Implementing Sustainable Forest Management Using Six Concepts in an Adaptive Management Framework

Certification and principles, criteria and indicators (PCI) describe desired ends for sustainable forest management (SFM) but do not address potential means to achieve those ends. As a result, forest owners and managers participating in certification and employing PCI as tools to achieving SFM may be doing so inefficiently: achieving results by trial-and-error rather than by targeted management practices; dispersing resources away from priority objectives; and passively monitoring outcomes rather than actively establishing quantitative goals. In this literature review, we propose six concepts to guide SFM implementation. These concepts include: Best Management Practices (BMPs)/Reduced Impact Logging (RIL), biodiversity conservation, forest protection, multi-scale planning, participatory forestry, and sustained forest production. We place these concepts within an iterative decision-making framework of planning, implementation, and assessment, and provide brief definitions of and practices delimited by each concept. A case study describing SFM in the neo-tropics illustrates a potential application of our six concepts. Overall our paper offers an approach that will help forest owners and managers implement the ambiguous SFM concept.     

The Impact of Hardwood Line-Planting on Tree and Amphibian Diversity in a Secondary Subtropical Wet Forest of Southeast Puerto Rico

The impact on tree and amphibian diversity of line-planting of tropical hardwoods—mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla × S. mahagoni) and mahoe (Hibiscus elatus)—was studied in a secondary subtropical wet forest of Puerto Rico. Common coqui (Eleutherodactylus coqui) and melodious coqui (E. wightmanae) are the most frequent frog species; forest coqui (E. portoricensis) is less abundant. Although relative abundance means were slightly greater in the undisturbed forest and during the wet season, differences were not statistically significant suggesting that line-planting did not significantly affect amphibian diversity. The line-planted areas had a slightly higher, but not statistically significant diversity, richness, and evenness of tree species than the unplanted forest. Multi-response permutation procedure (MRPP) showed statistically significant community composition differences between line-planting and control plot trees (T = ?5.89, A = .86; p < .001). But mean similarity among plots in both the line-planted and control plots was relatively low at less than 50% of shared species, indicating high diversity of vegetation in the overall forest area. Canopy cover by tree species greater than 3 cm in dbh was much higher in the undisturbed forest but this difference may be reduced as the young line-planted hardwoods mature. Forest enrichment through line-planting of valuable timber species in secondary subtropical wet forest does not significantly affect tree diversity.     

Aeta Magbukún of Mariveles: Traditional Indigenous Forest Resource Use Practices and the Sustainable Economic Development Challenge in Remote Philippine Regions

The Aeta Magbukún of Mariveles are one of the least known and researched Indigenous peoples remaining on the fringe of the bay, and within the remaining forests in Bataan province on Luzon Island in the Philippines. This work describes the unique cultural systems and language of the Aeta Magbukún tribe in Biaan, Mariveles, and both the traditional forest resource use and the evolving new subsistence practices developed to adapt to the encroachment of non-Indigenous peoples onto ancestral lands. The Aeta's forest resource use practices are discussed from a sustainable Indigenous development context within unique socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental circumstances in Bataan.     

Determining suitability of thermal development models to estimate temperature parameters for embryonic development of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sitona lepidus</Emphasis> Gyll. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

The clover root weevil, Sitona lepidus Gyll. is a pest of clovers (Trifolium spp.), particularly white clover (T. repens). Larva feeding severely impairs the capacity of white clover to fix atmospheric nitrogen, by attacking the nitrogen-fixing root nodules. Development of the egg stage was studied at six different constant temperatures ranging from 9 to 30°C to improve the basis for phenological forecasts. Development occurred over the entire range of temperatures, although hatching percentage at 30°C was only 24.4% compared to 90.1% at 28.5°C. Developmental time decreased with increase in temperature from 9 to 28.5°C but increased markedly at 30°C. At 28.5°C, the embryo development period was the shortest (10.35 days); whereas at 9°C, this parameter was the longest (55.08 days). Using linear regression, the lower threshold temperature was calculated 4.38°C and the thermal constant was 236.45 degree-days. The relationship between constant temperature and developmental rate was evaluated using nine models. The suitability of the models was evaluated based on eight indicators (R ², RSS, R _adj², AIC, BIC, AICC, W _j , and Z _i ). Of the nonlinear models, the Logan-6, Sharpe and DeMichele, and Lactin models were the most accurate at calculating t _opt of 27, 27.50, and 28°C, respectively. The results suggest that of the three models (Lactin, Briere, and Hilbert and Logan), that estimated critical temperatures, (t _min, t _opt, and t _max), Lactin gave the most suitable fit of data. This response of S. lepidus to temperature can be used for developing phonological models to predict the timing of egg hatch which are important for management programs targeting the weevil.     

Farm Forestry Prospects Among Some Local Communities in Rachuonyo District,Kenya

Deforestation and degradation of productive lands are serious threats to the sustainability of forestry/agricultural practices in Kenya. In the last two decades farm forestry (FF) has been promoted through pilot projects among local communities as an example of sustainable land use. However adoption of FF is limited outside the project locations because FF improvement measures focused mainly on biological (e.g. succession, biodiversity and traditional industrial timber production) and technical concerns (e.g. material input delivery such as providing free tree seedlings for field planting) rather than local values, and interests and the constraints facing farmers. This study examined the local farm priorities and constraints and the prospects for the wider implementation of farm-level tree planting in four communities in Rachuonyo District. Using interviews with 597 randomly selected household heads, the study assessed farmer’s production assets and activities, land tenure, priority tree species and the constraints to growing trees on farms. Results show that farm labour is represented by a young population, 56.3% under the age of forty. They are mainly engaged in small-scale mixed cropping integrated with multipurpose trees and some livestock. Tree products contribute about 32% to household cash income, more than any other source (agricultural products, labour sales, etc). Females were more often household heads and had considerable influence over productive activities, making them an important target group in FF development. Farmers preferred exotic tree species due to their ability to provide short-term cash income, fuel and shade. Farmers’ concerns included population pressure on limited farmlands and the problem of credit for agricultural inputs. Given the feeling of secured tenure arrangement and influence of tree products on the household economy, farmers are likely to invest more in efficient land uses such as FF if consideration is given to local priorities.     

Response of woodpeckers to changes in forest health and harvest: Implications for conservation of avian biodiversity

Woodpeckers (family Picidae) merit specific monitoring and management efforts, both as keystone/facilitator species and as indicators of forest condition. Recent studies indicated that species richness of woodpeckers was correlated with richness of all forest birds, thus suggesting potential exists for management practices that can address needs of woodpeckers in particular and other forest birds in general. We used data from a long-term study (1995–2008) from forest sites in the interior of British Columbia to evaluate how abundances of seven woodpecker species varied with habitat variables previously identified as associated with forest bird richness. We found that tree species richness had either a neutral or positive effect on the abundance of all woodpecker species, whereas abundances of most woodpecker species tended to be lower in stands with high densities of lodgepole pine. Abundances of most woodpecker species were positively correlated with density of beetle-killed pines. Relative to control sites, higher densities of most woodpecker species were found at harvested sites where most trembling aspen and large Douglas-fir trees had been retained. Therefore, management strategies that favour a mixture of tree species, with particular attention to retention of aspen, should safeguard populations of most woodpecker species. Abundances of individual woodpecker species were weakly but positively inter-correlated before the beetle outbreak, and less so during and post-outbreak. It thus appears that no strong trade-offs exist among woodpecker species. These results, combined with previously identified positive correlations between woodpecker and forest bird richness, indicate woodpeckers can be managed as a suite for the purpose of managing avian biodiversity as a whole.     

Silicon reduces slug feeding on wheat seedlings

Journal of Pest Science - Slugs are a serious pest of cereal crops, and recent emphasis in slug pest management has shifted from solely chemical towards integrated approaches. The objective of the...     

Evaluation of competition and light estimation indices for predicting diameter growth in mature boreal mixed forests

A series of conventional distance-independent and distance-dependent competition indices, a highly flexible distance-dependent crowding index, and two light resource estimation indices were compared to predict individual tree diameter growth of five species of mature trees from natural-origin boreal mixed forests. The crowding index was the superior index for most species and ecosites. However, distance-independent indices, such as basal area of competing trees, were also effective. Distance-dependent light estimation indices, which estimate the fraction of seasonal photosynthetically-active radiation available to each tree, ranked intermediate to low. Determining separate competition indices for each competitor species accounted for more variation than ignoring species or classifying by ecological groups. Species’ competitive ability ranked (most competitive to least): paper birch ≈ white spruce ≈> trembling aspen > lodgepole pine > balsam poplar. Stratification by ecosite further improved model performance. However, the overall impact of competition on mature trees in these forests appears to be small.     

Drying and wetting of Mediterranean soils stimulates decomposition and carbon dioxide emission: the "Birch effect"

Observations on the net carbon exchange of forests in the European Mediterranean region, measured recently by the eddy covariance method, have revived interest in a phenomenon first characterized on agricultural and forest soils in East Africa in the 1950s and 1960s by H. F. Birch and now often referred to as the "Birch effect." When soils become dry during summer because of lack of rain, as is common in regions with Mediterranean climate, or are dried in the laboratory in controlled conditions, and are then rewetted by precipitation or irrigation, there is a burst of decomposition, mineralization and release of inorganic nitrogen and CO(2). In forests in Mediterranean climates in southern Europe, this effect has been observed with eddy covariance techniques and soil respiration chambers at the stand and small plot scales, respectively. Following the early work of Birch, laboratory incubations of soils at controlled temperatures and water contents have been used to characterize CO(2) release following the rewetting of dry soils. A simple empirical model based on laboratory incubations demonstrates that the amount of carbon mineralized over one year can be predicted from soil temperature and precipitation regime, provided that carbon lost as CO(2) is taken into account. We show that the amount of carbon returned to the atmosphere following soil rewetting can reduce significantly the annual net carbon gain by Mediterranean forests.     

Assessment of Populus wood chemistry following the introduction of a Bt toxin gene

Unintended changes in plant physiology, anatomy and metabolism as a result of genetic engineering are a concern as more transgenic plants are commercially deployed in the ecosystem. We compared the cell wall chemical composition of three Populus lines (Populus trichocarpa Torr. & A. Gray x Populus trichocarpa Bartr. ex Marsh., Populus trichocarpa x Populus nigra L. and Populus deltoides x Populus nigra) genetically modified to express the Cry3A or Cry3B2 protein of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) with the cell wall chemistry of non-transformed isogenic control lines. Three genetically modified clones, each represented by 10 independent transgenic lines, were analyzed by pyrolysis molecular beam mass spectrometry, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and traditional wet chemical analytical methods to assess changes in cell wall composition. Based on the outcome of these techniques, there were no comprehensive differences in chemical composition between the transgenic and control lines for any of the studied clones.