Nontimber forest products and biodiversity management in the Pacific Northwest

Nontimber forest product harvesting in the Pacific Northwest is neither a new activity nor a disappearing relic of the pre-industrial era. Though the emphasis may have shifted from subsistence to commercial and recreational pursuits, harvesting and harvesters of wild species are still widespread throughout the region. Hundreds of businesses and thousands of harvesters earn part or all of their income from the harvests. Every year thousands of pounds and hundreds of nontimber forest products valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars are harvested from regional public and private forests. This harvesting of a large diversity of species represents a considerable subset of the overall terrestrial biodiversity in Pacific Northwest forests. Despite widespread extraction, little investment in research, planning, or basic inventorying and monitoring has been done on nontimber forest products. Without better information, land managers will be increasingly unable to make informed decisions on how to manage nontimber forest product biodiversity sustainably as demand for products increases.     

Songgye,a traditional knowledge system for sustainable forest management in Choson Dynasty of Korea

Throughout the history of the world, the best-orchestrated and publicly cohesive reforestation event occurred in South Korea. One of the best-known causes for such a success was the leadership of the government at that time, in particular the president Park Chung Hee. However, from forestry point of view, it evolved from Songgye, a traditional method of forest management evolved in late Choson Dynasty of Korea in reaction to rapid privatization of national forests by the elite class and government officials. Songgye was a unique social institution to promote sustainable use of local forests by local citizens. The primary goals of Songgye were to determine the annual amount of harvest and assign certain areas for specific uses and activities. Songgye also organized various activities within the community to prevent wild fires and illegal logging and smuggling, besides setting up rules and regulations to control activities as well as infringements. Songgye, remembered today as a cultural reminiscence, played a significant role in the success of reforestation of denuded landscapes after colonization and war.     

易门县公益林管护中存在的问题分析

易门县2005、2009年先后启动实施国家级和省级公益林生态项目建设,针对项目实施以来公益林管护中存在的问题进行分析,藉此提出相应对策、建议。     

Tree microhabitat structures as indicators of biodiversity in Douglas-fir forests of different stand ages and management histories in the Pacific Northwest,U.S.A.

The importance of structural complexity in forest ecosystems for ecosystem diversity has been widely acknowledged. Tree microhabitat structures as indicators of biodiversity, however, have only seldom been the focus of diversity research although their occurrence is highly correlated with the abundance of forest species and ecosystem functions. In this study, microhabitat structures in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests were defined and their frequency and abundance in natural stands and stands of varying active management histories and stand ages was compared. Indicator microhabitat structures for natural forests were determined and the relationship of the abundance of microhabitat structures with tree diameter of Douglas-fir trees was analysed.