Estimates of stem wood increments in forest resources: comparison of different approaches in forest inventory: consequences for international reporting: case studyof European forests

Key message

Quality and reliability of forest resource assessments depend on the ability of national forest inventories (NFIs) to supply necessary and high-quality data. Over the last decades and especially since the 1990s, the NFIs in European countries have been rapidly developing. Possibilities for obtaining reliable and accurate data on annual increment from different inventory types were evaluated, and sample-based inventories have been found to be superior to standwise inventories in providing reliable data. Simplified methods may be employed when increment cannot be directly estimated from inventory data.

Context

An increasing intensity of forest resource use requires more accurate, detailed and reliable information, not only on forest area and growing stock but also on forest stand productivity, wood increment and its components.

Aims

The main objectives were to assess the capacities of forest inventories, the methods used for estimation of gross increment and its components and their accuracy and to demonstrate an effective method for estimation of increment when direct inventory methods are not available.

Methods

Data about national forest inventory methods were obtained from 30 responses to a questionnaire, distributed amongst national correspondents of all European countries; reports of COST Actions E43 and FP 1001, databases of Temperate and Boreal Forest Resource Assessment (TBFRA) 2000 and State of Europe’s Forests (SoEF) 2011 were used as well. Analysis and comparison of results from different forest inventories were used for evaluation of data reliability. Relationships between growing stock and gross increment in European forests were also analysed, and corresponding models were proposed.

Results

Seventy-nine percent of European forest area is covered by national forest inventories (NFIs) based on sampling methods and the rest on stand-level inventory and other inventory methods. Data obtained by aggregating standwise data usually underestimate growing stock by 15–20 % and gross increment even more. Almost half of the European forest area (47 %) is monitored using permanent plots, measured twice or more, allowing the estimation of gross increment and its components to be made directly.

Conclusion

Implementation of NFIs based on sampling methods, especially with permanent plots, resulted in an improvement of data quality and in most cases an increase of growing stock and gross increment. The estimation of natural losses is the weakest link in today’s NFIs and in the current assessment of European forest resources. The proposed default values for gross increment and its components is an option to be used in countries not having NFI at all or those which have started it only recently.

     

Microbial activity and bacterial composition of H2-treated soils with net CO2 fixation

The effects of H₂ gas treatment of an agricultural soil cultivated previously with a mixture of clover (Trifolium pratense) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) on CO₂ dynamics and microbial activity and composition were analyzed. The H₂ emission rate of 250 nmol H₂ g⁻¹ soil h⁻¹ was similar to the upper limit of estimated H₂ amounts emitted from N₂ fixing nodules into the surrounding soil ([Dong, Z., Layzell, D.B., 2001. H₂ oxidation, O₂ uptake and CO₂ fixation in hydrogen treated soil. Plant and Soil 229, 1-12.]). After 1 week of H₂ supply to soil samples simultaneously with H₂ uptake net CO₂ production declined continuously and this finally led to a net CO₂ fixation rate in the H₂-treated soil of 8 nmol CO₂ g⁻¹ soil h⁻¹. The time course of H₂ uptake and CO₂ fixation in the soils corresponded with an increase in microbial activity and biomass of the H₂-treated soil determined by microcalorimetric measurements, fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis (FISH) and DNA staining (DAPI). Shifts in the bacterial community structure caused by the supply of H₂ were recorded. While the H₂ treatment stimulated β-and γ-subclasses of Proteobacteria, it had no significant effect on α-Proteobacteria. In addition, FISH-detectable bacteria of the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides phylum increased in numbers.     

A Modeling Study of the Impact of a Power Plant on Ground-Level Ozone in Relation to its Location: Southwestern Spain as a Case Study

The impact of atmospheric industrial emissions on secondary pollutant formation depends on many factors; one of the most important being the environmental setting in which the industry is located. The environmental setting affects an industry’s impact on ozone levels through both the air mass dispersion (a function of topography and wind patterns) and the emissions of organic volatile compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NO _x ) in the area. This model-based study shows how the sensitivity of surface ozone changes with the choice of source location. For the analysis, seven points distributed along the Tinto–Guadalquivir Basin (in the Southwestern Iberian Peninsula) were selected. This area is characterized by the close proximity of natural environments and crop fields to cities, roads, and industrial areas with high NO _x emissions. Natural VOC emissions represent more than 60% of the total non-methane volatile organic compounds emitted in the study area. The results reveal that the largest increases in ozone levels are produced when the industry is located both far away from NO _x emission sources and near to biogenic VOC emissions. Furthermore, the highest increases over the hourly and 8-hourly maximums, as well as the highest accumulated daily values, are found in areas characterized by high VOC/NO _x emission ratios and NO _x sensitivity. The study of the recurrent meteorological patterns along with the distribution of chemical indicators of the O₃–NO _x –VOC sensitivity allows the determination of the industry’s geographical impact on ozone levels. This information enables air quality managers to decide the future location of an industry minimizing its impact on smog levels.     

Genetische Variabilität

Zusammenfassung Für die Pflanzenzüchtung ist die genetische Variabilität eine entscheidende Voraussetzung. Sie basiert auf Genmutationen, Chromosomenmutationen, Introgressionen, Autopolyploidie, Alloplasmie, transponiblen DNA-Elementen und der Kombination. Diese Variabilitätskomponenten werden charakterisiert. Außerdem wird anhand von Beispielen ihr Einfluß auf die Entwicklung der Kulturpflanzen demonstriert.Um effektiv in der Pflanzenzüchtung arbeiten zu können, bedarf es der Analyse von genetischer Variabilität. Dies geschieht mit Hilfe von Kreuzungsexperimenten und Parameterschätzungen. In zunehmendem Maße werden auch Marker bei der Analyse eingesetzt.Einen wichtigen Faktor zur zielgerichteten Beeinflussung der genetischen Variabilität stellt die Selektion dar. Sie führt zur Einschränkung der Kombination. Die Selektion ist für die Entwicklung von Sorten notwendig. Sie hat aber auch eine Verarmung an genetischer Information zur Folge.Für den weiteren Fortschritt in der Pflanzenzüchtung gilt es, eine genügende genetische Variabilität zu gewährleisten. Dazu bedarf es auch Maßnahmen zu ihrer Erhaltung. Genetische Variabilität muß außerdem verstärkt charakterisiert und analysiert werden.

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Genetic variability

Summary Genetic variability is a decisive prerequisite to plant breeding. It is based on gene mutations, chromosome mutations, introgressions, autopolyploidy, alloplasmy, transposible DNA elements and recombinations. These components of the genetic variability are illustrated and examples are given to demonstrate their contributions to the evolution of crop plants.Effective plant breeding requires the analysis of the genetic variation. It is analysed by hereditary studies and parameter estimations. The utilization of markers is continuously increasing in studies of the genetic variation.Selection is an important factor to a purposive influence on the genetic variability and leads to a restriction of the recombinations. Selection is necessary for the development of varieties but results also in an impoverishment of genetic information.For the continuous progress in plant breeding an adequate genetic variability is to secure. That includes also activities to its conservation. Furthermore the characterization and analysis of the genetic variability has to be intensified.

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Assessing the representativeness of the wet tropics of Queensland world heritage property

An assessment is made of the representativeness of the Wet Tropics World Heritage property of north-east Queensland, Australia. The relevance of this feature to the World Heritage criteria is discussed. Computer-based spatial data sets are used to provide a sample of the distribution of key environmental factors at both continental and regional scales. Numerical classification techniques are applied to generate environmental groups from pattens in the distribution of these environmental factors. An evaluation is presented of the representation of these groups within the World Heritage property, in the context of present and potential tropical forest cover.     

Phosphorus digestibility and energy concentration of enzyme-treated and conventional soybean meal fed to weanling pigs

Two experiments were conducted to determine the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of P and the concentration of DE and ME in enzyme-treated soybean meal (SBM) and in conventional soybean meal (SBM-CV). Phosphorus digestibility in 2 enzyme-treated SBM (HP-310 and HP-340) and in SBM-CV was measured using 36 barrows (initial BW: 21.9 ± 1.1 kg) that were housed in metabolism cages and randomly allotted to 6 diets with 6 replicates per diet. During production, HP-310 had been treated with an enzyme mixture containing no phytase, whereas HP-340 was treated with an enzyme mixture that contained exogenous phytase. Three diets containing HP-310, HP-340, or SBM-CV as the sole source of P were formulated. Three additional diets also contained HP-310, HP-340, and SBM-CV, but each of these diets was fortified with 500 units of microbial phytase. The ATTD of P in HP-310 and SBM-CV increased (P < 0.05) as phytase was included in the diet (from 59.8 to 77.7% for HP-310 and from 65.5 to 79.5% for SBM-CV), but the ATTD of P in HP-340 without and with phytase was not different (P > 0.05; 83.8 and 87.7%, respectively). There were no differences (P > 0.05) in the ATTD of P between HP-310 and SBM-CV, but the ATTD of P in HP-340 was greater (P < 0.05) than in the other 2 meals. The DE and ME in corn, 2 sources of enzyme-treated SBM (HP-200 and HP-310), and in SBM-CV were measured in the second experiment using 28 barrows housed in metabolism cages (initial BW: 16.8 ± 2.5 kg of BW). The process used to produce HP-200 is similar to that used to produce HP-310 except that HP-200 is exposed to the enzymes for a shorter period of time than HP-310. A corn-diet consisting of 96.45% corn and vitamins and minerals was formulated. Three additional diets were formulated by mixing corn and each source of SBM with vitamins and minerals. Pigs were randomly allotted to the 4 diets with 7 replicate pigs per diet, and urine and feces were collected quantitatively during the last 5 d of a 14-d feeding period. The concentration of DE in HP-200, HP-310, and SBM-CV was 4,333, 4,316, and 4,347 kcal/kg of DM, respectively. These values were not different (P > 0.05), but they were greater (P < 0.05) than the DE in corn (3,891 kcal/kg of DM). The concentration of ME was 3,780, 3,926, 3,914, and 3,980 kcal/kg of DM in corn, HP-200, HP-310, and SBM-CV, respectively. These values were not different (P > 0.05). It is concluded that enzyme treatment of SBM does not influence the digestibility of P or the concentration of DE and ME in the meals.     

Snowmelt in a boreal forest site: an integrated model of meltwater quality (SNOQUALI)

An integrated model (SNOQUALI) for the simulation of meltwater quality has been developed for a boreal forest site (Lake Laflamme, Québec). The model consists of a physical module and a chemical module; it has been validated for H⁺, NO₃ and SO₄ ^2? concentrations in discharge from the snowcover during the spring melt of 1984. Good agreement of simulated ion concentrations with those measured in the field were obtained for the strong acid anions NO₃ ^? and SO₄ ^2?. Greater deviations of simulated concentrations from observed concentrations were recorded in the case of H+. These are attributed to ion exchange reactions between the ion and the organic debris which is deposited continously onto the snowcover from the forest canopy during the winter season.