Applying Local Measures of Spatial Heterogeneity to Landsat-TM Images for Predicting Wildfire Occurrence in Mediterranean Landscapes

In mountainous Mediterranean regions, land abandonment processes in past decades are hypothesized to trigger secondary vegetal succession and homogenization, which in recent years has increased the size of burned areas. We conducted an analysis of temporal changes in landscape vegetal spatial pattern over a 15-year period (1984–1998) in a rural area of 672.3 km² in Eastern Spain to investigate the relationship between local landscape heterogeneity and wildfire occurrence. Heterogeneity was analyzed from textural metrics derived from non-classified remote sensing data at several periods, and was related to wildfire history in the study area. Several neural network models found significant relationships between local spatial pattern and future fire occurrence. In this study, sensitivity analysis of the texture variables suggested that fire occurrence, estimated as probability of burning in the near future, increased where local homogeneity was higher.     

Do coarse resolution U.S. presettlement land survey records adequately represent the spatial pattern of individual tree species?

Presettlement land survey records (PLSRs) are a valuable and unique source of information for the reconstruction of presettlement forest patterns. The purpose of this study was to determine whether coarsely resolved PLSRs are adequate to characterize the spatial patterns of individual tree species over large areas. The General Land Office Survey records of the PLSRs of Minnesota were used and species selected in the analysis were based on their abundances and degrees of clustering. A geostatistical procedure was developed to analyze observations of bearing-tree point-locations, at progressively coarser resolutions from 1×1 mile to 24×24 miles, to create spatially continuous probability surfaces of species occurrences across the landscape. Statistical and visual analyses of the geostatistical predictions indicated that coarsely resolved PLSRs, as coarse as 24×24 miles, can adequately represent the spatial pattern of individual species over large areas. Mean errors in predictions increased as more coarsely resolved data were used, primarily in response to the decreased abundance of a species and minorly in response to the degree of spatial clustering of a species. The results indicate that coarsely resolved township-level data of 6×6 miles can be used for presettlement vegetation reconstruction of large areas of several counties.     

祟仁余干两地封山育林控制松毛虫效果初探

本文通过对祟仁、余干两地封山育林控制马尾松毛虫效果的研究。揭示了封山育林是一种安全、经济、有效的控制松毛虫的技术措施,通过封山育林,改变了松林生态环境,增加了松林的生物多样性,提高了松林的抗虫能力。     

Simulating the cumulative effects of multiple forest management strategies on landscape measures of forest sustainability

While the cumulative effects of the actions of multiple owners have long been recognized as critically relevant to efforts to maintain sustainable forests at the landscape scale, few studies have addressed these effects. We used the HARVEST timber harvest simulator to predict the cumulative effects of four owner groups (two paper companies, a state forest and non-industrial private owners) with different management objectives on landscape pattern in an upper Michigan landscape managed primarily for timber production. We quantified trends in landscape pattern metrics that were linked to Montreal Process indicators of forest sustainability, and used a simple wildlife habitat model to project habitat trends. Our results showed that most trends were considered favorable for forest sustainability, but that some were not. The proportion of all age classes and some forest types moved closer to presettlement conditions. The trend for the size of uneven-aged patches was essentially flat while the average size of patches of the oldest and youngest age classes increased and the size of patches of the remaining age classes decreased. Forest fragmentation generally declined, but edge density of age classes increased. Late seral forest habitat increased while early successional habitat declined. The owners use different management systems that cumulatively produce a diversity of habitats. Our approach provides a tool to evaluate such cumulative effects on other landscapes owned by multiple owners. The approach holds promise for helping landowner groups develop and evaluate cooperative strategies to improve landscape patterns for forest sustainability.     

Forest School and its impacts on young children: Case studies in Britain

As Forest School has become more widespread throughout Britain an understanding is needed of its impact. This paper outlines a two-phase evaluation project undertaken in Wales and England from 2002 to 2005. The evaluation was undertaken through a partnership between Forest Research and the New Economics Foundation. A methodology was developed to explore the impacts of Forest School on children and this was then used to track changes in 24 children at three case study areas over an 8-month period. The research highlights that children can benefit in a range of ways. Six themes emerged from the data of the positive impacts on children in terms of confidence, social skills, language and communication, motivation and concentration, physical skills and knowledge and understanding. Two further themes highlight the wider impacts of Forest School on teachers, parents, and the extended family. Contact with the natural environment can be limited for children and young people in contemporary society due to concerns about safety outdoors and issues of risk and liability. Forest School provides an important opportunity for children to gain access to and become familiar with woodlands on a regular basis, while learning academic and practical skills. The constructivist theory of learning seems to be particularly suited to the Forest School approach as children make meaning from their direct experiences. The participatory action research approach taken in this study promoted reflective practice amongst the stakeholders involved and provided them with a sense of ownership of the study, as well as an opportunity to learn from each other.     

Determining landscape extent for succession and disturbance simulation modeling

Dividing regions into manageable landscape units presents special problems in landscape ecology and land management. Ideally, a landscape should be large enough to capture a broad range of vegetation, environmental and disturbance dynamics, but small enough to be useful for focused management objectives. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal landscape size to summarize ecological processes for two large land areas in the southwestern United States. We used a vegetation and disturbance dynamics model, LANDSUMv4, to simulate a set of nine scenarios involving systematically varied topography, map resolution, and model parameterizations of fire size and fire frequency. Spatial input data were supplied by the LANDscape FIRE Management Planning System (LANDFIRE) prototype project, an effort that will provide comprehensive and scientifically credible mid-scale data to support the National Fire Plan. We analyzed output from 2,000 year simulations to determine the thresholds of landscape condition based on the variability of burned area and dominant vegetation coverage. Results show that optimal landscape extent using burned area variability is approximately 100 km² depending on topography, map resolution, and model parameterization. Variability of dominant vegetation area is generally higher and the optimal landscape sizes are larger in comparison to those features determined from burned area. Using the LANDFIRE project as a case study, we determined landscape size and map resolution for a large mapping project, and showed that optimal landscape size depends upon geographical, ecological, and management context. This paper was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and therefore is in the public domain and not subject to copyright. The use of trade or firm names in this paper is for reader information and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service.     

振兴龙江森工经济的思考

本文通过对我省森工经济现状的分析.从企业的经济管理体制,经营机制,发展林业多元经济培植新的经济增长点等方面。提出振兴和繁荣龙江森工经济的措施与对策。     

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.     

四川省普通高校开展少数民族传统体育的影响因素分析

主要通过文献资料法和问卷调查法，对四川省普通高校开展少数民族传统体育进行因子分析，其结 果表明：影响四川省普通高校少数民族传统体育开展的主要因子有：体育物质因子、教师因子、学生因子 、体育文化因子和外部环境因子五个因素，并对每一个影响因子进行研究与分析，提出了较为科学而合理 的建议，为四川少数民族传统体育项目的开展打下了良好基础，同时也为四川省普通高校今后进一步作好 学校少数民族传统体育教学工作提供理论依据。     

公路路线方案优选中的多目标决策

本论述应用层次分析法对林区公路路线方案进行优化决策，从中确定最佳路线方案。以克服传统上使用定性分析法的一些不足，使结果更加科学合理。