Forestry professionals are expected to be well trained and skilled. This facilitates progress in multiple global efforts to ensure a synergistic contribution of forests and the forest sector to sustainability goals. In recent years, societal demands and expectations associated with forests and the forest sector have changed profoundly. Forests have traditionally been a key resource that contributes

This study compares the amount of available biomass for wild herbivores (red deer (Cervus elaphus L.), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.), and hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas)) depending on three different types of forest silvicultural systems—presented using the example of beech and spruce stands in wintertime. During the winter period, spruce provided ten times more biomass for herbivores than beech

The paper presents some forestry aspects of using Inger and Tordis willow clones to obtain woody biomass and remedy degraded soils. The methodological aspects regarding the planting of willow seedlings, the evaluation of the survival rate, the evaluation of the biomass quantity and the enrichment of the soil are analyzed. The results of the experiments showed that the degraded soil decreased the viability

Cable tensile forces in winch-assist harvesting have been investigated in order to assess the safety concerns of the technology. However, the literature is lacking, particularly in regards to the impact of winch design. In this study, a Summit Winch Assist tethering a feller-director on ground slopes up to 77% was monitored for four days. The cable tensile forces were simultaneously recorded at the

Background and Objectives: Mineral topsoil moisture is a very important component of the hydrological balance in forests. The moisture is closely related to the forest type, its woody species composition, stand age, and structure through interception and evapotranspiration. We aimed to investigate the topsoil moisture response to precipitation in three treatments: under young Norway spruce, white birch

Urban green spaces can provide many types of ecosystem services for residents. An imbalance in the pattern of green spaces leads to an inequality of the benefits of such spaces. Given the current situation of environmental problems and the basic geographical conditions of Xi’an City, this study evaluated and mapped four kinds of ecosystem services from the perspective of equity: biodiversity, carbon

Mangrove forests play an important role in mitigating climate change but are threatened by aquaculture expansion. The inclusion of mangroves in climate change mitigation strategies requires measuring of carbon stocks and the emissions caused by land use change over time. This study provides a synthesis of carbon stocks in mangrove and shrimp ponds in the Gulf of Guayaquil. In this study area, we identified

Windstorms are forest disturbances which generate canopy gaps. However, their effects on Mediterranean forests are understudied. To fill that research gap, changes in tree, cover, growth and soil features in Pinus halepensis and Pinus sylvestris plantations affected by windthrows were quantified. In each plantation, trees and soils in closed-canopy stands and gaps created by the windthrow were sampled

Understanding the influence of the current climate on the distribution, composition, and carbon storage capacity of Mediterranean tree species is key to determining future pathways under a warmer and drier climate scenario. Here, we evaluated the influence of biotic and environmental factors on earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW) growth in Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.). Our investigation was based

The detection and recognition of unstructured roads in forest environments are critical for smart forestry technology. Forest roads lack effective reference objects and manual signs and have high degrees of nonlinearity and uncertainty, which pose severe challenges to forest engineering vehicles. This research aims to improve the automation and intelligence of forestry engineering and proposes an unstructured

Research Highlights: Data of advanced-age provenance tests were reanalyzed applying a new approach, to directly estimate the growth of populations at their original sites under individually generated future climates. The results revealed the high resilience potential of fir species. Background and Objectives: The growth and survival of silver fir under future climatic scenarios are insufficiently investigated

Mangrove forests are considered to be a highly productive ecosystem, but they are also generally nitrogen (N)-limited. Thus, soil N2 fixation can be important for the stability of both mangrove ecosystem functions and upland N supply. This study evaluates the N2 fixation activity and composition of relevant microorganisms in two coastal mangrove forests—the Guandu mangrove in an upstream estuary and

Forest ecosystems significantly contribute to the global organic carbon (OC) pool, exhibiting high spatial heterogeneity in this respect. Some of the components of the OC pool in a forest (woody aboveground biomass (wAGB), coarse root biomass (CRB)) can be relatively easily estimated using readily available data from land observation and forest inventories, while some of the components of the OC pool

Climate change is anticipated to affect the degradation of the building materials in cultural heritage sites and buildings. For the aim of taking the necessary preventive measures, studies need to be carried out with the utmost possible precision regarding the building materials of each monument and the microclimate to which they are exposed. Within the present study, a methodology to investigate the

Due to traditional forest management, the primary goal of which is the production of raw wood material, commercial forest stands are characterized by low biodiversity. At the same time, commercial forests make up the majority of forests in the Central European region, which means a significant impact on the biodiversity of the entire large region. Saproxylic species of organisms are a frequently used

The quantification of post-disturbance root reinforcement (RR) recovery dynamics is of paramount importance for the optimisation of forest ecosystem services and natural hazards risk management in mountain regions. In this work we analyse the long-term root reinforcement dynamic of spruce forests combining data of the Swiss National Forest Inventory with data on root distribution and root mechanical

Shrub encroachment of grassland and woodland ecosystems can alter wildfire behaviour and threaten ecological values. Australian fire managers are using mechanical mastication to reduce the fire risk in encroached ecosystems but are yet to evaluate its effectiveness or ecological impact. We asked: (1) How does fuel load and structure change following mastication?; (2) Is mastication likely to affect

When adopted, wildlife protection policies in Canadian forests typically cover large areas and affect multiple economic agents working in these landscapes. Such measures are likely to increase the costs of timber for forestry companies operating in the area, which may hinder their acceptance of the policies unless harvesting remains profitable. We propose a bi-level wildlife protection problem that

Sawmilling operations represent one of the most important phases of the wood supply chain, because they connect the conversion flow of raw materials into finite products. In order to maintain a high volume of processed wood, sawmills usually adopt different processing strategies in terms of equipment and methods, which can increase the value or volume of the lumber produced from logs. In this study

Members of the genus Fusarium and related genera are important components of many ecosystems worldwide and are responsible for many plant diseases. However, the structure of beech litter-inhabiting Fusarium communities and their potential role in reducing the natural regeneration of European beech are not well understood. To address this issue, we examined Fusarium communities in the litter of uneven-aged

Note: In lieu of an abstract, this is an excerpt from the first page. Forest ecosystems, including natural forests, managed forests, agroforestry systems, and urban and peri-urban forests, can be considered as multifunctional Nature-based Solutions (NbS) since they deliver key ecosystem services to people [...]

Beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) forests in Iran are one of the most important sources of the hardwood species used for lumber, furniture, and interior object design due to its hardness, wear resistance, strength, and excellent bending capabilities. Furthermore, Iran is third most important country for walnut wood production after China and United States. Therefore, in this study, we compared specific

Understanding the impacts of nitrogen (N) addition on soil respiration (RS) and its temperature sensitivity (Q10) in tropical forests is very important for the global carbon cycle in a changing environment. Here, we investigated how RS respond to N addition in a tropical montane rainforest in Southern China. Four levels of N treatments (0, 25, 50, and 100 kg N ha−1 a−1 as control (CK), low N (N25)

Humid tropical forests are commonly characterized as N-rich but P-deficient. Increased N deposition may drive N saturation and aggravate P limitation in tropical forests. Thus, P addition is proposed to mitigate the negative effects of N deposition by stimulating N cycling. However, little is known regarding the effect of altered N and P supply on the nutrient status of understory plants in tropical

Dalbergia hupeana Hance (D. hupeana) is a precious hardwood tree of the genus Dalbergia. It is one of the few species widely distributed within subtropical areas and is important for timber production and forest restoration. At present, there is little published genetic information on D. hupeana. Therefore, we performed a genome survey using next generation sequencing (NGS) and developed a set of novel

Soil microbial communities play an important role in maintaining the ecosystem during forest secondary succession. However, the underlying mechanisms that drive change in soil microbial community structures during secondary succession remain poorly defined in species-rich subtropical coniferous forests. In this study, Illumina high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the variations in soil microbial

Urban forests offer multiple functions: they can balance negative effects from the environment and provide the public with a place for leisure and recreation. Hence, urban forests are crucial to urban ecology and have been widely studied. In addition, relevant study results were applied for policymaking in urban development and forest park management. This study evaluated the ecological value of the

Forest biomass is a sustainable source of renewable energy and a valuable alternative to finite fossil fuels. However, its overharvesting may lead to soil nutrient depletion and threaten future stand productivity, as well as affect the habitat for biodiversity. This paper provides quantitative data on biomass removal, fine woody debris [d ≤ 7 cm], and coarse woody debris [d > 7 cm] left on the forest

Responsible forest management requires accounting for adverse environmental effects, such as increased nutrient export to water courses. We constructed a spatially-distributed nutrient balance model NutSpaFHy that extends the hydrological model SpaFHy by introducing a grid-based nutrient balance sub-model and a conceptual solute transport routine to approximate total nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)

Most tree species in the temperate climatic zone (including Douglas fir) disperse seeds in autumn. Some of them must be exposed to cold (0–10 °C) and moist conditions (cold stratification) to overcome dormancy and trigger germination. In the Northern Hemisphere, winter warm spells occur more frequently and last longer than in recent decades from eastern Canada to Europe. Our main research objective

Skidding is considered to be one of the most stressful works for the forest environment. This paper presented the results obtained from the analysis of soil deformation and selected physical and mechanical parameters of soils on skid trails in the Gorce National Park. The study analyzed two horse and tractor skid trails that are in continuous use in the park. Measurements of parameters were recorded

Bark beetle (Dendroctonus spp.) outbreaks in the middle latitudes of western North America cause large amounts of tree mortality, outstripping wildfire by an order of magnitude. While temperatures play an important, and direct role in the population dynamics of ectothermic bark beetles, an equally important influence is the nature of the host substrate—the structure and composition of forested communities

To identify general patterns in the effect of climate-driven changes in the outbreak frequency of forest defoliating species, we examined 60 years of records (1950–2010) of outbreaks of five defoliating species. Data on Lymantria dispar, Lymantria monacha, Bupalus piniarius, Panolis flammea, and Operophtera brumata from five Central European countries (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, and

WRKY transcription factors are one of the largest families in plants, playing important roles in regulating plant immunity. Malus sievesii has abundant genetic diversity and can offer various and high-quality gene resources. In this study, 112 putative MsWRKY proteins were identified from a full-length transcriptome of M. sieversii during the Valsa canker disease (caused by Valsa mali). The MsWRKY

Intensive silviculture is practiced in many parts of the world but is rare in the public forests of western Canada. Here, we make the argument that intensive silviculture could be justified in Alberta but has not been implemented due to philosophies and policy decisions by foresters from government, industry and academia. These include adherence to long rotations, management goals that are aimed at

The Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) is known for its complex topography of hills and gullies, and lots of human land-use management activities have been put into practice to sustain the soil, water and other natural resources. Afforestation has been widely applied on the CLP and it’s important to understand the effects of topography on these planted trees. However, the coarse spatial resolution of remote

Functional characteristics reflect plant strategies and adaptability to the changing environment. Determining the dynamics of these characteristics after harvesting would improve the understanding of forest response strategies. Strip clearcutting (SC) of moso bamboo forests, which significantly reduces the cutting cost, has been proposed to replace manual selective harvesting. A comparison of restoration

Chestnut blight, a disease that has spread rampantly among American (Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.) and European chestnut (C. sativa Mill.) trees, results from infection by the fungal pathogen Cryphonectria parasitica (Murrill) M.E. Barr (C. parasitica). This fungus was introduced in the early 1900s and has almost functionally eliminated chestnut trees from the North American landscape. In 2017

We investigated the effects of forest management on the carbon (C) dynamics in Romanian forest soils, using two model simulations: CBM-CFS3 and Yasso15. Default parametrization of the models and harmonized litterfall simulated by CBM provided satisfactory results when compared to observed data from National Forest Inventory (NFI). We explored a stratification approach to investigate the improvement

Providing high quality seedlings for use in forestry applications is one of the main challenges faced by the forest nurseries, and it depends on the practices used in such facilities. For instance, controlled experiments have shown that seedling growth is affected by the soils’ physical condition, which in turn is rather difficult to manipulate by the equipment used; this raises the question on whether

This study presents a decision support system for the financial analysis of an acorn chain used in food production. The application of these fruits, in fact, shows potential in human nutrition and valorization of rural and marginal areas. A multi-step production process is hypothesised with a different potential organizational structure of each phase and products to be sold. The net present value,

(1) Background: Wood decay is a serious issue that results from the presence of wood-destroying fungi and has a great influence on the international wood industry. The utilization of biological control methods offers good prospects for wood preservation. (2) Methods: The plate-screening experiment, the soil block test of the Chinese stand method (GB/T 13942.1), and the characterization of wood blocks

The oak flora of North America north of Mexico is both phylogenetically diverse and species-rich, including 92 species placed in five sections of subgenus Quercus, the oak clade centered on the Americas. Despite phylogenetic and taxonomic progress on the genus over the past 45 years, classification of species at the subsectional level remains unchanged since the early treatments by WL Trelease, AA

Afforestation is an effective solution for restoring forest ecosystems and mitigating climate change in the tropics. In this study, we analyzed the soil respiration (Rs) at four afforested sites with different tree species exposed to a monsoon climate with frequent typhoon occurrences in southern Taiwan. The aim of this study is to examine (1) the distinct seasonal variation that strongly affects the

In arid and semi-arid regions, a better understanding of the effect of climate change mechanisms on environmental evolution can be used to guide regional ecological conservation and to improve water resource availability. Increased aridity in arid and semi-arid regions considerably affects the physiological functions of plants and the exchange of carbon and water with the environment. We collected

The process of etiolation contributes significantly to vegetative propagation and root formation of woody plants. However, the molecular interaction pattern of different factors for etiolated adventitious root development in woody plants remains unclear. In the present study, we explored the changes at different etiolation stages of adventitious root formation in Robinia pseudoacacia. Histological

Diploid clones of the hybrid acacia (Acacia mangium × A. auriculiformis) are widely planted in Vietnam because of their high productivity, adaptability, and commercial wood yields. Polyploid breeding offers possibilities for further enhancing hybrid vigor and generating new high value genotypes. In a field trial, we compared three diploid hybrid clones with their respective colchicine-induced tetraploid

Understanding and explaining the use of green spaces and forests is challenging for sustainable urban planning. In recent years there has been increasing demand for novel approaches to investigate urban green infrastructure by capitalizing on large databases from existing citizen science tools. In this study, we analyzed iNaturalist data to perform an assessment of the intentional use of these urban

Assessing the characteristics and limiting factors of tree growth is of practical significance for environmental studies and climatic reconstruction, especially in climate transition zones. In this study, four sites of Pinus armandii Franeh are investigated to understand regional climate-tree growth response in Mt. Yao, central China. Based on the high similarity of four residual chronologies and high

This case study introduces an innovation and development concept for agile software tools for the improvement of the productivity and customer experience of forest services. This need was recognized in the context of the opening of forest data and the development of service platforms for a forest-based bioeconomy in Finland. The forest services that were studied covered a continuum from a single type

Research Highlights: Management of the risks forests are exposed to is based on the dynamics of the composition and structure of the stands and the forest. Background and Objectives: This study aimed to document the dynamics of the composition and structure of stands and forest in the Romanian Carpathians over the last five decades, as well as estimate the forecast composition of the forest in the

Pilgerodendron uviferum (D. Don) Florin is an endemic, threatened conifer that grows in South America. In the sub-Antarctic territory, one of the most isolated places in the world, some forest patches remain untouched since the last glaciation. In this study, we analyze the tree structure and tree diversity and characterize the environmental conditions where P. uviferum-dominated stands develop within

Early successional plant community assemblage within a reclamation field trial at the Detour Lake Mine in northeastern Ontario is assessed, and compared with reference forested and historically reclaimed sites. The reclamation field trial examines eight amendment treatment combinations that include treatments with a winter kill cover crop of oats, fertilizer, biosolids, peat, and combinations thereof

Intending to achieve more green and economical graphene impregnated modified fast-growing poplar wood veneer for heat conduction, this study proposes and investigates the feasibility of modified veneer with graphene/Polyvinyl alcohol (Gr/PVA) impregnation mixture to improve its thermal conductivity. The absorbance and viscosity of the Gr/PVA impregnation mixtures are observed to expound the Gr/PVA

In addition to the classic biotic and abiotic factors that have disrupted the health of forests throughout history, lately, the balance of forest ecosystems has been disturbed by different phenomena such as climate change, pollution, and, especially, biological invasions of invasive alien species. One of the alien species that has invaded Europe relatively quickly is an insect species of North American

The pine wood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, that causes pine wilt disease (PWD), has severely damaged forests and ecosystems in countries of East Asia and Europe. Since the high propagation rate of PWD is the main cause of the devastating disease, it is very important to interfere with the spread of PWN mediated by its insect vector (Monochamus alternatus). In order to explore new methods

The estimation of the sampling variance of point estimators under two-dimensional systematic sampling designs remains a challenge, and several alternative variance estimators have been proposed in the past few decades. In this work, we compared six alternative variance estimators under Horvitz-Thompson (HT) and post-stratification (PS) point estimation regimes. We subsampled a multitude of species-specific

We evaluated the ecological significance of the boundary form between two patches with contrasting vegetation (mine grassland and adjacent forest) on woody colonization and forest expansion in open-cast coal mines in Northern Spain. Woody colonization and browsing traces were measured on three mine sites, along 24 transects that were laid out perpendicular to the forest-mine boundary and classified

The forest at the Changdeokgung Rear Garden is under ecological threat from factors such as soil acidification due to the growing influence of nearby metropolitan Seoul. It is difficult to maintain biodiversity in forests without first setting a clear direction for ecosystem management. Conservation and management should be based on the history and natural ecological succession of the Rear Garden forest

The presented study concerns the delayed response of photosynthetic performance to summer drought. Increasing drought events are thought to be one of the most detrimental and expensive natural disasters. For that reason, we studied the condition of urban trees, which are especially susceptible to water deficit. Three species of linden trees (T. tomentosa, T. × europaea and T. cordata) growing in the