Control of landscape diversity by catastrophic disturbance: A theory and a case study of fire in a Canadian boreal forest

A landscape may be envisioned as a space partitioned by a number of ecosystem types, and so it conforms to a neo-Clementsian model of succession. A corollary is that intermediate disturbance rates should maximize landscape (beta) diversity. This was confirmed using eight boreal forest landscapes in northwestern Ontario, Canada, where intermediate rates of forest fire were associated with highest landscape diversity. Because current measures of evenness subsume a richness measure, it is not, as yet, feasible to assess the relative contributions of evenness and richness to biological diversity, and thus it was not possible to determine the roles of numbers of habitat types and relative amounts of habitat types in the above situation. Both theory and observations suggest that forest fire control in fire-prone landscapes increases landscape diversity, but that it is lowered by fire control in landscapes of intermediate to low diversity.     

SEDIMENT AND WATER YIELDS FROM MANAGED FORESTS ON FLAT COASTAL PLAIN SITES1

ABSTRACT: Sediment losses and water yields were measured for five years on nine forested watersheds in the Gulf Coastal Plain of Arkansas. After one year of pretreatment measurements, three watersheds were clearcut and mechanically site prepared, three were selectively harvested, and three control watersheds were left undisturbed. Sediment losses and water yields were similar for the selectively harvested and cohtrol watersheds during all four post-treatment years. However, clearcutting with mechanical site preparation significantly increased sediment losses and water yields above levels measured on other watersheds. Increased sediment losses persisted for two years, while water yields increased for one year. Although sediment losses from clear-cutting were greater than for other treatments, actual losses averaged only 264 kg/ha and 63 kg/ha for the first and second post-treatment years, respectively. The relatively low sediment losses are attributed to the flat terrain and the relatively low flow discharge rates that typify these sites.     

FOREST HARVESTING AND WATER: THE LAKE STATES EXPERIENCE1

ABSTRACT: The impact of forests on water has_- been a subject of argument for more than a century. It still is; and many studies conform that there is no single right answer in the debate. In the Lake States, clearcutting natural peatlands will not change annual stream-flow nor will it seriously impact water quality if logging is done on frozen soils. However, clearcutting will cause water tables to fluctuate more, ranging from 9 cm higher to 19 cm lower than in peatlands with mature forests. Clearcutting upland hardwoods or conifers will increase annual strearnflow by 9 to 20 cm (a 30- to 80-percent increase). Streamfiow returns to preharvest levels in 12 to 15 years. Annual peak flows are at least doubled and snowmelt flood-peak increases may persist for 15 years. Water quality is not widely impacted, but operating logging equipment in stream channels will cause channel clogging by filamentous algae and loss of fish habitat. Permanent changes from forest to agricultural and urban land use on two-thirds or more of a watershed will significantly increase the size of flood peaks in the 2- to 30-year return interval storm or snowmelt.     

RIVER RECREATION EXPERIENCE OPPORTUNITIES IN TWO RECREATION OPPORTUNITY SPECTRUM (ROS) CLASSES1

The Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) system is used by the USDA Forest Service and USDI Bureau of Land Management for inventorying, classifying, and managing wildlands for recreation. Different ROS classes from the Colorado and Arkansas Rivers in Colorado were compared, using visitor survey data collected in 1979 and 1981, to see if the different classes offered different recreational experience opportunities. No difference between classes was found. Six possible reasons for not finding a difference are discussed. The usefulness of ROS at the broader levels of planning and the needs at more detailed levels of planning are noted.     

A DECISION MODEL TO PREDICT SEDIMENT YIELD FROM FOREST PRACTICES1

ABSTRACT: In order to choose among “best management practices,” forest managers need to predict sediment yield to perennial streams following various forest land operations. The “universal soil loss equation” (USLE) is not directly applicable to forest operations because of the heterogenous soil surface conditions left by harvesting, site preparation, and planting. A sediment hazard index is proposed, to be based on the amount of exposed mineral soil and its proximity to streams. The model offered includes rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility and average land slope, together with the index W. A paired watershed experiment in the central Georgia Piedmont was used to estimate parameters in the model. The experimental basin (80 acres) was clearcut, drum roller chopped twice, and planted by machine. The standard error of estimate of sediment yield was computed to be about 50/lbs/ac per sampling period (four months). Use of William's erogivity index (storm flow times peak flow) reduced the standard error to 33/lbs/ac.     

秦皇岛海滨森林公园森林景观改造探讨

秦皇岛海滨森林公园是秦皇岛沿海防护林的重要组成部分，也是秦皇岛重要的城市森林公园之一。针对秦皇岛海滨森林公园阔叶树多、针叶树少、树种单一、林龄老化、景观单调的现状．探讨了森林公园景观改造的原则、措施和技术，并描绘了景观改造后的效果。     

Direct and Indirect Effects of Soil Pollution by Lignite Mining

Lignite mining and processing has caused a pronounced impact both directly and indirectly on soils and ecosystems across large areas of the former GDR. We studied soils of pine forest ecosystems at sites affected by severe alkaline dust and sulphur deposition, stemming from lignite fired power plant emission, and at dumped sites from lignite mining. In this paper we summarize our main results and evaluate the long-term impact of lignite mining and combustion on the environment. The pine ecosystems on naturally developed soils show a clear effect of deposition history along a former deposition gradient with distinct changes in chemical properties of organic surface layers and mineral soil as well as in element turnover and cycling rates. Afforested sites on mining dumps are directly affected by the composition of the dumped substrates. Over a large area (800 km²) these substrates are dominated by Tertiary sediments with varying amounts of lignitic particles and pyrite that result in phytotoxic site conditions (pH < 3, high salt and metal contents). High amelioration doses of liming material (up to 200 t ha⁻¹) were applied for restoration purposes. We studied the development of these sites over a period of 60 years using a false-time series approach. Beside the extreme soil conditions, element budgets of these sites are characterized by very high element release rates over decades caused by pyrite oxidation and primary mineral weathering.     

森林火险天气等级预测及火情监测应用

通过对1989-2003年500hPa高空天气形势的分析，给出了冬、春季森林火险戒严期的4种主要天气模型。根据林火气象条件的统计分析，找出了与森林火险天气密切相关的主要气象及物候因素，并对其进行了火险天气指数的等级划分。应用vb6．0软件开发建立了运行稳定、精度较高的未来24～48h森林火险预测平台，采用气象卫星遥感技术对森林火情进行准确定位的实时监测，提出了森林防火的一些安全措施，为森林火险等级预测和林火及时扑救抢险提供积极的气象保障条件。     

Beyond Experimentation: Emerging Issues in the Institutionalization of Joint Forest Management in India

/ During the last decade, a major initiative for community involvement in the management of state forest lands was started in India in the form of Joint Forest Management (JFM) programs. Despite the progress and positive impacts, the JFM program is still in the experimental phase. Latent conflicts related to caste, class, and gender issues are threatening JFM institutions at the village level. The Forest Department is also facing a number of internal conflicts as it tries to adjust to its new role under JFM. Some thoughtful and creative attempts have been made to resolve these conflicts. However, a much more concerted effort is required along with creation of suitable mechanisms at local, state, and national levels to discuss and resolve present and future conflicts.     

Test of a Model to Assess the Condition of Lodgepole Pine Stands

/ A predictive model for assessing stand condition as a function of suitability for achieving specified management objectives was originally developed using a data set for only 28 stands. In this study, we evaluate the model using an operational-sized data set composed of currently collected stand inventory data for 238 stands in the Snowy Range of the Medicine Bow National Forest in southern Wyoming. We compared its predictions of old growth suitability to results of a separate special old growth survey. Stands were characterized as profiles of variables derived from stand inventory data, and plotted as points in two-dimensional space where similarity between stands was reflected by the distance between their points. Results suggest the model is useful for classifying stand condition using relatively large sets of data currently collected during routine stand inventories.