped diametric distribution suggesting a potential recovering population while the smaller overall distribution of M. jardinensis in all diametric categories suggests that this species is likely to become extinct. Both species grow in acidic, infertile soils, although foliar nutrient concentrations did not correlate with soil-nutrient availability. Such a discrepancy and the high colonization levels of mycorrhizae (60–70%) and dark septate endophytes (40–45%), suggest that plant-microorganisms may facilitate nutrition and enhance survival of Magnolia species in stressed environments. Other fungi and bacteria were also found in their rhizosphere, but their role with respect to Magnolia species remains unclear.Conclusions - Mycorrhizal colonization of endangered Magnolia species seems to play a key role to their performance in natural disturbed Andean forests. Aspects related to soil and rhizosphere ecology should be included in conservation projects for endangered and endemic plants.
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Drábková, A., and L. Šišák. "Forest visitors’ opinion of recreational facilities and trails in forests in the Blaník Protected Landscape Area – a case study." Journal of Forest Science 59, No. 5 (May 30, 2013): 185–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/77/2012-jfs.
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Currently, recreation is the most common use of protected areas and there are scarce data on the users and their opinion. The research was focused on visitors to the Blaník Protected Landscape Area (hereafter referred to as PLA), a well-known recreational area where data on visitors, important for PLA management, are missing. Therefore, the aim of the paper is find out: what kind of visitors comes to the study area; the type of forest trails and tourist facilities the visitors prefer. A questionnaire survey of forest visitors was used. Results show that the visitors mostly prefer maintained trails. According to forest visitors’ opinion, the most convenient facility to place near the forest tourist trail is the nature trail panels. Furthermore, based on the acquired data, it was possible to create a visitor’s profile which is important for respective research and other case studies in similar areas, and for managers of protected landscape areas to comply with both the visitors’ needs and the needs of the protected area.
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Nepal, Sushil, Bianca N. I. Eskelson, and Martin W. Ritchie. "Difference in Regeneration Conditions in Pinus ponderosa Dominated Forests in Northern California, USA, over an 83 Year Period." Forests 11, no. 5 (May 22, 2020): 581. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f11050581.
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Forest inventories based on field surveys can provide quantitative measures of regeneration such as density and stocking proportion. Understanding regeneration dynamics is a key element that supports silvicultural decision-making processes in sustainable forest management. The objectives of this study were to: 1) describe historical regeneration in ponderosa pine dominated forests by species and height class, 2) find associations of regeneration with overstory, soil, and topography variables, 3) describe contemporary regeneration across various management treatments, and 4) compare differences in regeneration between historical and contemporary forests. The study area, a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosae Dougl. ex P. and C. Law) dominated forest, is located within the Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest (BMEF) in northeastern California, United States, which was designated as an experimental forest in 1934. We used 1935 and 2018 field surveyed regeneration data containing information about three species—ponderosa pine, incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens (Torr.) Florin) and white fir (Abies concolor (Grod. and Glend)—and four height classes: class 1: 0–0.31 m, class 2: 0.31–0.91 m, class 3: 0.91–1.83 m, and class 4: >1.83 m and <8.9 cm diameter at breast height. We used stocking as proxy for regeneration density in this study. We found that historically, stocking in the BMEF was dominated by shade-intolerant ponderosa pine in height classes 2 and 3. Two variables—overstory basal area per hectare (m2 ha−1) and available water capacity at 150 cm, which is the amount of water that is available for plants up to a depth of 150 cm from the soil surface—were significantly associated with stocking, and a beta regression model fit was found to have a pseudo-R2 of 0.49. We identified significant differences in contemporary stocking among six management scenarios using a Kruskal–Wallis non-parametric one-way ANOVA. Control compartments had the highest stocking followed by burned compartments. In contemporary forest stands, recent treatments involving a combination of burning and thinning resulted in high stocking in height classes 2 and 3. Overall, the stocking in historical BMEF stands was higher than in contemporary stands and was dominated by ponderosa pine.
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Yue, Jun-Wei, Jin-Hong Guan, Lei Deng, Jian-Guo Zhang, Guoqing Li, and Sheng Du. "Allocation pattern and accumulation potential of carbon stock in natural spruce forests in northwest China." PeerJ 6 (May 25, 2018): e4859. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4859.
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Background The spruce forests are dominant communities in northwest China, and play a key role in national carbon budgets. However, the patterns of carbon stock distribution and accumulation potential across stand ages are poorly documented. Methods We investigated the carbon stocks in biomass and soil in the natural spruce forests in the region by surveys on 39 plots. Biomass of tree components were estimated using allometric equations previously established based on tree height and diameter at breast height, while biomass in understory (shrub and herb) and forest floor were determined by total harvesting method. Fine root biomass was estimated by soil coring technique. Carbon stocks in various biomass components and soil (0–100 cm) were estimated by analyzing the carbon content of each component. Results The results showed that carbon stock in these forest ecosystems can be as high as 510.1 t ha−1, with an average of 449.4 t ha−1. Carbon stock ranged from 28.1 to 93.9 t ha−1 and from 0.6 to 8.7 t ha−1 with stand ages in trees and deadwoods, respectively. The proportion of shrubs, herbs, fine roots, litter and deadwoods ranged from 0.1% to 1% of the total ecosystem carbon, and was age-independent. Fine roots and deadwood which contribute to about 2% of the biomass carbon should be attached considerable weight in the investigation of natural forests. Soil carbon stock did not show a changing trend with stand age, ranging from 254.2 to 420.0 t ha−1 with an average of 358.7 t ha−1. The average value of carbon sequestration potential for these forests was estimated as 29.4 t ha−1, with the lower aged ones being the dominant contributor. The maximum carbon sequestration rate was 2.47 t ha−1 year−1 appearing in the growth stage of 37–56 years. Conclusion The carbon stock in biomass was the major contributor to the increment of carbon stock in ecosystems. Stand age is not a good predictor of soil carbon stocks and accurate evaluation of the soil carbon dynamics thus requires long-term monitoring in situ. The results not only revealed carbon stock status and dynamics in these natural forests but were helpful to understand the role of Natural Forest Protection project in forest carbon sequestration as well.
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Ruiz-Gozalvo, Francisca, Susana Martín-Fernández, and Roberto Garfias-Salinas. "Characterization of Small Forest Landowners as a Basis for Sustainable Forestry Management in the Libertador General Bernardo O’Higgins Region, Chile." Sustainability 11, no. 24 (December 16, 2019): 7215. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11247215.
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Sclerophyllous forests are extremely sensitive to global warming, and the sclerophyllous forest in the possession of small forest landowners (SFLs) in the Libertador General Bernardo O’Higgins Region in Chile is degraded in spite of their high ecological value. Due to the total lack of forest management, the yield obtained from native forests is very low, with highly intervened forests and intense soil erosion. The main contribution of this article is to present, for the first time, a study on the characterization and problems of 211 small forest landowners in this region of Chile. After interviewing the landowners, multivariate analysis techniques were applied to the results of the survey, which enabled four types of SFL to be identified. Differences were found in regard to the surface area of their properties and the products extracted, among others. However, they all had a similar social profile, low education level and little training in forest management, very advanced ages, a lack of initiative to create forest communities, and lack of basic services due to their isolation. The characterization of the SFLs allowed proposals to be designed for future sustainable forest management activities to help mitigate the continuous deterioration of the native forest and obtain products in a sustainable way and with greater yields, considering current legal aspects, access to subsidies, and specific forest training plans for each type of SFL.
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McLaughlin, Dave. "A decade of forest tree monitoring in Canada: evidence of air pollution effects." Environmental Reviews 6, no. 3-4 (September 1, 1998): 151–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/a98-008.
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In Canada, the eastern tolerant hardwood forest is potentially at risk from air pollution. Surveys indicate that, overall, the condition of hardwood forests has either not changed or has marginally improved. However, stands growing on shallow, poorly buffered soils have a higher frequency and severity of decline symptoms, and some of these stands have continued to decline, in contrast to the general trend. In Ontario on the most sensitive sites (<6 mequiv. exchangeable bases/100 g), decline symptoms increased coinciding with a decrease in B horizon pH and base saturation and with an exchangeable Al increase. On these sites the chemical analysis of foliage, root, xylem, and soils indicate that nutrient deficiencies, nutrient imbalances, or metal/nutrient antagonism are related to stand decline. There is a consistent spatial relationship between white birch decline in the Bay of Fundy area and acidic sea fog. Acid fog injures and leaches foliage and hastens soil acidification, leaving the stands weakened and making them more sensitive to stress, particularly drought. Some recent studies suggest that forest growth rates are declining and that the relationship with climate has deteriorated, implying that the forests are responding to a regional, nonclimatic, nonpathogenic stress. This could be a response to altered forest nutrient cycling associated with acidic deposition and chronic O3 exposure. A study of sugar maple in Ontario estimated that after the mid-1960s growth has declined between 0.66 and 0.96 m3·ha-1·year-1, and that the decline was greatest on poorly buffered soils. Without enhanced forest management and more stringent air pollution regulations, the sustainability of forest productivity in Eastern Canada is likely to be difficult because of air pollution and soil fertility losses.Key words: dendroecology, acid deposition, ozone, forest decline, sugar maple, climate change.
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Pelyukh, Oksana, Alessandro Paletto, and Lyudmyla Zahvoyska. "People’s attitudes towards deadwood in forest: evidence from the Ukrainian Carpathians." Journal of Forest Science 65, No. 5 (May 31, 2019): 171–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/144/2018-jfs.
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People’s attitudes towards forest stand characteristics including deadwood are becoming increasingly relevant in sustainable forest management. The aim of this study is to investigate people’s attitudes towards deadwood in forest. The study was carried out in the Rakhiv region (Ukraine) characterized by high importance of forest resources for the local community and economy. People’s opinions were collected through the face-to-face administration of a questionnaire to 308 respondents. The survey investigated three aspects: importance of deadwood in forest; people’s perceptions of positive and negative effects of deadwood in forest; effects of presence and amount of deadwood in different types of forest on people’s aesthetical preferences. The results show that the majority of respondents consider deadwood as an important component of the forest, but generally they prefer intensively managed forests without deadwood. According to the respondents’ opinions, the most important positive effect of deadwood is a contribution to stand dynamics, while the most important negative effect is an increasing risk of insects and diseases.
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Rorato, D. G., S. B. Marcuzzo, F. Turchetto, A. M. Griebeler, T. C. Zavistanovicz, and A. L. P. Berghetti. "Reference areas and edaphoclimatic variables: support for the choice of tree species in the restoration of riparian forests in Southern Brazil." Scientific Electronic Archives 13, no. 7 (July 1, 2020): 153. http://dx.doi.org/10.36560/13720201133.
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Identifying factors involved in the choice of species for forest restoration is a great challenge, given the wide range of biotic and abiotic factors that may influence ecosystem trajectories. This review aims to highlight the information from reference areas and edaphoclimatic factors as aids in the choice of forest species to be used in the restoration of riparian forests, especially for the southern of Brazil. Native forest species of natural occurrence in riparian areas offer the potential for recovering these environments, depending on the ecological group and stage of ecological succession where they are naturally present. However, floristic and phytosociological surveys in well-preserved remnant riparian forests with no anthropogenic interference and in areas at different stages of natural succession are needed. This will enable the identification of the most representative species which are adapted to the conditions of local sites. Additionally, information must be correlated with chemical, physical and biological aspects of the soil as well as ecological processes and climatic characteristics, enabling the proper choice of species. Thus, the components of soil-plant-atmosphere system must be incorporated into the degraded environments in order to achieve an integrated recovery of ecological processes.
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Kim, A. Reum, Bong Soon Lim, Jaewon Seol, Chi Hong Lim, Young Han You, Wan Sup Lee, and Chang Seok Lee. "Diagnostic Assessment and Restoration Plan for Damaged Forest around the Seokpo Zinc Smelter, Central Eastern Korea." Forests 12, no. 6 (May 24, 2021): 663. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f12060663.
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Research Highlights: This study was carried out to diagnose the forest ecosystem damaged by air pollution and to then develop a restoration plan to be used in the future. The restoration plan was prepared by combining the diagnostic assessment for the damaged forest ecosystem and the reference information obtained from the conservation reserve with an intact forest ecosystem. The restoration plan includes the method for the amelioration of the acidified soil and the plant species to be introduced for restoration of the damaged vegetation depending on the degree of damage. Background and Objectives: The forest ecosystem around the Seokpo smelter was so severely damaged that denuded lands without any vegetation appear, and landslides continue. Therefore, restoration actions are urgently required to prevent more land degradation. This study aims to prepare the restoration plan. Materials and Methods: The diagnostic evaluation was carried out through satellite image analysis and field surveys for vegetation damage and soil acidification. The reference information was obtained from the intact natural forest ecosystem. Results: Vegetation damage was severe near the pollution source and showed a reducing trend as it moved away. The more severe the vegetation damage, the more acidic the soil was, and thereby the exchangeable cation content and vegetation damage were significantly correlated. The restoration plan was prepared by proposing a soil amelioration method and the plants to be introduced. The soil amelioration method focuses on ameliorating acidified soil and supplementing insufficient nutrients. The plants to be introduced for restoring the damaged forest ecosystem were prepared by compiling the reference information, the plants tolerant to the polluted environment, and the early successional species. The restoration plan proposed the Pinus densiflora, Quercus mongolica, and Cornuscontroversa–Juglansmandshurica communities as the reference conditions for the ridge, slope, and valley, respectively, by reflecting the topographic condition. Conclusions: The result of a diagnostic assessment showed that ecological restoration is required urgently as vegetation damage and soil acidification are very severe. The restoration plan was prepared by compiling the results of these diagnostic assessments and reference information collected from intact natural forests. The restoration plan was prepared in the two directions of soil amelioration and vegetation restoration.
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Ivanchina, Ludmila A., and Sergei V. Zalesov. "The effect of spruce plantation density on resilience of mixed forests in the Perm Krai." Journal of Forest Science 65, No. 7 (July 31, 2019): 263–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/14/2019-jfs.
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Over the course of the last few decades, many countries across the globe have experienced mass desiccation of spruce plantations. The subject of our research was the spruce forests of the Russian Perm Krai’s mixed forest zone. Spruce is a shade–tolerant tree species and low plantation density may adversely affect the spruce health. The aim of this research is to establish how influential the spruce stand density is on causing desiccation in mixed zones in the Perm Krai. The results of an on-site survey which had recorded spruce desiccation in 2017 were analysed. Within the boundaries of the aforementioned forest areas, 2017 saw the desiccation of spruce trees in 301 forest allotments covering an area of 5,343.7 ha. The value of the weighted average category of spruce forest health in Prikamye varies from 2.7 (severely weakened) to 4.2 (desiccating), and the percentage of the volume of spruce deadwood varies from 17% to 59.5%. When the spruce stand density rises from 0.4 to 0.8, spruce stand resilience to desiccation increases.
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Bouko, Boni Sounon, Paulin Jésutin Dossou, Boureima Amadou, and Brice Sinsin. "Exploitation Des Ressources Biologiques Et Dynamique De La Foret Classee De La Mekrou Au Benin." European Scientific Journal, ESJ 12, no. 36 (December 31, 2016): 228. http://dx.doi.org/10.19044/esj.2016.v12n36p228.
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The dynamics study of the preserved forest of Mekrou was discussed. The methodology used includes documentary research, Phytosociological surveys, diachronic analysis of satellite imagery, socio-economic surveys of different social and professional groups and the analysis and interpretation of data. It is obvious that in the area of the study, agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry and the use of medicinal plants are the main forms of natural resources exploitation. This operation, with population growth leads to a regressive evolution of plants and natural landscapes in favor of agricultural fields and fallow. The area of natural vegetation increased from 70, 53% in 1992 to 39,33% in 2012 in favor fields and fallow land increased from 17, 88% to 48, 77% in 2012. The numerical classification based on the presence-absence of vegetation species allowed us to individualize 6 vegetal communities. The Anogeissus leiocarpus, Khaya senegalensis and gallery forests group is the most diversified and most concentrated while Parkia biglobosa, Vitellaria paradoxa Field group is less diversified and less dense. The impact of soil occupation dynamics has resulted in the fragmentation of natural formations and reducing species diversity and density of ligneous.
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Seddaiu, Salvatore, Andrea Brandano, Pino Angelo Ruiu, Clizia Sechi, and Bruno Scanu. "An Overview of Phytophthora Species Inhabiting Declining Quercus suber Stands in Sardinia (Italy)." Forests 11, no. 9 (September 8, 2020): 971. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f11090971.
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Cork oak forests are of immense importance in terms of economic, cultural, and ecological value in the Mediterranean regions. Since the beginning of the 20th century, these forests ecosystems have been threatened by several factors, including human intervention, climate change, wildfires, pathogens, and pests. Several studies have demonstrated the primary role of the oomycete Phytophthora cinnamomi Ronds in the widespread decline of cork oaks in Portugal, Spain, southern France, and Italy, although other congeneric species have also been occasionally associated. Between 2015 and 2019, independent surveys were undertaken to determine the diversity of Phytophthora species in declining cork oak stands in Sardinia (Italy). Rhizosphere soil samples were collected from 39 declining cork oak stands and baited in the laboratory with oak leaflets. In addition, the occurrence of Phytophthora was assayed using an in-situ baiting technique in rivers and streams located throughout ten of the surveyed oak stands. Isolates were identified by means of both morphological characters and sequence analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of ribosomal DNA. In total, 14 different Phytophthora species were detected. Phytophthora cinnamomi was the most frequently isolated species from rhizosphere soil, followed by P. quercina, P. pseudocryptogea, and P. tyrrhenica. In contrast, P. gonapodyides turned out to be the most dominant species in stream water, followed by P. bilorbang, P. pseudocryptogea, P. lacustris, and P. plurivora. Pathogenicity of the most common Phytophthora species detected was tested using both soil infestation and log inoculation methods. This study showed the high diversity of Phytophthora species inhabiting soil and watercourses, including several previously unrecorded species potentially involved in the decline of cork oak forests.
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Durán, Jorge, Alexandra Rodríguez, Javier Méndez, Gustavo Morales, José María Fernández-Palacios, and Antonio Gallardo. "Wildfires decrease the local-scale ecosystem spatial variability of Pinus canariensis forests during the first two decades post fire." International Journal of Wildland Fire 28, no. 4 (2019): 288. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf18145.
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The spatial variability (i.e. heterogeneity) of environmental variables determines a wide range of ecosystem features and plays a key role in regulating key ecosystem services. Wildfires are among the most significant natural disturbances that forests face, but our knowledge about their effect on ecosystem spatial variability is still limited. We used a 19-year fire chronosequence of natural, unmanaged Pinus canariensis C. Sm. ex DC forests to investigate how wildfires affect overall ecosystem spatial variability, as well as that of key faunal, plant and soil ecosystem attributes. The spatial variability of most soil variables and of the overall ecosystem tended to decrease after the fire and remain lower than the unburned plots even after 19 years. The spatial variability of plant-related variables, except for litter decomposition, as well as that of soil arthropods abundance, decreased more gradually than that of soil variables, reaching the lowest values in the plots burned 19 years before the survey. Our study provides evidence that wildfires are capable of significantly decreasing local-scale forest spatial heterogeneity through changes in the spatial variability of their different components, with likely yet unknown consequences for ecosystem functioning.
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Wang, Yanfang, Ling Liu, Feixue Yue, and Dong Li. "Dynamics of carbon and nitrogen storage in two typical plantation ecosystems of different stand ages on the Loess Plateau of China." PeerJ 7 (September 18, 2019): e7708. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7708.
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In China’s Loess Plateau, afforestation and reforestation are considered the foremost practices for sequestering carbon and conserving soil and water. In order to evaluate the carbon storage changes of tree, soil, and litter, and the soil total nitrogen (STN) in two typical artificial forests in the region, we conducted plot surveys for different ages of both artificial forest types. Soil samples were collected at different depths from 0–100 cm. The results indicated that forest ecosystem carbon storage increased with tree development. The rates of mean annual carbon sequestration of Pinus tabulaeformis and Robinia pseudoacacia plantation ecosystems were 3.31 and 3.53 Mg ha−1 year−1, respectively. The rate of mean annual carbon sequestration of R. pseudoacacia plantation ecosystems was higher by 6.65% than that of P. tabulaeformis plantation ecosystems. The soil organic carbon (SOC) and STN decreased at deeper soil depths in both plantations at different stand ages, significantly decreasing in the 0–60 cm of soil (P < 0.05), and the highest SOC content and storage were in the top 0–20 cm of soil. The temporal patterns for SOC and STN changes at different soil sampling depths from 0 to 100 cm all showed an initial decrease during the early stage of restoration, and then an increase that coincided with the development of the two plantation forests. At 0–100 cm depth, the SOC storage was in the range of 40.95–106.79 and 45.13–113.61 Mg ha−1 for the P. tabulaeformis forest and R. pseudoacacia forest, respectively. The STN storage in the 0–100 cm soil layer with the stand age development ranged from 4.16 to 8.34 Mg ha−1 in the R. pseudoacacia plantation and 4.19–7.55 Mg ha−1 in the P. tabulaeformis forest. The results showed a significant positive correlation between SOC and STN. This study suggests that we should pay more attention to changes in soil carbon and nitrogen sequestration during long-term vegetation restoration.
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Šišák, L. "Forest visitors' opinions on the importance of forest operations, forest functions and sourcesof their financing." Journal of Forest Science 57, No. 6 (July 7, 2011): 266–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/135/2010-jfs.
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The survey was conducted in three selected areas of the Czech Republic in 2008, with the results processed in 2009. Forests visitors received inquiry forms (face to face interviews, random sample). The total number of visitors on 8 survey days was 7,369. The total number of filled-in questionnaires in the three areas was 1,122. Tree planting and tree protection are considered as the most important forest operations, followed by road and stream bank maintenance. On the contrary, timber transport and harvesting are considered as the least important activities. The nature-protecting function is considered as the most important forest function, followed by soil-conservation, climatic, hydrological and health (recreational) functions. Timber production and non-timber production are the least important functions according to the respondents. 20% of respondents claimed that increased costs needed to improve non-market forest functions, used by the visitors, should be partially or fully financed from the timber sales revenues, while only 6.5% of respondents say the costs should be partially or fully financed from payments by the users of forest functions.
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Park, Seok-Cheol, Bong-Ho Han, Jeong-In Kwak, and Jong-Yup Kim. "Ecological Characteristics and Changes to the Forest in the Rear Garden at Changdeokgung, a World Cultural Heritage Site." Forests 12, no. 6 (June 11, 2021): 774. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f12060774.
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The forest at the Changdeokgung Rear Garden is under ecological threat from factors such as soil acidification due to the growing influence of nearby metropolitan Seoul. It is difficult to maintain biodiversity in forests without first setting a clear direction for ecosystem management. Conservation and management should be based on the history and natural ecological succession of the Rear Garden forest. This study classified the ecology of the Rear Garden at Changdeokgung, a world cultural heritage site, based on soil characteristics, actual vegetation, and plant community structure and identified ecological changes over time (1986–2018) through the analysis of past survey data. The soil pH in the forest of the Changdeokgung’s Rear Garden has decreased over time, and the organic matter content has also decreased. Changdeokgung’s Rear Garden was first created and managed as a Pinus densiflora forest, and subsequently as a Quercus aliena forest. It includes a series of Quercus spp., predominantly Q. serrate. The plant community in the forest is unstable due to the absence of deciduous broad-leaved trees in the understory layer in most of the regions of the garden. Therefore, vegetation management is required in areas with high densities of Acer pseudosieboldianum, Acer palmatum, and Sorbus alnifolia to ensure stability of the ecosystem.
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Mansour, Mohamed A., Daniel M. Rhee, Timothy Newson, Chris Peterson, and Franklin T. Lombardo. "Estimating Wind Damage in Forested Areas Due to Tornadoes." Forests 12, no. 1 (December 25, 2020): 17. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f12010017.
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Research Highlights: Simulations of treefall patterns during tornado events have been conducted, enabling the coupled effects of tornado characteristics, tree properties and soil conditions to be assessed for the first time. Background and Objectives: Treefall patterns and forest damage assessed in post-storm surveys are dependent on the interaction between topography, biology and meteorology, which makes identification of characteristic behavior challenging. Much of our knowledge of tree damage during extreme winds is based on synoptic storms. Better characterization of tree damage will provide more knowledge of tornado impacts on forests, as well as their ecological significance. Materials and Methods: a numerical method based on a Rankine vortex model coupled with two mechanistic tree models for critical wind velocity for stem break and windthrow was used to simulate tornadic tree damage. To calibrate the models, a treefall analysis of the Alonsa tornado was used. Parametric study was conducted to assess induced tornadic tree failure patterns for uprooting on saturated and unsaturated soils and stem break with different knot factors. Results: A power law relationship between failure bending moments and diameter at breast height (DBH) for the hardwood species provided the best correlation. Observed failure distributions of stem break and windthrow along the tornado track were fitted to lognormal distributions and the mean of the critical wind speeds for windthrow were found to be higher than that for stem break. Relationships between critical wind speed and tree size were negatively correlated for windthrow and positively correlated for stem break. Higher soil moisture contents and lower knot factors reduced the critical wind speeds. The simulations show varying tree fall patterns displaying forward and backward convergence, different tornado damage widths and asymmetry of the tracks. These variations were controlled by the relative magnitudes of radial and tangential tornado velocities, the ratio between translational speed and maximum rotational wind speed and the mode of failure of the trees. Conclusions: The results show the complexity of predicting tornadic damage in forests, and it is anticipated that this type of simulation will aid risk assessments for insurance companies, emergency managers and forest authorities.
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Vélez, María Laura, Ludmila La Manna, Manuela Tarabini, Federico Gomez, Matt Elliott, Pete E. Hedley, Peter Cock, and Alina Greslebin. "Phytophthora austrocedri in Argentina and Co-Inhabiting Phytophthoras: Roles of Anthropogenic and Abiotic Factors in Species Distribution and Diversity." Forests 11, no. 11 (November 20, 2020): 1223. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f11111223.
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This work reports the first survey of Phytophthora diversity in the forests soils of Andean Patagonia. It also discusses the role of anthropogenic impact on Phytophthora distribution inferred from the findings on Phytophthora diversity and on the distribution of Phytophthora austrocedri-diseased forests. Invasive pathogen species threatening ecosystems and human activities contribute to their entry and spread. Information on pathogens already established, and early detection of potential invasive ones, are crucial to disease management and prevention. Phytophthora austrocedri causes the most damaging forest disease in Patagonia, affecting the endemic species Austrocedrus chilensis (D. Don) Pic. Sern. and Bizzarri. However, the relationship between anthropogenic impacts and the disease distribution has not been analyzed enough. The aims of this work were: to evaluate Phytophthora diversity in soils of Andean Patagonia using a metabarcoding method, and analyze this information in relation to soil type and land use; to assess the distribution of Austrocedrus disease over time in relation to anthropogenic and abiotic gradients in an area of interest; and to discuss the role of human activities in Phytophthora spread. High throughput Illumina sequencing was used to detect Phytophthora DNA in soil samples. The distribution of Austrocedrus disease over time was assessed by satellite imagery interpretation. Twenty-three Phytophthora species, 12 of which were new records for Argentina, were detected. The most abundant species was P. austrocedri, followed by P. × cambivora, P. ramorum and P. kernoviae. The most frequent was P. × cambivora, followed by P. austrocedri and P. ramorum. Phytophthora richness and abundance, and Austrocedrus disease distribution, were influenced by land use, anthropogenic impact and soil drainage. Results showed several Phytophthoras, including well-known pathogenic species. The threat they could present to Patagonian ecosystems and their relations to human activities are discussed. This study evidenced the need of management measures to control the spread of P. austrocedri and other invasive Phytophthora species in Patagonia.
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Di Franco, Caterina Patrizia, Gianmarco Lima, Emanuele Schimmenti, and Antonio Asciuto. "Methodological approaches to the valuation of forest ecosystem services: An overview of recent international research trends." Journal of Forest Science 67, No. 7 (July 20, 2021): 307–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/13/2021-jfs.
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Forests represent the most important source of ecosystem services (ES) on a global level both for the production of goods and for the provision of services and externalities, nevertheless scientific research in the economic field is lacking. Currently the number of documents relating to ES is 16 673, of which only 1 379 concern the forestry sector. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of scientific research trends in the field of economic evaluation of forest ecosystem services (FES). To this end, an on-line bibliographic survey was carried out on the main scientific search engines, which made it possible to quantify the works and at the same time to detect the main evaluation methods used for the different FES. This survey allowed to collect 93 articles meeting the search criteria: the most active continents were Europe and Asia, whereas most of the articles focused on the joint evaluation of provisioning, regulation and cultural services, even if a good number of them only concerned cultural services. The most widely used valuation methodologies were the contingent valuation among the stated preference techniques and the market price among direct observation criteria.
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Sárándi-Kovács, Judit, László Nagy, Ferenc Lakatos, and György Sipos. "Sudden Phytophthora Dieback of Wild Cherry Trees in Northwest Hungary." Acta Silvatica et Lignaria Hungarica 12, no. 2 (December 1, 2016): 117–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/aslh-2016-0010.
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Abstract During a regular survey of declining forests in 2011, sudden dieback symptoms were observed on scattered wild cherry trees (Prunus avium) in a mixed deciduous forest stand, located in the flood plain area of the Rába River, in northwest Hungary. In this study, we correlated both soil conditions and presence of Phytophthora spp. to dieback of cherry trees. Two Phytophthora species, P. polonica and P. plurivora, were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of the dying trees. By contrast, only P. polonica was recovered from the necrotic tissues of symptomatic roots. Stem and root inoculation tests on cherry seedlings showed pathogenicity of both species, although P. polonica proved to be more virulent. This is the first report of natural infections of P. polonica.
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Hartmann, Peter, and Klaus von Wilpert. "Fine-root distributions of Central European forest soils and their interaction with site and soil properties." Canadian Journal of Forest Research 44, no. 1 (January 2014): 71–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2013-0357.
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Fine-root distributions (FRDs) of forest stands are hypothesized to be a reflection of the influence of site properties on the intrinsic rooting strategies of trees. Based on forest soil survey data, we present a multivariate approach to identify the main parameters of FRD patterns of Central European forests, compare them with the FRD model according to Gale and Grigal (1987), and aim to detect the decisive site and soil properties. Two main parameters for the description of FRDs were found: one describes “shallowness” and the other additionally characterizes “divergence” from an evenly decreasing FRD with depth. With these two parameters, distinct FRD patterns could be described better than with absolute values of depth-dependent fine-root densities or with the compared FRD model. Comparing all sites, no significant differences occurred regarding stand types for most of the analysed fine-root parameters. Specific site and soil properties were seemingly more responsible for the expression of FRD. Results of multivariate analyses suggest that the shape of FRDs is mainly a reflection of the trees’ strategy to optimally adapt to the local soil physical and hydrological conditions. Soil chemical properties were of increased relevance when sites with either spruce or beech were analysed and for the prediction of uneven FRDs. The applied soil survey design enabled us to identify parameters, which can describe FRD patterns and how they are influenced by several soil and site properties in general. These multivariate relationships should be considered and discussed in the context of ecological forest models in further research.
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Aguiar, Francisca C., Carolina Rodrigues, João P. Pina, and Paula Soares. "Regeneration of Riparian and Maritime Pine Forests after a Large Wildfire on the Largest Public Forest of Portugal." Forests 12, no. 4 (April 14, 2021): 477. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f12040477.
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Eighty-six percent of the largest Portuguese public forest, Leiria National Forest (Mata Nacional de Leiria—MNL), central west, was burned in a wildfire in October 2017. Most of the area was covered by maritime pine stands (Pinus pinaster Aiton) crossed by riparian forests along small-sized streams. This work aims to characterize the post-fire vegetation and evaluate its natural regeneration. Sampling was carried out c. 6 months after the fire in 28 plots distributed at pine stands (3.5 × 3.5 m2) and in 24 plots (5 × 20 m2) at stream channels and riverbanks. These latter surveys were repeated in 2019. Data include the floristic composition and cover data of pine stands and streams, and the number of pine seedlings. Six months after the fire, 60% and 93% of the pre-fire species were observed at streams and pine stands, respectively. Fire severity was not related to differences in flora composition, nor with species richness. Pine seedlings were significantly more abundant in pine stands >60 years old compared to younger (<25 y) stands, but no significant differences were observed in the regeneration of understory. On riparian landscapes, the germination and resprouting of invasive exotic species, such as Acacia sp., created dense vegetation formations with decreased native plant diversity and altered the ecosystem structure. Following large wildfires, such as the one in MNL, managers should prioritize preserving the natural regeneration potential in the soil and aerial seed banks.