The economic benefits and costs of trees in urban forest stewardship: A systematic review

Understanding the benefits provided by urban trees is important to justify investment and improve stewardship. Many studies have attempted to quantify the benefits of trees in monetary terms, though fewer have quantified the associated costs of planting and maintaining them. This systematic review examines the methods used to jointly analyse the costs and benefits of trees in the urban landscape, assesses the relative balance of benefits and costs, and attempts to understand the wide variation in economic values assigned in different studies. The benefits most frequently studied are those related to environmental regulation and property values, and the available data show that these usually outweigh the costs. Aesthetic, amenity, and shading benefits have also been shown to provide significant economic benefits, while benefits in terms of water regulation, carbon reduction and air quality are usually more modest. Variation in benefits and costs among studies is attributed largely to differences in the species composition and age structure of urban tree populations, though methodological differences also play a role. Comparison between studies is made difficult owing to differences in spatiotemporal scope, and in the way urban forest composition and demographic structure were reported. The overwhelming majority of studies concern deciduous trees in Northern America, and much less is known about urban forests in other regions, especially in the tropics. Future work should thus seek to fill these knowledge gaps, and standardise research protocols across cities. In light of ambitious goals in many cities to increase tree cover, ongoing advances in valuation methods need to provide a more comprehensive accounting of benefits and costs, and to better integrate economic assessment into the decision-making process.     

Do forest and health professionals presume that forests offer health benefits,and is cross-sectional cooperation conceivable?

In high-income countries depression and cardiovascular diseases were predicted to be the two leading causes of DALYs in the year 2030. Private-life stress fosters both kinds of diseases. Scientific findings already show that forest exposure has stress-reducing effects. Particularly in Japan, people have practiced forest bathing to improve their health. The German population also has a strong connection to its forests, and forest law allows forest access, regardless of ownership structure. Hence, the question arises of whether forest exposure could be used in Germany as a kind of stress-coping strategy. To a certain degree, the success of such a strategy in Germany would require the participation of the stakeholders that are active in both the health and the forestry sectors. Therefore, it seems necessary to gain insight into German forest and health professionals' understanding and attitude concerning forest-related health benefits. For this reason, in this pilot study, guideline interviews with professionals of both sectors and with professionals standing in between these professions were conducted, recorded and transcribed. On the one hand, each professional’s presumptions regarding the health-fostering effects of forests were investigated, derived from their subjective certainty that forest exposure has health-fostering effects. In addition, a thought experiment was used to estimate the level of willingness to cooperate with each other in order to motivate people to be physically active in forests. For analysis, Mayring’s qualitative content analysis and a frequency analysis (MaxQDA) were applied. Findings show that most of the interviewed professionals presume forests to have health-fostering effects. Furthermore, something derived from the statements within the context of the thought experiment was that most professionals seem to be willing to cooperate with the other sector. Hence, it might be conceivable that forest exposure may be part of a German stress-coping strategy.     

Comparing chamber and eddy covariance based net ecosystem CO2 exchange of fen soils

Due to their high emission potential, the reporting of CO₂ emissions from peatlands requires exact emission factors for different land use categories. Recently used emission factors are mainly based on CO₂ flux measurements by chamber techniques or the micrometeorological eddy covariance (EC) method. However, evidence about the reliability and comparability of annual CO₂ balances based on these methods is scarce. Therefore, manual chamber measurements of ecosystem respiration (R_ECO) and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) were conducted for two years (March 2012–April 2014) to model annual balances of two sites on fen soils with different land use intensity in northern Germany: an unutilized and rewetted grassland (UG) and an intensively utilized wet grassland (GW). Simultaneously, EC measurements of NEE were conducted on the sites. Two reasons for occasionally great deviations in NEE between the methods could be observed: (1) the accordance of both methods was most hampered during transition periods such as the beginning of the growing season and the onset of regrowth after a grassland defoliation due to different spatial scales of EC and chamber measurements and (2) R_ECO and gross primary production (GPP) partitioned from EC NEE measurements were systematically lower than those from the chamber‐based model, which could be a result of the EC energy balance gap. Differences were more pronounced for the managed site GW as a result of more frequent regrowth periods. It is concluded that the EC and chamber method can show comparable results for the CO₂ exchange of grasslands on fen soils when the limitations of both methods are known and considered for the reporting of emission factors. These limitations are due to energy balance closure and potentially biased footprints for EC and a restricted representativeness especially during early stages of plant development for the chamber method.     

基于矿物元素指纹图谱的黑龙江黄豆产地溯源

该研究探讨了矿物元素指纹分析技术对黑龙江黄豆产地溯源的可行性,筛选出判别黑龙江黄豆产地溯源的有效指标。利用电感耦合等离子体质谱仪(inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry,ICP-MS)测定来自齐齐哈尔和北安2个地域50份黄豆样品中52种矿物元素的含量,并对数据进行了方差分析、主成分分析和判别分析。研究表明,46种矿物元素含量在地域间存在显著差异,通过逐步判别分析筛选出8项元素指标建立黄豆产地判别模型,所建立的模型对黄豆产地整体交叉检验判别率为95.7%。As、Ru、Gd含量在黄豆与土壤间呈显著正相关(P0.05),Tb含量在黄豆与土壤间呈极显著正相关(P0.01),由4种元素建立的判别模型对产地判别准确。因此,上述元素是黄豆矿物元素产地鉴别较可靠的指纹信息指标。     

嘉陵江源头景区森林生态旅游现状分析

嘉陵江源头景区是宝鸡市乃至陕西省建立最早的几家国家级森林公园之一,目前存在的问题是景区投入总量不足、硬件设施规模偏小、档次较低、结构不优、人气不旺、活力不足、效益不高,发展速度明显滞后等问题仍然比较突出。针对这些问题,提出了要树立可持续发展的新思维、新理念、新创意引领,高起点规划、实施项目带动,加大景区投入、培育和建设森林文化、倡导低碳旅游、重视人才培养,提高景区管理服务水平的对策。     

黑龙江省汤原县团结林场森林资源调查情况分析

从3个方面分别介绍了黑龙江省汤原县林业局所属的团结林场的自然、资源及经济情况。     

汤旺河林业局森林资源消长动态的GIS空间分析

以汤旺河林业局1988年和2008年两期林相图、地形图和森林经理调查数据为基础资料，利用地理信息系统软件ArcGIS9构建两期森林资源空间数据库，运用叠加分析法对6种地类、7种林型和2种起源的森林资源的空间消长情况进行研究的结果表明：1988--＇2008年，有林地作为该地区的优势景观要素，面积增加了9．38％；红松林...     

秸秆或粉煤灰添加对砂姜黑土持水性及小麦抗干旱胁迫的影响

针对黄淮海平原典型中低产土壤砂姜黑土黏粒含量较高,土壤有效水分库容较低,严重限制作物生产的现状,该文采用盆栽试验,研究了不同外源改性物料的添加对土壤持水性能及小麦生理的影响,以期获得农田水分管理过程中的关键参数。盆栽试验设置常规氮磷钾(control,CK),常规氮磷钾配施下的添加秸秆(straw returning,SR)、秸秆碳(straw carbon,SC)和粉煤灰(fly ash,FA)处理,维持土壤相对含水率在80%,培育小麦至抽穗期,开展为期10 d的干旱胁迫试验。结果显示SR和SC处理提高了土壤持水能力,且处理间的差异较小;FA处理因其表面富含大量疏水性结晶矿物,土壤相对含水率下降较快,迟效水含量显著低于其余处理,但土壤速效水含量显著提高。不同改性措施均有提高小麦叶片相对含水率,减轻干旱胁迫的趋势,但在极端干旱胁迫下,FA处理叶片相对含水率不仅明显低于其余处理,且作物体内积累大量丙二醛、过氧化氢等有害物质。田间管理中砂姜黑土相对含水率应维持在38%(SR)、36.5%(SC)和24.5%(FA)以上,当土壤相对含水率低于30.78%(SC)、28.43%(SR)和22.5%(FA)时将会对作物生理产生不可逆的伤害。鉴于秸秆优良的保水性能,粉煤灰“富水,不保水”的特性,秸秆与粉煤灰的配合施用将利于砂姜黑土的改良。相关机制值得进一步研究。     

黄河三角洲不同土地利用类型土壤微观结构特征

黄河三角洲不同土地利用类型盐碱土微观结构的研究,对认识该地区盐碱土的工程性质和对滨海盐碱地治理具有重要意义。该研究结合粒度分析(particle size distribution,PSD)、X射线衍射(X-ray diffraction,XRD)、压汞(mercury intrusion porosimetry,MIP)和扫描电镜(scanning electron microscopy,SEM)方法,对3种不同土地利用类型盐碱土的微观结构进行定量分析,旨在揭示其微观特性,为黄河三角洲盐碱地治理提供微观理论依据。结果表明:不同土地利用类型下的土壤黏粒含量表现大小依次为农田、滩地、草地,而土壤孔隙度大小依次为草地、滩地、农田;农田、草地与滩地盐碱土矿物成分中,石英、方解石和钠长石等原生矿物占绝对优势,仅含少量黏土矿物,且农田黏土矿物含量远大于草地与滩地;草地与滩地盐碱土孔隙特征类似,两者在0.1≤孔隙直径<10μm范围内小孔隙与微孔隙占有绝对优势,而农田盐碱土以孔隙直径在<2μm范围内的微孔隙与超微孔隙为主。农田盐碱土由致密片状、扁平状结构与微裂隙构成,骨架颗粒间由黏土矿物胶结;草地盐碱土由紧密镶嵌的块状颗粒和架空孔隙构成,骨架颗粒间无胶结;滩地盐碱土由紧密堆积的粒状颗粒和粒间孔隙构成,骨架颗粒间无胶结。研究成果可提高对黄河三角洲不同土地利用类型盐碱土微观结构的认识,为滨海盐碱地的治理、利用和开发提供了微观尺度上的依据。     

糠醛渣改良土壤增强苕子对盐碱土的适应性

科学合理的盐碱土改良措施对植物在盐碱土上适应性栽培具有重要的科学意义与应用价值。该研究旨在通过施用糠醛渣探讨盐碱土土壤特性及植物生长适应性栽培研究,为糠醛渣在盐碱土的合理使用提供科学依据。试验按土壤质量为基数确定糠醛渣的用量,试验由添加量0、5%、10%糠醛渣的盐碱土3个处理组成,温室条件下进行盆栽试验。结果表明,施用糠醛渣不仅降低盐碱土pH和含盐量,而且显著提升了土壤微生物多样性Sobs和Shannon指数,降低了simpson指数降低。主要表现在变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、放线菌门(Actinobacteria)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)和绿弯菌门(Chloroflexi)成为优势菌门。施用糠醛渣增加了苕子叶片中叶绿素、可溶性糖含量和脯氨酸含量。显著增强了过氧化物酶(POD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)和超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)的活性。施用糠醛渣明显促进苕子生长发育,增加了苕子苗期生物量,5%糠醛渣用量处理改良盐碱土效果较优。研究表明糠醛渣通过改善盐碱土的其理化特性及生物多样性分布,促进苕子的生长发育,研究为糠醛渣在盐碱地土壤改良及植物适应性栽培的合理应用提供了科学依据与参考。