Projecting global and regional outlooks for planted forests under the shared socio-economic pathways

New Forests - There is rising global interest in growing more trees in order to meet growing population, climate change, and wood energy needs. Using recently published data on planted forests by...     

Comparing silvopastoral systems and prospects in eight regions of the world

Silvopasture systems combine trees, forage, and livestock in a variety of different species and management regimes, depending on the biophysical, economic, cultural, and market factors in a region. We describe and compare actual farm practices and current research trials of silvopastoral systems in eight regions within seven countries of the world: Misiones and Corrientes provinces, Argentina; La Pampa province, Argentina; northwestern Minas Gerais, Brazil; the Aysén region of Patagonia, Chile; the North Island of New Zealand; the Southeast United States; Paraguay; and Uruguay. Some countries use native trees and existing forests; some use plantations, particularly of exotic species. Natural forest silvopasture systems generally add livestock in extensive systems, to capture the benefits of shade, forage, and income diversification without much added inputs. Plantation forest systems are more purposive and intensive, with more focus on joint production and profits, for small owners, large ranches, and timber companies. Trends suggest that more active management of both natural and planted silvopastoral systems will be required to enhance joint production of timber and livestock, achieve income diversification and reduce financial risk, make more profit, improve environmental benefits, and realize more resilience to adapt to climate change.     

Perceptions of silvopasture systems among adopters in northeast Argentina

Farmers’ perceptions over time of an agroforestry technology can have an important impact on adoption and disadoption. Their perceptions, in turn, may be influenced by the type and scale of farm they own and the social networks they create. We examined the factors underlying producers’ perceptions of silvopasture systems at the time of adoption and perceptions following several years of experience, and the factors explaining discontinuance of systems in Argentina. We found that while most adopters indicated that other people influenced their decision about whether or not to adopt silvopasture, the type of person that influenced them (professionals vs. other farmers) did not affect adopters’ perceptions of the relative benefits and challenges of the system. However, farm scale and farm type did explain farmers’ perceptions to a good degree. Smaller-scale farmers were less likely to see costs and returns as benefits of the system, but more likely to see cash flow properties as important advantages. Farmers’ perceptions after experiencing the system were good predictors of likely discontinuance, but influential people, farm scales, farm type, and perceptions at the time of adoption were not.     

Bioeconomic modeling in agroforestry: a rubber-cacao example

A rubber-cacao agroforestry combination was bioeconomically modeled for a forty year cycle. A number of scenarios were simulated to find the planting densities and management strategies that achieve best production and profit levels for each situation. This example is presented to demonstrate the possibilities and advantages of a simulation approach to agroforestry modeling.

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Programación En agrosilvicultura, una combinación caucho-cacao se modeló bioeconómicamente para un ciclo de cuarenta años. Se simuló un número de guiones para hallar las densidades de plantación y estrategias de utilización que conllevan la mejor producción y niveles de aprovechamiento en cada situación. Este ejemplo pretende demostrar las posibilidades y ventajas del método de simulación en modelaciones agrosilviculturas.

     

Timber investment returns for selected plantations and native forests in South America and the Southern United States

Timber investment returns were estimated for the principal exotic and selected native species in the Southern Cone of Latin America and in the Southern United States. Exotic eucalyptus plantations in South America were most profitable, with internal rates of returns (IRRs) ranging from 13% to 23%, followed by exotic loblolly pine, with IRRs from 9% to 17%. Average loblolly pine plantation returns in the US South were less profitable, with an IRR of about 9.5%, and natural forest management in the South had IRRs of 4% to 8%. Subtropical native species plantations of the best araucaria and nothofagus species had reasonable financial returns, with IRRs ranging from 5% to 13%. Subtropical or tropical native forests had fewer commercial timber species, and had much lower growth rates and returns. Their IRRs were less than 4%, or even negative for unmanaged stands. State subsidy payments for forest plantations or for timber stand improvements increased IRRs somewhat and reserving areas for environmental protection reduced their IRRs slightly. Including land costs in the cash flows decreased these internal rates of return substantially. Natural stand returns in Latin America were much less than those of plantations, but management of those stands offered better rates of return than only holding the land.     

Eucalyptus benthamii Maiden et Cambage growth and wood density in integrated crop-livestock systems

Integrating trees in agricultural landscapes is a promising option to sustainably provide goods for society while increasing biodiversity, securing animal welfare, and generating profits for stakeholders. The choice of the species and knowing how timber quality is affected when trees are integrated to crop and/or livestock enterprises can provide additional insights into the usefulness of timber after harvest, and wood density is one of the most important properties in this regard. The present study aimed to evaluate how Eucalyptus benthamii growth and wood density are affected in integrated crop-livestock systems when compared to monoculture forestry 74 months after planting in subtropical environments. The integrated systems were in an alley cropping design where crop and/or grazed pasture were temporally rotated in between tree lines (14?×?2 m trees spacing), and those systems were compared to monoculture forestry (3?×?2 m spacing). Tree trunks (n?=?60) were sampled in five diameter classes of each treatment by cutting disks in six positions of the trunk (0.1 m, 1.30 m, 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% of the total height) (n?=?360). Trees growing in integrated systems increased trunk diameter at breast height by 24.7%, increased wood fiber production per tree by 17.9%, and produced wood 9.0% less dense than in the monoculture forestry system. Monoculture forestry increased tree height, and there was no difference of trunk volume among the production systems. The results suggest that integrated systems can produce timber with lower wood density, but faster individual tree growth than in forestry monocultures. Such a system can promote sustainable intensification of agricultural production, and enhance provision of complementary ecosystem services.

     

Early tree growth, crop yields and estimated returns for an agroforestry trial in Goldsboro, North Carolina

A 17 acre (6.9?ha) agroforestry research and extension alley cropping trial was established at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems in Goldsboro, North Carolina in January 2007, with a randomized block design with five replications. Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda) were planted in staggered rows, with each species planted for 140?ft (43?m) per replication. Crop land alleys of 40?ft or 80?ft (12.2–24.4?m) wide were left between the tree rows. Crops of soybeans (Glycine max) and corn (Zea mays) were planted in alternating years since establishment. As of 2011, survival rates were 93% for cherrybark oak, 88% for longleaf pine and 97% for loblolly pine. Average tree diameter at ground level was 1.0?in (2.5?cm) for cherrybark oak, 2.1?in (5.3?cm) for longleaf and 3.2?in (8.1?cm) for loblolly. Heights averaged 4.6?ft (1.4?m) for cherrybark oak, 5.2?ft (1.6?m) for longleaf pine and 10.4?ft (3.2?m) for loblolly pine. Growth, yield and economic projections for traditional timber production indicated that species volumes and values tracked the height and diameter relationships measured on the site. Loblolly pine had the largest projected internal rate of return, at 7.2%, followed by longleaf pine with pine straw harvests at 5.5%, longleaf without pine straw at 3.5% and cherrybark oak at 1.9%. There might be more loss in crop and silvopasture production with loblolly, however, and production of pine straw for longleaf or game mast for cherrybark oak may offer other benefits. Crop yields on the sandy soils on the site were very poor during the 4?years observed, which had a series of droughts and floods. These led to net financial losses in those years for the demonstration site, but state-wide average farm budget returns did show moderate profits. The results support the merits of agroforestry systems in the upper South to diversify income and reduce financial risks.     

An analysis of potential investment returns of planted forests in South China

New Forests - Financial returns of forest plantations are an important concern around the world. In this research, we focused on South China’s timber investments, collected data from the...     

Application of Choice Experiments to Determine Stakeholder Preferences for Woody Biomass Harvesting Guidelines

Biomass harvesting guidelines (BHGs) have been developed to address concerns about the sustainability of harvesting woody biomass. Assessing preferences among BHG stakeholders is important for designing operationally feasible and socially acceptable standards in different contexts. We used choice modeling to determine how foresters, loggers, and landowners perceived the relative importance of stumpage price, wildlife habitat quality, percentage of coarse woody debris (CWD) remaining, and distribution of CWD in their choices of BHG scenarios. Responses (N = 718) indicated stumpage price was nearly double the importance of wildlife habitat quality, and three times more important than debris distribution and debris remaining.     

Community Forestry Enterprises in Mexico: Sustainability and Competitiveness

Community-based forest management, such as Community Forest Enterprises (CFEs), has the potential to generate positive socioenvironmental and economic outcomes. We performed a detailed survey of financial and production parameters for 30 of the approximately 992 CFEs in Mexico in order to estimate costs, income, profits, and sustainability of harvest levels for forest management, harvest, and sawmilling. Fourteen of the 30 CFEs harvested more timber than they grew in 2011, suggesting issues with sustainability, but only two of these had harvest far above annual growth, and five of those were only a fraction more than annual growth. All of the 30 CFEs except one made profits in forest management and timber growing. For timber harvesting, 22 of 30 CFEs made profits, but the losses were small for the other CFEs. For the 23 CFEs with sawmills, 18 made profits and five had losses; the greatest returns for the CFEs accrued to those with sawmills for lumber production. On average, the CFEs surveyed had high costs of production relative to other countries, but the CFEs were still profitable in national lumber markets. If Mexico were to begin importing large amounts of lumber from lower cost countries, this could pose a threat to CFE profitability.