From broadleaves to spruce – the borealization of southern Sweden

Mixed or broadleaf forests were once common in many regions of Northern Europe, whereas today conifers often dominate. The aim of the study was to investigate the spatial and temporal patterns and processes which underlie this transition to Picea abies dominance in southern Sweden. We use recently developed paleoecological methods to determine long-term changes in the relative abundance of tree species, and digitalized National Forest Inventory (NFI) databases to assess more recent changes in the spatial coverage of Picea throughout the region. The novel combination of the two databases reveals that Picea became a widespread and abundant species in many parts of southern Sweden around 1000 years ago. After a brief decline in abundance starting around 500 years ago, NFI data indicate a rapid increase in the volume of Picea between 1920 and 1950, prior to the large-scale introduction of Picea-dominated plantation forests. The available evidence suggests that abandonment of forest grazing and slash-and-burn cultivation, as well as selection cutting benefited the natural establishment and growth of Picea during the first half of the twentieth century. Hence, prior to the impacts of industrialized forestry that began in the 1950s, other processes were already favouring increased Picea abundance.     

Service logics and strategies of Swedish forestry in the structural shifts of forest ownership: challenging the “old” and shaping the “new”

ABSTRACT

Sweden is one of the most forested countries in Europe, and it has one of the highest shares of productive forest. Production in forestry is largely reliant on the private non-industrial forest owners, who own half of the forest land. As in many countries, however, forest ownership is changing towards a higher extent of urban, female or non-forestry-background owners. This poses a challenge for the forestry services sector, mainly forest owners’ associations and companies, but also broadly the sector at large. By exploring the sales and marketing processes, this paper analyses the service logics and strategies of Swedish forestry under changing forest ownership, drawing on an interview study covering all the large actors in the Swedish forestry sector. The study illustrates an increased focus of forestry organizations on services from a strategic and managerial perspective, in customer-oriented relationship development and in value creation and sales processes, specifically in order to manage “new” forest owners and the demand of forest industries. The results highlight the domination of service logics associated with timber production and the challenges for the service market and the provision of diversified services to forest owners.     

How much are wood-based cellulosic biofuels worth in the Pacific Northwest? Ex-ante and ex-post analysis of local people's willingness to pay

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) provided a grant to establish a wood-based cellulosic biofuels industry in the US Pacific Northwest. Whether the industry will be sustainable depends largely on social acceptability in general and market acceptability of the biofuels among the public in particular. We conducted contingent valuation surveys of general public in the US states of Oregon and Washington to determine people's willingness to pay (WTP) for wood-based cellulosic biofuels and the factors that influence their WTP decisions. Oregon has an existing cellulosic biorefinery, while Washington's biorefineries are only being planned, allowing us to conduct an ex-ante (Washington) versus ex-post (Oregon) WTP comparison. We sent out mail surveys to 2828 valid mailing addresses between May and July of 2015 and received 757 completed surveys. We used the distribution-free Turnbull estimator to estimate the expected WTP and logistic regression to determine the relative strength of predictors on WTP. About one fifth (18.8%) of the respondents were willing to pay some premium for wood-based cellulosic biofuels. The mean WTP amount was $0.19 ± $0.03/gal. (95% confidence interval: $0.17 to $0.21), which equates to a 6.4% price premium on top of the market price for gasoline. Logistic regression results showed that the offered bid price, knowledge on biofuels, age and religious affiliation of respondents were statistically significant predictors of WTP decisions. No significant differences in ex-ante versus ex-post WTP were observed. We also discussed the policy implications of these results for sustainable management of the wood-based cellulosic biofuels industry.     

The so-called “spotted fever” of the rocky mountains preliminary report to the montana state board of health

Please refer to JAMA, July 19, 1902, pp 131–136 for a copy of this article.     

Importing deciduous wood chips from North America to northern Europe – the risk of introducing bark- and wood-boring insects

Increasing inter-continental trade with wood chips represents a challenge for phytosanitary authorities as such trade may lead to pest introductions and invasions with huge impacts on forest ecosystems and economy. Predicting species invasions and their impacts in advance may be difficult, but improved information about potential invasive species ahead of any interceptions is an important precautionary step to reduce the probability of invasions. Here we identify bark- and wood-boring insects that have a potential to become invasive in northern Europe and that may be introduced by import of deciduous wood chips from North America. The potentially most damaging species belong to the beetle genus Agrilus (Buprestidae), which includes the highly damaging emerald ash borer A. planipennis. We give a brief presentation of this and seven other Agrilus species or subspecies and review factors of importance for the risk of establishment and potential economic and ecological impacts of these species. We also discuss one Scolytinae, Hylurgopinus rufipes. There are strong indications in the literature that some north European trees are highly susceptible to attack from the selected beetle species. We therefore conclude that because north European trees have not coevolved with these herbivores and thus may lack adequate defenses, most of the identified beetle species are likely to spread in “defense- and enemy-free space” if they are introduced to northern Europe, with considerable economic and ecological consequences.     

Synergistic contribution of hydrosulfide and carbonate anions to the β-O-4 bond cleavage of lignin model compounds in a green liquor pretreatment for enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials

To examine why green liquor (GL) pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials effectively facilitates enzymatic saccharification under conditions milder than those of a common alkaline cooking process, dimeric β-O-4 type lignin model compounds with and without free phenolic hydroxyl group were reacted in several alkaline solutions including a model solution of GL, which mainly contains Na₂CO₃ and Na₂S. The β-O-4 bond of the phenolic model compound was cleaved with a sufficient rate in the model solution of GL. The β-O-4 bond cleavage of the non-phenolic model compound was more frequent in the model solution of GL than in other alkaline solutions. These results suggest that β-O-4 bonds present in lignocellulosic materials are effectively cleaved in a GL pretreatment. It was also suggested that HS^? and CO₃ ^2? synergistically contribute to the β-O-4 bond cleavage of the non-phenolic model compound under GL pretreatment conditions.     

Developments in Swedish forest policy and administration – from a “policy of restriction” toward a “policy of cooperation”

Abstract

New tools and forms of cooperation at the landscape level are needed in order for forestry and environmental conservation to co-exist in areas with many land owners. Awareness has existed for several years in Sweden that cooperation at the landscape level is essential for protecting areas of high environmental value. This awareness has come to expression in several projects and initiatives. One of these projects is the Östra Vätterbranterna Partnership, a successful example of the new orientation toward environmental management as formulated in the government bill Sustainable protection of nature areas: new working methods with a focus on collaboration and increased dialog by involving more actors and utilizing a greater combination of steering instruments. This development resonates with the growing trend toward deregulation and less state intervention in environmental management, implying a stronger emphasis on new governance structures and market-driven processes. This paper examines the preconditions for a development toward governance-oriented forms of steering in the area of environmental policy and law, with specific emphasis on the protection of forestry areas with high environmental value. Paralleling this development, the transformation of environmental public administration is analyzed, using a model representing three different perspectives on administration's role, values and meaning, showing state action's progressive transition from “rowing” to “steering” to “serving” and facilitating.     

Susceptibility of silver birch (Betula pendula) to herbivorous insects is associated with the size and phenology of birch – implications for climate warming

Susceptibility of trees to herbivorous insects is often associated with the tree growth and phenology, both of which are sensitive to a warming climate. Therefore, changes in these traits may affect the intensity of herbivory on trees in the future. We grew silver birch (Betula pendula) populations differing in their growth and phenology in a common garden experiment, and studied the effect of these plant traits on the leaf herbivory, insect herbivore density and community composition of herbivores in two consecutive years, 2011 and 2012. Differences in size and the timing of growth cessation among the birch genotypes were related to differences in herbivore community compositions and herbivory. In 2011, the most intensive herbivore damage was observed on birch genotypes of small size, late bud burst and early growth cessation, and these genotypes originated from high-latitude populations. The differences among birch genotypes in their susceptibility to herbivore damage may lead to differences in their competitive abilities. While climate warming will affect phenology and growth of plants, our study shows, that it may indirectly affect herbivory and herbivore communities as well.     

Introduction to the special issue “scaling up of agroforestry innovations: enhancing food,nutrition and income security”

Agroforestry Systems - It is more and more acknowledged that agroecological innovations, such as agroforestry practices, should be co-created through a combination of research and traditional...     

An overview of the “Three-North” Shelterbelt project in China

The "Three-North" Shelterbelt is the largest and most distinctive artificial ecological engineering project in China.It has been conducted since November 25,1978 in the "Three-North" (i.e.,Northeast China,North China and Northwest China) regions.In this study,the background and the essential benefits of the "Three-North" Shelterbelt project are summarized.The basic status and future development of the "Three-North" Shelterbelt project are also studied.As well,we tried to discuss the problems existing in the current shelterbelt system and the strategies to conduct this ecological project rationally.     

Design and pilot production of a “spiral-winder” for the manufacture of cylindrical laminated veneer lumber

A new spiral-winder was developed for continuous manufacturing of cylindrical laminated veneer lumber (LVL), and a suitable resin adhesive for this cylindrical LVL manufacturing system was investigated. This phase was followed by trial manufacturing and evaluation of cylindrical LVL with the optimum resin adhesive identified. The results are summarized as follows. (1) The shortest gelation time was recorded with a mixture of two commercial resorcinol based resins (DF-1000 and D-33) at a weight ratio of 2575. (2) Bath temperature had a remarkable effect on the gelation time of the adhesive mix. (3) High bonding strength was recorded by 2575 DF-1000/D-33 adhesive mix at a high press temperature despite a short pressing duration. Based on the results of items (1) to (3), 2575 DF-1000/ D-33 is recommended for use in the new spiral-winder. (4) The mechanical properties of cylindrical LVL could be improved by using 2575 DF-1000/D-33 with wider veneer width and longer pressing time. (5) The mechanical properties, especially the modulus of rupture, of the cylindrical LVL manufactured require further improvement for practical structural application.     

From lethality to mortality: exploring the “grey area” of knockdown as an efficacy indicator of different insecticides against major storage insects using a lethality index

In the present work, a lethality index was applied for the evaluation of three insecticides with different modes of action, i.e., thiamethoxam, chlorfenapyr and lambda-cyhalothrin, as surface treatment against adults of Sitophilus oryzae (L.), Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) and Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val, in laboratory bioassays. The insecticides were applied at their highest label dose, while insect knockdown and mortality were evaluated after 1, 3, 5 and 7 days of exposure to the treated surfaces according to the Standardized Lethality Index, by ranking each insect from “0” to “4,” with “0” corresponding to insects moving normally and “4” corresponding to dead individuals. After the end of the exposure, the surviving insects were transferred to clean, untreated dishes and delayed mortality was assessed after an additional period of 1, 3, 5 and 7 days. Based on the results, initial knockdown was high for S. oryzae after exposure to thiamethoxam and lambda-cyhalothrin even after 1 day of exposure, whereas for longer exposures high mortality levels were recorded. In contrast, in the case of chlorfenapyr knockdown was low after 1 day of exposure; however, high mortality levels were noted after 3 and 5 days of exposure. Similar results were noted for O. surinamensis, which was highly susceptible to all three insecticides tested. The most tolerant insect species to the tested insecticides was T. confusum, since a noticeable number of T. confusum adults were still active at the end of the exposure (7 days). Our results indicate that knockdown is most likely to lead to mortality than to recovery, but there were important differences among the three insecticides tested.