Carbon storage and sequestration in the forests of Northern Ireland

The rate of accumulation of carbon in forests and woodlandsin Northern Ireland was estimated using the record of forestplanting since 1900 and a model that calculated the flow ofcarbon from the atmosphere to trees, litter, soil, wood productsand back to the atmosphere. It was assumed that all coniferforests had the carbon accumulation characteristics of Piceasitchensis, and upper and lower estimates of carbon storagewere calculated assuming Yield Class 16 m³ha^–1 a^–1unthinned and Yield Class 14 m³ ha^–1 a^–1 thinned.Broadleaved woodlands were assume to have the carbon accumulationcharacteristics of Fagus sylvatica, Yield Class 6 m³ha^–1a^–1. Northern Ireland currently has about 78 300 ha offorest, 83 per cent of which is coniferous, 77 per cent state-owned,mostly planted since 1945, with peak planting in 1960–1975.In 1990, conifer forests contained 3–4 MtC (trees + litter)and broadleaved wdlands contained about 0.8 MtC (trees + litter+ new forest soil). In 1990, conifer forests were sequestering0.15–0.20 MtC a^–1 and broadleaved woodlands about0.025 MtC a^–1. To maintain these sink sizes, new coniferforests need to be planted at 1500–2000 ha a^–1,and new broadleaved woodland at100–150 ha a^–1 inaddition to full restocking. Current carbon sequestration byNorthern Ireland forests represents around 6.5–8.2 percent of the total for UK forests and is greater per hectar thanin Britain because the average forest age is younger in NorthernIreland     

The Amount and Nutrient Content of Litter Fall under Sitka Spruce on Poorly Drained Soils

Litter fall was collected every three months for four yearsfrom twenty-one vigorous (Yield Class 18–20 m³ ha^–1y^–1) and sixteen less vigorous (Yield Class 10–12)plots of Sitka spruce on gleyed soils in Northern Ireland. Forty-fourper cent of all litter fell in the June-August quarter, andlitter fall was heaviest in years when there was green spruceaphis attack. Beneath YC 10–12 crops, both rate and quantityof litter fall was less and nutrient concentrations were lower,than under YC 18–20 crops. As the pool of organic matterand nutrients on the forest floor was greater under trees ofYC 10–12, poor growth was associated with a slow organicmatter and nutrient turnover.     

Needs of private forest owners in the context of changing political systems: Lithuania as a case study

During the first half of the 20^th century the Baltic States were independent democratic nations where private forest ownership was practiced. After annexation to the Soviet Union, individuals in the Baltic States lost their ownership rights and collective ownership was introduced. Currently, after the break-up of the Soviet Union, the land restitution process in the forest sector is coming to an end and the ownership pattern as well as tenure rights are settled. A survey was undertaken to investigate the current state of the private forest sector in general, and the needs and expectations of private forest owners (PFO). Results of the study indicated that for private forest owners their forests first of all provide aesthetic and environmental protection values. Lithuanian PFOs lack information of forests and forest management, face extensive bureaucracy and need help in protecting their forests from fires, diseases and timber thieves.     

Landowner Willingness to Engage in Long-Term Timber Leases in West Virginia,USA

As global competition increases for wood-based products, the need for more efficient supply chains becomes increasingly important. In the forest products sector, these supply chains involve individuals and firms ranging from private forestland owners with standing timber to factories producing final finished products. Long-term timber leases are one mechanism that can be used to develop access to timber supplies for companies unable or unwilling to purchase land outright for growing timber. To investigate private forest owner opinions and attitudes regarding long-term timber leases, we conducted a survey of landowners from Wetzel county, West Virginia. No long-term leases were reported by respondents, but 24% claimed they would enter a lease under certain conditions. The most frequently listed concern related to long-term timber leases was for the “loss of control”. Results of this survey are discussed in the light of forest management efforts that might be used to improve the social, financial, and environmental benefits for private forest owners.     

Exploring the future use of forests: perceptions from non-industrial private forest owners in Finland

The transformation of the forest sector toward a bioeconomy calls for finding new sources of competitive advantage for the whole sector to retain its future viability. Non-industrial private forest owners are an important group of actors in the Finnish forest-based sector, as they supply 80% of industrial roundwood and control numerous other tangible and intangible forest-based ecosystem services. Our study analyzes forest owner views on the future use of forests in Finland, their perceptions on the evolving sectorial interlinkages and the position of the forest sector now and in the future bioeconomy. The data were collected in two phases: through telephone interviews of forest owners (n?=?278) and four focus group (FG) discussions (n?=?17), and were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The interviews showed that forest owners consider the highest potential for strengthening the sector toward bioeconomy to come from collaboration with energy and construction businesses. During the FG phase, we identified new possibilities founded on forest-based recreational services, cooperation with nature-based tourism and in increasing value-added wood products. In total, forest owners as a high-involvement group emphasized future value creation to be based upon forest ecosystem services and in diversifying the utilization of forests beyond the dominant raw material-driven mindset.     

Extractable sulfate content in Japanese forest soils

The amounts of extractable sulfate in 12 forest soils were measured as a preliminary work to study sulfur dynamics in forest ecosystems. The sulfate content determined by the distillation method varied widely (10–880 × 10⁻⁶ gSg⁻¹) depending on the soil type and the depth. Japanese forest soils were broadly divided into two groups in sulfate level: one retains a large amount of sulfate and the other does not. In general, the surface soils to the depth of 10 cm contained small amounts of sulfate (< 100 × 10⁻⁶ gSg⁻¹), while subsoils contained more. The soil samples with low (< 4.6) or high (6 <) pH (H₂O) retained small amounts of sulfate. Black soils derived from volcanic ash retained great quantities of sulfate. The two levels of sulfate contents in Japanese forest soils suggests that the sulfur dynamics are different in these soils.     

Alternative fiber resources for pulp and paper industry of bangladesh: Why and what?

This study has evaluated the factors affecting the utilization of alternative fiber resources and efforts have also been made to outline the possible alternative fiber resources available in the country. Since 1989, paper consumption has exceeded production. Imports of industrial paper have increased and the future of newsprint export is dark. The government sector pulp and paper mills are highly dependent on forest based fiber resources and private sector paper and board mills depend on imported pulps. Uneven distribution of fiber resources has limited the raw material availability of the pulp and paper mills. Shortage of raw materials, irregular procurements, and low installed capacity are the main reasons for low paper production. On the other hand, paper demand will increase tremendously in the near future. But the present raw material availability is not sufficient to cope with the future demand for attaining self sufficiency in paper production. Therefore, immediate action is necessary for utilizing alternative fiber resources. Rangpur region has abundant lower grade jute. Jute cutting is available in Narayangonj area. Available bagasse supply is expected in the northwest regions after the end of this century. These resources are more than enough for supplementing the shortage of present raw materials during the 1997–2006 period. This is a revised of “Study of Non-wood and Forest Based Fiber Resources in Bangladesh — A Case Study on Pulp and Paper Industry” presented in the '95 TAPPI Pulping Conference. Ref. Proceedings 1995 Pulping Conference—Chicago, Book 2, TAPPI Press, Atlanta, 1995, 597–603.     

Cooperation in private forestry of post-soviet system: Forest owners’ cooperatives in Lithuania

The current state of cooperation in private forestry in Lithuania is examined, with a focus on the analysis of objectives, organisational structure and the ways forest owners’ cooperatives operate. A postal survey has been used as a main research instrument, the questionnaire consisting of a series of multiplechoice close-ended questions. This paper provides insights into the state forest enterprises and other private companies operating in the private forestry sector, and places forest owners’ cooperatives in a broader context of the private forestry sector. A typical forest owner’s cooperative in Lithuania has up to 10 members and about 20 clients to whom services are provided. The leaders of cooperatives indicate that the optimal number of clients using their services should not exceed 40. The main stated objectives of cooperatives are the provision of services to their members under the most attractive conditions, uniting members, and earning a profit for the members. These activities of cooperatives revolve around timber harvesting and trade. It is concluded that the process of cooperation of private forest owners in Lithuania is rather slow, although positive development can be observed.     

Attitudes of small-scale forest owners to their properties in an ageing society: Findings of survey in Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan

Populations of most developed countries have been ageing, and the populations of Japanese mountain villages are estimated to have reached into a super-ageing society. In particular, because forestry is unprofitable and due to the economic recession in Japan, many small-scale forest owners face the problems of ageing. For policy-makers, it is important to assess the socioeconomic impacts of forest owners’ ageing in order to ensure the sustainable management of forests. A survey was conducted of forest owners in Yamaguchi Prefecture, which is famous for overall depopulation and ageing of the rural population. It was found that 83% of 687 plantation forest owners who responded in the survey were 60 years or older and 76% did not have forestry income over the past three years, but 81% had kept up ownership of their forest as the traditional family property. In terms of forest management intentions, the respondents were found to consist of four types, namely ‘family management’, ‘commissioned management’, ‘de-accession’ and ‘possession without proper management’. Differences in evaluations of hypothetical policies were found among the four types.     

Current pathways towards good forest governance for ecosystem services in the former Soviet republic Tajikistan

As one of the former Soviet republics, Tajikistan is facing a slow transition from a communist command-and-control system to a more market oriented, decentralized and participatory forestry. In the last 25 years, the country's forestry sector has undergone several reorganizations. In the process of a current reform, the overall aim of this study is to gain a broader understanding of the current state of forest sector in Tajikistan. Our specific objectives are a) to describe the current institutional network's complexity, (b) to analyze stakeholders' perceptions on the key challenges towards good forest governance, (c) and give recommendations to tackle the key challenges, so that important forest ecosystem services (ES) may be enhanced, thus, also contribute to the development of the sector. We elaborate a generic framework, which simplifies complex interaction of governance and forests ecosystem services. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through questionnaire-based interviews with stakeholders of the forestry sector. The results indicate that the forestry sector is still far from representing good forest governance, however the newly established structure seems to be a first step. Yet, challenges in establishing sound legal frameworks, decision-making transparency, and implementation enforcement must still be overcome. While it is too early and challenging to assess the impacts of forest governance on ES and vice versa, the survey respondents highlight the importance of provisioning services for the development of the forest sector. Given the post-Soviet background, almost all member countries developed along similar lines. Therefore, the study results are not only of significance for Tajikistan, but also countries with similar history and socio-economic context.     

Forest management after the economic transition—at the crossroads between German and Scandinavian traditions

Germany and Scandinavia represent two paradigmatic forest management traditions, based on management for volume and management for profit, respectively. This study examines the prevailing silvicultural regimes and resulting economic outcomes in Germany and Sweden as benchmarks, and then corresponding analyses are performed for post-transition EU countries, represented by Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. The analyses reveal a regional gradient where Poland stands closest to the German tradition, Latvia goes through a “scandinavisation”, and Lithuania takes an intermediate position. Poland adheres to longer rotations and follows the principle of self-sufficiency, while economic efficiency has gained increased importance in Latvia. The observed gradient is likely to be sustained in the coming decades as the survey of key forest sector stakeholders reveals ideological patterns that correlate with the pace of reform of State forestry in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.     

Disintegration of the U. S. Industrial Forest Estate: Dynamics,Trajectories, and Questions

In the past decade ownership of the corporate forestry sector in the USA has undergone remarkable transformation. Corporate consolidation, separation of processing capacity ownership from timberland ownership, and disinvestment from timberland ownership altogether have occurred rapidly and on a global scale. Vertically-integrated forest products companies, once the standard model for publically-traded corporations, have all but disappeared. A new class of timberland investors now dominates the timberland estate. These new owners can be viewed as the most recent manifestation of capital from the core seeking rent in the distant periphery. While in this respect they resemble their industrial forestry predecessors, they differ markedly with regard to landholding objectives, time horizons, management capacities and other characteristics. This transformation has created new challenges and opportunities for other forest owners and for rural communities. Many timber processing mills have closed, restricting markets for smallholder wood. While much former industrial timberland remains in industrial-style timber management, some has been subdivided for ‘highest and best use,’ and conservation buyers have assumed control of a few large blocks. Further fragmentation of the industrial forest estate is anticipated, presenting both challenges and opportunities to small-scale forest owners and rural communities. This paper outlines the dynamics of forest ownership restructuring, posits alternative future scenarios for small-scale forestry, and points to potentially useful future research.     

New forest owners and owners-to-be: apples and oranges?

This literature review focuses on two groups of landowners in the US and Finland: those current family owners who have recently become forest owners, with a relatively short duration of ownership, and private individuals who can be expected to become forest owners in the future are compared. The former group is called “new owners,” and the latter “future owners,” respectively. This study aims to find what can be concluded about future owners from studies of new owners based on the assumption that new owners are interpreted to represent future owners in these studies. The data consists of eight studies conducted after the mid 90s.     

The destructive invasive pathogen Phytophthora lateralis found on Chamaecyparis lawsoniana across the UK

In 2010–2011, Phytophthora lateralis was isolated from diseased Chamaecyparis lawsoniana exhibiting dieback and mortality at eight geographically separate forest, parkland and shelterbelt locations in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 2011, P. lateralis was also isolated from young symptomatic nursery plants of C. lawsoniana and Thuja occidentalis recently imported into Scotland from mainland Europe. These are the first findings of P. lateralis in the UK. At six of the field sites, only collar and root lesions were observed. However, at two sites, large stem and branch lesions unconnected to the collar region were also observed. Phytophthora lateralis was readily isolated from both aerial and basal lesions. In artificial inoculation experiments, two Scottish isolates of the pathogen caused lesions on C. lawsoniana shoots and were readily reisolated from the lesions, their pathogenicity being comparable to that of P. lateralis isolates originating from outside the UK. Isolates from six field sites and the two nursery interceptions exhibited ITS and cox II sequences identical to published sequences of French and North American isolates. However, the isolates from two field sites shared an ITS sequence with Taiwanese isolates and differed from North American, French and Taiwanese isolates by a single‐base substitution in cox II, suggesting a separate evolutionary history. It is clear that P. lateralis now presents a significant threat to C. lawsoniana in Britain. The main source of the outbreaks is likely to be imported infested nursery stock.     

Surveys in Private and Communal Forests: Data Collection Methods in Bavaria

More than half of the forest land in Bavaria belongs to private forest owners, who contribute a large amount of the industrial timber supply. The level of information about private forests is in comparison to the communal forests inadequate. The increasing demand for data about the forest sector in Bavaria can be partially covered by regular inventories but requires supplementary monitoring activities. Regular surveys based on voluntary participation deliver data, but often do not fulfil statistical requirements due to low response rates of 15–20% to postal surveys. The Bavarian annual postal cutting survey has been built up over 5 years using a roster of voluntary participants. This pragmatic and cost-effective approach provides reliable data for statistical purposes and gives insight in the forest management activities of small-scale forest owners. Recent technical developments, in particular the availability of grids and digital land-use maps, facilitate the random sampling of forest owners. This approach has been applied in a climate change project, but the results did not meet the expectations because of low response rates. The rather labour- and cost-intensive census of forest owners as applied in the project in Eastern Bavaria cannot be recommended except in exceptional circumstances. In the described project a qualitative approach with four distinct questionnaires has been adopted in order to identify ways to reach forest owners that are either not interested in their forests or do not respond to requests. Due to low response rates the objectives of the study could only be partially achieved.     

Gene × environment tests discriminate the new EU2 evolutionary lineage of Phytophthora ramorum and indicate that it is adaptively different

A new evolutionary lineage of the destructive introduced tree pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, EU2 lineage, was recently discovered attacking larch and other hosts in Northern Ireland and south west Scotland, UK. Sixteen ‘medium × agar concentration × incubation temperature’ stress environments were tested to find a rapid and repeatable method to discriminate the known EU2 lineage from the EU1, NA1 and NA2 lineages in culture, in particular from the EU1 already prevalent across the UK; and to investigate whether EU2 might be adaptively different. At 25°C ¹ on both Carrot agar and V8 juice agar, the mean radial growth rates of all four lineages were significantly different, with NA2 > EU2 > EU1 > NA1. At this temperature, EU2 colonies were not only phenotypically distinct from EU1 and all other lineages but on average grew three times as fast as EU1. This indicates that EU2 is adaptively different from EU1. Twelve days growth in the environment ‘V8A/2% agar/25°C ¹ gave excellent discrimination of all four lineages in three repeat experiments, including clear discrimination of EU2 from EU1. Each lineage exhibited a distinctive colony pattern. The utility of this test environment was examined further by screening fresh UK isolates of unknown lineage from new larch outbreak sites alongside standard isolates. The lineage assignments predicted were corroborated by gene sequencing and RFLP profiling. These results also revealed that the EU2 lineage was present at several new larch sites in south west Scotland, whereas isolates from geographically adjacent areas such as the Isle of Mull, north west Scotland, the Isle of Man and north west England were all of EU1 lineage.     

From farm forestry to farm and forestry in south-western France as a result of changes in a ‘house-centred’ social structure

The importance of the ecological functions of farm forests in France calls for a better understanding of the social systems influencing forest management. The traditional ‘house-centred system’ involved a sharing of activities in farm forestry between fathers and their sons. Retired farmers were traditionally managers of the forests while their sons dealt with farming activities. The evolution of this relationship since World War 2 has been investigated with an ethnologic approach in two villages in south-western France where the traditional ‘house-centred system’ constrains the social rules. This system has led to a lifetime status for fathers as head of the farm and of the household. Before WW2, sons played a secondary role in relation to their fathers who took strategic decisions. After WW2, sons became more involved in the forest work and decisions which led to a more frequent use of agricultural methods in forests. This created differences of opinion between fathers and sons, with the fathers considering their sons’ management too intensive. The social consequence was that the fathers felt that their role as forest managers and as head of the farm was reduced. In future, farm forest management might become more dependent on agricultural activities, with the traditional social systems losing importance.     

The impact of climate change on forest fire danger rating in China’s boreal forest

The Great Xing’an Mountains boreal forests were focused on in the northeastern China.The simulated future climate scenarios of IPCC SRES A2a and B2a for both the baseline period of 1961-1990 and the future scenario periods were downscaled by the Delta Method and the Weather Generator to produce daily weather data.After the verification with local weather and fire data,the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System was used to assess the forest fire weather situation under climate change in the study region.An increasing trend of fire weather severity was found over the 21st century in the study region under the both future climate change scenarios,compared to the 1961-1990 baseline period.The annual mean/maximum fire weather index was predicted to rise continuously during 2010-2099,and by the end of the 21st century it is predicted to rise by 22%-52% across much of China’s boreal forest.The significant increases were predicted in the spring from of April to June and in the summer from July to August.In the summer,the fire weather index was predicted to be higher than the current index by as much as 148% by the end of the 21st century.Under the scenarios of SRES A2a and B2a,both the chance of extremely high fire danger occurrence and the number of days of extremely high fire danger occurrence was predicted to increase in the study region.It is anticipated that the number of extremely high fire danger days would increase from 44 days in 1980s to 53-75 days by the end of the 21st century.     

The effect of geographical variation of planting rate on the uptake of carbon by new forests of Great Britain

The planting rates from 1921 to 1996 of new coniferous and broadleavedforests for 11 regions of Great Britain were assembled for thestate and private sectors. Over that period new planting totalled231 kha of conifers and 132 kha of broadleaves in England, 141kha of conifers and 16 kha of broadleaves in Wales and 881 khaof conifers and 52 kha of broadleaves in Scotland. These time series and regional values of Yield Class were usedas input data for an accounting model of carbon in the trees,litter, soils and products to produce estimates of their netuptake of carbon by the forests from the atmosphere (i.e. increasein the carbon pools). On the assumption that conifer and broadleafplanting could be represented by Sitka spruce and beech treesrespectively, litter and forest soil in Great Britain were accumulatingcarbon at 2.42 Mt a^–1 in 1995–96. Coniferous forestaccounted for 89 per cent of this uptake. Scottish conifer andbroadleaf forests took up 68 per cent and mapping the uptakeshowed that the greatest rate occurred in western Scotland.The pool of carbon in wood products increased in 1995–96by 0.31 Mt a_–1. The estimated uptake rates were sensitive to the relative amountsof conifer and broadleaf forest planted (particularly in relationto increases in the pool of carbon in wood products) but notto regional differences in Yield Class. Use of any single YieldClass in the range 10–16 m³ ha^–1 a^–1 for allSitka spruce planting produced estimates of uptake rate in GreatBritain to trees, litter and soil within ±10 per centof that, assuming yield varied across the country. Lack of preciseknowledge on the parameters of the model was estimated to introducean uncertainty of ±30–70 per cent into estimatesof carbon uptake.