Climate change and nature conservation in Central European forests: A review of consequences, concepts and challenges

With a predicted rise in average global surface temperature at an unprecedented rate, as well as changes in precipitation and disturbance regimes, climate change will bring forth new challenges for nature conservation in forest ecosystems. Species and habitats to be protected will be affected as well as related concepts and area specific objectives. Climate change impacts are likely to be aggravated by other anthropogenic stresses such as fragmentation, deposition or habitat destruction. To be reliable and effective, current objectives and guidelines of forest conservation need to be reassessed and improved. Our study analyses possible impacts of climate change on forests and identifies key future challenges for nature conservation in forests and ecosystem research. We reviewed 130 papers on climate change impacts on forest ecosystems and species published between 1995 and 2010. The geographical focus of the study is Central Europe. Papers were analysed accounting for direct and indirect impacts of gradual changes as well as stochastic disturbance events in forest ecosystems and their possible consequences for nature conservation.Even though broader aspects of nature conservation (protected areas, biodiversity) are frequently mentioned, little attention is given to forest-specific nature conservation. Particular aspects are insufficiently represented, such as the influence of climate change on different forest succession stages, the development of dead wood volume and quality, responses of secondary broadleaved species, azonal or extrazonal forests as well as ancient woodlands or remnants of historical silvicultural systems. Challenges arise in the context of great uncertainties about future developments. Nature conservation concepts and objectives in forests need to be adapted either within a permanent evaluation process or through the inclusion of further changes a priori, even if they are to some extent unpredictable. In some cases adaptation measures within nature conservation (e.g. adjusting protected areas) may conflict with interests of other stakeholders. Further research, particularly on interrelations between different impacts and the adaptive capacity of current forest ecosystems, associated species and existing genotypes is urgently needed. The scale and complexity of the task at hand calls for the establishment and further strengthening of international research networks.     

Forest floor temperature and relative humidity following timber harvesting in southern New England,USA

Forest amphibians, especially salamanders, prefer forests with shaded, cool, and moist forest floors. Timber harvesting opens the forest canopy and exposes the forest floor to direct sunlight, which can increase forest floor temperatures and reduce soil moisture. These microclimatic changes can potentially degrade the harvested stand for amphibian habitat or affect other biotic resources or ecological processes at the forest floor and in the understory. The degree of forest floor disturbance is directly related to the intensity of harvesting, however, the duration of this effect is unknown. We conducted a study of forest floor temperature and relative humidity over a 12-year chronosequence (1993–2004) of timber harvests. We compared simultaneous, paired measurements of temperature and relative humidity at three positions (soil, forest floor, air) in harvested and control sites over three seasonal survey sessions. Vegetation composition and structure were measured at each survey location. Ambient weather conditions were recorded at three open-field locations across the study area.     

Short-term responses of soil decomposer and plant communities to stump harvesting in boreal forests

Recently, in addition to logging residues, stumps have become an important component in energy production since there is growing global interest in the use of renewable energy sources in order to decrease anthropogenic carbon emissions. Harvesting of stumps influences the forest floor by changing vegetation and soil organic layers and exposing mineral soil across large areas. We studied whether stump harvesting after clear felling poses further short-term changes in boreal forest soil decomposer community (microbes and mesofauna) and vegetation when compared to the traditional site preparation practice (mounding). In general, stump harvesting caused decline in enchytraeid abundance but did not induce further major changes in decomposer community otherwise nor in vegetation of each soil micro-habitat (intact soil and exposed mineral soil). However, the abundances of almost all decomposer animals were lower in the exposed mineral soil than in the intact soil. Stump removal increased the area of exposed mineral soil in the clear felled areas, leading to lower amount of high quality habitat for most decomposer organisms. Hence, it is obvious that there are (or will be) differences in the decomposer community dynamics between the treatments at the forest stand level. Both species richness and coverage of plants benefitted from large-scale exposure of mineral soil. Because the stump removal procedure disturbs soil organic layers and negatively affects the decomposer community, it has the potential to alter nutrient dynamics in forests.     

闽北天然阔叶林各林层合理密度的研究

应用最大密度模型和半峰宽原理研究闽北天然阔叶林各林层的合理密度 ,结果表明 :各林层的平均胸径与最大密度、平均冠幅与平均胸径存在着显著的相关关系 ;各林层的合理密度分别为 ,第一层 0 .76 1～ 1.2 2 4N1max,第二层 0 .30 8～ 1.6 12N2max,第三层 0 .80 5 ～ 1.187N3max,并拟合出密度与蓄积量的关系 ,为合理经营天然阔叶林提供科学依据。     

白狼林业局森林抚育补贴试点实施方案

2009年国家启动了森林抚育补贴试点工作,文章就白狼林业局森林抚育补贴试点实施方案所涉及的内容进行了叙述。     

论林分系统的存在与演变

天然森林中包含着多种类型的林分类型,各个林分系统具有自然历史确定的地理分布范围,外界的“能量流”和“物质流”都呈非均匀分布状态,因此造成林分系统“结构状态”和“演变动态”的多样性。林分系统中的各个林分与外界进行能量、物质转换的规律相似,林分内部的“优胜劣汰”规律也相似。因此可用“内部时间T(D)”：3、4、5……32所刻画的“立木度／蓄积度”序列和“株数递减率／蓄积量递增率”序列的数学模型,来描述林分从幼林到过熟林的演变过程,这就是林分系统的“周期行为”。进入过熟林分以后,林分平均直径“D”的变化无规律性,但过熟林分仍然通过“新生林木更替衰老林木”而向前演变发展,这种“非周期行为”表达了林分系统“从存在到演化”的永恒性。     

Spatial dependence and the relationship of soil organic carbon and soil moisture in the Luquillo Experimental Forest,Puerto Rico

We used geo-spatial statistical techniques to examine the spatial variation and relationship of soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil moisture (SM) in the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF), Puerto Rico, in order to test the hypothesis that mountainous terrain introduces spatial autocorrelation and crosscorrelation in ecosystem and soil properties. Soil samples (n = 100) were collected from the LEF in the summer of 1998 and analyzed for SOC, SM, and bulk density (BD). A global positioning system was used to georeference the location of each sampling site. At each site, elevation, slope and aspect were recorded. We calculated the isotropic and anisotropic semivariograms of soil and topographic properties, as well as the cross-variograms between SOC and SM, and between SOC and elevation. Then we used four models (random, linear, spherical and wave/hole) to test the semi-variances of SOC, SM, BD, elevation, slope and aspect for spatial dependence. Our results indicate that all the studied properties except slope angle exhibit spatial dependence within the scale of sampling (200 – 1000 m sampling interval). The spatially structured variance (the variance due to the location of sampling sites) accounted for a large proportion of the sample variance for elevation (99%), BD (90%), SOC (68%), aspect (56%) and SM (44%). The ranges of spatial dependence (the distances within which parameters are spatially dependent) for aspect, SOC, elevation, SM, and BD were 9810 m, 3070 m, 1120 m, 930 m and 430 m, respectively. Cross correlograms indicate that SOC varies closely with elevation and SM depending on the distances between samples. The correlation can shift from positive to negative as the separation distance increases. Larger ranges of spatial dependence of SOC, aspect and elevation indicate that the distribution of SOC in the LEF is determined by a combination of biotic (e.g., litterfall) and abiotic factors (e.g., microclimate and topographic features) related to elevation and aspect. This demonstrates the importance of both elevation and topographic gradients in controlling climate, vegetation distribution and soil properties as well as the associated biogeochemical processes in the LEF.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

再论"结构化森林经营"

在回顾和评价现有可持续森林经营途径的基础上,本文着重论述了"结构化森林经营"的科学性和可行性.文中指出,结构化森林经营的目标--培育健康森林,符合现代森林经营理念;经营理论建立在结构决定功能的系统法则上,理论基础稳固;经营方法充分利用了"基于相邻木关系的森林空间结构量化分析方法"的科学性、简洁性和可操作性,从而使林分结构调整成为可能;经营模式以健康森林结构的普遍规律为范式,以保证林分结构调整目标明确;经营原则在很大程度上借鉴并进一步量化了德国近自然森林经营的原则,有效规避经营风险.总之,结构化森林经营不失为一种简洁、操作性强、科学的森林可持续经营方法.     

振兴龙江森工经济的思考

本文通过对我省森工经济现状的分析.从企业的经济管理体制,经营机制,发展林业多元经济培植新的经济增长点等方面。提出振兴和繁荣龙江森工经济的措施与对策。     

公路路线方案优选中的多目标决策

本论述应用层次分析法对林区公路路线方案进行优化决策，从中确定最佳路线方案。以克服传统上使用定性分析法的一些不足，使结果更加科学合理。