Purpose of Review As a major component of wood, lignin is regarded as a promising, bio-based compound which could strongly influence the forest-based circular bioeconomy. Much research has been conducted on the material use of lignin, but the lignin commercialization process is still under development; few commercial production facilities and larger-scale applications are available. Therefore, we present

Purpose of Review Non-native tree species (NNT) raise a range of different associations and emotions—to many citizens they are just an exotic curiosity in parks, to many conservationists they are an evil to native ecosystems that should be eradicated, to a rising group of foresters they are part of the solution to climate change and an increasing timber demand, and to others they are already daily

Purpose of Review Science plays a critical role in natural resource management, and the use of science in decision-making is mandated by several policy initiatives. Other disciplines have documented the challenges associated with applying science to management and possible solutions to overcoming challenges, but the evaluation of science use in wildland fire management is relatively immature. In this

Purpose of Review The increased popularity and commercial use of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) calls for the development of models for NTFPs to include their predicted yields in forest management planning and to evaluate the potential of multi-functional forest management. This study assesses and discusses the current state of the art and trends in NTFP yield modelling in Europe and the integration

Purpose of Review The review examines recent scientific discussion on the concepts and measurements of human connection to nature (CTN) and pro-environmental behaviour (PEB). In addition to that, we explore the environmental contexts in which study populations are exposed to nature or nature experiences, particularly the contexts in which forests emerge from these studies, and lastly outline gaps in

Purpose of Review We review the dynamics of multiple equilibrium models with the adaptive cycle concept and propose a unified theoretical framework. We highlight how the shape of basins of attraction changes along secondary succession and how the shape is influenced by the properties of the adaptive cycle (i.e., potential, connectedness, and resilience) and by ecological traps such as poverty, rigidity

Purpose of Review Defining the mechanisms behind and the leaf economic consequences of the development of sclerophylly in woody plants will allow us to understand its ecological implications, anticipate the potential for adaptation of different tree species to global change, and define new woody plant ideotypes for stress tolerance. Recent Findings Sclerophylly has evolved independently in different

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The figures previously used are the old version and some symbols in the figure captions were displayed incorrectly. Final versions of figures with their captions are provided here.

Purpose of ReviewWe conducted a literature survey and meta-analysis to assess, in Mediterranean forests impacted by drought, the role of xylem functional traits as indicators of tree health, and their potential to adjust over a range of climatic conditions to support tree performance and survival. We aimed also to depict the geographic variability of xylem functional traits among Mediterranean forest

Purpose of Review Natural enemies are an important component for forest functioning. By consuming herbivores, they can be effective top-down regulators of potential pest species. Tree mixtures are generally expected to have larger predator and parasitoid populations compared to monocultures. This assumption is based on the “enemies” hypothesis, a classical ecological concept predicting a positive relationship

Purpose of ReviewResilience is a key concept to deal with an uncertain future in forestry. In recent years, it has received increasing attention from both research and practice. However, a common understanding of what resilience means in a forestry context and how to operationalise it is lacking. Here, we conducted a systematic review of the recent forest science literature on resilience in the forestry

Purpose of ReviewDespite the rapidly increasing use of resilience indices to analyze responses of trees and forests to disturbance events, there is so far no common framework to apply and interpret these indices for different purposes. Therefore, this review aims to identify and discuss various shortcomings and pitfalls of commonly used resilience indices and to develop recommendations for a more robust

Purpose of the ReviewThis review offers essential information on the factors affecting the efficiency of wood chip supply chains, and of comminution in particular. The paper indicates the pros and cons of alternative set ups, as well as the impact of specific technical choices, including machine setup and adjustments. Recent FindingsChipping performance is closely related to chipper characteristics

Purpose of ReviewWinch-assist systems have seen rapid development, adoption, and implementation in many parts of the world in the past decade and can be considered one of the major recent innovations in steep terrain harvesting. Though a comparatively young topic, the literature around this topic has grown considerably during the last decade. This review summarizes the present body of literature on

Purpose of ReviewTropical Montane Cloud Forest (TMCF) is a highly vulnerable ecosystem, which occurs at higher elevations in tropical mountains. Many aspects of TMCF vegetation functioning are poorly understood, making it difficult to quantify and project TMCF vulnerability to global change. We compile functional traits data to provide an overview of TMCF functional ecology. We use numerical models

Purpose of ReviewThe mechanization of silvicultural work on forest plantations is usually driven by a decreasing supply of motivated labour which increases its relative cost. Mechanization can also result in other advantages like increased effectiveness, higher efficiency, and improved working conditions. The purpose of our review is to examine the last few decades’ endeavours to mechanize the regeneration

PurposeThis paper reviews the most recent literature related to the use of remote sensing (RS) data in wildland fire management. Recent FindingsStudies dealing with pre-fire assessment, active fire detection, and fire effect monitoring are reviewed in this paper. The analysis follows the different fire management categories: fire prevention, detection, and post-fire assessment. Extracting the main

Purpose of ReviewLowering the impact of forest utilisation on the forest environment is a part of the improvement in sustainable forest management. As part of forest utilisation, timber harvesting can also cause environmental implications. The main impact of forest operations is on the soil, on regeneration and on the residual stand. The aim of the present review was to identify the state of the art

Purpose of ReviewFor the past few decades, consumers have increasingly demanded biodegradable, petroleum-free, and safe products for the environment, humans, and animals, with improved performance. In terms of energy consumption, modern society has progressively sought to reduce fossil fuel utilization and greenhouse gas emissions. This review presents and discusses the possibilities of using biomass

Purpose of ReviewThis review paper summarizes recent research studies on the pathways to convert lignin into a micro and nanosize materials and their use in advanced applications as these materials are being utilized in greater amounts in recent years. Recent FindingsResearch, development, and applications carried out demonstrate the potential of lignin products (e.g., micro- and nanospheres, nanofibers

Purpose of ReviewForest and biomass utilization is of great significance in the context of global change toward renewable energy and products. Supply chain management has been proven as an effective path to improve economic and environmental performance of forest and biomass products. However, the existing studies are fragmented and task-oriented. In this paper, we aim to systematically form a data-oriented

Purpose of ReviewPrescribed fire escapes continue to challenge most fire and land management agencies and many communities. This article considers the issue from knowledge management (KM) and organizational learning (OL) perspectives. We review organizational initiatives and the literature that have developed over the last 10 years to support learning from escaped prescribed fires, then use this to

Purpose of ReviewCarbon (C) storage provides trees with a pool of C that can be remobilized and used to sustain vital physiological processes when photosynthesis and/or C transport cannot meet a plant’s current demands. As such, it may be an important determinant of tree survival in many cases. However, we do not yet know how often tree mortality occurs as the result of carbon limitation, and therefore

Purpose of ReviewNonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) promote tree survival when photosynthesis is impeded by factors whose impact is expected to increase under climate change, like droughts, herbivory, and fires. Nonetheless, it remains unclear whether NSC are depleted under natural conditions and if they mediate tree recovery. To determine if there is a general pattern of NSC variation, we reviewed

Purpose of ReviewThis review provides perspectives and insights of forest researchers from four continents representing a range of geo-regions, with examples from diverse and dynamic use of forest products that are undervalued and often misrepresented. A comprehensive discussion of the subject provides special attention to property, tenancy, public goods and access rights to non-wood forest products

Purpose of ReviewThis review is on global wildland fire management research needs from the standpoint of “integrated fire management”. It seeks to apply a characterisation of fires to frame research needs, and also recognise some differences in research needs between “normal wildfires” and “extreme wildfire events” and draw some distinctions between the needs for developing and developed countries

Purpose of ReviewThe objectives of this paper are to briefly review basic risk management and analytics concepts, describe their nexus in relation to wildfire response, demonstrate real-world application of analytics to support response decisions and organizational learning, and outline an analytics strategy for the future. Recent FindingsAnalytics can improve decision-making and organizational performance

Purpose of ReviewThe two Nordic European Union countries, Finland and Sweden, have common features and similarities based on their rich forest resources and sizable sawmill industry with internationalization mainly through exports. We compared the Finnish and Swedish sawmill industries and market developments since 1990 and discussed the most eminent country and firm-level differences. In this context

Purpose of ReviewHolm oak is a relevant species, both for its distribution and ecological importance. Among the risks looming over this species, oak decline—influenced by extreme climatic events, and alien-invasive species—is considered the main factor causing the loss of holm oak in Mediterranean open woodlands. The aim of this review is to identify and summarize the effects of drought and pathogen

Purpose of ReviewThe overall objective of this paper is to review the state of knowledge on the application of radar data for detecting bark beetle attacks in forests. Due to the increased availability of high spatial and temporal resolution radar data (e.g. Sentinel-1 (S1)), the question is how this time series data can support operational forest management with respect to forest insect damage prevention

Purpose of ReviewIn this article, we review existing research addressing how environmental regulations have influenced the pulp and paper industry. These regulations appear in different forms and designs and address air and water pollution as well as climate change. The paper devotes particular attention to how various regulations have affected sustainable technological change and the prospects for

Purpose of ReviewWe provide a comprehensive review of the empirical and modelling approaches used to quantify the radiation–vegetation interactions related to vegetation temperature, leaf optical properties linked to pigment absorption and chlorophyll fluorescence emission, and of their capability to monitor vegetation health. Part 1 provides an overview of the main physiological indicators (PIs) applied

Purpose of ReviewThe adoption of Structure from Motion photogrammetry (SfM) is transforming the acquisition of three-dimensional (3D) remote sensing (RS) data in forestry. SfM photogrammetry enables surveys with little cost and technical expertise. We present the theoretical principles and practical considerations of this technology and show opportunities that SfM photogrammetry offers for forest practitioners

Purpose of ReviewLogging practices change and evolve over time to accomplish forest management goals considering constraints related to physical feasibility, economics, and social acceptability. Relative to its size New Zealand has a large and productive plantation forest estate and a well-established forest industry. In recent years, New Zealand has undergone significant changes to its timber harvesting

Purpose of ReviewOne of the challenges of forest operations is to consider the consequences of different management strategies and to estimate the economic, environmental and social performance of different processes, products, or services. From the methods available to quantify the impact of alternative forest management, we selected the method of Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA), an iterative

Purpose of ReviewThe forest structure generally refers to the configuration and distribution of different plant species and sizes. Investigation and analysis of forest structures help us to understand the history, current status, and future development of forest ecological systems. This paper aims at a systematic summary of the quantitative analysis methods of forest structure. Recent FindingsThe marked

Purpose of ReviewThis paper aims to provide a comprehensive but concise review of the various quantitative methods, in particular, optimization techniques, for the efficient management and control of complex forest biomass supply chains. The review is structured around a top-down hierarchical planning approach that includes strategic, tactical, and operational decisions. At each planning level, the

Purpose of ReviewThree-dimensional (3D) data on forest structure have transformed the level of detail and accuracy of forest information. While these 3D data have primarily been derived from airborne laser scanning (ALS), there has been growing interest in the use of 3D data derived from digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP) and image-matching algorithms. In particular, research and operational forestry

Purpose of ReviewThe potential of nanotechnology and nanocomposites in various sectors of research and application is promising and attracting increasing investment. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the preparation of nanomaterials from different cellulosic sources including wood. The transformation of cellulose down to the nanoscale endow these nanomaterials with new properties

Purpose of ReviewIntegrated harvesting (i.e., the combined harvesting of roundwood and residues) has a large potential for replication, since all operations produce residues, which could be turned into a collateral product. For this reason, much work has been produced over the years about the subject, and the current bibliography is abundant, fragmented, and occasionally contradictory. The goal of

Purpose of ReviewContaining and controlling wildfire incidents is one of the main functions of fire management. Understanding how this can be done effectively and efficiently informs many of the preparatory activities undertaken by fire management agencies to limit the impact of wildfires. This second article within a two-part series summarizing the current understanding of wildfire suppression effectiveness

Purpose of ReviewThe effectiveness of wildfire suppression is difficult to define as it can be assessed against different objectives and at a range of scales. The influence of multiple variables make it a challenge to research. This two-part series presents a synthesis of the current understanding of the effectiveness of wildfire suppression determined from studies of observational data and incident

Purpose of ReviewThe furniture sector worldwide is rapidly developing and diversifying. The furniture market faces nowadays a competition between various composites and solid wood furniture which is more reliable and environmentally-friendly. Various valuable species, such as oak, ash, and cherry, in addition to other common hardwood and softwood species are chosen by small- or medium-sized furniture

Purpose of ReviewPrevention effectiveness relies on knowledge about the spatio-temporal likelihood of fire occurrence and whether fires are a result of natural processes or human influence. Such knowledge can be used to develop more effective tools and strategies to reduce both the likelihood of and damage from unwanted fires. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of wildland fire prevention

Purpose of ReviewThe search for causal mechanisms in fire ecology has been slow to progress for two main reasons. First, many fire ecology investigations often occur after fires, with no detailed information on fire behavior. These fire effects are then used to infer both fire behavior and the subsequent effects themselves. Second, that fire behavior is heterogeneous at many scales both spatially and

Purpose of ReviewThis paper seeks to make an inquiry into the state-of-the art scholarly research of service marketing phenomena in the context of non-industrial private forest owners (NIPF). Its aim is to find out how service marketing issues have been approached in scholarly papers and what kinds of separate research approaches exist towards service marketing challenges. The core purpose of this

Purpose of ReviewThe primary focus of this paper is to review articles that incorporate forest carbon sequestration or bioenergy into an optimization framework for forest management at the stand and forest levels and to highlight the gaps in the literature. Forest management is seen as a cost-effective strategy to reduce carbon emission, and optimization techniques are a powerful tool to assist in

Purpose of ReviewTheoretical frameworks for adaptive natural resource management are quite common, whereas documented examples showing successful implementation of adaptive management and learning through multiple time intervals have remained uncommon. Measures of quality of adaptive natural resource management processes are needed to examine potential factors driving the successful implementation

Purpose of ReviewIncreased availability of current forest resource information provides an opportunity to evaluate the continued concerns about forest sustainability in North America. The purpose of this study is to assess and discuss the current state and trends of North American forest resources, sustainable forest management, and their implications for forest sustainability. Recent FindingsRecent

Purpose of ReviewThe continued, rapid development of novel molecular genetic tools is contributing to a better understanding of forest-associated fungi and their interactive roles within diverse forest ecosystems. This paper focuses on recent developments of DNA-based diagnostics/detection, phylogenetics, population genetics, genomics, and metagenomics tools that have been applied to forest-associated

Purpose of ReviewClimate change affects populations of forest insect pests in a number of ways. We reviewed the most recent literature (2013–2017) on this subject including previous reviews on the topic. We provide a comprehensive discussion of the subject, with special attention to insect range expansion, insect abundance, impacts on forest ecosystems, and effects on forest insect communities. We

Purpose of ReviewWe use the ‘seascape’ concept to explore how interactions between mangrove forests, tidal marshes and seagrass influence the storage of carbon in these ecosystems. Mangrove forests, with the other two ‘blue carbon’ habitats, are exceptionally powerful carbon sinks. Maintaining and enhancing these sinks is an emerging priority in climate change mitigation. However, managing any one

Purpose of ReviewThe nematode genus Bursaphelenchus is a highly divergent group containing fungal feeders and obligate and facultative plant parasites. The genus is also known as the phoretic (and parasitic) associates of many groups of insects. Further, two major plant pathogens, B. xylophilus and B. cocophilus, are members of this genus, and several other species are suspected to be weak to moderate

Plant transpiration is a key component of the terrestrial water cycle, and it is important to understand whether rates are likely to increase or decrease in the future. Plant transpiration rates are affected by biophysical factors, such as air temperature, vapour pressure deficits and net radiation, and by plant factors, such as canopy leaf area and stomatal conductance. Under future climate change

Purpose of ReviewIntensive management of forest plantations has evolved significantly in recent decades because of advances in our understanding of environmental and silvicultural effects on forest productivity combined with improvements in information technologies. Our paper summarizes concepts that provide a basis for making strategic and operational silvicultural decisions that insure sustainability

Purpose of ReviewThe European Union’s targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have led to the increasing demand for forest biomass in energy production, which, in turn, has raised questions about the adequacy of supply and the sustainability of forest biomass resources for energy. Although the prospects of using biomass for energy have been studied extensively, the outcomes and estimates differ

Purpose of ReviewIn this paper, the authors review the available literature on the manufacture and usage of hardwood cross-laminated timber (CLT) and discuss the technical and economic feasibility of hardwood CLT including procurement issues. Recent FindingsCLT is an emerging building system in North America that has attracted the attention of construction professionals, developers, and researchers

Purpose of reviewForest models are tools for analysis and prediction of productivity and other services. Model outputs can only be useful if possible errors in inputs and model structure are recognized. However, errors cannot be quantified directly, making uncertainty inevitable. In this paper, we aim to clarify terminological confusion around the concepts of error and uncertainty and review current

Purpose of ReviewThe aim is to help identify how spatial facets of forest management can be analyzed and better understood in strategic forest management planning. Focus is on stand-level spatial interdependencies potentially related to a wide range of considerations including wildlife habitat, invasive species, forest management regulations, and cost of harvest operations. Spatial facets addressed

Purpose of ReviewThe aim of this study was to analyze the differences and similarities between the concepts circular economy (CE) and cascading utilization (CU) and the interactions between these concepts. The method chosen for this study was a qualitative content analysis, which was conducted on academic CU publications that appeared between 1990 and 2016. To identify connections between CU and CE