Framing community forestry challenges with a broader lens: case studies from the Brazilian Amazon

Community forestry initiatives have been shown to reduce rural poverty while promoting the conservation and sustainable use of forests. However, a number of challenges face communities wanting to initiate or maintain formal, community-based forest management. Through a grounded theory approach, this paper uses three case studies of community forest management models in the eastern Amazon to create a framework showing challenges faced by communities at different phases of formal management. The framework shows that, in the development phase, four root problems (land ownership, knowledge acquisition, community organization, and adequate capital) need to be addressed to obtain legal management permission. With this permission in hand, further challenges to operationalization are presented (deterring illegal loggers, maintaining infrastructure, obtaining necessary managerial skills and accessing markets). The interrelatedness of these challenges emphasizes that all challenges need to be addressed in a holistic manner for communities to maintain a profitable and self-sufficient operation. This contradicts current development approaches that only address part of this framework. The framework proposed here can be used as a starting point for community forestry initiatives in other regions.     

Tropical montane cloud forests: current threats and opportunities for their conservation and sustainable management in Mexico

Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) are among the most threatened ecosystems globally in spite of their high strategic value for sustainable development due to the key role played by these forests in hydrological cycle maintenance and as reservoirs of endemic biodiversity. Resources for effective conservation and management programs are rarely sufficient, and criteria must be applied to prioritize TMCF for conservation action. This paper reports a priority analysis of the 13 main regions of TMCF distribution in Mexico, based on four criteria: (1) forest quality, (2) threats to forest permanence, (3) threats to forest integrity, and (4) opportunities for conservation. Due to the diverse socio-environmental conditions of the local communities living in Mexican TMCF regions, their associated social characteristics were also evaluated to provide a background for the planning of conservation actions. A set of indicators was defined for the measurement of each criterion. To assign priority values for subregions within each main region, an international team of 40 participants evaluated all the indicators using multicriteria decision-making analysis. This procedure enabled the identification of 15 subregions of critical priority, 17 of high priority, and 10 of medium priority; three more were not analysed due to lack of information. The evaluation revealed a number of subjects that had hitherto been undetected and that may prove useful for prioritization efforts in other regions where TMCF is similarly documented and faces equally severe threats. Based on this analysis, key recommendations are outlined to advance conservation objectives in those TMCF areas that are subjected to high pressure on forest resources.     

基于J2EE的城市森林病虫害专家系统研究

基于J2EE的城市森林病虫害专家系统将自然语言理解技术、数据库技术、网络技术以及领域专家的病虫害诊断经验和病虫害的预测与防治技术成果有机地结合起来,可以对城市森林常见病虫害进行预测、诊断和防治。本文讨论了城市森林病虫害的现状并介绍了基于J2EE的城市森林病虫害专家系统的主要应用技术、设计思路、系统功能和结构设计。     

浅析林区锅炉检验工作遇到的问题及解决办法

依据长期的工作实践,指出林区锅炉检验工作中经常遇到的问题,并针对性地给出了相应的解决办法。     

云南松林燃烧过程中飞火的研究

飞火是高能量火中最复杂、最危险的现象,是在燃烧过程中由火焰热对流带出的未燃尽的木屑、炭块等可燃物,散布在火区外形成新的火点现象。飞火被看成除了传导、对流和辐射之外的第四种热量传递的方式。飞火的出现增加了新的火源,使火场的扩散由连续变成跳跃,大大加快了火灾的蔓延,有时还改变蔓延的方向。以＂3.29＂昆明安宁市森林火灾为研究对象,调查火烧迹地并取样,分析可燃物特征,并对飞火发生的距离进行模拟计算。结果表明,由于云南松林立地干燥,林内可燃物多,连续性好,地形复杂,小气候明显,易发生飞火;引发飞火的可燃物主要是云南松的球果;经验公式和模型计算的飞火距离与实际距离比较接近。     

Self-organization of tropical seasonal rain forest in southwest China

How to measure development of ecosystems is both a theoretical and practical question in ecology. Species richness and biomass accumulation are familiar figures of merit, but they cannot be instant watched. Self-organization is a tacit character. However, methods to measure the degree of self-organization of ecosystem are problematic. To this end Lin et al. (2009) have devised indicators of energy capture and dissipation so that self-organization defined via maximum energy dissipation can be quantified easily. Here the method is used to analyze long-term data (2004-2006) of a tropical seasonal rain forest included in the ChinaFLUX program. Three years of average self-organization values were clearly separated by seasonal variation. Reflection and long wave radiation are the main two pathways of energy loss. For tropical seasonal rain forest studied, long wave radiation contributed most to energy loss, and was negatively correlated with energy capture ability (Rn/DR). The nocturnal difference between canopy and air temperatures had a strong negative correlation with the long wave radiation loss ratio. However, the long wave radiation loss ratio was slightly lower than the reflection loss ratio in rainy season, when values were very low. Precipitation and wind had significant impact on energy dissipation ability in the hot dry season, but the correlation coefficients between precipitation and wind with thermal response numbers (TRNs) were very low. The results indicated that the self-organization estimation system based on “maximum energy dissipation theory” is applicable for tropical forest.     

Validation of a multispecies forest dynamics model using 50-year growth from Eucalyptus forests in eastern Australia

One of the key problems confronting ecological forecasting is the validation of computer models. Here we report successful validation of a forest dynamics model Ecosystem Dynamics Simulator (EDS), adapted from the JABOWA-II forest succession model. This model and many variants derived from it have successfully simulated growth dynamics of uneven-aged mixed forests under changing environment with a moderate amount of input data. But rarely are adequate time-series data available for quantitative model validation. This study tested the performance of EDS in projecting the tree density, tree diameter at breast height (dbh), tree height, basal area and aboveground biomass of uneven-aged, mixed species sclerophyll forests in St. Mary state forests of eastern Australia. The test data were collected between 1951 and 2005. Every tree was uniquely numbered, tagged and measured in consecutive re-measurements. Projected growth attributes were compared with those observed in an independent validation dataset. The model produced satisfactory projections of tree density (91.7%), dbh (92.3%), total tree height (82.8%), basal area (89.3%) and aboveground biomass (87.6%) compared to the observed attributes. These results suggest that the EDS model can provide reasonable capability in projecting growth dynamics of uneven-aged, mixed species sclerophyll forests.     

Climate, canopy conductance and leaf area development controls on evapotranspiration in a boreal coniferous forest over a 10-year period: A united model assessment

The aim of this work was to test a process-based model (hydrological model combined with forest growth model) on the simulation of seasonal variability of evapotranspiration (ET) in an even-aged boreal Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand over a 10 year period (1999-2008). The water flux components (including canopy transpiration (E_t) and evaporation from canopy (E_c) and ground surface (E_g) were estimated in order to output the long-term stand water budget considering the interaction between climate variations and stand development. For validation, half-hourly data on eddy water vapor fluxes were measured during the 10 growing seasons (May-September). The model predicted well the seasonal course of ET compared to the measured values, but slightly underestimated the water fluxes both in non-drought and drought (2000, 2003 and 2006) years. The prediction accuracy was, on average, higher in drought years. The simulated ET over the 10 years explained, on average, 58% of the daily variations and 84% of the monthly amount of ET. Water amount from E_t contributed most to the ET, with the fractions of E_t, E_c and E_g being, on average, 67, 11 and 23% over the 10-year period, respectively. Regardless of weather conditions, the daily ET was strongly dependent on air temperature (T_a) and vapor pressure deficit (D_a), but less dependent on soil moisture (W_s). On cloudy and rainy days, there was a non-linear relationship between the ET and solar radiation (R_o). During drought years, the model predicted lower daily canopy stomatal conductance (g_cs) compared with non-drought years, leading to a lower level of E_t. The modeled daily g_cs responded well to D_a and W_s. In the model simulation, the annual LAI increased by 35% between 1999 and 2008. The ratio of E_c: ET correlated strongly with LAI. Furthermore, LAI reduced the proportion of E_g as a result of the increased share of E_c and E_t and radiation interception. Although the increase of LAI affected positively E_t, the contribution of E_t in ET was not significantly correlated with LAI. To conclude, although the model predicted reasonably well the seasonal course of ET, the calculation time steps of different processes in the model should be homogenized in the future to increase the prediction accuracy.     

Modelling spatial and temporal variability in a zero-inflated variable: The case of stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) cone production

Modelling masting habit, i.e. the spatial synchronized annual variability in fruit production, is a huge task due to two main circumstances: (1) the identification of main ecological factors controlling fruiting processes, and (2) the common departure of fruit data series from the main basic statistical assumptions of normality and independence. Stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) is one of the main species in the Mediterranean basin that is able to grow under hard limiting conditions (sandy soils and extreme continental climate), and typically defined as a masting species. Considering the high economical value associated with edible nut production, the masting habit of stone pine has been a main concern for the forest management of the species. In the present work we have used annual fruit data series from 740 stone pine trees measured during a 13 years period (1996-2008) in order: (a) to verify our main hypothesis pointing out to the existence of a weather control of the fruiting process in limiting environments, rather than resource depletion or endogenous inherent cycles; (b) to identify those site factors, stand attributes and climate events affecting specific traits involved in fruiting process; and (c) to construct a model for predicting spatial and temporal patterns of variability in stone pine cone production at different spatial extents as region, stand and tree. Given the nature of the data, the model has been formulated as zero-inflated log-normal, incorporating random components to carry out with the observed lack of independence. This model attains efficiencies close to 70-80% in predicting temporal and spatial variability at regional scale. Though efficiencies are reduced according to the spatial extent of the model, it leads to unbiased estimates and efficiencies over 35-50% when predicting annual yields at tree or stand scale, respectively. In this sense, the proposed model is a main tool for facilitating decision making in some management aspects such as the quantification of total amount of cones annually supplied to nut industry, design of cone harvest programs or the optimal application of seedling felling.     

长白山阔叶红松林不同演替阶段地表甲虫组成和多样性(英文)

鞘翅目昆虫多样性的变化是森林演替过程的综合反映.于2007年6~8月采用陷阱诱捕法对长白山阔叶红松林带不同演替阶段地表甲虫物种组成和数量进行了调查,并分析了该地区不同演替阶段地表甲虫多样性的变化趋势及主要生境因子对地表甲虫群落的影响.结果显示,长白山阔叶红松林内共诱捕地表甲虫23种,共511头,隶属于10个科.其中个体数最多的为埋葬甲科,物种数最多的为步甲科,优势类群为步甲科和埋葬甲科.不同演替阶段中,次生白桦林地表甲虫物种数和个体数高于原始阔叶红松林和次生针阔混交林,3个生境内地表甲虫多样性无显著差别.地表甲虫高峰期为7月份.不同演替阶段的样地中物种统计数量都没有达到渐进线,次生白桦林样地中实际物种只占估计值的67%,其它2个生境实际物种数都在物种估计值的95%区间范围内,略低于平均值.3个生境的地表甲虫种-多度曲线无显著差异,符合对数分布.胸高断面积和土壤湿度对地表甲虫的分布有显著影响,它们可以解释99.2%的物种与环境之间的关系.