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...     

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.     

Transplanting the Southern Bamboos in the north:A Fairy Tale happened in winter

Inquiringinto″TransplantingtheSouthernBamboosintheNorth″ThepeoplestayinginBeijingforalongtimeknowstheparkofZiZhuYuanBlackbamboothatwasestablishedforcommemoratingChineselongcultureofbamboobyBeijinggovernment.Intheearlywinterormistwhatwebreatheoutbecomest…     

Soil Reclamation for Agriculture and Forestry after Open-Cast Lignite Mining in Lusatia, Germany: Challenges and Chances

Mining activities leave raw and partly artificial soils on dumps and tips. A prior objective of land reclamation in such areas is to restore and cultivate new soils which will fulfil their functions as a habitat for plants and animals and as a regulator in the cycling of matter and water in the landscape as well as a production site for agriculture or forestry. This paper gives an overview on major challenges and principles of soil reclamation for agriculture and forestry, reporting some results of research...     

‘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’.     

Developing Homegarden Forestry:A Good Way to Prosperity for the Farmers

ＤｅｖｅｌｏｐｉｎｇＨｏｍｅｇａｒｄｅｎＦｏｒｅｓｔｒｙ：ＡＧｏｏｄＷａｙｔｏＰｒｏｓｐｅｒｉｔｙｆｏｒｔｈｅＦａｒｍｅｒｓ￥ＢｙＬｉＪｕ，ａＣｈｉｎｅｓｅｗｏｍｅｎｆａｒｍｅｒ＇ｓａｃｃｏｕｎｔＩａｍｌｉｖｉｎｇｉｎｔｈｅｖｉｌｌａｇｅｏｆＤａｃｈ...     

Forsts,A Legacy in Future——On the Review of the 10th World Forestry Congrss

Editor's Note:The 10th World orstry Congress ws held on 17～26 July,1991 at Paris in France.The Chinese Forestry     

Pseudomonas associated with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus,its insect vector and the host tree: A role in pine wilt disease?

In this study, we characterized the diversity of Pseudomonas associated with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, its insect vector (Monochamus galloprovincialis) and its host (Pinus pinaster), by a culture‐independent approach using rpoD clone libraries. Clone libraries of Pseudomonas rpoD were obtained from B. xylophilus, M. galloprovincialis and infected P. pinaster. Most M. galloprovincialis and B. xylophilus sequences grouped together in the P. fluorescens group. Genes related to xenobiotics degradation and phenylacetate synthesis were present in the genomes of the type strains closely related to sequences retrieved from the nematode libraries. Results demonstrated that the nematode, during its life stages inside the tree, maintains a diverse Pseudomonas community that is closely related to the one associated with the insect vector. These bacteria might contribute to degradation of xenobiotics and tree weakening during the nematode tree infection.     

A Study on the Biomass of Thyrsostachys siamensis Gamble Forest at Hin-Lap, Kanchanaburi

editor's note: The author is an associate professor of the Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Thailand. In 1982, he came to our country to do practice in bamboo afforestation. During his stay in Zhejiang Forestry Institute, we had a preliminary academic exchange on bamboo cultivation; now he has sent us this paper on the biomass of Thyrsostachys siamensis, which is a research project financially supported     

A New Genus of Ants from Yunnan,China(Hymenoptera:Formicidae:Formicinae)

ＡＮｅｗＧＥｎｕｓｏｆＡｎｔｓｆｒｏｍＹｕｎｎａｎ，Ｃｈｉｎａ（Ｈｙｍｅｎｏｐｔｅｒａ：Ｆｏｒｍｉｃｉｄａｅ：Ｆｏｒｍｉｃｉｎａｅ）ＷｕＪｉａｎ，ＷａｎｇＣｈａｎｇｌｕＴｈｅＲｅｓｅａｒｃｈＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＦｏｒｅｓｔＰｒｏｔｅｃｔｉｏｎ，Ｃｈ...     

Fuscacarpans A–C,new pterocarpans from the stems of Erythrina fusca

Chemical investigation of the stems of Erythrina fusca Lour. led to the isolation of three new pterocarpans, named fuscacarpans A–C (1−3), together with fourteen known compounds, sandwicensin (4), erythribyssin A (5), erythrabissin I (6), demethylmedicarpin (7), eryvarin D (8), erypoegin I (9), hydroxycristacarpone (10), orientanol A (11), scandenone (12), genistein (13), liquiritigenin (14), isoliquiritigenin (15), vestitone (16) and 3,7,4′-trihydroxyflavone (17). Structures 1−3 were elucidated by spectroscopic and chemical methods. The isolates were evaluated for antibacterial, antiplasmodial and cytotoxic activities.     

Is there a Nordic Model for the treatment of introduced tree species? A comparison of the use,policy, and debate concerning introduced tree species in the Nordic countries

This article compares the use, policy, and debate concerning introduced tree species in the five Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland). These countries have a long common history and are culturally similar. They are often framed under the benchmark of the “Nordic Model” or even the “Nordic Forestry Model”. Therefore, we hypothesize that the Nordic countries’ treatment of introduced tree species share common aspects, and that global environmental agreements and international currents in science and policy have reinforced these similarities. The comparison shows that globalization is strong and it seems, at least at a first glimpse, that the Nordic countries follow a kind of “Nordic Model” in their approach to introduced tree species. However, the history and importance of forestry, ecological conditions, afforestation campaigns, traditions of using introduced trees, understandings, and stakeholder positions have shaped different national and even regional path dependencies and circumstances. This, in turn, has transmuted international policy-making, regulations, and discussions into different specific ways to interpret, control, and implement the use of introduced trees in practice. This article concludes that global environmental agreements and international currents in science and policy adapt to diverse national contexts.     

For what,when, and where is green-tree retention better than clear-cutting? A review of the biodiversity aspects

Green-tree retention cutting (GTR) is a modification of traditional clear-cutting, aimed at better consideration of biodiversity. We reviewed 214 North American and European studies to answer whether, and under which circumstances, GTR meets its objectives: ‘lifeboats’ species over the regeneration phase, provides microhabitats for old-forest species in re-established forest stands and for disturbance-phase species on the recent cuts, and enhances species’ dispersal by increasing landscape connectivity. To answer these questions is complicated, partly because the target taxa differ regionally and due to research biases: 81% of the studies have been carried out in North America, 82% have been short term, and the objective of improving landscape connectivity has not been studied. A meta-analysis of GTR effects on species richness and abundance of different taxa indicated no negative responses, but birds and ectomycorrhizal fungi benefited most. Compared with clear-cutting, GTR lowered the harvest-related loss of populations or individuals in 72% of studies, and it nearly always improved the habitat for disturbance-phase insects and birds on the cuts and for forest species in the regenerated stand. Lifeboating was most successful for ectomycorrhizal fungi, epiphytic lichens and small ground-dwelling animals, and least successful for bryophytes and vascular plants. Retention tree species always contributed to the success of GTR, followed by tree density (65% of cases) and the spatial arrangement of the trees (50%); the influence of forest type is likely, but insufficiently studied. Ectomycorrhizal fungi, epiphytes, birds, and wood-dependent beetles may be suitable indicator taxa for measuring the success of GTR. For future research, we encourage clearly objective oriented studies of relevant taxa, spatially explicit landscape perspectives, and long-term (including retrospective) studies.     

Wildfire risk in the wildland–urban interface: A simulation study in northwestern Wisconsin

The rapid growth of housing in and near the wildland–urban interface (WUI) increases wildfire risk to lives and structures. To reduce fire risk, it is necessary to identify WUI housing areas that are more susceptible to wildfire. This is challenging, because wildfire patterns depend on fire behavior and spread, which in turn depend on ignition locations, weather conditions, the spatial arrangement of fuels, and topography. The goal of our study was to assess wildfire risk to a 60,000 ha WUI area in northwestern Wisconsin while accounting for all of these factors. We conducted 6000 simulations with two dynamic fire models: Fire Area Simulator (FARSITE) and Minimum Travel Time (MTT) in order to map the spatial pattern of burn probabilities. Simulations were run under normal and extreme weather conditions to assess the effect of weather on fire spread, burn probability, and risk to structures. The resulting burn probability maps were intersected with maps of structure locations and land cover types. The simulations revealed clear hotspots of wildfire activity and a large range of wildfire risk to structures in the study area. As expected, the extreme weather conditions yielded higher burn probabilities over the entire landscape, as well as to different land cover classes and individual structures. Moreover, the spatial pattern of risk was significantly different between extreme and normal weather conditions. The results highlight the fact that extreme weather conditions not only produce higher fire risk than normal weather conditions, but also change the fine-scale locations of high risk areas in the landscape, which is of great importance for fire management in WUI areas. In addition, the choice of weather data may limit the potential for comparisons of risk maps for different areas and for extrapolating risk maps to future scenarios where weather conditions are unknown. Our approach to modeling wildfire risk to structures can aid fire risk reduction management activities by identifying areas with elevated wildfire risk and those most vulnerable under extreme weather conditions.     

Tabebuialdehydes A–C,cyclopentene dialdehyde derivatives from the roots of Tabebuia rosea

Two new cyclopentene dialdehydes, tabebuialdehydes A and B (1 and 2) and a new dihydrocyclopenta[c]furan monoaldehyde, tabebuialdehyde C (3), along with ten known compounds were isolated from the roots of Tabebuia rosea. The structures of all isolated compounds were elucidated through their physical properties and by the use of spectroscopic methods, as well as comparisons with previous literature data. Moreover, all isolated compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxicity (KB and HeLa cell lines). Compounds 6, 7 and 9 showed significant cytotoxicity against both KB and HeLa cells with IC₅₀ values of 1.35 and 1.15, 0.53 and 0.77, 1.79 and 0.73 μg/mL, respectively.     

Correction to: When is it biological control? A framework of definitions,mechanisms, and classifications

Journal of Pest Science - A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-021-01386-z