Disturbance ecology benchmarks for Schima–Castanopsis forests in the central Himalayas

Roughly 2.8 billion people burn wood for basic energy needs, and traditional wood-fuel represents ~55% of global wood harvest. With increasing anthropogenic disturbance of natural forests, the “stability/fragility” paradigm of forest ecology is gradually being replaced by a “disturbance/recovery” paradigm. In order to understand effects of human-induced disturbances on natural forest ecosystems, and to plan for recovery of disturbed forests, appropriate metrics become necessary. Such metrics will aid in assessment and management of forests for carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem health, and sustainability of natural resources. Such metrics are especially needed in “wood-fuel hotspots” of the world where over 275 million people live and harvest wood-fuel unsustainably. In this article, I provide metrics of human-induced disturbance in Nepal’s Schima–Castanopsis dominated forests and show relationships of disturbance intensity with forest structure and composition, site productivity potential, natural regeneration, and tree species diversity. Benchmark data were collected from survey of two protected reference forests and compared against three other forests representing a disturbance gradient. The Schima–Castanopsis association is a common dominant forest type in the warm temperate zone of the central Himalayas, and the findings from this study should have wider application.     

Assessment of Forest Carbon Stocks in the Himalayas: Does Legal Protection Matter?

Small-scale Forestry - Although protected areas are central to global biodiversity conservation, most land lies within unprotected areas. In the developing world forest habitats have received...     

Households’ Choices of Fuelwood Sources: Implications for Agroforestry Interventions in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania

Fuelwood is the main source of energy for various household uses in many developing countries; and management of tree resources where it is obtained can be best undertaken when household choice patterns are understood. In this paper, households’ decision to obtain fuelwood for domestic consumption as influenced by household and fuelwood source characteristics is analyzed using a multinomial probit regression model. Data is obtained from 254 randomly selected household drawn from Mbarali district, south-western Tanzania. Results indicate that households are heavily dependent on natural forests for household energy provision and that the choice to obtain fuelwood from the forest, farm or market depends, among other factors on the availability of preferred fuelwood tree species at these sources. Acacia tortilis, Brachystegia spp. and Faidherbia albida are the significantly preferred tree species and hence affect the decision of where to obtain fuelwood. This revelation highlights the pressure applied to surrounding forests as well as to the aforementioned tree species which require immediate management interventions. The gender of the household head and whether the household lives in peri-urban or rural areas also influence choice of fuelwood source. Promotion of tree planting and on-farm management of tree species similar to preferred species found in natural forests is recommended. To the extent that consumer preferences are likely to change over time, further research using panel datasets is necessary to unravel inter-temporal preferences for fuelwood sources.     

Farmers’ objectives toward their woodlands in the upper Midwest of the United States: implications for woodland volumes and diversity

This paper reports the results of a study that explores the relationship between farm woodland owners’ stated intentions for owning woodland, and the structure and composition of these woodlands in the states of Illinois, Indiana and Iowa in the upper Midwest of the United States. Data from two sample-based inventories conducted by the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program were combined for this analysis—the FIA forest resources inventory and the National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS). We looked for relationships between product value and investment in woodlands, as reflected in volumes and tree quality. We also examined whether measures of diversity reflected specific management focus. Our results partially supported our hypotheses. Woodland-focused ownership reasons were found to have larger volumes and individual tree sizes. We found that a passive woodland ownership reason—that woods were “part of the farm”—generally had lower volumes per hectare. Although we were not able to differentiate between different forest product classes and measures of volume, we did find that those landowners who harvested veneer had more volume than those who harvested for firewood. Woodland owners who salvage-harvested their woodlands—a harvesting reason that is more reactive than proactive—exhibited lower volumes per hectare than those who harvested for more proactive, product-focused reasons. Biodiversity was also found to be related to the ownership focus and harvest intent. Generally, there was lower diversity in overstory species when the woodland was viewed merely as “part of the farm,” when the product harvested was fence posts and when timber was harvested for salvage or land clearing. The small sample size limits our analysis, but we can conclude that focusing the woodland owners on management of their woodlands—regardless of what the specific management goals might be—should increase productivity and biodiversity of those woodlands.

Practical techniques for the vibration method with additional mass: effect of crossers’ position in longitudinal vibration

The effect of the crosser’s position used for piled lumber on longitudinal vibration was investigated. As a model case, specimens with and without a concentrated mass were compressed in their thickness direction at nodal and antinodal positions of longitudinal vibration, following which, longitudinal vibration tests were conducted. Density and Young’s modulus were unaffected by compression of the specimen at the nodal position but was affected by compression at the antinodal position. By placing crossers at the nodal positions, accurate density and Young’s modulus values can be determined using the vibration method with additional mass without the influence of weight of the upper lumber.     

It’s what’s inside that counts: computer-aided tomography for evaluating the rate and extent of wood consumption by shipworms

Experiments were done to investigate in situ colonization of pine wood blocks by marine wood borers at the mouth of a small mountain river in the foothills of the Eastern Pyrenees. Standardized blocks were recovered after remaining underwater for increasingly long durations, until the available resource was exhausted by the shipworms assemblage that developed. Computer-aided tomography (CT) was used for visualizing and quantifying biogenic structures into the wooden blocks. The biodiversity survey of the wood pieces colonized indicated that up to three species of shipworms shared the resource at the same time. The specific wood consumption rate of Nototeredo norvagica was estimated 185 mm³ ind^?1 day^?1. The quantification of voids created by shipworm crowding indicated that total tunnelling represents, on average, 60% of the initial volume of a wood block, revising upward earlier estimates of wood destruction by 28%. CT analysis provides the quantitative measurements necessary to parameterize individual-based growth models linking wood consumption with the species diversity of shipworm assemblages.     

Discussion of Xixia’s Forestry A Model for the Development of China’s Township Forestry

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Evidence-based guidelines for greener,healthier,more resilient neighbourhoods:Introducing the 3-30-300 rule

The important contributions of urban trees and green spaces to for example,climate moderation and public health have been recognized.This paper discusses guidelines and norms that promote the benefits of viewing green,living amongst green,and having easy access to green spaces for recreational use.Having trees and other vegetation in sight from one’s home,place of work,or school has important mental health and performance benefits.Local tree canopy cover is positively associated with cooling and...     

Rural Governance, Forestry, and the Promotion of Local Knowledge: The Case of the German Rural Development Program ‘Active Regions’

This article investigates the role of local knowledge in the policy approach of neo-endogenous rural development, which may be held by local and regional actors such as municipal and county level politicians, local and regional level administration, entrepreneurs as well as local third sector representatives. The main question addressed is whether local knowledge under this approach is merely mobilised or if rural development processes are even based on such knowledge, placing it at the centre of such policy. The relevance of this approach to forestry is also explored. The types of forest owners for which the neo-endogenous rural development approach is appropriate and the types that may have difficulties in coping with this cross-sectoral and area-based approach are especially examined. Using a case study design on the German Active Regions funding program it is shown that the neo-endogenous approach is most relevant to large private forest owners and small-scale corporate enterprises, but also has potential for small- and medium-sized private owners. Concerning the role of knowledge held by local and regional actors, the approach is shown to largely build on the use of local expertise, and hence policy acceptance increases. However, scientific knowledge as well as politics are found to play a major role in the use, production and interpretation of local knowledge.     

Increasing Tree Cover in Degrading Landscapes: ‘Integration’ and ‘Intensification’ of Smallholder Forest Culture in the Alutilla Valley,Matiranga, Bangladesh

Research was conducted in Alutilla Valley in eastern Bangladesh to identify the nature of existing agroforestry systems and to identify potential agroforestry models that could ameliorate currently degrading forest resources Data were collected through farmer participatory research and a structured quarterly survey in two villages. Qualitative and supplementary quantitative analysis methods were used to assess the financial potential of agroforestry systems. Various patterns of agroforestry exist in the study site, but all have two common principles, namely ‘integration with agriculture’ and ‘multi-functionality’. Two agroforestry models suitable for adoption by farmers have been identified. Multi-strata agroforestry, based on a fruit and timber tree canopy with vegetables and tuber species in the understorey, can be practiced in the shifting cultivation fields near settlements. Fruit and timber tree-based conservation agroforestry is well suited to manage large-scale biologically depleted landscapes. Both systems yield early financial returns, facilitating the change from shifting cultivation to multi-strata agroforestry or fruit and tree-based conservation agroforestry.     

Users’ Reactions to the Primer on Tree Registration Policies: Lessons for Designing Extension Materials and Improving Information Flow

In the Philippines, only a few farmers and plantation owners register their tree farms with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the office in charge of tree registration. One of the major reasons is their lack of knowledge of government policy on tree registration. To help improve the flow of information and understanding of tree registration policies among smallholder tree farmers and other stakeholders, a Primer on Tree Registration, Harvesting, Transport and Marketing Policies on Private Land was developed. Produced through the participation of stakeholders, including tree farmers, the DENR, and local government officers, police, and timber dealers, the Primer is highly visual and has been released in English as well as Waray–Waray and Cebuano dialects. This paper reports findings of focus group discussions conducted to gauge user reactions to the Primer. The Primer was considered as a valuable source of information about tree registration policies. Aside from being comprehensible, FGD participants found it attractive, perceived it to be intended for them and free from content that confused them. However, farmers suggested that illustrations need to be improved by making the persons portrayed more presentable and reflective of their actual tree farm operations. Participants said that aside from the Primer, the flow of information on tree registration policies could be improved through the use of multi-media including posters, radio broadcasts, and presentation in seminars for farmers.     

A ‘mixed model’ for the formulation of a multipurpose mountain forest policy.: Theory vs. practice on the example of Kyrgyzstan

The formulation of policies, which can promote multiple use of forests in mountain regions, requires rigorous methods and approaches, based on established theories. A relevant conceptual framework is the ‘mixed model’, which is based on both rationalist and communicative action theories. With such a model, based on the policy cycle theory, the precision of multipurpose forestry objectives and means remains as the main task of the public authority (especially the forest service), but this can only result from discussions with various stakeholders in both public and private sectors, at central and local levels. The model works through a permanent confrontation between owners’ and users’ interests, expressed by representatives involved in policy formulation. Such a negotiation approach is used for analysing the present situation and issues (strong and weak points), for defining and structuring various objectives of the policy, as well as for defining different strategies and measures to be implemented to achieve those objectives. Further discussions of different positions among the participants finally lead to negotiated common solutions for future policy. Such a method is particularly adapted to public decision-making in mountain forests, where demands from various stakeholders are numerous and problems urgently need to be solved. The mixed model necessarily brings compromises between competitive or complementary social needs and interests, and automatically promotes multifunctional forestry management schemes and measures. However, that does not mean an easy implementation of such a conceptual frame.     

Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for the Provision of Ecosystem Services to Enhance Agricultural Production in Sene East District,Ghana

This study investigated farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) by trading food crop as payment for the provision of ecosystem services (ES) to enhance agricultural production and factors influencing their WTP through integrating timber trees on their farmlands in Sene East district, Ghana. A total of 177 farmers were selected from six communities using stratified and simple random sampling. One-on-one interviews were conducted using structured questionnaires. The contingent valuation method was used to gather the data on farmers’ WTP for the provision of ES. A multiple linear regression was run to test factors influencing farmers’ WTP. The results showed that 59% of farmers were willing to pay for the provision of ES. Gender, age, educational status, farmers’ perception to climate change and access to land significantly (p < .001) and positively influence farmers’ WTP. This study identified difficulties in acquiring land, insecure tree tenure and indiscriminate logging as governance challenges that should be addressed to support farmers’ WTP for the provision of ES to enhance agricultural production.     

Afforestation with ‘multipurpose trees’ in ‘media lunas’, a case study from the Tarija basin,Bolivia

Human-induced soil erosion has already affected all of the potential farming land in the Tarija basin/South Bolivia. It is described as an afforestation method involving media lunas and multipurpose trees, whose implementation is associated with a high degree of mobilization of the target group.On sites where a sufficient number of media lunas have been established, surface runoff is drastically reduced. They diminish the risk of failure of newly planted trees during frequently occurring dry phases, and promote their growth by preventing excessively large fluctuations in the soil-water balance and increasing soil moisture in general. Mostly indigenous multipurpose trees (Acacia and Prosopis) serve to stabilize erosion-prone sites on a long-term basis, and become invaluable because they provide a source of firewood, improve the soil, and yield protein-rich livestock forage during dry season. Media lunas provide more favorable conditions for natural vegetation.     

‘Without bamboo,the land dies’: A conceptual model of the biogeochemical role of bamboo in an Indonesian agroforestry system

The ‘talun-kebun’ system consists of a 6–7 year management cycle in which a 4–5 year fallow period of perennial clump bamboo is alternated with 2 years of food crop production. Clearcutting, raking the forest floor and slash into piles for burning, and hoeing the soil to a depth of 25 cm reduces the vigour of the bamboo to the point at which it poses no competitive threat to the first year of planted food crops. These crops are (typically) cucumber, bitter solanum and hyacinth (pole) beans. Ash from the burned slash piles, plus some animal mamure and application of NPK fertiliser (only recently), are used to increase the production of these vegetables. In spite of these nutrient additions, the fertility of the upper soil layers declines during the first year, and the field is planted to cassava (a less nutrient-demanding root crop) the second year after clearcutting. After 2 years of cultivation, bamboo regrowth and declining soil fertility prevent continued food cropping. The field is abandoned and permitted to revert to an unmanaged stand of bamboo for 4–5 years. The historical success of the system appears to be based largely on the ‘nutrient pumping’ action of the bamboo, the slow decomposition of its silica-rich litter, and the extremely high biomass of bamboo fine roots. Studies reported earlier and in subsequent papers support the interpretation that the bamboo recovers much of the nutrients leached deeper into the soil profile during the 2 years of cropping and deposits them at or near the soil surface as above-ground litter and dead fine roots. The biogeochemical role of bamboo in sustaining the productivity of this agroforestry system reflects the rural farmer's saying: ‘without bamboo, the land dies’.     

Hidden in the woods? Meaning,determining, and practicing of ‘common welfare’ in the case of the German public forests

This article addresses the German debate on the issue of the common welfare designation of public forests. In the first part, drawing on two case studies, the political discourse on the issue is introduced. Two major competing ‘story lines’ can be made out that are both based on a long tradition of controversially discussed concepts of regulatory forest policy. While they both emphasise that common welfare services in forestry run counter to profit orientation, they fundamentally differ with regard to the consequences for forest policy, e.g., considering the degree of state intervention. Afterwards, an overview on the scientific debate on common welfare in the German context is given, and different concepts of common welfare determination are distinguished. Existing approaches of common welfare determination in German forest policy are related to these concepts and discussed. It is argued that the common welfare designation of the public forest is only insufficiently implemented by the actual governance arrangements. Based on this consideration, eventually, the implementation of a procedural concept of common welfare operationalisation in Germany’s public forests at the local level is proposed. While such a concept will not solve all complex problems related to the determination of common welfare in public forestry, it would notably contribute to a more operational definition of common welfare in public forestry and a more informed public debate on the issue.     

Evaluation of trap efficiency for the Asian longhorned beetle,Anoplophora glabripennis

The Asian longhorned beetle(ALB),Anoplophora glabripennis,is a well-known stem borer with high polyphagous properties causing frequent outbreaks in northeast China.An attract ant-based trap is needed to improve the sensitivity,reliability,and efficiency for detection of the beetle.In this study,the effects of attractants,trap types and color synergy of a trapping system were evaluated.Attractant blends comprised of the male-produced,two-component pheromone plus plant volatiles were used in the f...