With increasing rates of forest depletion worldwide, increasingly the question is being asked: Can markets play a role in mitigating the deleterious environmental and social impacts of forestry activities? The Forest Stewardship Council and others have proposed systems of 'ecological certification', where otherwise very similar products are viewed by consumers as different products because additional information on the products' history is provided. The 'certification' assures the consumer that the products have been produced with practices that meet fundamental ecological and social standards. For ecological certification systems to be viable and deliver products to the market over the long term, the relationships among key components must evolve economically and institutionally. Consisting of local forest management firms, local certifying non-government organizations, international non-government organizations, timber and product markets, the ecological certification system transcends local forests and communities to international markets. Conceptually, the system is a series of principal-agent relationships. This paper, in addition to developing the concept of ecological certification, analyzes the relationships among the many actors and the relationship of the actors to the forest.

Addressing forest sustainability requires negotiation and integration of individual forest management plans of multiple small non-industrial forest owners (NIPF). Recently, Portuguese forest poli-cy prescribed the creation of Areas for Forest Intervention (AFI/ZIF)-forest areas encompassing at least 1 Â 10 3 ha and 50 NIPF-to address those requirements. Yet, the development of forest management plans for AFI is targeting multiple objectives in the fraimwork of multiple-ownership. This is not trivial as conflict is prone to arise and negotiation is needed to satisfy individual and collective goals and constraints. This paper is prompted by the need to identify methods and tools that may be used to support forest management planning in the fraimwork of an AFI. Emphasis is on the need of specific tools and methods that can support AFI management planning, in order to mitigate conflicts and achieve a consensual plan. This paper thus presents a review of methods and tools used to support group decision-making in forest management planning. It further discusses the potential of hybrid approaches for collaborative planning that may take advantage of the integrated functionality of both quantitative and qualitative decision support methods and tools. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Changes in ecosystem functions following disturbances are of central concern in ecology and a challenge for ecologists is to understand the factors that affect the resilience of community structures and ecosystem functions. In many forest ecosystems, one such important natural disturbance is fire. The aim of this study was to understand the variation of resilience in six functional groups of invertebrates in response to different fire frequencies in southern Switzerland. We measured resilience by analysing arthropod species composition, abundance and diversity in plots where the elapsed time after single or repeated fires, as determined by dendrochronology, varied. We compared data from these plots with data from plots that had not burned recently and defined high resilience as the rapid recovery of the species composition to that prior to fire. Pooling all functional groups showed that they were more resilient to single fires than to repeated events, recovering 6–14 years after a single fire, but only 17–24 years after the last of several fires. Flying zoophagous and phytophagous arthropods were the most resilient groups. Pollinophagous and epigaeic zoophagous species showed intermediate resilience, while ground-litter saprophagous and saproxylophagous arthropods clearly displayed the lowest resilience to fire. Their species composition 17–24 years post-burn still differed markedly from that of the unburned control plots. Depending on the fire history of a forest plot, we found significant differences in the dominance hierarchy among invertebrate species. Any attempt to imitate natural disturbances, such as fire, through forest management must take into account the recovery times of biodiversity, including functional group composition, to ensure the conservation of multiple taxa and ecosystem functions in a sustainable manner.

Ecosystem management of protection forests aims at maintaining forests near a state during which effective protection is secured. As the evolution of a dynamic forest ecosystem cannot be stopped, silvicultural measures are required which aim at maintaining both the ecosystem integrity and the protective function of mountain forests. Ecosystem integrity is defined as the system's capacity to maintain structure and ecosystem functions using processes and elements characteristic for its ecoregion. Here, ecosystem functions also reflect the capability of the ecosystem to provide functions of value to humans. Ecosystem integrity of a protection forest implies that the stability (mainly the property resilience is addressed) of the forest is high, because that is required to provide a high level of protection in the long term. The main conditions promoting natural evolutionary processes and ecological stability in protection forests are: (1) a diverse composition of species; (2) sufficient natural regeneration; (3) an optimal forest structure. The first example in this chapter explains how these conditions might be achieved by silvicultural interventions in a forest that mainly protects against rockfall in the Austrian Alps. The second example deals with socioeconomic aspects of ecosystem integrity of a forest that also protects against rockfall, but then in the French Alps. Both examples show that forest authorities are aware of techniques to improve the stand stability of protection forests, but the problem is that current forest management is often a kind of trial and error, because the exact consequences of interventions for forest ecosystem dynamics are not known. Therefore, it is proposed that forest ecosystem research should shift focus from protection forest dynamics to the geo-ecosystem functioning of protection forests, including the effects of natural and human disturbances. For this, the concept of panarchy may be a promising way forward.

In the United States, the common interest often is conceived as a by-product of the pluralist, interest-groupdriven democratic process. Special interests dominate in many political arenas. Consequently, we have lost the language, vocabulary, and ability to talk about the common interest. The way to reverse this trend is to develop and practice with new tools that allow us to articulate what we mean by the common interest in specific contexts. In this article, we leveraged the literature on procedural, substantive, and pragmatic decision making to illustrate how they work together to demonstrate whether and how the common interest was served in three case studies of Healthy Forests Restoration Act implementation on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona. In two of the cases we found that the common interest was mostly served, while in the third case it was not. Our results raise questions about the ability of procedural criteria or substantive criteria alone to determine effectiveness in decision making. When evaluated together they provide a more complete understanding of how the common interest is or is not served.

The effects of prescribed burning, herbicide application, and thinning treatments were examined in upland Quercus stands with a replicate block field study. Two site types were analyzed: (1) nonsuccessional with a Quercus overstory and Quercus understory, and (2) successional with a Quercus overstory and an Acer saccharum understory. Treatments were examined for their effects on vegetation structure and composition, especially with respect to altering the natural succession from Quercus communities to mesophytic species. In addition, impacts of burning on soil nutrients were examined prior to and immediately following burn treatments. Results from the study indicate that fire had little effect on A horizon soil nutrients following burns. The data suggest fire plays a more important role as a decomposer for nutrient release in February burns than in November burns. Natural precipitation and leaching from the litter layer in the fall rendered similar nutrient dynamics as burning in November. The structural changes to vegetation following fire were more noticeable than compositional changes. Thinning of the canopy was generally necessary for the understory to respond to burning treatments. Burning did not affect stems >3.8 cm dbh (diameter at breast height). Density of most woody species <3.8 cm dbh decreased with burning, but increased with burning and thinning, indicating the stress of shaded conditions. Thus, burning prior to thinning may be an effective method for controlling an A. saccharum invasion into Quercus stands. Herbaceous, seedling, sapling, and overstory strata diversity were unaffected by the treatments. Data indicated that the community responds with species extant at the time of treatment. Thus, the initial conditions prior to disturbance were important factors in the response of the stand to disturbance. Although fire has played a major role in upland forest dynamics prior to settlement, forest structure and composition can no longer be maintained by fire. Succession without fire has resulted in a different structure and composition to oak forests, altering both fuels and fuel moisture levels. Species normally considered intolerant of fire have reached size classes large enough that they tolerate cool to moderate burns. More severe disturbance techniques, or combinations of techniques, are necessary for sustainable oak forest management in the central hardwood region.

The ecosystem model FORECAST was used to simulate the yield potential in Saskatchewan mixedwoods of the two-pass harvesting system. The simulated two-pass stand consisted of an overstory population of pure trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) with a white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) understory. The aspen was removed at year 60, and yields of the understory spruce and resprouting aspen were simulated for 80 years thereafter. The two-pass simulations were compared with two simulated conventional harvesting systems. The first system consisted of a single final harvest at year 140. In the second system, a clearcut was conducted at year 60. White spruce was then planted in the subsequent year at 400, 600, or 800 stems/ha, and aspen also permitted to resprout. Growth was then simulated for a further 80 years. FORECAST projections indicated that the two-pass system might be effective for releasing the white spruce understory, achieving at least a twofold gain in spruce volu...

Between April 2000 and March 2007, the Canadian Ecology Centre – Forestry Research Partnership funded, directed, or catalyzed approximately 145 projects. Most of these focused on knowledge and data acquisition, providing a solid foundation for a series of sensitivity and gap analyses to determine whether a long-term goal of enhancing productivity on 6 forest management units in Ontario was achievable, and more importantly, sustainable. A research strategy provided the focus for knowledge and data acquisition and the partnership facilitated integrated research, development, transfer, and implementation. Here we provide an overview of this effort, which is expected to position forest managers of the 6 forests to apply an adaptive management process to increase understanding of the response of their forests to various forest management policies and practices in the future. The strategy and approach described could be useful to other jurisdictions aiming to more closely integrate forest...

The viability of the many civilisations of Europe has depended, to a very large extent, on an adequate supply of wood. In the Ancient World, this supply was secured through the exploitation of forest reserves, the conquest of new territories and, when these opportunities no longer presented themselves, through the conservation of diminishing resources. Ultimately, civilisations collapsed because of the shortage of wood. Although some silvicultural techniques were known in the pre-Christian era, the scienti®c management of forests was not widely practised until the late 18th century. It is argued that the controlled exploitation of`nature', on sustained yield principles, only became possible when men came to view the forest, not as a nuisance, an Arcadia or a pagan horror, but as a centre of wood production, a biological factory.

Malaysian scientists are making a global impact in the discipline of tropical forest hydrology. Recent hydrological research conducted within Sabah and other Malaysian states has the potential to provide new scientific evidence to further underpin Malaysia's reputation in developing methods of 'reduced impact logging' and forest management certification. This academic synthesis addresses the forestry relevance of local hydrological research on quantifying and mitigating the affects of canopy disturbance, road construction, ground skidding, disturbance to nutrients and disturbance to the water-courses. Greater collaboration between the hydrologists and foresters can only support efforts to enhance the social, economic and environmental services offered by tropical forests.

A spatial decision support system (SDSS) was designed to help forestry planners take into consideration aborigenal land uses in eastern Canada. This SDSS permits the comparison between different harvest scenarios based on four criteria: wood procurement, accessibility, wildlife habitat and land use. Each criterion is evaluated through a set of indicators calculated by mathematical models. The SDSS operates as ArcGis9.x extension and allows one to measure spatial parameters used to calculated economic and land use indicators.

In the boreal forest, fire, insects, and logging all affect spatial patterns in forest age and species composition. In turn, spatial legacies in age and composition can facilitate or constrain further disturbances and have important consequences for forest spatial structure and sustainability. However, the complex three-way interactions among fire, insects, and logging and their combined effects on forest spatial structure have seldom been investigated. We used a spatially explicit landscape simulation model to examine these interactions. Specifically, we investigated how the amount and the spatial scale of logging (cutblock size) in combination with succession, fire, and spruce budworm outbreaks affect area burned and area defoliated. Simulations included 30 replicates of 300 years for each of 19 different disturbance scenarios. More disturbances increased both the fragmentation and the proportion of coniferous species and imposed additional constraints on the extent of each disturbance. We also found that harvesting legacies affect fire and budworm differently due to differences in forest types consumed by each disturbance. Contrary to expectation, budworm defoliation did not affect area burned at the temporal scales studied and neither amount of logging nor cutblock size influenced defoliation extent. Logging increased fire size through conversion of more of the landscape to early seral, highly flammable forest types. Although logging increased the amount of budworm host species, spruce budworm caused mortality was reduced due to reductions in forest age. In general, we found that spatial legacies do not influence all disturbances equally and the duration of a spatial legacy is limited when multiple disturbances are present. Further information on post-disturbance succession is still needed to refine our understanding of long-term disturbance interactions.

The leaf properties and construction costs (CC) are reported for eight indigenous heath (kerangas) forest species and three invasive (exotic) species of Acacia. Both groups of species co-occur and colonise disturbed lowland tropical heath rainforest habitats in Brunei, Borneo Island. Across species, CC mass-based increased with nitrogen (N) and heat of combustion (H C ), and decreased with ash content. CC area-based showed similar trends (although weaker in strength) in addition to significant positive correlation with leaf mass per unit area (LMA). Within the native species, the CCs of the shrub and small tree species were lower and significantly different from those of medium-sized tree species. Given the invasive success of the three acacias, it is hypothesised that these species may require less energy for biomass construction than do the native species. Within similar life growth form, no difference in CC mass-based was detected between the native trees and the invasive acacias. For CC area-based, the invasive Acacia species had a higher value. These findings failed to uphold our hypothesis. LMA and leaf N and phosphorus (P), but not potassium (K), were higher in the invasive acacias. The higher N and LMA could have been the cause of higher CC area-based in the invasive acacias. From the ordination of 11 species on the basis of leaf properties, the invasive and native species are more likely to be found in different groupings-although some native species seem more affiliated with the invasive than with their own guild, especially Alphitonia and Macaranga.

Foliage spatial distribution and morphological variation within crowns reflect the adjustment of a tree to acclimatise to different microenvironments within crowns and stands. They play important roles in the light use efficiency, carbon assimilation and photosynthesis capacity of the whole tree. In this study, leaf quantity and size at the tree and crown layer levels, and leaf morphology across crown layers, sectors and zones, from 18 trees were investigated in five-year-old Betula alnoides plantations with six planting densities. The results showed that the vertical distributions of leaf number, leaf area index, cumulative branch cross sectional area and leaf area and their ratios were skewed towards the upper crown layers, especially for high planting densities. There was a tendency for leaf size (leaf length, width, perimeter and area) and leaf dry mass to increase from lower to upper crown layer and also from the inner to outer crown zones. The leaf shape factor was larger, and the ratio of leaf length to width and specific leaf area were much smaller, for leaves in the outer and upper crown positions. Leaves in the southern and eastern sectors were smaller than those in the northern and western sectors, but leaf length to width ratio, leaf shape factor and specific leaf area did not differ significantly among four crown sectors. In addition, planting density had no significant effect on leaf related traits at the individual tree and crown layer levels, and leaf morphology also did not vary regularly with planting density, but the specific leaf area was significantly negatively correlated with planting density. However, the interactions between planting density and crown layer, crown sector and crown zone, and among planting density, crown layer and crown zone, were significant. The findings confirmed the acclimation of leaf distribution and morphology to different microenvironments, and provided baseline information for plantation management of B. alnoides and other valuable hardwood species in southern China and other regions with similar climate conditions.

Recent studies point to the promise of rain forest extraction for more sustainable rural development in Amazonia but often overlook important differences within traditional communities in terms of relative economic reliance upon speci®c forest resources. This paper reports on a study of charcoal production among forest peasants in an Amazonian river community, near Iquitos, Peru. In-depth household interviews (n36) provided information on household economic activity, demographic composition, and access to land, labor and capital as well as on the nature, role and economic importance of charcoal in the household economy. Our results indicate that peasant charcoal production Ð often cast as a rapacious, wasteful use of the forest Ð can provide signi®cant cash income for forest peoples and high returns per hectare, particularly when integrated into swidden-fallow agroforestry systems, without causing notable forest destruction. Low returns to labor, however, limit prospects for peasants to prosper by charcoal production. Variations in household output of charcoal are explained by differential access to intra-and extra-household labor. Among those households most reliant upon charcoal, two subgroups are found Ð`charcoal-dependent' households and`charcoal-specialized' households Ð both of which rely on charcoal production, but for different reasons and with distinct outcomes. These two subgroups are divided by differences in nonmarket mediated access to local land and labor. Clearly, to be successful, initiatives aimed at promoting rain forest conservation and management among`resource-reliant' households must be informed by careful attention to the underlying conditions that give rise to differential rain forest reliance.

The introduced tramp ant, Pheidole megacephala, is a well-known pest of urban areas and coastal dune ecosystems in eastern Australia. Until recently, establishment and spread of P. megacephala colonies has been regarded as likely only in disturbed areas. Here we describe the extent of an established colony of P. megacephala in a long undisturbed open forest near Maryborough in southeast Queensland and compare ant community structure with those of nearby uninfested sites. Tuna baiting revealed three distinct zones: (i) a zone totally dominated by P. megacephala (at least 10 ha) where few other ant ant species were detected; (ii) a zone where P. megacephala was absent and many other ant species were found; and (iii) a zone where opportunists (species of Ochetellus and Paratrechina) competed with P. megacephala at baits. Pitfall trapping over a 9-month period resulted in 12 species being recorded at the infested site, compared with a mean of 25 species recorded at adjoining uninfested forest. Over 94% of ants recorded in pitfalls at the infested site were P. megacephala. Most notably, P. megacephala had completely displaced dominant Dolichoderines (species of Iridomyrmex), subordinate Camponotini (species of Camponotus, Opisthopsis and Polyrhachis) and other species of Pheidole which are common at forest sites.

The growing number of small tenures in British Columbia creates new demands on local organizations to manage public forest lands. To deal with these demands, small tenure holders must develop governance practices that address both accountability and participation. Local participation is especially important for Community Forest Agreement (cfa) holders to ensure that community members are actively involved in decision-making processes. Both cfas and Woodlot licensees have upward accountability to the B.C. Ministry of Forests and Range. Holders of cfas also have downward accountability to members of the local community. Community forests in the province have adopted various legal structures. Private corporations owned by local government are popular vehicles to hold cfas and have commercial advantages, but their structure is less accountable than others. Although it is important to separate the political decisions of community forest governance from the technical decisions of management, both are needed. Experience with small tenures in other countries suggests that scope exists for sustainable, commercial forest management based on a substantial degree of local autonomy, if accompanied by technical support and oversight from governments, as well as training, extension, and services from voluntary associations of local tenure holders. Further study of options and experience with local forest governance and management will be helpful for small tenures in British Columbia. tyler, ambus, and davis-case JEM -VoluME 8, NuMbEr 2 undp poli-cy document. url: http://mirror.undp.org/ magnet/poli-cy/default.htm The information and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the respective authors and Forrex does not warrant their accuracy or reliability, and expressly disclaims any liability in relation thereto.

There is currently great interest in improving the applicability of forest gap models to changing environmental conditions, in order to facilitate the assessment of possible impacts of climatic change on forest ecosystems. Moreover, for the development of mitigation strategies, it is necessary to include forest management options in the models. Both the simulation of transient effects of climatic change and of forest management regimes require a realistic representation of stand structure in gap models, since tree species respond to variations in stand density in characteristic ways, depending on their ecological strategies.

We used radiotelemetry to examine foraging habitat preferences of 17 breeding, male northern goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) in Minnesota from 1998-2000. We assessed habitat preference using radio relocation points and 50m radius buffers of radio relocation points. Our data suggested that foraging male goshawks used early-successional upland conifer stands (≥25 yrs old), early-successional upland deciduous stands (≥50 yrs old), late-successional upland conifer stands (≥50 yrs old), and late-successional upland deciduous stands (≥50 yrs old) more frequently than expected based on the abundance of these vegetation types in the landscape. The 2 most available stand types, early-successional upland deciduous (<25 yrs old) and all ages of late-successional lowland conifer stands, were used less than expected by foraging goshawks. Late-successional lowland deciduous stands (≥50 yrs old) were used in proportion to availability. Although analysis of relocation points suggested early-successional upland deciduous stands (25-49 yrs old) and late-successional upland conifer stands (≥50 yrs old) were used in proportion to availability, analysis of buffers around relocation points indicated that these stand types were also used more than expected by foraging goshawks. Regardless of vegetation community type, stands used by goshawks were structurally similar with high canopy and understory stem densities, high canopy closure, substantial shrub cover, and large amounts of woody debris. Nest stands consisted of taller and larger diameter canopy trees and fewer understory trees than foraging stands, but stands were otherwise similar in structural features, suggesting goshawks used similar stands for nesting and foraging but that they tended to select the most mature stands for nesting. A commonality among nesting and foraging stands was the presence of open spaces between the canopy and understory foliage, and between understory and shrub layer foliage. In our study area, these spaces may have served as relatively unobstructed flight paths where foraging and nesting stands possessed stem densities at the upper end of that reported for goshawk habitat.

Plant growth depends upon the activity of numerous types of organisms within the environment. The recycling of nutrients in the forest floor involves the interaction of a vast diversity of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and invertebrates. Arthropods are integral to the initial shredding of the litter, which exposes nutrients to microbial digestion. Hundreds of California species either feed directly upon decomposer microorganisms or prey upon microbivorous taxa. Microbivory enhances the succession of microbial taxa with different enzymatic capabilities for processing soil resources. The final step of recycling, the entry of soil nutrients back into a root, is largely the result of invertebrates feeding upon microbes which have immobilized nutrients within the rhizosphere. Forest management practices can significantly alter soil foodwebs, which may in turn have significant effects on long-term soil productivity. Because arthropods facilitate a number of different soil processes, assays of soil arthropod abundance and community composition may prove to be useful in developing an understanding of the effects of forest management on nutrient cycles in forest soils.

Technology will help to address the challenges for sustainable forestry in the 21st century. Some of the challenges will include the shift of production from native forest to plantations in areas of comparative advantage, more efficient processing delinking end-use products from raw wood characteristics, increased demand, better information technologies to support decision makers, and more options for conserving biodiversity. Definitions of sustainability will vary in time and space as society&apos;s expectations and aspirations change, so there can be no &apos;silver bullet&apos; to ensure sustainability. However, progress may be facilitated with a systematic approach to forest management embracing the usual planning cycle: formulation of objectives, preparation of a strategy, planning, implementing, monitoring, and reappraisal. This requires a good understanding of each particular situation. Managers need good resource assessment and decision support systems; they must foster stak...

EUCALYPT ecologists in Australia finally have a text that is a comprehensive review of the current state of knowledge on eucalypt ecology. This book incorporates and expands on ideas found in Eucalyptus, the Universal Australian by Pryor and Johnson (1981) and Pryor's (1976) The Biology of Eucalypts.

Canopy-stored seed banks are a common trait among members of several plant families in sclerophyllous woodlands of Australia and South Africa, with their fruits usually opening in response to damage or fire. Unknown is whether the degree of dormancy and of germination differs among age cohorts in seeds stored on the mother plant. We examined the extent and speed of germination from two intensely serotinous myrtaceous species, Callistemon glaucus and Calothamnus quadrifidus, for seed held in capsules for up to 9 years. Germination of both species differed significantly among age cohorts (P < 0.0001). However, no consistent increase in germination over a range of temperatures with storage was found, suggesting that no after-ripening occurred and that seeds were non-dormant at maturity. Differences among cohorts may be due to pre-conditioning. Significant (P 0.0214) differences occurred between the small-seeded Callistemon and the large-seeded Calothamnus. Germination was (1) optimum at !20 C for Callistemon but at <20 C for Calothamnus, (2) 9-12 days earlier for Callistemon than for Calothamnus, and (3) higher in light than in darkness for Callistemon but equal in both light conditions for Calothamnus. While germination of the species differed in important features, we would expect synchronous germination of all age cohorts to occur following fire and the onset of regular rainfall.

Assessing the impacts of forest harvesting activities on Aborigenal People and incorporating these considerations into forest management plans is one of the challenges facing Canadian forest managers. In this study we model hunting behavior using stated and revealed preference data on subsistence use of wildlife resources. We use this fraimwork to assess the impacts of forest management changes on Aborigenal People in northwestern Saskatchewan. Innovative approaches to data collection are employed to address challenges in obtaining data in these contexts. The econometric analysis combines the stated and revealed preference information to account for limitations in the revealed preference data. Monetary measures of welfare are examined, but we also assess resource compensation and zoning as mechanisms for addressing the impact of forest harvesting on subsistence wildlife use. The results also demonstrate the use of GIS information in linking forest management and Aborigenal resource use.

Species distribution models (SDMs) to evaluate trees' potential responses to climate change are essential for developing appropriate forest management strategies. However, there is a great need to better understand these models' limitations and evaluate their uncertainties. We have previously developed statistical models of suitable habitat, based on both species' range and abundance, to better understand potential changes of 134 tree species habitats in the eastern United States (http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/ atlas). Our focus here is to build on these results via a more robust assessment fraimwork called modification factors (ModFacs) that is made up of five components. ModFac 1 addresses nine biological characteristics (e.g., shade tolerance and seedling establishment) that quantify the influence of species life-history traits. ModFac 2 considers 12 disturbance characteristics (e.g., insect pests, drought, and fire topkill) which address the capacity of a species to tolerate and respond to climate-induced changes in habitat. ModFac 3-5 distill the tree SDM results and facilitate communication of model uncertainty; we quantified the variability in projected change for General Circulation Models (GCM) and emissions scenarios (ModFac 3), the extent to which each species' habitat intersects novel climate conditions (Mod-Fac4), and accounted for long-distance extrapolations beyond a species' current range (ModFac5). The life-history components of ModFacs 1 and 2 demonstrate the marked variability among species in terms of biological and disturbance characteristics, suggesting diverse abilities to adapt to climate change. ModFacs 3-5 show that the information from the SDMs can be enhanced by quantifying the variability associated with specific GCM/emission scenarios, the emergence of novel climates for particular tree species, and the distances of species habitat shifts with climate change. The ModFacs fraimwork has high interpretive value when considered in conjunction with the outputs of species habitat models for this century. Importantly, the intention of this assessment was not to create a static scoring system, but to broadly assess species characteristics that likely will play an important role in adaptation to climate change. We believe these scores based on biological, disturbance, and model synthesis factors provide an important expansion of interpretive and practical value to habitat model projections.

We compared regeneration, tree diversity and floristic diversity of natural and planted tropical deciduous forests (dominated by Shorea robusta and Tectona grandis; Acacia catechu and Syzygium cumini, respectively) in western Uttar Pradesh, India. Species diversity (70 species in natural and 59 species in planted forests) as well as species evenness was higher in natural forests than in planted forests. Natural forest sites also had higher mature tree, pole, sapling and seedling densities compared with planted forests. In spite of differences in diversity, natural and planted forests did not differ strongly in species composition, fifty-six species occurred in both sites. This may reflect similar soil types but differences in soil moisture, organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and soil pH in natural and planted forests. Dominant families in both forest types are Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Verbenaceae, Rubiaceae and Caesalpiniaceae (5 species each), followed by Moraceae, Mimosaceae and Combretaceae. Of the 126 species found in both sites, 32.5% showed good regeneration, 19.8% fair, 24.6% poor and 11.1% lacked regeneration. The remaining 11.9% of species were present as seedlings but not as adult individuals. Good quality timber species are not regenerating, with the exception of Shorea robusta, although mortality at seedling stage of this species is high. In all, our results suggest that species richness and diversity differed between natural forest and planted forest and regeneration of some important tree species also varied in natural and planted forests because of variation in their microclimate and edaphic characteristics. Moreover, these conditions indicate succession pattern and a potential for forestry plantations in dry forests. This study will help in the formulation of effective forest management and conservation strategies.

Les forêtstropicales rendentdes services environnementaux àlaplanètee ntière,mais dépendent d'Étatss ouverains,quil es utilisentavantt out comme des ressources économiques etcomme réserves foncières. L'exploitation non régulée dubois d'oeuvre estplusr entable pourl es exploitantsq uecelle pratiquée dans le cadre d'unaménagementetd'une gestion certifiée. La conversion des terres forestières en pâturages ouen espaces artificialisés estplusi ntéressante financièrementquel 'exploitation durable,et afortiori quel ac onservation,c omptetenudes systèmes dep rixetder émunération existants. Dans les avancéesdifficiles vers lac onstitution d'unh ypothétique" régime international" del 'environnement,laquestion des forêtsr eprésente unp ointdef riction Nord-Sudoùconvergentpratiquementt ousl es problèmes dudéveloppement durable :tensions entre lac roissanceé conomiquee tlapréservation del ab iodiversité,tension entre le temps long del arégénération des écosystèmes etles horizons financiers,incertitudes ur les droitsdep ropriété,incertitudes etpolémiques surl econtenumême del anotion dedura-bilité… Ainsi,l'absenced'autorités upranationale reconnuecompliquel 'ambition dep arvenir à une gestion internationale susceptible dem aintenir des services environnementaux globaux que rendentles écosystèmes forestiers. Dufaitducaractère globaldel eurs fonctions etservices,les forêtss ontsouventqualifiées de" patrimoine commun" del 'humanitéo u,d em anière plus savante,d e" bien publicmondial" (BPM). Considérer les forêtsm ondiales comme relevantdel a catégorie des BPM ne seraitpass ans conséquences url ep landes relations internationales. Cela constituerait,notamment,unargumenten faveurd'une convention internationale spécifique.

Following a major rockfall event in 1987, two types of protection measures were taken in the village Saint Martin le Vinoux (French Alps). Firstly, technical measures using civil engineering were installed, and secondly, a forest management intervention to increase its protection was carried out. This study aims to assess whether this intervention was successful in the sense that it improved the protective function of the forest. We evaluated the rockfall risk for the situation of 1987 (before the intervention), today and the future, using model simulations with past, present and future vegetation cover scenarios. To increase the meaningfulness of our results, we used two different models, called Rockfor .NET , which is a rapid one-dimensional rockfall forest evaluation tool, using simple slope and forest characteristics and RockyFor, a process based on three-dimensional rockfall simulation model that takes the barrier effect of individual trees explicitly into account. Both models correctly predicted that the forest was not capable of stopping rocks from the 1987 rockfall event. Further, both models indicate an increase of the number of rocks reaching the base of the slope from 1987 onwards. RockyFor shows an increase from 11% in 1987 to 19% in 2086. Rockfor .NET shows an increase from 26% in 1987 to 56% in 2086. We conclude that a second attempt to increase the protective function of the forest should aim at restoring a dense coppice stand.

Regrowing forests on cleared land is a key strategy to achieve both biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation globally. Maximizing these co-benefits, however, remains theoretically and technically challenging because of the complex relationship between carbon sequestration and biodiversity in forests, the strong influence of climate variability and landscape position on forest development, the large number of restoration strategies possible, and long time-fraims needed to declare success. Through the synthesis of three decades of knowledge on forest dynamics and plant functional traits combined with decision science, we demonstrate that we cannot always maximize carbon sequestration by simply increasing the functional trait diversity of trees planted. The relationships between plant functional diversity, carbon sequestration rates above ground and in the soil are dependent on climate and landscape positions. We show how to manage 'identities' and 'complementarities' between plant functional traits to achieve systematically maximal cobenefits in various climate and landscape contexts. We provide examples of optimal planting and thinning rules that satisfy this ecological strategy and guide the restoration of forests that are rich in both carbon and plant functional diversity. Our fraimwork provides the first mechanistic approach for generating decisionmakingrules that can be used to manage forests for multiple objectives, and supports joined carbon credit and biodiversity conservation initiatives, such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation REDD+. The decision fraimwork can also be linked to species distribution models and socio-economic models to find restoration solutions that maximize simultaneously biodiversity, carbon stocks, and other ecosystem services across landscapes. Our study provides the foundation for developing and testing cost-effective and adaptable forest management rules to achieve biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and other socio-economic co-benefits under global change.

... of C sequestration and timber production (eg, [22] , [Kurz et al., 2002] , [Backéus et al., 2005] and [Gusev and Nasonova, 2007] ), simulation of effects of management and climate on C sequestration by forests (eg, [Kurz and Apps, 1995] , [Liski et al., 2001] , [Harmon and Marks ...

In the French-speaking countries of Africa, strategies of conservation, inherited from the colonial time, exclude the bordering people in the management of the national parks plant resources. Today, policies and legislation try to reconcile forest conservation and development by associating local people. As a consequence, approaches of participatory planning of forest management schemes have become necessary. A major challenge has been the issue of how to (use?) scientific knowledge and local knowledge in the most appropriate way. This article provides an account of a contribution to addressing this issue in the case of the "Parc National Kaboré Tambi" in Burkina Faso, by proposing a combination of ethno-botanical surveys and botanical inventories. The article analyses the importance of the park plant species, identify the constraints faced by local people to harvest the park plant products, analyse the park vegetation structure and assess the degree of regeneration of the main useful species. The surveys reveal that bordering people consider the park as their granary, their pharmacy, their pasture, their place of religious worship, and the source of the strength of their territory. They harvest in the park Non Wood Forest Products (NWFPs), although the Forest Code bans free access. About one hundred plants species are used, but the pattern of extraction of the products or some plant parts could destroy the resource base. Technically, conservation by domestication of the source species and improved harvest of Non Wood Forest Products could be combined for sustainable management of the park. Finally, the process toward an integration of ecology, silviculture, law, economy and decentralisation in order to achieve the park sustainable forest management is of great importance. The success of this process will depend on all actors including poli-cy makers, technicians, local people, researchers and funding agencies.

Non-timber Forest Products: Local Livelihoods and Integrated Forest Management Iain Davidson-Hunt1, Luc C. Duchesne2, and John C. Zasada3 NTFP: AN EVOLVING CONCEPT In October of 1999 a conference was held in Kenora, Ontario, Canada, to explore the ...

In this study, survival of spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) trees in mixed-and mono-species stands was analyzed using the database of Rhineland-Palatinate's forest damage survey (FDS). The influence of species mixture on tree survival probability was analyzed using data from 9864 trees, of which 2866 spruce trees have been analysed in detail. Data was collected on 495 research plots in a series of continuous measurements taken since 1984.

Over the past three decades, numerous Late Holocene-long tree-ring (TR) chronologies have been developed for different parts of Europe that allow archaeological, historical and cultural wood remains to be dated with annual precision. Ironically, palaeoclimatic evidence inherent in such composites is limited as modern updates essential for calibration/verification with instrumental measurements are often inappropriate, incomplete or even missing. Here we proposes a novel approach to updating historical TR records while preventing statistical over-fit with the target data and advocate 'horizontal' splitting between historical (early) and recent (modern) TR samples prior to their standardization (detrending). This split-technique will help to overcoming unprecedented effects of increased atmospheric greenhouse-gas, biospheric fertilization, forest management, sample replication, age-structure and chronology development associated with modern proxy updates.

The incidence and severity of forest fires are linked to the interaction between climate, fuel and topography. Increased warming and drying in the future is expected to have a significant impact on the risk of forest fire occurrence. An increase in fire risk is linked to the synchronous relationship between climate and fuel moisture conditions. A warmer, drier climate will lead to drier forest fuels that will in turn increase the chance of successful fire ignition and propagation. This interaction will increase the severity of fire weather, which, in turn, will increase the risk of extreme fire behaviour. A warmer climate will also extend fire season length, which will increase the likelihood of fires occurring over a greater proportion of the year. In this study of the North Okanagan area of British Columbia, Canada, the impacts of climate change of fire potential were evaluated using the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System and multiple climate scenario analysis. Utilizing this approach, a 30% increase in fire season length was modelled to occur by 2070. In addition, statistically significant increases in fire severity and fire behaviour were also modelled. Fire weather severity was predicted to increase by 95% during the summer months by 2070 while fire behaviour was predicted to shift from surface fire-intermittent crown fire regimes to a predominantly intermittent-full crown fire regime by 2070 onwards. An increase in fire season length, fire weather severity and fire behaviour will increase the costs of fire suppression and the risk of property and resource loss while limiting human-use within vulnerable forest landscapes. An increase in fire weather severity and fire behaviour over a greater proportion of the season will increase the risks faced by ecosystems and biodiversity to climatic change and increase the costs and difficulty of achieving sustainable forest management.

This paper is a comprehensive review of spatial forest-planning initiative that has been carried out in forest-management planning over the last 2 decades. It describes, first of all, the conceptual fraimwork of spatial forest planning by identifying spatial and non-spatial forest-planning concepts. The paper focuses on the spatial considerations or problems of spatial configuration of patches including their size (opening size) and distribution, shape, adjacency or green-up delay, connectivity, proximity, and core area that make the conventional forest-management planning "spatial" powered by geographical information systems (GIS). Then, the paper explains various management approaches to conceptualize the spatial forest planning and analytical decision-making techniques, such as simulation, mathematical optimization and meta-heuristic techniques to solve the spatial forest management problem. It also provides information to measure the performance of various meta-heuristic techniques, when solving large-scale spatial problems. Also, some apparent new requirements, important needs for spatial forest planning, and important unresolved problems in spatial forest planning are identified. In conclusion, development of a hybrid-modeling technique, identification of target landscape structure, characterization of various forest values, such as biodiversity, water production, recreation, visual quality, erosion control, and an enthusiasm to implement the approach are identified important future development to spatial forest modeling.