Forests

Article

19 pages, 4741 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Contribution of Dry Forests and Forest Products to Climate Change Adaptation in Tigray Region, Ethiopia

by Musse Tesfaye, Ashenafi Manaye, Berihu Tesfamariam, Zenebe Mekonnen, Shibire Bekele Eshetu, Katharina Löhr and Stefan Sieber

Forests 2022, 13(12), 2026; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13122026 - 29 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3586

Abstract

Despite their ecological importance, dry forests’ contribution to climate change adaptation is often neglected. Hence, this study was initiated to assess the socioeconomic contribution of dry forests to climate change adaptation in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. A mixed quantitative and qualitative research design was [...] Read more.

Despite their ecological importance, dry forests’ contribution to climate change adaptation is often neglected. Hence, this study was initiated to assess the socioeconomic contribution of dry forests to climate change adaptation in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. A mixed quantitative and qualitative research design was used to examine the role of dry forests in climate change adaptation. Household questionnaire survey, key informants, and a focus group discussion were used to collect data. The results indicated that 94% of all households visited a dry forest at least once a month to access the forest and forest products. While the dry forest income level varied significantly (p < 0.05), the overall dry forest income level contributed to 16.8% of the total household income. Dry forest income enabled the reduction of the area between the line of equality and the Lorenz curve by 21% in dry evergreen Afromontane Forest users, by 3.02% in Combretum–Terminalia woodland users, and by 3% in Acacia–Commiphora woodland users. Gender, occupation, wealth status, and distance from the forest to their homes are all factors that significantly affected Combretum–Terminalia woodland users’ income level. Among Acacia–Commiphora woodland users, the respondents’ age influenced the dry forest income level, whereas, among dry evergreen Afromontane Forest users, the family size of the household influenced the dry forest income level. The findings of this study could help policy makers understand the crucial role of dry forest income in the livelihood of the community and in climate change adaptation. Policymakers could reduce the pressure on dry forests by introducing policies that recognize the role of dry forest income in reducing poverty and income inequality and by establishing farmer cooperation in commercializing the non-timber forest products which support the long-term coping and adaptation strategy. Further research is needed to understand the increasing role of dry forest products in climate change adaptation over time and its contribution to the national economy at large. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Resilient Adaptation to Climate Change in the Forest Sector)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 3558 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

The Macroeconomic Implications of the Transition of the Forestry Industry towards Bioeconomy

by Alin Emanuel Artene, Lucian-Ionel Cioca, Aura Emanuela Domil, Larisa Ivascu, Valentin Burca and Oana Bogdan

Forests 2022, 13(11), 1961; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13111961 - 21 Nov 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2476

Abstract

In a global economic system where essential resources are limited, demand is increasing and environmental degradation is more pronounced, the only viable option to ensure sustainable development is to create an environmentally friendly and efficient economy in order to produce more economic value [...] Read more.

In a global economic system where essential resources are limited, demand is increasing and environmental degradation is more pronounced, the only viable option to ensure sustainable development is to create an environmentally friendly and efficient economy in order to produce more economic value with the same or fewer resources. The aim of this paper is to provide insight into the macroeconomic implications determined by the transition to a forest bioeconomy, with a focus on the impact on the national gross value added. More specifically, this analysis assesses the relationship between the potential of the macroeconomic value creation on the forestry industry and the measures of progress on the transition towards sustainable forest management and long-term economic growth. The analysis refers to a period between 2013 and 2019, summing-up 133 observations, data that were reported by Eurostat for 23 European Union members. We propose a model that describes a construct of the potential of the value creation that can be generated by each country included in our sample, translated into an efficiency score determined using the Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA)methodology. The results highlighted that the evolution of economic, social, and environmental (ESG) context positively impacted the efficiency score. This positive evolution in time was mainly driven by the higher awareness of governments, companies, and people on the need for a transition to sustainable economic growth and sustainable forest management. Furthermore, this study highlights that the transition to sustainable economic growth implies negative changes to the cost structure of the economies, which lead to higher operational costs and lower gross value added. Moreover, our study provides more insight, from an econometric methodology perspective, regarding the synergy effect as determined by the transformation of business models in the forestry sector towards sustainable forest management. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Forest Economics, Policy, and Social Science)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 2362 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

A Dynamical Model Based on the Chapman–Richards Growth Equation for Fitting Growth Curves for Four Pine Species in Northern Mexico

by Joao Marcelo Brazao Protazio, Marcos Almeida Souza, Jose Ciro Hernández-Díaz, Jonathan G. Escobar-Flores, Carlos Antonio López-Sánchez, Artemio Carrillo-Parra and Christian Wehenkel

Forests 2022, 13(11), 1866; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13111866 - 8 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3290

Abstract

Tree growth models describe the growth and development of forest ecosystems by considering how the dimensions of each simulated tree change within a certain time. These models have commonly used three growth parameters that describe various biological processes and behaviours, considering a sigmoid [...] Read more.

Tree growth models describe the growth and development of forest ecosystems by considering how the dimensions of each simulated tree change within a certain time. These models have commonly used three growth parameters that describe various biological processes and behaviours, considering a sigmoid growth function: (i) the upper asymptote (θ₁), which is the maximal yield indicated by a final dimension (such as the maximal stem diameter); (ii) the maximum specific growth rate (θ₂), defined as the slope of the tangent at the inflexion point; and (iii) the time elapsed (θ₃), defined by the intercept of this tangent with the abscissas. To the best of our knowledge, however, associations between the three parameters have not been documented for tree species. Using diameter growth data from pine trees located in typical mixed and uneven-aged pine-oak forests in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico, our study aims were: (i) to quantify the putative associations between the three growth parameters and (ii) to test the accuracy of a proposed Hybrid Chapman-Richards growth model based on associations between the three growth parameters, but including only one single parameter, relative to the widely used Generalized Algebraic Difference Approach (GADA) based on the Chapman-Richards, Lundqvist and Hossfeld models and the Hybrid Weibull Model. For statistical comparison of the quality of the models, we used the mean relative percentage error, root mean square error, coefficient of determination and Akaike information criterion to assess the quality of the fit. Although the quality of the five growth models studied was similar, from a practical point of view, the proposed Hybrid Chapman-Richards Model (CR-H) is easier to apply than the other models and has a lower data collection and computational cost. The parameter of CR-H can be easily obtained, by measuring just the dominant trees, especially in coniferous forests with irregular ages. Moreover, in contrast to the Chapman-Richards-GADA factor χ₀, when θ₂ is assumed to be site-specific, the CR-H has always a closed-form solution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spatial Distribution and Growth Dynamics of Tree Species)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 2496 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Linking Bacterial Rhizosphere Communities of Two Pioneer Species, Brachystegia boehmii and B. spiciformis, to the Ecological Processes of Miombo Woodlands

by Camilo B. S. António, Chinedu Obieze, João Jacinto, Ivete S. A. Maquia, Tara Massad, José C. Ramalho, Natasha S. Ribeiro, Cristina Máguas, Isabel Marques and Ana I. Ribeiro-Barros

Forests 2022, 13(11), 1840; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13111840 - 4 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2103

Abstract

Miombo is the most extensive ecosystem in southern Africa, being strongly driven by fire, climate, herbivory, and human activity. Soils are major regulating and supporting services, sequestering nearly 50% of the overall carbon and comprising a set of yet unexploited functions. In this [...] Read more.

Miombo is the most extensive ecosystem in southern Africa, being strongly driven by fire, climate, herbivory, and human activity. Soils are major regulating and supporting services, sequestering nearly 50% of the overall carbon and comprising a set of yet unexploited functions. In this study, we used next-generation Illumina sequencing to assess the patterns of bacterial soil diversity in two pioneer Miombo species, Brachystegia boehmii and Brachystegia spiciformis, along a fire gradient, in ferric lixisol and cambic arenosol soils. In total, 21 phyla, 51 classes, 98 orders, 193 families, and 520 genera were found, revealing a considerably high and multifunctional diversity with a strong potential for the production of bioactive compounds and nutrient mobilization. Four abundant genera characterized the core microbiome among plant species, type of soils, or fire regime: Streptomyces, Gaiella, Chthoniobacter, and Bacillus. Nevertheless, bacterial networks revealed a higher potential for mutualistic interactions and transmission of chemical signals among phylotypes from low fire frequency sites than those from high fire frequency sites. Ecological networks also revealed the negative effects of frequent fires on the complexity of microbial communities. Functional predictions revealed the core “house-keeping” metabolisms contributing to the high bacterial diversity found, suggesting its importance to the functionality of this ecosystem. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microorganisms in Forests: Biodiversity, Ecological Function, and Biogeography)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 4767 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Water Retention Characteristics of Mineral Forest Soils in Finland: Impacts for Modeling Soil Moisture

by Samuli Launiainen, Antti-Jussi Kieloaho, Antti-Jussi Lindroos, Aura Salmivaara, Hannu Ilvesniemi and Juha Heiskanen

Forests 2022, 13(11), 1797; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13111797 - 29 Oct 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2903

Abstract

Soil hydraulic properties are central for soil quality and affect forest productivity and the impacts of climate change on forests. The water retention characteristics (WRC) of mineral forest soils in Finland are not well known, and practical tools to predict them for hydrological, [...] Read more.

Soil hydraulic properties are central for soil quality and affect forest productivity and the impacts of climate change on forests. The water retention characteristics (WRC) of mineral forest soils in Finland are not well known, and practical tools to predict them for hydrological, biogeochemical and forest models are lacking. We statistically analyzed mineral forest soils WRC from over 130 sites in Finland, focusing on the humus layer and main root zone (0–19 cm depth). We showed that mineral forest soils can be grouped into five WRC classes that are well predictable from soil bulk density, organic matter content and clay fraction. However, the majority of the forest soils are hydrologically rather similar. We found that neither topsoil maps nor any combination of open geospatial data were able to predict WRC. Thus, in the absence of site-specific soil data, parameterizing WRC as a function of forest site fertility type was proposed. We demonstrated the approach in soil moisture modeling at a small forest headwater catchment and showed that the soil moisture response to weather conditions is jointly affected by WRC, stand attributes and topography. We showed that drought risks are highest for dense mature forests at nutrient-poor, coarse-textured sites and lower for young stands on peatlands and lowland herb-rich sites with groundwater influence. The results improve hydrological predictions for Finnish forests, and the open dataset can contribute to the larger synthesis and development of boreal forest soil pedo-transfer functions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Management, Hydrology and Biogeochemistry Modelling)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 4930 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Forest Management, Barred Owls, and Wildfire in Northern Spotted Owl Territories

by Monica L. Bond, Tonja Y. Chi, Curtis M. Bradley and Dominick A. DellaSala

Forests 2022, 13(10), 1730; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13101730 - 20 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3180

Abstract

The Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) (NSO) was listed as federally threatened in 1992 due to widespread logging of its old-growth forest habitat. The NSO recovery plan in 2011 elevated competition with Barred Owls (Strix varia) (BO) and [...] Read more.

The Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) (NSO) was listed as federally threatened in 1992 due to widespread logging of its old-growth forest habitat. The NSO recovery plan in 2011 elevated competition with Barred Owls (Strix varia) (BO) and wildfires as primary NSO threats based partly on the assumption that severely burned forests were no longer NSO nesting and roosting habitat. We quantified amount of logging before and/or after wildfire and opportunistic detections of BOs within two home range scales (0.8 and 2.09 km) at 105 NSO sites that experienced severe wildfire from 2000–2017. Logging affected 87% of severely burned NSO sites, with BO recorded at 22% of burned-and-logged sites. Most (60%) severely burned NSO sites had evidence of logging both before and after fires while only 12% of severely burned sites had no logging or BO detections, indicating rarity of NSO territories subjected to severe fire without the compounding stressors of logging and invasive BOs. We recommend changes to NSO habitat modeling that assume nesting and roosting habitat is no longer viable if severely burned, and to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s practice of granting incidental take permits for NSOs in logging operations within severely burned owl sites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Extinction Crisis: How Bad, What Can Be Done?)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 3125 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Critical Aspects of People’s Participation in Community-Based Forest Management from the Case of Van Panchayat in Indian Himalaya

by Kazuyo Nagahama, Satoshi Tachibana and Randeep Rakwal

Forests 2022, 13(10), 1667; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13101667 - 11 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2829

Abstract

The importance of community-based forest management (hereafter, CBFM) is drawing attention to forest policies in finding solutions for deforestation and importantly to also understand the basis of people’s involvement. Focusing on the latter, the study presented here targets a regional CBFM (Van (forest) [...] Read more.

The importance of community-based forest management (hereafter, CBFM) is drawing attention to forest policies in finding solutions for deforestation and importantly to also understand the basis of people’s involvement. Focusing on the latter, the study presented here targets a regional CBFM (Van (forest) Panchayat; hereafter, VP) at the village level in Uttarakhand, India and looks into characteristics and critical aspect of people’s participation. Participatory observations were conducted in four selected villages, followed by structured interviews with 113 of a total of 131 households and semi-structured interviews with additional 28 female villagers. Some specific findings were (a) the VP members were mostly involved in forest-related activities, e.g., plantation, forest patrols, (b) a greater use of firewood by the management committee (hereafter, MC) where most members were from the higher-caste, and (c) most of the VP forest users were women; however, few women members were involved in decision-making, as they were mostly fixed members and they had not voluntarily chosen their positions. In the above context, it implied a limited participation of women in the decision-making process, i.e., no or little involvement in the management plan by the main VP forest users. Results concluded three stages of local peoples’ participation in forest management: “participation in activities”, “participation in decision-making” and “participation in management plan creation”. In summary, what our study shows is that participation by the VP members in CBFM activities was easy. The most difficult aspect related to the participation of female members was the decision-making process in each VPMC investigated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Forest Ecology and Management)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 6091 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

A Small Target Forest Fire Detection Model Based on YOLOv5 Improvement

by Zhenyang Xue, Haifeng Lin and Fang Wang

Forests 2022, 13(8), 1332; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13081332 - 20 Aug 2022

Cited by 79 | Viewed by 8473

Abstract

Forest fires are highly unpredictable and extremely destructive. Traditional methods of manual inspection, sensor-based detection, satellite remote sensing and computer vision detection all have their obvious limitations. Deep learning techniques can learn and adaptively extract features of forest fires. However, the small size [...] Read more.

Forest fires are highly unpredictable and extremely destructive. Traditional methods of manual inspection, sensor-based detection, satellite remote sensing and computer vision detection all have their obvious limitations. Deep learning techniques can learn and adaptively extract features of forest fires. However, the small size of the forest fire target in the long-range-captured forest fire images causes the model to fail to learn effective information. To solve this problem, we propose an improved forest fire small-target detection model based on YOLOv5. This model requires cameras as sensors for detecting forest fires in practical applications. First, we improved the Backbone layer of YOLOv5 and adjust the original Spatial Pyramid Pooling-Fast (SPPF) module of YOLOv5 to the Spatial Pyramid Pooling-Fast-Plus (SPPFP) module for a better focus on the global information of small forest fire targets. Then, we added the Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) attention module to improve the identifiability of small forest fire targets. Second, the Neck layer of YOLOv5 was improved by adding a very-small-target detection layer and adjusting the Path Aggregation Network (PANet) to the Bi-directional Feature Pyramid Network (BiFPN). Finally, since the initial small-target forest fire dataset is a small sample dataset, a migration learning strategy was used for training. Experimental results on an initial small-target forest fire dataset produced by us show that the improved structure in this paper improves [email protected] by 10.1%. This demonstrates that the performance of our proposed model has been effectively improved and has some application prospects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Forest Fire and Other Detection Systems)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 3239 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Assessing Structural Complexity of Individual Scots Pine Trees by Comparing Terrestrial Laser Scanning and Photogrammetric Point Clouds

by Noora Tienaho, Tuomas Yrttimaa, Ville Kankare, Mikko Vastaranta, Ville Luoma, Eija Honkavaara, Niko Koivumäki, Saija Huuskonen, Jari Hynynen, Markus Holopainen, Juha Hyyppä and Ninni Saarinen

Forests 2022, 13(8), 1305; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13081305 - 16 Aug 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2957

Abstract

Structural complexity of trees is related to various ecological processes and ecosystem services. To support management for complexity, there is a need to assess the level of structural complexity objectively. The fractal-based box dimension (D_b) provides a holistic measure of the [...] Read more.

Structural complexity of trees is related to various ecological processes and ecosystem services. To support management for complexity, there is a need to assess the level of structural complexity objectively. The fractal-based box dimension (D_b) provides a holistic measure of the structural complexity of individual trees. This study aimed to compare the structural complexity of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees assessed with D_b that was generated with point cloud data from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and aerial imagery acquired with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). UAV imagery was converted into point clouds with structure from motion (SfM) and dense matching techniques. TLS and UAV measured D_b-values were found to differ from each other significantly (TLS: 1.51 ± 0.11, UAV: 1.59 ± 0.15). UAV measured D_b-values were 5% higher, and the range was wider (TLS: 0.81–1.81, UAV: 0.23–1.88). The divergence between TLS and UAV measurements was found to be explained by the differences in the number and distribution of the points and the differences in the estimated tree heights and number of boxes in the D_b-method. The average point density was 15 times higher with TLS than with UAV (TLS: 494,000, UAV 32,000 points/tree), and TLS received more points below the midpoint of tree heights (65% below, 35% above), while UAV did the opposite (22% below, 78% above). Compared to the field measurements, UAV underestimated tree heights more than TLS (TLS: 34 cm, UAV: 54 cm), resulting in more boxes of D_b-method being needed (4–64%, depending on the box size). Forest structure (two thinning intensities, three thinning types, and a control group) significantly affected the variation of both TLS and UAV measured D_b-values. Still, the divergence between the two approaches remained in all treatments. However, TLS and UAV measured D_b-values were consistent, and the correlation between them was 75%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Forest Inventory, Modeling and Remote Sensing)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 3238 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Effect of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Rooting on Soil Characteristics in a Deciduous Forest Affected by Sedimentation

by Natalia Pitta-Osses, Csaba Centeri, Ádám Fehér and Krisztián Katona

Forests 2022, 13(8), 1234; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13081234 - 3 Aug 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3221

Abstract

Forest soils are shaped by various processes, like runoff, erosion, sedimentation and bioturbation. A better understanding of the interactions between abiotic and biotic soil-forming processes, including wild boar (Sus scrofa) rooting (i.e., subsurface foraging), enhances adequate management of forest ecosystems. We [...] Read more.

Forest soils are shaped by various processes, like runoff, erosion, sedimentation and bioturbation. A better understanding of the interactions between abiotic and biotic soil-forming processes, including wild boar (Sus scrofa) rooting (i.e., subsurface foraging), enhances adequate management of forest ecosystems. We hypothesized that intense soil sedimentation influences wild boar rooting occurrence and that wild boars modify the outcome of the sedimentation process by redistributing soil layers. This study was conducted in the Babat Valley, Hungary. We estimated the availability of sedimented and non-sedimented patches and the occurrence of boar rooting. Surveys and samplings were done along transects, over consecutive months, where the impact of rooting on the physical and chemical characteristics of soil was measured by comparing them between control and rooted sites. We found that non-sedimented, steep areas were preferred areas for rooting. Sedimentation processes have a higher impact on soil chemical characteristics and soil layer composition than wild boar rooting. We conclude that mitigation of soil degradation can be more effective by reducing adverse abiotic processes rather than wild boar population control. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Use and Other Strategies to Mitigate Climate Change in Carbon-Dense Forests)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 1688 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Recreational Visit to Suburban Forests during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Taiwan

by Yung-Chih Chen, Frank C. Tsai, Ming-Jer Tsai and Wan-Yu Liu

Forests 2022, 13(8), 1181; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13081181 - 25 Jul 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2391

Abstract

COVID-19 global pandemic has caused massive disruption of travel behaviors along with other aspects of human life, such as social distancing, staying at home, and avoiding crowds. People substituted outdoor activities for indoor activities, and the forest environment has become a popular alternative. [...] Read more.

COVID-19 global pandemic has caused massive disruption of travel behaviors along with other aspects of human life, such as social distancing, staying at home, and avoiding crowds. People substituted outdoor activities for indoor activities, and the forest environment has become a popular alternative. Taiwan has a high population density, but it had few COVID-19 confirmed cases in 2020 during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. No forest areas have been closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In light of this generally increased demand for suburban forests for recreational uses, the current COVID-19 pandemic situation poses specific challenges regarding forest use, management, and policy. This study integrates visitation numbers of the popular forest recreation area and selects the unblocking index and social distancing index as the COVID-19 index to capture the impacts of forest recreation area on the COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan. The results show both COVID-19 indices have high explanatory power for suburban forest visitation and both have a significant impact on the number of visitors. Although the number of visitors to suburban forests decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic alert, it bounced when the COVID-19 outbreak was under control. This study provides a brief overview of management implications for recreational visits during COVID-19. We posed an early warning to forest managers for greater revenge traveling post-COVID-19. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Based Tourism and Nature Conservation Activation by Tourism)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 17579 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

A National Map of Snag Hazard to Reduce Risk to Wildland Fire Responders

by Karin L. Riley, Christopher D. O’Connor, Christopher J. Dunn, Jessica R. Haas, Richard D. Stratton and Benjamin Gannon

Forests 2022, 13(8), 1160; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13081160 - 22 Jul 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2382

Abstract

Falling trees and tree fragments are one of the top five causes of fatalities for wildland fire responders. In six out of ten recent years, at least one fatality from a tree strike has occurred while a fire responder was on duty, and [...] Read more.

Falling trees and tree fragments are one of the top five causes of fatalities for wildland fire responders. In six out of ten recent years, at least one fatality from a tree strike has occurred while a fire responder was on duty, and others were injured. We used TreeMap, a national map of forest characteristics, including individual tree height, diameter, and status (live or dead), to generate a map of snag hazard for forested areas of the continental U.S. at 30 × 30 m resolution. Snag hazard was classified into categories of low, moderate, high, or extreme based on snag density and height. Within-class accuracy was as high at 86%, suggesting that the Snag Hazard map can help wildland fire managers identify and avoid exposing fire responders to hazardous conditions. Accuracy was higher outside recently disturbed areas (88%) than inside (79%), perhaps reflecting strong spatial patterns and heterogeneity of mortality within disturbed areas. The Snag Hazard map is a frequently requested product from the Forest Service’sRisk Management Assistance Group. The goal of RMA is to provide analytics to decision makers and fire leadership to facilitate risk-informed decision-making to improve safety, effectiveness, and outcomes. We present a case study showing how the Snag Hazard 2016 map was used to inform fire responders during an active wildfire incident in California during the 2020 fire season. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decision Support System Development of Wildland Fire)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 3866 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Culturable Endophytic Fungi in Fraxinus excelsior and Their Interactions with Hymenoscyphus fraxineus

by Marek Barta, Katarína Pastirčáková, Radovan Ostrovský, Marek Kobza and Miriam Kádasi Horáková

Forests 2022, 13(7), 1098; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13071098 - 13 Jul 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2663

Abstract

The species diversity of culturable endophytic fungi was studied in the leaves and twigs of symptomatic and asymptomatic Fraxinus excelsior trees. Endophytic mycobiota was dominated by Ascomycota species, with Pleosporales (44.17%) and Diaporthales (23.79%) endophytes being the most frequently observed in the tree [...] Read more.

The species diversity of culturable endophytic fungi was studied in the leaves and twigs of symptomatic and asymptomatic Fraxinus excelsior trees. Endophytic mycobiota was dominated by Ascomycota species, with Pleosporales (44.17%) and Diaporthales (23.79%) endophytes being the most frequently observed in the tree samples. The number of endophytic isolates and species richness varied depending on the sampling date (May and October) and tissue location. Of the 54 species identified based on ITS sequences, 14 were classified as dominant. The most frequently isolated species were Diaporthe eres, followed by Alternaria alternata, Dothiorella gregaria, and Fraxinicola fraxini. The inhibitory effect of 41 species (75 isolates) of endophytes on the radial growth of a Hymenoscyphus fraxineus isolate was studied under in vitro conditions (dual cultures). The radial growth of H. fraxineus was the most inhibited by four endophytic fungi from twigs (Fusarium lateritium, Didymella aliena, Didymella macrostoma, and Dothiorella gregaria). The inhibitory effect of the four isolates was also studied under in planta conditions. The isolates artificially inoculated into the trunks of ash trees reduced the length of necroses formed by H. fraxineus co-inoculated in the same trunks. This effect depended on the isolate, and the inhibition was most prominent only on trunks inoculated with F. lateritium and D. aliena. Although the total length of necrotic lesions formed by the H. fraxineus infection was shorter in the ash trunks co-inoculated with the endophytes, the difference was not significant. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiversity and Ecology of Organisms Associated with Woody Plants)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 1897 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Psychological Well-Being and Nature Relatedness

by Olga Grabowska-Chenczke, Sandra Wajchman-Świtalska and Marcin Woźniak

Forests 2022, 13(7), 1048; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13071048 - 2 Jul 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 7062

Abstract

The way people perceive contact with nature may impact their environmental attitudes and psychological well-being (WB). Nature relatedness (NR) refers to the affective, cognitive, and experiential aspects of individuals’ connection to nature. The aim of the presented research concentrates on the assessment of [...] Read more.

The way people perceive contact with nature may impact their environmental attitudes and psychological well-being (WB). Nature relatedness (NR) refers to the affective, cognitive, and experiential aspects of individuals’ connection to nature. The aim of the presented research concentrates on the assessment of the relationship between well-being, self-control and connectedness with the natural environment. The data was collected via online questionnaire between March and April 2022. In the study, we combined descriptive statistics with analysis of variance. We also quantitatively assessed correlations between major components of NR scale and psychological WB across men’ and women’ inquires. The results showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between the general index of NR and overall psychological WB. Furthermore, correlation between specific aspects of NR and WB subscales were also observed. These interactions are considerable among both men and women. We have also identified a major correlation between NR and self-control, which indicates the link between the way a person approaches oneself and natural environment. Finally, the analysis provides evidence that women are on average more related to nature, although the men may benefit more from this kind of relationship. Further gender differences could be observed in terms of nature-relatedness perspective component, general self-control, score and overall NR score These relationships are highly vital among men while irrelevant among women. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest and Other Natural Landscapes and Human Health)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 5801 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Towards Continuous Stem Water Content and Sap Flux Density Monitoring: IoT-Based Solution for Detecting Changes in Stem Water Dynamics

by Shahla Asgharinia, Martin Leberecht, Luca Belelli Marchesini, Nicolas Friess, Damiano Gianelle, Thomas Nauss, Lars Opgenoorth, Jim Yates and Riccardo Valentini

Forests 2022, 13(7), 1040; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13071040 - 1 Jul 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3342

Abstract

Taking advantage of novel IoT technologies, a new multifunctional device, the “TreeTalker”, was developed to monitor real-time ecophysical and biological parameters of individual trees, as well as climatic variables related to their surrounding environment, principally, air temperature and air relative humidity. Here, IoT [...] Read more.

Taking advantage of novel IoT technologies, a new multifunctional device, the “TreeTalker”, was developed to monitor real-time ecophysical and biological parameters of individual trees, as well as climatic variables related to their surrounding environment, principally, air temperature and air relative humidity. Here, IoT applied to plant ecophysiology and hydrology aims to unravel the vulnerability of trees to climatic stress via a single tree assessment at costs that enable massive deployment. We present the performance of the TreeTalker to elucidate the functional relation between the stem water content in trees and respective internal/external (stem hydraulic activity/abiotic) drivers. Continuous stem water content records are provided by an in-house-designed capacitance sensor, hosted in the reference probe of the TreeTalker sap flow measuring system, based on the transient thermal dissipation (TTD) method. In order to demonstrate the capability of the TreeTalker, a three-phase experimental process was performed including (1) sensor sensitivity analysis, (2) sensor calibration, and (3) long-term field data monitoring. A negative linear correlation was demonstrated under temperature sensitivity analysis, and for calibration, multiple linear regression was applied on harvested field samples, explaining the relationship between the sample volumetric water content and the sensor output signal. Furthermore, in a field scenario, TreeTalkers were mounted on adult Fagus sylvatica L. and Quercus petraea L. trees, from June 2020 to October 2021, in a beech-dominated forest near Marburg, Germany, where they continuously monitored sap flux density and stem volumetric water content (stem VWC). The results show that the range of stem VWC registered is highly influenced by the seasonal variability of climatic conditions. Depending on tree characteristics, edaphic and microclimatic conditions, variations in stem VWC and reactions to atmospheric events occurred. Low sapwood water storage occurs in response to drought, which illustrates the high dependency of trees on stem VWC under water stress. Consistent daily variations in stem VWC were also clearly detectable. Stem VWC constitutes a significant portion of daily transpiration (using TreeTalkers, up to 4% for the beech forest in our experimental site). The diurnal–nocturnal pattern of stem VWC and sap flow revealed an inverse relationship. Such a finding, still under investigation, may be explained by the importance of water recharge during the night, likely due to sapwood volume changes and lateral water distribution rather than by a vertical flow rate. Overall, TreeTalker demonstrated the potential of autonomous devices for monitoring sap density and relative stem VWC in the field of plant ecophysiology and hydrology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Challenges, Development and Frontiers of Smart Agriculture and Forestry)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 5376 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Wood Preservation Practices and Future Outlook: Perspectives of Experts from Finland

by Jami Järvinen, Hüseyin Emre Ilgın and Markku Karjalainen

Forests 2022, 13(7), 1044; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13071044 - 1 Jul 2022

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4257

Abstract

This paper examined wood preservation practices and outlook considering climate change from the perspective of Finnish experts through interviews. Key findings highlighted that: (1) pressure impregnated wood will continually evolve and secure its market, and it seems worthy of developing modified wood products, [...] Read more.

This paper examined wood preservation practices and outlook considering climate change from the perspective of Finnish experts through interviews. Key findings highlighted that: (1) pressure impregnated wood will continually evolve and secure its market, and it seems worthy of developing modified wood products, especially with the increasing attention to recyclability and lifecycle concepts; (2) demand for highly processed surface treatment products is high; (3) opportunities for more sustainable and environmentally friendly wood preservation methods, and thus production volume will increase in the future; (4) increasing mold problems in Finland due to climate change make surface treatment more important than ever; (5) demands for fire protection treatments are increasing, but fire testing fees and processes have slowed product development; (6) although the possibility of the spread of termites triggered by global warming to Finland seems to be a future scenario, this issue needs to be considered in products exported to hot countries; and (7) preservatives have become more critical to protect untreated wood from the adverse effects of climate change. It is believed that this study will help accelerate the transition of innovative and environmentally friendly wood treatments on the Finnish market, thereby promoting the use of wood in the building construction industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Wood Science and Forest Products)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

8 pages, 1713 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Invasion of Emerald Ash Borer Agrilus planipennis and Ash Dieback Pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus in Ukraine—A Concerted Action

by Kateryna Davydenko, Yuriy Skrylnyk, Oleksandr Borysenko, Audrius Menkis, Natalia Vysotska, Valentyna Meshkova, Åke Olson, Malin Elfstrand and Rimvys Vasaitis

Forests 2022, 13(5), 789; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050789 - 19 May 2022

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4865

Abstract

Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, is a beetle that originates from East Asia. Upon invasion to North America in the early 2000s, it killed untold millions of ash trees. In European Russia, EAB was first detected in Moscow in 2003 and [...] Read more.

Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, is a beetle that originates from East Asia. Upon invasion to North America in the early 2000s, it killed untold millions of ash trees. In European Russia, EAB was first detected in Moscow in 2003 and proved to have the potential to also kill native European ash (Fraxinus excelsior). The beetle has since spread in all geographic directions, establishing itself in eastern Ukraine by 2019 and possessing potential for further westward spread towards the EU. Apart from the approaching EAB, F. excelsior is currently threatened by the dieback disease (ADB) caused by the invasive ascomycete fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. The infestation by EAB combined with ADB infection is expected to be more lethal than either of them alone, yet the potential consequences are unknown. To date, eastern Ukraine represents the geographic area in which both invasions overlap, thus providing the opportunity for related investigations. The aims of the study were to investigate: (i) the EAB expansion range in Ukraine, (ii) the relative susceptibility of F. excelsior and American ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) to EAB and ADB, and (iii) the combined effect/impact on ash condition imposed by both the pest and disease in the area subjected to the invasion. The results have demonstrated that (i) the invasion of EAB is currently expanding both in terms of newly infested trees and invaded geographic area; (ii) F. excelsior is more resistant to EAB than F. pennsylvanica, while F. excelsior is more susceptible to ADB than F. pennsylvanica; and (iii) the infection by ADB is likely to predispose F. excelsior to the infestation by EAB. It was concluded that inventory and mapping of surviving F. excelsior, affected by both ADB and EAB, is necessary to acquire genetic resources for the work on strategic, long-term restoration of F. excelsior in devastated areas, thereby tackling a possible invasion of EAB to the EU. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Management of Forest Pests and Diseases)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 2700 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Comparing Geography and Severity of Managed Wildfires in California and the Southwest USA before and after the Implementation of the 2009 Policy Guidance

by Jose M. Iniguez, Alexander M. Evans, Sepideh Dadashi, Jesse D. Young, Marc D. Meyer, Andrea E. Thode, Shaula J. Hedwall, Sarah M. McCaffrey, Stephen D. Fillmore and Rachel Bean

Forests 2022, 13(5), 793; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050793 - 19 May 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4143

Abstract

Managed wildfires, i.e., naturally ignited wildfires that are managed for resource benefits, have the potential to reduce fuel loads, minimize the effects of future wildfires, and restore critical natural processes across many forest landscapes. In the United States, the 2009 federal wildland fire [...] Read more.

Managed wildfires, i.e., naturally ignited wildfires that are managed for resource benefits, have the potential to reduce fuel loads, minimize the effects of future wildfires, and restore critical natural processes across many forest landscapes. In the United States, the 2009 federal wildland fire policy guidance was designed to provide greater flexibility in the use of managed wildfires, but the effects of this policy on wildfires in the western US are not yet fully understood. Our goal was to compare managed and full suppression wildfires and to also analyze the differences between managed wildfires across space (Arizona/New Mexico and California) and time (before and after 2009) using four metrics for each wildfire: (1) distance to wilderness, (2) distance to the wildland–urban interface (WUI), (3) the percentage of area burned with high severity, and (4) the number of land management agencies. Across the study area, we found that managed wildfires were significantly closer to wilderness areas, were farther from the WUI, had a lower percentage of area that was burned at high severity, and had fewer agencies involved in managing the fire compared to full suppression wildfires. In California, managed wildfires occurred closer to wilderness and had a larger percentage of high-severity burn area compared to those in the southwest US (Arizona and New Mexico). Within each region, however, there were no significant geographic differences between managed wildfires before and after the implementation of the 2009 policy guidance. Despite the greater flexibility of the 2009 policy guidance, the basic geographic properties of managed wildfires in these two regions have not changed. As the climate warms and droughts intensify, the use of managed wildfires will need to expand during favorable weather conditions in order to address the threat of large and uncharacteristic wildfires to people and ecosystems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social and Ecological Effects of Wildfires and Effectiveness of Fuels Management)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 5058 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

The Historical Complexity of Tree Height Growth Dynamic Associated with Climate Change in Western North America

by Yassine Messaoud, Anya Reid, Nadezhda M. Tchebakova, Jack A. Goldman and Annika Hofgaard

Forests 2022, 13(5), 738; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050738 - 9 May 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2776

Abstract

The effect of climate on tree growth has received increased interest in the context of climate change. However, most studies have been limited geographically and with respect to species. Here, sixteen tree species of western North America were used to investigate the response [...] Read more.

The effect of climate on tree growth has received increased interest in the context of climate change. However, most studies have been limited geographically and with respect to species. Here, sixteen tree species of western North America were used to investigate the response of trees to climate change. Forest inventory data from 36,944 stands established between 1600 and 1968 throughout western North America were summarized. The height growth (top height at a breast-height age of 50 years) of healthy dominant and co-dominant trees was related to annual and summer temperatures, the annual and summer Palmer Drought Severity Indexes (PDSIs), and the tree establishment date (ED). Climate-induced height growth patterns were then tested to determine links to the spatial environment (geographic locations and soil properties), the species’ range (coastal, interior, or both), and traits (shade tolerance and leaf form). Analysis was performed using a linear mixed model (total species) and a general linear model (species scale). Climate change was globally beneficial, except for Alaska yellow-cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach), and growth patterns were magnified for coastal-ranged, high-shade-tolerant, and broadleaf species, and mostly at the northernmost extents of these species’ ranges. Nevertheless, growth patterns were more complex with respect to soil properties. A growth decline for some species was observed at higher latitudes and elevations and was possibly related to increased cloudiness, precipitation, or drought (in interior areas). These results highlight the spatio-temporal complexity of the growth response to recent global climate change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Species Distribution and Diversity under Climate Change)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 4445 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

An Ecological-Economic Approach to Assess Impacts of the Expansion of Eucalyptus Plantations in Agroforest Landscapes of Northern Ethiopia

by Dagm Abate, José G. Borges, Susete Marques and Vladimir Bushenkov

Forests 2022, 13(5), 686; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050686 - 28 Apr 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3150

Abstract

The conversion of fertile croplands to Eucalyptus woodlots in Ethiopian highlands, due to its business attractiveness to smallholders, raises concerns related to food production, water resources, carbon and other ecosystem services. This study was therefore designed to examine land allocation and plantation management [...] Read more.

The conversion of fertile croplands to Eucalyptus woodlots in Ethiopian highlands, due to its business attractiveness to smallholders, raises concerns related to food production, water resources, carbon and other ecosystem services. This study was therefore designed to examine land allocation and plantation management decisions. Our emphasis was on the analysis of tradeoffs between the economic gains obtained from harvesting Eucalyptus timber and food production, carbon and water use. For that purpose, we considered a 1987 ha agroforest landscape in the Amhara region, Northern Ethiopia. With a planning horizon covering nine one-year periods, we developed and used nine Model I single objective linear programming (LP) models, and analyzed tradeoffs between objectives (e.g., land expectation value (LEV), Carbon, volume of ending inventory (VolEI), crop production and water use) using an LP-based Pareto frontier approach. The study revealed that the objective of maximizing the total economic gain from the sale of Eucalyptus wood poles favored a complete conversion of the available cropland into Eucalyptus woodlots. To meet the minimum annual crop production/consumption/requirements of households in the study area, the land under Eucalyptus should be limited to 1772 ha, with a sequestration potential of 1.5 to 1.57 × 10⁷ kg yr⁻¹ of carbon in the aboveground biomass. However, this land cover limit should be decreased to 921 ha so as to limit the total annual water use (for biomass production) below the amount available from rainfall (11,000 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). Moreover, the study highlighted that maximizing the harvested wood volume or LEV would come at the cost of a decreased aboveground carbon stock and volume of ending inventory and higher total water use. It also provided alternative optimal Pareto-front points, among which decision makers will be able to select their preferred targets. The current study also showed the potential for the application of Pareto frontier approaches to support the development of effective ecological/economic management strategies and the design of land use policies in an Ethiopian context. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiple-Use and Ecosystem Services of Forests)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 5872 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Mangrove Forests in Ecuador: A Two-Decade Analysis

by Ramiro Morocho, Ivonne González, Tiago Osorio Ferreira and Xosé Luis Otero

Forests 2022, 13(5), 656; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050656 - 23 Apr 2022

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4857

Abstract

Mangroves are one of the most important ecosystems especially due to the services they provide, but in contrast are one of the most threatened by human activities at a global level. In Ecuador, mangrove forests are currently fragile and threatened due to the [...] Read more.

Mangroves are one of the most important ecosystems especially due to the services they provide, but in contrast are one of the most threatened by human activities at a global level. In Ecuador, mangrove forests are currently fragile and threatened due to the great anthropic pressure, which has largely reduced the area they occupy. However, there is already evidence that certain actions are contributing both to their conservation and the recovery of the lost mangrove area. In this study, we assessed the multitemporal dynamics of changes in mangrove cover in four coastal provinces of the country over a period of 20 years (1998–2018) based on remote sensing data analyzed using GIS tools. Our results showed that the area affected by mangrove forest destruction reached its maximum during the 1998–2010 period, when 4.56% (194.57 km²) of the mangrove forest was lost. This situation especially affected the provinces of El Oro and Guayas. The main cause for the loss of mangrove cover was the expansion of shrimp farms, followed by agriculture and construction. However, a slight recovery of ~2.9% has been observed, although loss remains constant. Mangrove ecosystem conservation policies, mainly applied to zones within protected areas; the establishment of use and custody agreements and the halt of shrimp farm expansion; the development of mangrove forests on areas with sediment deposits; and natural mangrove recovery processes are key factors for mangrove restoration. These results suggest that it is possible to continue restoring mangrove cover and thus maintain some of the main ecosystem services they provide for the benefit of humans. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mangrove Wetland Restoration and Rehabilitation)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 11601 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Seed Dispersal Models for Natural Regeneration: A Review and Prospects

by Moonil Kim, Seonghun Lee, Songhee Lee, Koong Yi, Hyung-Sub Kim, Sanghoon Chung, Junmo Chung, Hyun Seop Kim and Tae Kyung Yoon

Forests 2022, 13(5), 659; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050659 - 23 Apr 2022

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 7449

Abstract

Natural regeneration in forest management, which relies on artificial planting, is considered a desirable alternative to reforestation. However, there are large uncertainties regarding the natural regeneration processes, such as seed production, seed dispersal, and seedling establishment. Among these processes, seed dispersal by wind [...] Read more.

Natural regeneration in forest management, which relies on artificial planting, is considered a desirable alternative to reforestation. However, there are large uncertainties regarding the natural regeneration processes, such as seed production, seed dispersal, and seedling establishment. Among these processes, seed dispersal by wind must be modeled accurately to minimize the risks of natural regeneration. This study aimed to (1) review the main mechanisms of seed dispersal models, their characteristics, and their applications and (2) suggest prospects for seed dispersal models to increase the predictability of natural regeneration. With improving computing and observation systems, the modeling technique for seed dispersal by wind has continued to progress steadily from a simple empirical model to the Eulerian-Lagrangian model. Mechanistic modeling approaches with a dispersal kernel have been widely used and have attempted to be directly incorporated into spatial models. Despite the rapid development of various wind-dispersal models, only a few studies have considered their application in natural regeneration. We identified the potential attributes of seed dispersal modeling that cause high uncertainties and poor simulation results in natural regeneration scenarios: topography, pre-processing of wind data, and various inherent complexities in seed dispersal processes. We suggest that seed dispersal models can be further improved by incorporating (1) seed abscission mechanisms by wind, (2) spatiotemporally complex wind environments, (3) collisions with the canopy or ground during seed flight, and (4) secondary dispersal, long-distance dispersal, and seed predation. Interdisciplinary research linking climatology, biophysics, and forestry would help improve the prediction of seed dispersal and its impact on natural regeneration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological Forestry and Restoration)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 6741 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Climate Adaptation, Drought Susceptibility, and Genomic-Informed Predictions of Future Climate Refugia for the Australian Forest Tree Eucalyptus globulus

by Jakob B. Butler, Peter A. Harrison, René E. Vaillancourt, Dorothy A. Steane, Josquin F. G. Tibbits and Brad M. Potts

Forests 2022, 13(4), 575; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13040575 - 5 Apr 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3460

Abstract

Understanding the capacity of forest tree species to adapt to climate change is of increasing importance for managing forest genetic resources. Through a genomics approach, we modelled spatial variation in climate adaptation within the Australian temperate forest tree Eucalyptus globulus, identified putative [...] Read more.

Understanding the capacity of forest tree species to adapt to climate change is of increasing importance for managing forest genetic resources. Through a genomics approach, we modelled spatial variation in climate adaptation within the Australian temperate forest tree Eucalyptus globulus, identified putative climate drivers of this genomic variation, and predicted locations of future climate refugia and populations at-risk of future maladaptation. Using 812,158 SNPs across 130 individuals from 30 populations (i.e., localities) spanning the species’ natural range, a gradientForest algorithm found 1177 SNPs associated with locality variation in home-site climate (climate-SNPs), putatively linking them to climate adaptation. Very few climate-SNPs were associated with population-level variation in drought susceptibility, signalling the multi-faceted nature and complexity of climate adaptation. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed 24% of the climate-SNP variation could be explained by annual precipitation, isothermality, and maximum temperature of the warmest month. Spatial predictions of the RDA climate vectors associated with climate-SNPs allowed mapping of genomically informed climate selective surfaces across the species’ range under contemporary and projected future climates. These surfaces suggest over 50% of the current distribution of E. globulus will be outside the modelled adaptive range by 2070 and at risk of climate maladaptation. Such surfaces present a new integrated approach for natural resource managers to capture adaptive genetic variation and plan translocations in the face of climate change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Forest Ecology and Management)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 4570 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Detecting Coastal Wetland Degradation by Combining Remote Sensing and Hydrologic Modeling

by Keqi He, Yu Zhang, Wenhong Li, Ge Sun and Steve McNulty

Forests 2022, 13(3), 411; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13030411 - 3 Mar 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4478

Abstract

Sea-level rise and climate change stresses pose increasing threats to coastal wetlands that are vital to wildlife habitats, carbon sequestration, water supply, and other ecosystem services with global significance. However, existing studies are limited in individual sites, and large-scale mapping of coastal wetland [...] Read more.

Sea-level rise and climate change stresses pose increasing threats to coastal wetlands that are vital to wildlife habitats, carbon sequestration, water supply, and other ecosystem services with global significance. However, existing studies are limited in individual sites, and large-scale mapping of coastal wetland degradation patterns over a long period is rare. Our study developed a new framework to detect spatial and temporal patterns of coastal wetland degradation by analyzing fine-scale, long-term remotely sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data. Then, this framework was tested to track the degradation of coastal wetlands at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (ARNWR) in North Carolina, United States, during the period from 1995 to 2019. We identified six types of coastal wetland degradation in the study area. Most of the detected degradation was located within 2 km from the shoreline and occurred in the past five years. Further, we used a state-of-the-art coastal hydrologic model, PIHM-Wetland, to investigate key hydrologic processes/variables that control the coastal wetland degradation. The temporal and spatial distributions of simulated coastal flooding and saltwater intrusion confirmed the location and timing of wetland degradation detected by remote sensing. The combined method also quantified the possible critical thresholds of water tables for wetland degradation. The remote sensing–hydrologic model integrated scheme proposed in this study provides a new tool for detecting and understanding coastal wetland degradation mechanisms. Our study approach can also be extended to other coastal wetland regions to understand how climate change and sea-level rise impact wetland transformations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon and Water Cycles in Coastal Forests under Climate Change and Variability)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 2592 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Combustion of Aboveground Wood from Live Trees in Megafires, CA, USA

by Mark E. Harmon, Chad T. Hanson and Dominick A. DellaSala

Forests 2022, 13(3), 391; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13030391 - 27 Feb 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 8236

Abstract

Biomass combustion is a major biogeochemical process, but uncertain in magnitude. We examined multiple levels of organization (twigs, branches, trees, stands, and landscapes) in large, severe forest fires to see how combustion rates for live aboveground woody parts varied with tree species, size, [...] Read more.

Biomass combustion is a major biogeochemical process, but uncertain in magnitude. We examined multiple levels of organization (twigs, branches, trees, stands, and landscapes) in large, severe forest fires to see how combustion rates for live aboveground woody parts varied with tree species, size, and fire severity in Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) and mixed conifer-dominated forests of the Sierra Nevada, California, USA. In high severity fire patches, most combustion loss was from branches < 2 cm diameter; in low to moderate severity patches, most was from bole charring. Combustion rates decreased as fire severity declined and with increasing tree size. Pinus species had little branch combustion, leading them to have ≈50% the combustion rate of other taxa. Combustion rates could be 100% for small branch segments and up to 57% for small tree aboveground woody biomass in high severity fire patches. However, combustion rates are very low overall at the stand (0.1%–3.2%) and landscape level (0.6%–1.8%), because large trees with low combustion rates comprise the majority of biomass, and high severity fire patches are less than half of the area burned. Our findings of low live wood combustion rates have important implications for policies related to wildfire emissions and forest management. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Forest Ecology and Management)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 3022 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Fungal and Bacterial Communities in Tuber melanosporum Plantations from Northern Spain

by Celia Herrero de Aza, Sergio Armenteros, James McDermott, Stefano Mauceri, Jaime Olaizola, María Hernández-Rodríguez and Olaya Mediavilla

Forests 2022, 13(3), 385; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13030385 - 26 Feb 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6134

Abstract

Tuber melanosporum (Ascomycota, Pezizales) is an ectomycorrhizal fungus that produces highly appreciated hypogeous fruiting bodies called black truffles. The aim of this paper was to research the composition of ectomycorrhiza-associated fungal and bacterial communities in T. melanosporum oak plantations. Results of this paper [...] Read more.

Tuber melanosporum (Ascomycota, Pezizales) is an ectomycorrhizal fungus that produces highly appreciated hypogeous fruiting bodies called black truffles. The aim of this paper was to research the composition of ectomycorrhiza-associated fungal and bacterial communities in T. melanosporum oak plantations. Results of this paper showed the competitive effect of T. melanosporum on other fungal species, especially other mycorrhizal and pathogenic species. T. melanosporum was shown to be associated mainly with bacteria, some of them important for their properties as mycorrhizal helper bacteria. A dendrogram analysis of co-occurrence showed that T. melanosporum tended to co-occur with the following bacteria species: Singulisphaera limicola, Nannocistis excedens and Sporosarcina globispora. In addition, it was linked to fungal species such as Mortierella elongata, M. minutissima, Cryptococcus uzbekistanensis, C. chernovii and C. aerius. This study provides an exhaustive analysis of the diversity, structure and composition of fungal and bacterial communities associated with T. melanosporum to enhance understanding of the biology, composition and role of these communities in truffle plantations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil–Plant–Microorganisms Interactions)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

27 pages, 3949 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Experimental Characterization of Particulate and Gaseous Emissions from Biomass Burning of Six Mediterranean Species and Litter

by Enrica Nestola, Gregorio Sgrigna, Emanuele Pallozzi, Loredana Caccavale, Gabriele Guidolotti and Carlo Calfapietra

Forests 2022, 13(2), 322; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020322 - 16 Feb 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3885

Abstract

Wildfires across the Mediterranean ecosystems are associated with safety concerns due to their emissions. The type of biomass determines the composition of particulate matter (PM) and gaseous compounds emitted during the fire event. This study investigated simulated fire events and analysed biomass samples [...] Read more.

Wildfires across the Mediterranean ecosystems are associated with safety concerns due to their emissions. The type of biomass determines the composition of particulate matter (PM) and gaseous compounds emitted during the fire event. This study investigated simulated fire events and analysed biomass samples of six Mediterranean species and litter in a combustion chamber. The main aims are the characterization of PM realized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDX), the quantification of gaseous emissions through gas chromatography (GC-MS) and, consequently, identification of the species that are potentially more dangerous. For PM, three size fractions were considered (PM10, 2.5 and 1), and their chemical composition was used for particle source-apportionment. For gaseous components, the CO, CO₂, benzene, toluene and xylene (BTXs) emitted were quantified. All samples were described and compared based on their peculiar particulate and gaseous emissions. The primary results show that (a) Acacia saligna was noticeable for the highest number of particles emitted and remarkable values of KCl; (b) tree species were related to the fine windblown particles as canopies intercept PM10 and reemit it during burning; (c) shrub species were related to the particles resuspended from soil; and (d) benzene and toluene were the dominant aromatic compounds emitted. Finally, the most dangerous species identified during burning were Acacia saligna, for the highest number of particles emitted, and Pistacia lentiscus for its high density of particles, the presence of anthropogenic markers, and the highest emissions of all gaseous compounds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Forest Meteorology and Climate Change)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 2357 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Forest Structure and Composition Are Critical to Hurricane Mortality

by Jiaying Zhang, Tamara Heartsill-Scalley and Rafael L. Bras

Forests 2022, 13(2), 202; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020202 - 28 Jan 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3315

Abstract

Hurricanes can cause severe damage to tropical forests. To understand the nature of hurricane impacts, we analyze and compare immediate effects from category-4 hurricane María in 2017 and category-3 hurricane Hugo in 1989 at Bisley Experimental Watersheds (BEW) in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, [...] Read more.

Hurricanes can cause severe damage to tropical forests. To understand the nature of hurricane impacts, we analyze and compare immediate effects from category-4 hurricane María in 2017 and category-3 hurricane Hugo in 1989 at Bisley Experimental Watersheds (BEW) in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. We show that hurricane María caused lower mortality than hurricane Hugo, even though hurricane María was a stronger event with higher sustained wind. The lower mortality was due to the combination of lower accumulated cyclone energy at the site and more wind-resistant forest structure and composition at the time of disturbance. We compare our study site with a nearby location that has the same forest type, Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot (LFDP), and describe the similarities and differences of mortality and impact factors between the two sites during the two events. During hurricane Hugo, LFDP experienced much lower mortality than BEW, even though the accumulated cyclone energy at LFDP was higher. The difference in mortality was due to contrasting forest structure and composition of the two sites. Our results demonstrate that forest structure and composition at the time of the disturbance were more critical to hurricane-induced mortality at the two sites than accumulated cyclone energy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Natural Hazards and Risk Management)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 6018 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Restoration Trajectories and Ecological Thresholds during Planted Urban Forest Successional Development

by K. J. Wallace, Bruce D. Clarkson and Bridgette Farnworth

Forests 2022, 13(2), 199; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020199 - 27 Jan 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5406

Abstract

Successfully reconstructing functioning forest ecosystems from early-successional tree plantings is a long-term process that often lacks monitoring. Many projects lack observations of critical successional information, such as the restoration trajectory of key ecosystem attributes and ecological thresholds, which signal that management actions are [...] Read more.

Successfully reconstructing functioning forest ecosystems from early-successional tree plantings is a long-term process that often lacks monitoring. Many projects lack observations of critical successional information, such as the restoration trajectory of key ecosystem attributes and ecological thresholds, which signal that management actions are needed. Here, we present results from a 65 ha urban temperate rainforest restoration project in Aotearoa New Zealand, where trees have been planted annually on public retired pasture land, forming a 14 years chronosequence. In 25 plots (100 m² each), we measured key ecosystem attributes that typically change during forest succession: native tree basal area, canopy openness, non-native herbaceous ground cover, leaf litter cover, ground fern cover, dead trees, and native tree seedling abundance and richness. We also monitored for the appearance of physiologically-sensitive plant guilds (moss, ferns, and epiphytes) that may be considered ecological indicators of succession. Linear regression models identified relationships between all but one of the key ecosystem attributes and forest age (years since planting). Further, using breakpoint analysis, we found that ecological thresholds occurred in many ecosystem attributes during their restoration trajectories: reduced canopy openness (99.8% to 3.4%; 9.6 years threshold), non-native herbaceous ground cover (100% to 0; 10.9 years threshold), leaf litter cover (0 to 95%; 10.8 years threshold), and increased tree deaths (0 to 4; 11 years threshold). Further, juvenile native plant recruitment increased (tree seedling abundance 0 to ~150 per 4 m²), tree seedling species richness (0 to 13 per 100 m²) and epiphytes colonized (0 to 3 individuals per 100 m²). These and other physiologically-sensitive plant guilds appeared around the 11 years mark, confirming their utility as ecological indicators during monitoring. Our results indicate that measurable, ecological thresholds occur during the restoration trajectories of ecosystem attributes, and they are predictable. If detected, these thresholds can inform project timelines and, along with use of ecological indicators, inform management interventions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Forestry and Ecological Restoration)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

20 pages, 3331 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Upward Treeline Shifts in Two Regions of Subarctic Russia Are Governed by Summer Thermal and Winter Snow Conditions

by Andrey A. Grigoriev, Yulia V. Shalaumova, Sergey O. Vyukhin, Dmitriy S. Balakin, Vladimir V. Kukarskikh, Arina A. Vyukhina, Jesús Julio Camarero and Pavel A. Moiseev

Forests 2022, 13(2), 174; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020174 - 24 Jan 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3503

Abstract

Climate warming impacts on alpine treeline dynamics. However, we still lack robust assessments of the long-term impacts of climate on tree recruitment at the treeline, particularly in remote areas such as the subarctic regions of Russia subjected to different climate influences. We expected [...] Read more.

Climate warming impacts on alpine treeline dynamics. However, we still lack robust assessments of the long-term impacts of climate on tree recruitment at the treeline, particularly in remote areas such as the subarctic regions of Russia subjected to different climate influences. We expected that the treelines in two regions may have different features and dynamics patterns. We analyzed climate variables and assessed treeline dynamics by quantifying recruitment using the tree rings of ca. 7000 trees of four species (Betula pubescens Ehrh. ssp. tortuosa, Pinus sylvestris L., Picea abies Ledeb. ssp. obovata, Larix gmelinii Rupr.) along 14 altitudinal transects (series of study plots). We compared the Khibiny Massif (Kola Peninsula) and the western Putorana Plateau, subjected to oceanic and continental influences, respectively. In both regions, summers became warmer, and winters became snowier during the past century. At the low part of the treeline ecotone, tree recruitment has slowly increased since the mid-18th century at the Putorana Plateau and the mid-19th century at the Khibiny but accelerated in the early 20th century at both regions and reached a maximum peak in the second half of the past century. Treeline encroachment intensified in the 1930s at the Khibiny and the 1950s at the Putorana Plateau. Trees encroached in the tundra leading to upward treeline shifts in the late 20th century. The slope exposure affected the rates of treeline shift with higher upward advances on southern-oriented slopes. Tree recruitment and early-winter precipitation were positively correlated. The differences in species composition, treeline altitude and influences of slope orientation on treeline dynamics can be explained primarily by differences in the degree of continentality. The abundance of saplings in both regions allows the future encroachment of trees into tundra and further treeline upward shifts to be forecast. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Climate Change on Alpine Treelines and Vegetation Dynamics)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 1747 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Development and Validation of a 36K SNP Array for Radiata Pine (Pinus radiata D.Don)

by Natalie Graham, Emily Telfer, Tancred Frickey, Gancho Slavov, Ahmed Ismael, Jaroslav Klápště and Heidi Dungey

Forests 2022, 13(2), 176; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020176 - 24 Jan 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4722

Abstract

Radiata pine (Pinus radiata D.Don) is one of the world’s most domesticated pines and a key economic species in New Zealand. Thus, the development of genomic resources for radiata pine has been a high priority for both research and commercial breeding. Leveraging [...] Read more.

Radiata pine (Pinus radiata D.Don) is one of the world’s most domesticated pines and a key economic species in New Zealand. Thus, the development of genomic resources for radiata pine has been a high priority for both research and commercial breeding. Leveraging off a previously developed exome capture panel, we tested the performance of 438,744 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on a screening array (NZPRAD01) and then selected 36,285 SNPs for a final genotyping array (NZPRAD02). These SNPs aligned to 15,372 scaffolds from the Pinus taeda L. v. 1.01e assembly, and 20,039 contigs from the radiata pine transcriptome assembly. The genotyping array was tested on more than 8000 samples, including material from archival progenitors, current breeding trials, nursery material, clonal lines, and material from Australia. Our analyses indicate that the array is performing well, with sample call rates greater than 98% and a sample reproducibility of 99.9%. Genotyping in two linkage mapping families indicated that the SNPs are well distributed across the 12 linkage groups. Using genotypic data from this array, we were also able to differentiate representatives of the five recognized provenances of radiata pine, Año Nuevo, Monterey, Cambria, Cedros and Guadalupe. Furthermore, principal component analysis of genotyped trees revealed clear patterns of population structure, with the primary axis of variation driven by provenance ancestry and the secondary axis reflecting breeding activities. This represents the first commercial use of genomics in a radiata pine breeding program. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Using Genomic Information in Forest Tree Breeding, Restoration, and Conservation: Separating Hype from Reality)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 6054 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Simulating the Effects of Thinning Events on Forest Growth and Water Services Asks for Daily Analysis of Underlying Processes

by Rasoul Yousefpour and Marc Djahangard

Forests 2021, 12(12), 1729; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12121729 - 8 Dec 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3102

Abstract

Forest growth function and water cycle are affected by climatic conditions, making climate-sensitive models, e.g., process-based, crucial to the simulation of dynamics of forest and water interactions. A rewarded and widely applied model for forest growth analysis and management, 3PG, is a physiological [...] Read more.

Forest growth function and water cycle are affected by climatic conditions, making climate-sensitive models, e.g., process-based, crucial to the simulation of dynamics of forest and water interactions. A rewarded and widely applied model for forest growth analysis and management, 3PG, is a physiological process-based forest stand model that predicts growth. However, the model runs on a monthly basis and uses a simple soil-water module. Therefore, we downscale the temporal resolution to operate daily, improve the growth modifiers and add a responsive hydrological sub-model to represents the key features of a snow routine, a detailed soil-water model and a separated soil-evaporation calculation. Thereby, we aim to more precisely analyze the effects of thinning events on forest productivity and water services. The novel calibrated 3PG-Hydro model was validated in Norway spruce sites in Southern Germany and confirmed improvements in building forest processes (evapotranspiration) and predicting forest growth (biomass, diameter, volume), as well as water processes and services (water recharge). The model is more sensitive to forest management measures and variability in soil water by (1) individualization of each site’s soil, (2) simulation of percolation and runoff processes, (3) separation of transpiration and evapotranspiration to predict good evapotranspiration even if high thinning is applied, (4) calculation in daily time steps to better simulate variation and especially drought and (5) an improved soil-water modifier. The new 3PG-Hydro model can, in general, better simulate forest growth (stand volume, average diameter), as well as details of soil and water processes after thinning events. The novel developments add complexity to the model, but the additions are crucial and relevant, and the model remains an easy-to-handle forest simulation tool. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Forest Ecology and Management)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 15548 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

The Contribution of Trees Outside of Forests to Landscape Carbon and Climate Change Mitigation in West Africa

by David L. Skole, Jay H. Samek, Moussa Dieng and Cheikh Mbow

Forests 2021, 12(12), 1652; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12121652 - 28 Nov 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3775

Abstract

While closed canopy forests have been an important focal point for land cover change monitoring and climate change mitigation, less consideration has been given to methods for large scale measurements of trees outside of forests. Trees outside of forests are an important but [...] Read more.

While closed canopy forests have been an important focal point for land cover change monitoring and climate change mitigation, less consideration has been given to methods for large scale measurements of trees outside of forests. Trees outside of forests are an important but often overlooked natural resource throughout sub-Saharan Africa, providing benefits for livelihoods as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation. In this study, the development of an individual tree cover map using very high-resolution remote sensing and a comparison with a new automated machine learning mapping product revealed an important contribution of trees outside of forests to landscape tree cover and carbon stocks in a region where trees outside of forests are important components of livelihood systems. Here, we test and demonstrate the use of allometric scaling from remote sensing crown area to provide estimates of landscape-scale carbon stocks. Prominent biomass and carbon maps from global-scale remote sensing greatly underestimate the “invisible” carbon in these sparse tree-based systems. The measurement of tree cover and carbon in these landscapes has important application in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Forest Inventory, Modeling and Remote Sensing)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

17 pages, 1961 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Effects of Early, Small-Scale Nitrogen Addition on Germination and Early Growth of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) Seedlings and on the Recruitment of the Root-Associated Fungal Community

by David Castro, Andreas N. Schneider, Mattias Holmlund, Torgny Näsholm, Nathaniel R. Street and Vaughan Hurry

Forests 2021, 12(11), 1589; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12111589 - 18 Nov 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3031

Abstract

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is one of the most economically important species to the Swedish forest industry, and cost-efficient planting methods are needed to ensure successful reestablishment after harvesting forest stands. While the majority of clear-cuts are replanted with pre-grown seedlings, [...] Read more.

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is one of the most economically important species to the Swedish forest industry, and cost-efficient planting methods are needed to ensure successful reestablishment after harvesting forest stands. While the majority of clear-cuts are replanted with pre-grown seedlings, direct seeding can be a viable option on poorer sites. Organic fertilizer has been shown to improve planted seedling establishment, but the effect on direct seeding is less well known. Therefore, at a scarified (disc trencher harrowed) clear-cut site in northern Sweden, we evaluated the effect of early, small-scale nitrogen addition on establishment and early recruitment of fungi from the disturbed soil community by site-planted Scots pine seeds. Individual seeds were planted using a moisture retaining germination matrix containing 10 mg nitrogen in the form of either arginine phosphate or ammonium nitrate. After one growing season, we collected seedlings and assessed the fungal community of seedling roots and the surrounding soil. Our results demonstrate that early, small-scale N addition increases seedling survival and needle carbon content, that there is rapid recruitment of ectomycorrhizal fungi to the roots and rhizosphere of the young seedlings and that this rapid recruitment was modified but not prevented by N addition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tree Host – Microbial Interactions)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 3655 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Determination of Riparian Vegetation Biomass from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

by Alessandro Matese, Andrea Berton, Valentina Chiarello, Riccardo Dainelli, Carla Nati, Laura Pastonchi, Piero Toscano and Salvatore Filippo Di Gennaro

Forests 2021, 12(11), 1566; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12111566 - 12 Nov 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2819

Abstract

The need to rely on accurate information about the wood biomass available in riparian zones under management, inspired the land reclamation authority of southern Tuscany to develop a research based on the new remote sensing technologies. With this aim, a series of unmanned [...] Read more.

The need to rely on accurate information about the wood biomass available in riparian zones under management, inspired the land reclamation authority of southern Tuscany to develop a research based on the new remote sensing technologies. With this aim, a series of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight campaigns flanked by ground-data collection were carried out on 5 zones and 15 stream reaches belonging to 3 rivers and 7 creeks, being representative of the whole area under treatment, characterized by a heterogeneous spatial distribution of trees and shrubs of different sizes and ages, whose species’ mix is typical of this climatic belt. A careful preliminary analysis of the zones under investigation, based on the available local orthophotos, followed by a quick pilot inspection of the riverbank segments selected for trials, was crucial for choosing the test sites. The analysis of a dataset composed of both measured and remotely sensed acquired parameters allowed a system of four allometric models to be built for estimating the trees’ biomass. All four developed models showed good results, with the highest correlation found in the fourth model (Model 4, R² = 0.63), which also presented the lowest RMSE (0.09 Mg). The biomass values calculated with Model 4 were in line with those provided by the land reclamation authority for selective thinning, ranging from 38.9 to 70.9 Mg ha⁻¹. Conversely, Model 2 widely overestimated the actual data, while Model 1 and Model 3 offered intermediate results. The proposed methodology based on these new technologies enabled an accurate estimation of the wood biomass in a riverbank environment, overcoming the limits of a traditional ground monitoring and improving management strategies to benefit the river system and its ecosystems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Forest Inventory, Modeling and Remote Sensing)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 10998 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

GIS-Based Aesthetic Appraisal of Short-Range Viewsheds of Coastal Dune and Forest Landscapes

by Arvydas Urbis, Ramūnas Povilanskas, Egidijus Jurkus, Julius Taminskas and Domantas Urbis

Forests 2021, 12(11), 1534; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12111534 - 7 Nov 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3060

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the possibilities of a Geographical Information System (GIS) for investigating and explicating the spatial variation of the short-range viewshed aesthetic appeal in a World Heritage coastal dune and forest area. The study pursues the following objectives: (1) develop and trial [...] Read more.

This paper demonstrates the possibilities of a Geographical Information System (GIS) for investigating and explicating the spatial variation of the short-range viewshed aesthetic appeal in a World Heritage coastal dune and forest area. The study pursues the following objectives: (1) develop and trial a GIS-based algorithm for computing the Aesthetic Appeal Index for a Short-Range Viewshed (ǣ); (2) deliver an output map showing the spatial variation of the computed ǣ values in the target territory and distribution of the zones with high scenic quality and potential aesthetic ecosystem services (PAES); and (3) assess management alternatives in zones with high PAES and high conservation value. This study combines two key innovative aspects. First, it integrates an objective digital map of habitats with subjective scenic preferences of coastal forest and dune landscapes based on psychophysical and cognitive perceptions of scenic beauty. Second, it applies a GIS-based algorithm to translate subjective scenic preferences to an output map of ǣ. The study’s main conclusion is that the combined aesthetic appraisal of the immediate and foreground viewshed of coastal forests and dunes, by applying a specially created GIS algorithm, allows an assessment of the scenic quality of this landscape reliably in statistical terms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forests Tourism and Recreation)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

33 pages, 4052 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Combining Landscape Fire Simulations with Stand-Level Growth Simulations to Assist Landowners in Building Wildfire-Resilient Landscapes

by Susana Barreiro, Akli Benali, João C. P. Rua, Margarida Tomé, José L. Santos and José M. C. Pereira

Forests 2021, 12(11), 1498; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12111498 - 29 Oct 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2480

Abstract

The wildfire regime in Portugal has been responsible for millions of hectares of burnt area, and Alvares parish is no exception. In 2017, a severe wildfire burnt 60% of its area. Land abandonment has been increasing since the mid 20th century, and a [...] Read more.

The wildfire regime in Portugal has been responsible for millions of hectares of burnt area, and Alvares parish is no exception. In 2017, a severe wildfire burnt 60% of its area. Land abandonment has been increasing since the mid 20th century, and a large fraction of the forest area belongs to quasi-absent landowners. This has given rise to large, almost unbroken expanses of undermanaged forests that, in combination with rugged topography, originates a landscape prone to large, intense wildfires. Thus, a change in landscape composition and structure capable of reducing flammability and promoting fuel discontinuity is urgently needed. A fire spread simulator and a forest growth simulator were combined to show the impact of improving management at landscape level. It was assumed that the probability of large wildfires may be reduced by setting aside forest area for the implementation of a fuel break network (FBN) and increasing the area under sustainable forest management. Three levels of management intensity were simulated by restricting the area of Quasi-absent non-industrial owners to 34.5%, 20.1%, and 8.5% of the Alvares forest area, in favor of increasing the area of active and semi-active non-industrial owners (current, moderate, and high management scenarios). Different FBN extents, representing four levels of network implementation priority were combined with the management levels, resulting in 12 scenarios. To evaluate the impact of fire, simulations assuming no-fire, no-FBN, and current management intensity were performed, whereas the impact of operation costs was assessed assuming reduced costs for silvicultural operations. Per hectare simulations were then scaled up to the parish level and volume harvested and net present values were used to compare the management improvement scenarios. Results showed that fire has major repercussions on forest income, but these impacts can be minimized. Intensifying forest management and implementing the first priority FBN segments originated substantial improvements in financial outcome from timber production, close to those obtained for the full FBN implementation. Results also evidenced contrasting contributions from industrial and non-industrial owners with the later evidencing unbalanced cash-flows derailing the possibility for interesting forest incomes. The coupling of fire and forest growth simulations can be an interesting approach to assess the impact of different management and policy scenarios and inform policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engaging Land Owners to Reduce Wildfire Risk at Landscape Level)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 1198 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Fragmentation and Coordination of REDD+ Finance under the Paris Agreement Regime

by Dong-hwan Kim, Do-hun Kim, Hyun Seok Kim and Raehyun Kim

Forests 2021, 12(11), 1452; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12111452 - 25 Oct 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2067

Abstract

Under the Kyoto Protocol regime, various forms of financial support have been committed to helping the implementation of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, as well as fostering conservation, the sustainable management of forests, and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+) [...] Read more.

Under the Kyoto Protocol regime, various forms of financial support have been committed to helping the implementation of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, as well as fostering conservation, the sustainable management of forests, and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+) in developing countries. We analyzed the fragmentation of REDD+ finance and suggested methods for its coordination under the Paris Agreement regime. The fragmentation of REDD+ finance was observed, but it was lower than that of general official development assistance (ODA). However, we found that the trend of fragmentation in REDD+ financing is different from that of general ODA, with a few major donors occupying a large portion of the total size of committed REDD+ finance. Thus, it may not be appropriate to consider the fragmentation of REDD+ finance merely as an obstacle that needs to be decreased. Still, the total amount of REDD+ finance should be increased and adjusted for various donor–recipient relationships, in consideration of the REDD+ finance options in the Paris Agreement. Some REDD+ countries have made progress in national REDD+ and accomplished emission reductions. However, REDD+ finance needs to be stratified considering the progress of national REDD+. For such forms of cooperation, an information-sharing and monitoring system that collects information on ongoing REDD+ cooperation, the commitment and expenditure of REDD+ finance, and the support needs of REDD+ countries at a global level should be established. Multilateral organizations need to provide safeguarding functions for developing countries that are isolated from bilateral REDD+ finance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Forest Economics, Policy, and Social Science)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 5586 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Impact of Gene Flow and Introgression on the Range Wide Genetic Structure of Quercus robur (L.) in Europe

by Bernd Degen, Yulai Yanbaev, Malte Mader, Ruslan Ianbaev, Svetlana Bakhtina, Hilke Schroeder and Celine Blanc-Jolivet

Forests 2021, 12(10), 1425; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12101425 - 19 Oct 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3689

Abstract

As for most other temperate broadleaved tree species, large-scale genetic inventories of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) have focused on the plastidial genome, which showed the impact of post-glacial recolonization and manmade seed transfer. However, how have pollen mediated gene flow and [...] Read more.

As for most other temperate broadleaved tree species, large-scale genetic inventories of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) have focused on the plastidial genome, which showed the impact of post-glacial recolonization and manmade seed transfer. However, how have pollen mediated gene flow and introgression impacted the large-scale genetic structure? To answer these questions, we did a genetic inventory on 1970 pedunculate oak trees from 197 locations in 13 European countries. All samples were screened with a targeted sequencing approach on a set of 381 polymorphic loci (356 nuclear SNPs, 3 nuclear InDels, 17 chloroplast SNPs, and 5 mitochondrial SNPs). In a former analysis with additional 1763 putative Quercus petraea trees screened for the same gene markers we obtained estimates on the species admixture of all pedunculate oak trees. We identified 13 plastidial haplotypes, which showed a strong spatial pattern with a highly significant autocorrelation up to a range of 1250 km. Significant spatial genetic structure up to 1250 km was also observed at the nuclear loci. However, the differentiation at the nuclear gene markers was much lower compared to the organelle gene markers. The matrix of genetic distances among locations was partially correlated between nuclear and organelle genomes. Bayesian clustering analysis revealed the best fit to the data for a sub-division into two gene pools. One gene pool is dominating the west and the other is the most abundant in the east. The western gene pool was significantly influenced by introgression from Quercus petraea in the past. In Germany, we identified a contact zone of pedunculate oaks with different introgression intensity, likely resulting from different historical levels of introgression in glacial refugia or during postglacial recolonization. The main directions of postglacial recolonization were south to north and south to northwest in West and Central Europe, and for the eastern haplotypes also east to west in Central Europe. By contrast, the pollen mediated gene flow and introgression from Q. petraea modified the large-scale structure at the nuclear gene markers with significant west–east direction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Genetics and Molecular Biology)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

9 pages, 1263 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

The Contribution of Roots, Mycorrhizal Hyphae, and Soil Free-Living Microbes to Soil Respiration and Its Temperature Sensitivity in a Larch Forest

by Naoki Makita, Roma Fujimoto and Azusa Tamura

Forests 2021, 12(10), 1410; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12101410 - 15 Oct 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2809

Abstract

Soil respiration plays a critical role in driving soil carbon (C) cycling in terrestrial forest ecosystems. However, evidence to demonstrate the response of roots, mycorrhizal hyphae, and soil free-living microbes of soil respiration and their temperature sensitivity (Q₁₀) remains lacking. [...] Read more.

Soil respiration plays a critical role in driving soil carbon (C) cycling in terrestrial forest ecosystems. However, evidence to demonstrate the response of roots, mycorrhizal hyphae, and soil free-living microbes of soil respiration and their temperature sensitivity (Q₁₀) remains lacking. Here, we used a root exclusion method to assess the contribution and response of root respiration (R_root), mycorrhizal respiration (R_myc), and (soil organic matter) SOM respiration (R_som) to soil temperature in a larch forest. During the growing period, the contributions of R_root, R_myc, and R_som to soil respiration were 42%, 6%, and 52%, respectively. The respiration rates of all components increased exponentially with increasing temperature. Based on these constitutive respiration rates with soil temperature, the Q₁₀ values for R_root, R_myc, and R_som were 3.84, 5.18, and 1.86, respectively. The results showed that the response to temperature change was different among roots, mycorrhizal hyphae, and microbes in the soil, while the temperature sensitivity of autotrophic respiration was higher than that of heterotrophic respiration. Importantly, the R_myc at this site was extremely sensitive to temperature, although its overall emission was small. Mycorrhizal associations were identified as the key drivers of soil respiration and temperature sensitivity. A good understanding of the different soil CO₂ efflux components will provide useful information for determining soil C fluxes and predicting soil C dynamics under changing environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil Carbon and Climate Changes)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 4845 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Chemical Signals in Tree Rings from Northern Patagonia as Indicators of Calbuco Volcano Eruptions since the 16th Century

by Lizette J. Bertin, Duncan A. Christie, Paul R. Sheppard, Ariel A. Muñoz, Antonio Lara and Claudio Alvarez

Forests 2021, 12(10), 1305; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12101305 - 25 Sep 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6244

Abstract

The Calbuco volcano ranks third in the specific risk classification of volcanoes in Chile and has a detailed eruption record since 1853. During 2015, Calbuco had a sub-Plinian eruption with negative impacts in Chile and Argentina, highlighting the need to determine the long-term [...] Read more.

The Calbuco volcano ranks third in the specific risk classification of volcanoes in Chile and has a detailed eruption record since 1853. During 2015, Calbuco had a sub-Plinian eruption with negative impacts in Chile and Argentina, highlighting the need to determine the long-term history of its activity at a high-resolution time scale to obtain a better understanding of its eruptive frequency. We developed a continuous eruptive record of Calbuco for the 1514–2016 period by dendrochemical analysis of Fitzroya cupressoides tree rings at a biennium resolution using inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. After comparing the chemical record of 20 elements contained in tree rings with historical eruptions, one group exhibited positive anomalies during (Pb/Sn) and immediately after (Mo/P/Zn/Cu) eruptions, with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) ≥ 3, and so were classified as chemical tracers of past eruptions (TPE). The tree-ring width chronology also exhibited significant decreases in tree growth associated with eruptions of VEI ≥ 3. According to these records, we identified 11 new eruptive events of Calbuco, extending its eruptive chronology back to the 16th century and determining a mean eruptive frequency of ~23 years. Our results show the potential to use dendrochemical analysis to infer past volcanic eruptions in Northern Patagonia. This information provides a long-term perspective for assessing eruptive history in Northern Patagonia, with implications for territorial planning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dendrochemistry: Tools for Evaluating Variations in Past and Present Forest Environments)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 7106 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Analysis of Olive Grove Destruction by Xylella fastidiosa Bacterium on the Land Surface Temperature in Salento Detected Using Satellite Images

by Teodoro Semeraro, Riccardo Buccolieri, Marzia Vergine, Luigi De Bellis, Andrea Luvisi, Rohinton Emmanuel and Norbert Marwan

Forests 2021, 12(9), 1266; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12091266 - 16 Sep 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3630

Abstract

Agricultural activity replaces natural vegetation with cultivated land and it is a major cause of local and global climate change. Highly specialized agricultural production leads to extensive monoculture farming with a low biodiversity that may cause low landscape resilience. This is the case [...] Read more.

Agricultural activity replaces natural vegetation with cultivated land and it is a major cause of local and global climate change. Highly specialized agricultural production leads to extensive monoculture farming with a low biodiversity that may cause low landscape resilience. This is the case on the Salento peninsula, in the Apulia Region of Italy, where the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium has caused the mass destruction of olive trees, many of them in monumental groves. The historical land cover that characterized the landscape is currently in a transition phase and can strongly affect climate conditions. This study aims to analyze how the destruction of olive groves by X. fastidiosa affects local climate change. Land surface temperature (LST) data detected by Landsat 8 and MODIS satellites are used as a proxies for microclimate mitigation ecosystem services linked to the evolution of the land cover. Moreover, recurrence quantification analysis was applied to the study of LST evolution. The results showed that olive groves are the least capable forest type for mitigating LST, but they are more capable than farmland, above all in the summer when the air temperature is the highest. The differences in the average LST from 2014 to 2020 between olive groves and farmland ranges from 2.8 °C to 0.8 °C. Furthermore, the recurrence analysis showed that X. fastidiosa was rapidly changing the LST of the olive groves into values to those of farmland, with a difference in LST reduced to less than a third from the time when the bacterium was identified in Apulia six years ago. The change generated by X. fastidiosa started in 2009 and showed more or less constant behavior after 2010 without substantial variation; therefore, this can serve as the index of a static situation, which can indicate non-recovery or non-transformation of the dying olive groves. Failure to restore the initial environmental conditions can be connected with the slow progress of the uprooting and replacing infected plants, probably due to attempts to save the historic aspect of the landscape by looking for solutions that avoid uprooting the diseased plants. This suggests that social-ecological systems have to be more responsive to phytosanitary epidemics and adapt to ecological processes, which cannot always be easily controlled, to produce more resilient landscapes and avoid unwanted transformations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis of Forest Landscape and Land-Use Based on Remote Sensing Technology)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 3664 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Productivity of Eucalyptus pellita in Sumatra: Acacia mangium Legacy, Response to Phosphorus, and Site Variables for Guiding Management

by Eko B. Hardiyanto, Maydra A. Inail and E. K. Sadanandan Nambiar

Forests 2021, 12(9), 1186; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12091186 - 1 Sep 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2873

Abstract

We report on experimental studies conducted in South Sumatra with interrelated objectives to (i) examine the trends in production covering 30 years, including three rotations of Acacia mangium followed by Eucalyptus pellita which replaced A. mangium for managing the widespread threat of diseases; [...] Read more.

We report on experimental studies conducted in South Sumatra with interrelated objectives to (i) examine the trends in production covering 30 years, including three rotations of Acacia mangium followed by Eucalyptus pellita which replaced A. mangium for managing the widespread threat of diseases; (ii) understand the effects of inter-rotation slash and litter management applied to acacia (legacy effects) on E. pellita growth; (iii) assess the long term changes in the top soil layer arising from above; (iv) evaluate, through a network of experiments, across the landscape, the nature and extent of growth responses to additional phosphorus. This data was also used to explore some of the critical site and stand variables which determine the variations in productivity and responses to management. The current growth rates of E. pellita are lower than those achieved in A. mangium. The management-legacy effects by conserving site resources provides a sustainable base for the growth of E. pellita, but for further increase in productivity, additional management actions are necessary. Changes in soil pH, carbon, N and extractable P were relatively small after four rotations. Supply of P at planting gave wood volume gains at harvest, ranging from 16 to 66% across sites. The plinthite layer in the soil profile was related to productivity, with higher growth rates of E. pellita occurring when the plinthite was at deeper layers. There is much scope for increasing productivity per unit area in this landscape, and available knowledge can be synthesized into a package of best practices for application. Management should aim to improve the quality of inter-rotation management to ensure more than 90% survival, and fast growth rates during the first 2 years. We provide a framework for further research and for refining management to produce the much needed additional domestic wood supply for the local industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Production Sustainability of Tropical Forest Plantations)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 1852 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Effects of Spatial Boreal Forest Harvesting Practices on Efficiency through a Benchmarking Approach in Eastern Canada

by Daniela Mazo and Osvaldo Valeria

Forests 2021, 12(8), 1108; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12081108 - 19 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2505

Abstract

In eastern Canada, harvesting practices and spatial organization of harvested sites are modulated according to ecosystem forest management objectives. We determined how spatial organization affects efficiency by evaluating wood procurement costs. A comparative analysis of efficiency was presented using a non-parametric technique, i.e., [...] Read more.

In eastern Canada, harvesting practices and spatial organization of harvested sites are modulated according to ecosystem forest management objectives. We determined how spatial organization affects efficiency by evaluating wood procurement costs. A comparative analysis of efficiency was presented using a non-parametric technique, i.e., data envelopment analysis (DEA), which allows multiple variable analyses of different factors. A database of 50 harvested sites during the period 2015–2018, located along a north-south latitudinal gradient between 46° to 50°, was constructed with variables describing spatial organization (roads and dispersion of patches) and operational aspects (wood procurement costs). The evaluated financial efficiencies show high values greater than 70%. The causes of inefficiency were dispersion of the patches, distance to the mill, and the number of kilometers of built roads. When efficiency values were arranged by latitudinal location, northern sites exhibited a lower value of overall and scale efficiency due to the high values in the wood harvested, and developed road density of the zone. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Operations Research and Optimisation Techniques in Forest Management and Operations)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

10 pages, 2583 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Enhancement of Wood Biological Resistance and Fire Retardant Properties after Laccase Assisted Enzymatic Grafting

by Cristian Bolaño, Sabrina Palanti, Luigi Benni and Diego Moldes

Forests 2021, 12(8), 1102; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12081102 - 18 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2403

Abstract

Several treatments of wood, based on laccase assisted grafting, were evaluated in this paper. Firstly, the efficacy of lignosulfonate and kraft lignin from Eucalyptus spp. as a wood preservative was assessed. Both ligno products were anchored to wood surfaces via laccase treatment in [...] Read more.

Several treatments of wood, based on laccase assisted grafting, were evaluated in this paper. Firstly, the efficacy of lignosulfonate and kraft lignin from Eucalyptus spp. as a wood preservative was assessed. Both ligno products were anchored to wood surfaces via laccase treatment in order to avoid leaching. Moreover, some of these wood preservative treatments were completed with the addition of silver nanoparticles. For comparison, a commercial product was also analyzed in terms of its fungal decay resistance during surface application, in accordance to use class 3, CEN EN 335. Secondly, the anchoring of a flame retardant based on tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA) was attempted, to limit the dispersion of this toxic substance from treated wood. In both cases, kraft lignin and lignosulfonate showed an improvement in wood durability, even after leaching. However, the addition of silver nanoparticles did not improve the efficacy. On the other hand, the efficacy of TBBPA as a flame retardant was not improved by grafting it with laccase treatment or by adding O₂, a co-factor of laccase. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies in Improving the Design Life and Durability of Timber)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 8049 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Spatial Patterns of ‘Ōhi‘a Mortality Associated with Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death and Ungulate Presence

by Ryan L. Perroy, Timo Sullivan, David Benitez, R. Flint Hughes, Lisa M. Keith, Eva Brill, Karma Kissinger and Daniel Duda

Forests 2021, 12(8), 1035; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12081035 - 4 Aug 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 6071

Abstract

Effective forest management, particularly during forest disturbance events, requires timely and accurate monitoring information at appropriate spatial scales. In Hawai‘i, widespread ‘ōhi‘a (Metrosideros polymorpha Gaud.) mortality associated with introduced fungal pathogens affects forest stands across the archipelago, further impacting native ecosystems already under [...] Read more.

Effective forest management, particularly during forest disturbance events, requires timely and accurate monitoring information at appropriate spatial scales. In Hawai‘i, widespread ‘ōhi‘a (Metrosideros polymorpha Gaud.) mortality associated with introduced fungal pathogens affects forest stands across the archipelago, further impacting native ecosystems already under threat from invasive species. Here, we share results from an integrated monitoring program based on high resolution (<5 cm) aerial imagery, field sampling, and confirmatory laboratory testing to detect and monitor ‘ōhi‘a mortality at the individual tree level across four representative sites on Hawai‘i island. We developed a custom imaging system for helicopter operations to map thousands of hectares (ha) per flight, a more useful scale than the ten to hundreds of ha typically covered using small, unoccupied aerial systems. Based on collected imagery, we developed a rating system of canopy condition to identify ‘ōhi‘a trees suspected of infection by the fungal pathogens responsible for rapid ‘ōhi‘a death (ROD); we used this system to quickly generate and share suspect tree candidate locations with partner agencies to rapidly detect new mortality outbreaks and prioritize field sampling efforts. In three of the four sites, 98% of laboratory samples collected from suspect trees assigned a high confidence rating (n = 50) and 89% of those assigned a medium confidence rating (n = 117) returned positive detections for the fungal pathogens responsible for ROD. The fourth site, which has a history of unexplained ‘ōhi‘a mortality, exhibited much lower positive detection rates: only 6% of sampled trees assigned a high confidence rating (n = 16) and 0% of the sampled suspect trees assigned a medium confidence rating (n = 20) were found to be positive for the pathogen. The disparity in positive detection rates across study sites illustrates challenges to definitively determine the cause of ‘ōhi‘a mortality from aerial imagery alone. Spatial patterns of ROD-associated ‘ōhi‘a mortality were strongly affected by ungulate presence or absence as measured by the density of suspected ROD trees in fenced (i.e., ungulate-free) and unfenced (i.e., ungulate present) areas. Suspected ROD tree densities in neighboring areas containing ungulates were two to 69 times greater than those found in ungulate-free zones. In one study site, a fence line breach occurred during the study period, and feral ungulates entered an area that was previously ungulate-free. Following the breach, suspect ROD tree densities in this area rose from 0.02 to 2.78 suspect trees/ha, highlighting the need for ungulate control to protect ‘ōhi‘a stands from Ceratocystis-induced mortality and repeat monitoring to detect forest changes and resource threats. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment of the Health Status and Degradation Process of Forest Ecosystems)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 16167 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Assessing Forest Structural and Topographic Effects on Habitat Productivity for the Endangered Apennine Brown Bear

by Angela Anna Rositi, Giovanna Jona Lasinio and Paolo Ciucci

Forests 2021, 12(7), 916; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070916 - 14 Jul 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2893

Abstract

Any forest management potentially affects the availability and quality of resources for forest-dwelling wildlife populations, including endangered species. One such species is the Apennine brown bear, a small and unique population living in the central Apennines of Italy. The conservation of this relict [...] Read more.

Any forest management potentially affects the availability and quality of resources for forest-dwelling wildlife populations, including endangered species. One such species is the Apennine brown bear, a small and unique population living in the central Apennines of Italy. The conservation of this relict bear population is hampered by the lack of knowledge of the fine-scale relationships between productivity of key foods and forest structure, as this prevents the design and implementation of effective forest management plans. To address this issue, we sampled the main structural stand attributes within the bear’s range and used multivariate generalized linear mixed models in a Bayesian framework to relate forest structural attributes to proxies of productivity of key bear foods. We found that hard mast was positively associated with both forest typology and high forest system, but negatively related to both the time elapsed since the last forest utilization and the amount of deadwood. The availability of soft-mast producing species was positively related to past forestry practices but negatively associated with steep slopes historically managed with high tree densities and a low silvicultural disturbance. Our findings also suggest that herb cover was negatively affected by terrain steepness and basal area, while herb productivity was positively affected by northern and southern exposure. Additionally, richness of forest ants was associated with forests characterized by low volume and high density. Our findings confirm that the productivity of natural bear foods is strongly affected by forest structural and topographical characteristics and are relevant as preliminary information for forest management practices to support the long-term conservation of Apennine bears. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation of Threatened Forest-Dwelling Species and Intact Forest Ecosystems)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 15230 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

From Acid Rain to Low Precipitation: The Role Reversal of Norway Spruce, Silver Fir, and European Beech in a Selection Mountain Forest and Its Implications for Forest Management

by Enno Uhl, Torben Hilmers and Hans Pretzsch

Forests 2021, 12(7), 894; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070894 - 8 Jul 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3002

Abstract

Research Highlights: We make use of long term observation data from a selection forest in Bavaria. Despite the changing environmental conditions, stand level productivity remains constant over time. Maintaining species and structural diversity by forest management can contribute to resilient forest ecosystems. Background [...] Read more.

Research Highlights: We make use of long term observation data from a selection forest in Bavaria. Despite the changing environmental conditions, stand level productivity remains constant over time. Maintaining species and structural diversity by forest management can contribute to resilient forest ecosystems. Background and Objectives: Forests in mountains are similarly affected by environmental changes like those in northern latitudes as species are closer to the edge of their ecological niche. There are recent studies that report species-specific responses to climate change in unmanaged, mono-layered mountain mixed forests. We analyze how environmental changes modify the growth of multi-layered, managed selection forest, which are often targeted for stabilization and risk prevention. We pose the central hypothesis that different species-specific susceptibility to disturbances and structural diversity contribute to ecosystem stability. Materials and Methods: Based on the long-term experiment Freyung 129 in the montane zone of the Bavarian Forest, Germany we analyze long term chronologies of periodic single tree and stand growth of Norway Spruce, silver fir, and European beech in dependence of environmental factors and forest management. Results: First, we show that despite environmental changes in terms of air pollution and drought stress, productivity at stand level persists constantly because of structural diversity and species traits. Second, we show that the species-specific contribution to total stand growth and growth distribution among stem diameter classes may change over time; the species interactions balance total growth. Third, we reveal a role reversal of tree species growth pattern. N. spruce was superior in growth in the first half and was replaced by s. fir in the second half of the survey period. Fourth, we identify the interplay of different stress factors on species-specific growth as the main cause for species-specific asynchronous but growth stabilizing reaction pattern. Finally, we show that density regulation was limited in its impacts to mitigate prevailing stress factors. Conclusions: We discuss the reasons for the observed stability of productivity. We interpret results, where especially the diversity of species and structure typical for selection forests result in stable productivity and wider plateau of the density-productivity relationship, and the suitability of the selection forest concept for risk prevention and stress resilience. We conclude that species composition and stand structure of selection forestry in mixed mountain contribute to climate smart forestry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) in Mountain Regions)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 4485 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

How to Evaluate Downed Fine Woody Debris Including Logging Residues?

by Nathalie Korboulewsky, Isabelle Bilger and Abdelwahab Bessaad

Forests 2021, 12(7), 881; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070881 - 6 Jul 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3294

Abstract

Volume or biomass estimates of downed woody debris are crucial for numerous applications such as forest carbon stock assessment, biodiversity assessments, and more recently for environmental evaluations of biofuel harvesting practices. Both fixed-area sampling (FAS) and line-intersect sampling (LIS) are used in forest [...] Read more.

Volume or biomass estimates of downed woody debris are crucial for numerous applications such as forest carbon stock assessment, biodiversity assessments, and more recently for environmental evaluations of biofuel harvesting practices. Both fixed-area sampling (FAS) and line-intersect sampling (LIS) are used in forest inventories and ecological studies because they are unbiased and accurate methods. Nevertheless, most studies and inventories take into account only coarse woody debris (CWD, >10 cm in diameter), although fine woody debris (FWD) can account for a large part of the total downed biomass. We compared the LIS and FAS methods for FWD volume or biomass estimates and evaluated the influence of diameter and wood density measurements, plot number and size. We used a Test Zone (a defined surface area where a complete inventory was carried out, in addition to FAS and LIS), a Pilot Stand (a forest stand where both LIS and FAS methods were applied) and results from 10 field inventories in deciduous temperate forest stands with various conditions and amounts of FWD. Both methods, FAS and LIS, provided accurate (in trueness and precision) volume estimates, but LIS proved to be the more efficient. Diameter measurement was the main source of error: using the mean diameter, even by diameter class, led to an error for volume estimates of around 35%. On the contrary, wood density measurements can be simplified without much influence on the accuracy of biomass estimates (use of mean density by diameter class). We show that the length and number of transects greatly influences the estimates, and that it is better to apply more, shorter transects than fewer, longer ones. Finally, we determined the optimal methodology and propose a simplification of some measurements to obtain the best time-precision trade-off for FWD inventories at the stand level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Biofuel Harvest on Nutrient and Carbon Cycles and Soil Content)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 2141 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

A Test of the Relationship between Sap Flow and Evapotranspiration, Normalized via Leaf Area, under Non-Limiting Soil Moisture

by Michael A. Forster

Forests 2021, 12(7), 875; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070875 - 2 Jul 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2489

Abstract

Sap flow is the movement of fluid within plants, whereas reference evapotranspiration (ET_o) occurs external to plants as the transfer of water vapor from a hypothetical grass crop. Yet, on daily time scales, and when soil moisture is non-limiting, sap [...] Read more.

Sap flow is the movement of fluid within plants, whereas reference evapotranspiration (ET_o) occurs external to plants as the transfer of water vapor from a hypothetical grass crop. Yet, on daily time scales, and when soil moisture is non-limiting, sap flow has a positive linear relationship with ET_o. Furthermore, the E_2.88 model hypothesises that sap flow (Q) is equal to ET_o when parameters are normalized by leaf area (A_L) via the following relationship: Q/A_L = ET_o/2.88. The value of 2.88 is the supposed leaf area index of the hypothetical grass in the ET_o model. Therefore, the E_2.88 model potentially provides a null or expected value of sap flow based on independent ET_o parameters and leaf area. A test of the E_2.88 model was conducted via three sap flow methods (dual method approach [DMA], heat ratio [HRM], and Tmax method) on the measurement of three woody species: Pyrus communis L. (var. Beurre Bosc Pear), Syzygium floribundum F. Muell. (Weeping Lilly Pilly), and Syzygium paniculatum Gaertn. (Lilly Pilly). A data compilation of the literature expanded the sample size to include additional species. The measured trees and data compilation found a strong, positive correlation between sap flow and ET_o normalized by leaf area. However, the interpretation of the results was dependent on the sap flow method. The DMA had an average accuracy of 1.6%, whereas the HRM and Tmax significantly underestimated and overestimated sap flow, respectively. This study suggested that sap flow can be reliably estimated from accurate leaf area and ET_o measurements and when other variables, such as soil moisture, are non-limiting. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Forest Ecophysiology and Biology)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Editor’s Choice Articles

Article

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI