| 1. |
- Airey, Sam, et al.
(författare)
-
"Georgetown ain't got a tree. We got the trees"-Amerindian Power & Participation in Guyana's Low Carbon Development Strategy
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 8:3
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- International bi-lateral agreements to support the conservation of rainforests to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are growing in prevalence. In 2009, the governments of Guyana and Norway established Guyana's Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). We examine the extent to which the participation and inclusion of Guyana's indigenous population within the LCDS is being achieved. We conducted a single site case study, focussing on the experiences and perceptions from the Amerindian community of Chenapou. Based on 30 interviews, we find that a deficit of adequate dialogue and consultation has occurred in the six years since the LCDS was established. Moreover, key indigenous rights, inscribed at both a national and international level, have not been upheld with respect to the community of Chenapou. Our findings identify consistent shortcomings to achieve genuine participation and the distinct and reinforced marginalisation of Amerindian communities within the LCDS. A further critique is the failure of the government to act on previous research, indicating a weakness of not including indigenous groups in the Guyana-Norway bi-lateral agreement. We conclude that, if the government is to uphold the rights of Amerindian communities in Guyana, significant adjustments are needed. A more contextualised governance, decentralising power and offering genuine participation and inclusion, is required to support the engagement of marginal forest-dependent communities in the management of their natural resources.
|
|
| 2. |
- Andersson, Elias, et al.
(författare)
-
Adaptation to climate change in forestry : a perspective on forest ownership and adaptation responses
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI. - 1999-4907. ; 8:12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adaptation to climate change has often been discussed from the perspectives of social vulnerability and community vulnerability, recognising that characteristics at local level will influence the particular adaptations undertaken. However, the extent to which national-level systemic factors influence and shape measures defined as adaptations has seldom been recognised. Focusing on adaptation to climate change in forestry, this study uses the example of two countries in the northern hemisphere with different forest ownership structures, forestry industry and traditions: Sweden, with strong private, non-industrial ownership, dominant forest industry and long forestry traditions; and Scotland, with forest ownership dominated by large estates and investment forestry based on plantations of exotic conifer species. The study shows how adaptation to climate change is structurally embedded and conditioned, which has resulted in specific challenges and constraints for different groups of forest owners within these two different contexts. This produces a specific set of political spaces and policy tools by rendering climate change in relation to forestry manageable, negotiable and practical/logical in specific ways. It is recommended that the focus of future work on climate-related issues and development of adaptation measures and policy should not be primarily on climate-related factors, but on institutional analysis of structural factors and logics in target sectors, in order to critically explore concepts of agency and power within these processes.
|
|
| 3. |
- Bartholdson, Örjan, et al.
(författare)
-
Is REDD plus More of an Institutional Affair than a Market Process? The Concealed Social and Cultural Consequences of an Ongoing REDD plus Project in Kolo Hills, Tanzania
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The neo-liberal rationale behind REDD programs aims to create a market for common resources, with monetary payment incentives as the most important driver for conservation initiatives. In reality, however, the chain of implementation from UN to village, encompassing numerous processes of design, planning, and practices at distinct levels and contexts, is more institutional and political than economic. This research project follows the planning and implementation process of a REDD+ project in the Kolo Hills, Tanzania. The analysis showed that the project's main objectives were poorly understood by the men and women of the target group, who interpreted it as yet another top-down postcolonial project. The target group's interpretations also made them act in accordance with their own cultural rationality and logic of practice and not as the donors and project implementers had assumed. The project objectives of the payment system, consciousness awareness and engagement of the target population, thus, seem to have failed, despite the donors' and implementers' claim of success.
|
|
| 4. |
- Brukas, Vilis
(författare)
-
Economic Forest Sustainability: Comparison between Lithuania and Sweden
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 6, s. 47-64
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study conceptualizes economic forest sustainability as "the forest-related income and economic well-being sustained over time" and then compares Lithuania and Sweden at different scales. Sweden adopts a holistic perspective of the forest sector, where forestry and forest industries are perceived as a well-integrated economic branch. Forestry is expected to deliver raw material to forest industries, at the same time creating good preconditions for profitable forest management. Forest owners are given large freedom to act according to market signals and their own household needs, while the resulting intensive forest management cumulatively leads to a significant contribution to the country's welfare. Lithuania, in contrast, lacks an integrated sector perspective, forestry and forest industries being regarded as two separate realms. Private forest property rights are severely constrained by numerous legislative stipulations, leading to a significant reduction of economic value in production forests. On top of that, thirty percent of private owners face additional restrictions through forestland zoning, leading to further substantial loss of economic value. We suggest several measures for improving the economic forest sustainability in Lithuania, where a genuine national forest program could serve as a suitable bearing medium.
|
|
| 5. |
- Brukas, Vilis, et al.
(författare)
-
How Sensitive Are Ecosystem Services in European Forest Landscapes to Silvicultural Treatment?
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 6, s. 1666-1695
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While sustainable forestry in Europe is characterized by the provision of a multitude of forest ecosystem services, there exists no comprehensive study that scrutinizes their sensitivity to forest management on a pan-European scale, so far. We compile scenario runs from regionally tailored forest growth models and Decision Support Systems (DSS) from 20 case studies throughout Europe and analyze whether the ecosystem service provision depends on management intensity and other co-variables, comprising regional affiliation, social environment, and tree species composition. The simulation runs provide information about the case-specifically most important ecosystem services in terms of appropriate indicators. We found a strong positive correlation between management intensity and wood production, but only weak correlation with protective and socioeconomic forest functions. Interestingly, depending on the forest region, we found that biodiversity can react in both ways, positively and negatively, to increased management intensity. Thus, it may be in tradeoff or in synergy with wood production and forest resource maintenance. The covariables species composition and social environment are of punctual interest only, while the affiliation to a certain region often makes an important difference in terms of an ecosystem service's treatment sensitivity.
|
|
| 6. |
- Brukas, Vilis
(författare)
-
Spatial Pattern of Climate Change Effects on Lithuanian Forestry
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research Highlights: Validating modelling approach which combines global framework conditions in the form of climate and policy scenarios with the use of forest decision support system to assess climate change impacts on the sustainability of forest management. Background and Objectives: Forests and forestry have been confirmed to be sensitive to climate. On the other hand, human efforts to mitigate climate change influence forests and forest management. To facilitate the evaluation of future sustainability of forest management, decision support systems are applied. Our aims are to: (1) Adopt and validate decision support tool to incorporate climate change and its mitigation impacts on forest growth, global timber demands and prices for simulating future trends of forest ecosystem services in Lithuania, (2) determine the magnitude and spatial patterns of climate change effects on Lithuanian forests and forest management in the future, supposing that current forestry practices are continued. Materials and Methods: Upgraded version of Lithuanian forestry simulator Kupolis was used to model the development of all forests in the country until 2120 under management conditions of three climate change scenarios. Selected stand-level forest and forest management characteristics were aggregated to the level of regional branches of the State Forest Enterprise and analyzed for the spatial and temporal patterns of climate change effects. Results: Increased forest growth under a warmer future climate resulted in larger tree dimensions, volumes of growing stock, naturally dying trees, harvested assortments, and also higher profits from forestry activities. Negative impacts were detected for the share of broadleaved tree species in the standing volume and the tree species diversity. Climate change effects resulted in spatially clustered patterns-increasing stand productivity, and amounts of harvested timber were concentrated in the regions with dominating coniferous species, while the same areas were exposed to negative dynamics of biodiversity-related forest attributes. Current forest characteristics explained 70% or more of the variance of climate change effects on key forest and forest management attributes. Conclusions: Using forest decision support systems, climate change scenarios and considering the balance of delivered ecosystem services is suggested as a methodological framework for validating forest management alternatives aiming for more adaptiveness in Lithuanian forestry.
|
|
| 7. |
- Böhlenius, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
-
Exploration of Optimal Agricultural Practices and Seedling Types for Establishing Poplar Plantations
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 6, s. 2785-2798
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Controlling competing vegetation during early growth is one of the most important practices for the successful establishment of poplar plantations. Today, most poplar plantations in temperate regions are established on abandoned marginal agricultural land where competing vegetation is usually present during the first years after planting. Thus, the objective of this study was to examine how the growth of two kinds of poplar planting materials, un-rooted cuttings and bare-rooted seedlings was influenced by different vegetation control and soil preparation practices. Across treatments, un-rooted cuttings grew more rapidly than the bare-rooted seedlings. Our results also show that mulching with a degradable carpet or permanent polyethylene plastic increased seedling growth to a similar extent and more strongly in the cases of no treatment (in control plots). In addition, the results suggest that soil preparation in the mulched area favored seedling growth, but this effect was restricted to the first year after planting. These findings indicate that optimal practices for establishing poplar plantations on former agricultural land include planting un-rooted cuttings in prepared soil and mulching.
|
|
| 8. |
- Böhlenius, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
-
Influence of Cutting Type and Fertilization in Production of Containerized Poplar Plants
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 8
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Most poplar plantations are planted on marginal agricultural land, but poplar plantations also hold the potential for increased profits compared to plantations of other species on non-agricultural, previously forested land. To date, the establishment of poplar plantations on previously forested land is limited by the production of suitable containerized poplar stock for planting. The objective of this study is to investigate how different cutting quality and fertilizer treatments influence height, diameter, and root biomass growth and root-to-shoot ratio, all important variables for plant establishment. Our results show that fertilization increases plant growth and that single-bud and two-bud cuttings with cutting diameters of 5 to 10 mm can be used in the production of containerized plants. Root biomass was similar between these plant types but the number of roots per plant was higher if two-bud cuttings were used. In contrast to fertilized plants, only one cutting type (two-bud 10 mm) grew to a sufficient height and diameter for use in poplar plantation establishment. Interestingly, the root-to-shoot ratio for this cutting type was 0.16 while the ratio for the same cutting type is 0.11 if fertilized. Together, these results suggest that most types of poplar cuttings can be used to establish poplar plantations if fertilizer is used and that the largest cutting type (two-bud 10 mm) might be more suitable to establish poplar plantations at harsh sites, thus reducing the cost of poplar plant production.
|
|
| 9. |
- Chen, F., et al.
(författare)
-
Juniper Tree-Ring Data from the Kuramin Range (Northern Tajikistan) Reveals Changing Summer Drought Signals in Western Central Asia
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 10:6
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Coniferous forests cover the mountains in many parts of Central Asia and provide large potentials for dendroclimatic studies of past climate variability. However, to date, only a few tree-ring based climate reconstructions exist from this region. Here, we present a regional tree-ring chronology from the moisture-sensitive Zeravshan juniper (Juniperus seravschanica Kom.) from the Kuramin Range (Tajikistan) in western Central Asia, which is used to reveal past summer drought variability from 1650 to 2015 Common Era (CE). The chronology accounts for 40.5% of the variance of the June-July self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (scPDSI) during the instrumental period (1901 to 2012). Seven dry periods, including 1659-1696, 1705-1722, 1731-1741, 1758-1790, 1800-1842, 1860-1875, and 1931-1987, and five wet periods, including 1742-1752, 1843-1859, 1876-1913, 1921-1930, and 1988-2015, were identified. Good agreements between drought records from western and eastern Central Asia suggest that the PDSI records retain common drought signals and capture the regional dry/wet periods of Central Asia. Moreover, the spectral analysis indicates the existence of centennial (128 years), decadal (24.3 and 11.4 years), and interannual (8.0, 3.6, 2.9, and 2.0 years) cycles, which may be linked with climate forces, such as solar activity and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The analysis between the scPDSI reconstruction and large-scale atmospheric circulations during the reconstructed extreme dry and wet years can provide information about the linkages of extremes in our scPDSI record with the large-scale ocean-atmosphere-land circulation systems.
|
|
| 10. |
- Cleary, Michelle
(författare)
-
Effects of Host Variability on the Spread of Invasive Forest Diseases
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 8
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biological invasions, resulting from deliberate and unintentional species transfers of insects, fungal and oomycete organisms, are a major consequence of globalization and pose a significant threat to biodiversity. Limiting damage by non-indigenous forest pathogens requires an understanding of their current and potential distributions, factors affecting disease spread, and development of appropriate management measures. In this review, we synthesize innate characteristics of invading organisms (notably mating system, reproduction type, and dispersal mechanisms) and key factors of the host population (namely host diversity, host connectivity, and host susceptibility) that govern spread and impact of invasive forest pathogens at various scales post-introduction and establishment. We examine spread dynamics for well-known invasive forest pathogens, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (T. Kowalski) Baral, Queloz, Hosoya, comb. nov., causing ash dieback in Europe, and Cryphonectria parasitica, (Murr.) Barr, causing chestnut blight in both North America and Europe, illustrating the importance of host variability (diversity, connectivity, susceptibility) in their invasion success. While alien pathogen entry has proven difficult to control, and new biological introductions are indeed inevitable, elucidating the key processes underlying host variability is crucial for scientists and managers aimed at developing effective strategies to prevent future movement of organisms and preserve intact ecosystems.
|
|
