Forest Structure

Stand structure and species diversity are two useful parameters to provide a synthetic measure of forest biodiversity. The stand structure is spatial distribution, mutual position, diameter and height differentiation of trees in a forest ecosystem and it highly influences habitat and species diversity. The forest stand and species diversity can be measured through indices that provide important information to better address silvicultural practices and forest management strategies in the short and long-term period. These indices can be combined in a composite index in order to evaluate the complex diversity at the stand level. The aim of the paper is to identify and to test a complex index (S-index) allowing to take into account both the tree species composition and the stand structure. S-index was applied in a case study in the north-east of Italy (Trentino province). The results show that the Norway spruce forests in Trentino province are characterized by a medium-low level of comp...

Silviculture and wind damages. The storm "Vaia" On October 29 th , 2018, storm Vaia hit forests in north-eastern Italy, causing the loss of 8 million cubic meters of standing trees and, more importantly, the sudden reduction of forest-related ecosystem services. Such event is not unprecedented: a similar storm had occurred in the same regions in 1966. Every year, an average of two extratropical storms affects the European continent, where wind is the most important agent of forest damage, contributing to more than half of total forest losses (38 million cubic meters of downed wood per year). The probability of storm damage in forests depends on four drivers: weather, site conditions, topography, and tree and stand characteristics. However, peak wind speed is the dominant factor: over certain gust velocities, trees are broken or uprooted regardless of their characteristicssuch velocities were certainly met by the Vaia event. In this case it may be impossible to avoid or mitigate wind damages. Nonetheless, management options to enhance the long-term forest resistance and resilience always exist. In this perspective, the storm Vaia (after the emergency management) and its consequences could be considered as a key lesson to be learned and as an important opportunity to enhance the resilience of Italian forest stands.

Although forest edges have been studied extensively as an important consequence of fragmentation, a unifying theory of edge influence has yet to be developed. Our objective was to take steps toward the development of such a theory by (1) synthesizing the current knowledge of patterns of forest structure and composition at anthropogenically created forest edges, (2) developing hypotheses about the magnitude and distance of edge influence that consider the ecological processes influencing these patterns, and (3) identifying needs for future research. We compiled data from 44 published studies on edge influence on forest structure and composition in boreal, temperate, and tropical forests. Abiotic and biotic gradients near created forest edges generate a set of primary responses to edge creation. Indirect effects from these primary responses and the original edge gradient perpetuate edge influence, leading to secondary responses. Further changes in vegetation affect the edge environment, resulting in ongoing edge dynamics. We suggest that the magnitude and distance of edge influence are a direct function of the contrast in structure and composition between adjacent communities on either side of the edge. Local factors such as climate, edge characteristics, stand attributes, and biotic factors affect patch contrast. Regional factors define the context within which to assess the ecological significance of edge influence (the degree to which the edge habitat differs from interior forest habitat). Our hypotheses will help predict edge influence on structure and composition in forested ecosystems, an important consideration for conservation. For future research on forest edges in fragmented landscapes, we encourage the testing of our hypotheses, the use of standardized methodology, complete descriptions of study sites, studies on other types of edges, synthesis of edge influence on different components of the ecosystem, and investigations of edges in a landscape context.

Old-growth forests are of major importance for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, as well as being a benchmark for the implementation of sustainable forest management. Although dedicated studies have significantly increased in the last decades, there is still limited knowledge of Mediterranean forests, especially those dominated by Quercus pubescens and related taxa. To fill this knowledge gap, we primarily studied in the field two downy oak forests possessing old-growth traits, localized in Sicily (Mediterranean, Italy). Second, we used a structural heterogeneity index (SHI) to assess their old-growthness level, in comparison with the downy oak stands surveyed in the Regional Forest Inventory (RFI) of Sicily. Third, we tested the effect of different sets of structural parameters on SHI scores, thus assessing whether their choice could affect the final score and the stand assessment. SHI was well proven to discriminate these two stands from the others, both showing, on average, a SHI score just higher than 80, whilst SHI in RFI plots was just under 50, a significantly lower value. The methodological approach used in our study highlights the need to standardize the parameters used to characterize the old-growthness level of Mediterranean forests in order to allow more reliable comparisons. Most of the structural parameters were higher in the two selected stands, except for the attributes related to standing deadwood, suggesting a still limited contribution of standing dead trees and snags in the potential old-growth stands under investigation. The application of a structural index has proven effective for the purpose it was tested for, demonstrating its usefulness in discriminating between two potential old-growth stands from ordinary stands of the same forest type. We believe that both forests deserve primary attention and tailored management measures, as well as inclusion in the recently established Italian Network of old-growth forests.

f orest conservation outside protected areas is taking center stage in global conservation discourse. this study was conducted to clarify the species composition, vegetation structure and plant diversity at the northern periphery of the Boumba-Bek national park, whose timber and non-timber forest products (ntfps) have been used by the local peoples and logging companies. A total of 16 transects measuring 5 km in length and 5 m in width were delineated. the survey recorded dBh of all tree individuals above 10 cm. the result shows a total number of 17,583 trees with a density of 439.6 stems/ ha (total area = 40 ha). these trees belong to 51 families, 169 genera and 247 species. Shannon-Wiener diversity index (h') ranged from 5.94 to 6.51 and higher diversity was recorded in the Agroforest Zone. the family importance index (fiV) marked highest score for euphorbiaceae and combretaceae. the importance index for species (iVi) was higher for Terminalia superba, Musanga cecropioides, An...

We examined seasonal patterns of spatial variation in understory bird assemblages across a mosaic of upland and floodplain forests in central Amazonia, where variation in flooding patterns and floodwater nutrient load shapes a marked spatial heterogeneity in forest structure and composition. Despite great differences in productivity due to flooding by either nutrient-rich ''white waters'' (va ´rzea) or nutrient-poor ''black waters'' (igapo ´), bird assemblages in the two floodplain forest types were relatively similar, showing lower abundances than adjacent upland forests (terra firme) and sharing a set of species that were absent or scarce elsewhere. Species that breed in pensile nests

Snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) are a primary prey species for Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) in western North America. Lynx management plans require knowledge of potential prey distribution and abundance in the western United States. Whether even‐aged regenerating forests or multi‐storied forests contain more snowshoe hares is currently unknown. During 2006–2008, we estimated snowshoe hare density in 3 classes of 30–70‐year‐old lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and 4 classes of late seral multi‐storied forest with a spruce (Picea engelmannii)‐fir (Abies lasiocarpa) component in the Bridger‐Teton National Forest, Wyoming. We recorded physiographic variables and forest structure characteristics to understand how these factors influence abundance of snowshoe hares. In many instances, snowshoe hares were more abundant in late seral multi‐storied forests than regenerating even‐aged forests. Forest attributes predicting hare abundance were often more prevalent in multi‐storied forests. La...

A terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) was used to measure canopy directional gap fraction distribution in forest stands in the Swiss National Park, eastern Switzerland. A scanner model was derived to determine the expected number of laser shots in all directions, and these data were compared with the measured number of laser hits to determine directional gap fraction at eight sampling points. Directional gap fraction distributions were determined from digital hemispherical photographs recorded at the same sampling locations in the forest, and these data were compared with distributions computed from the laser scanner data. The results showed that the measured directional gap fraction distributions were similar for both hemispherical photography and TLS data with a high degree of precision in the area of overlap of orthogonal laser scans. Analysis of hemispherical photography to determine canopy gap fraction normally requires some manual data processing; laser scanners offer semiautomatic measurement of directional gap fraction distribution plus additional threedimensional information about tree height, gap size, and foliage distributions.

The present study was conducted to document the distribution of ant species in Aranya Forest. During the study, 26 species belonging to 7 subfamilies were identified, including Formicinae (10 species), Myrmicinae (6 species), Ponerinae (3 species), Pseudomyrmicinae (3 species), Dorylinae (2 species), Dolichoderinae (1 species), and Amblyoponinae (1 species). The current study is the first distributional record of ants from this location. This work would contribute to the existing knowledge about South Indian ant species.

Abstract
Aim: Amazonia hosts more tree species from numerous evolutionary lineages, both young and ancient, than any other biogeographic region. Previous studies have shown that tree lineages colonized multiple edaphic environments and dispersed widely across Amazonia, leading to a hypothesis, which we test, that lineages should not be strongly associated with either geographic regions or edaphic forest types.
Location: Amazonia.
Taxon: Angiosperms (Magnoliids; Monocots; Eudicots).
Methods: Data for the abundance of 5082 tree species in 1989 plots were combined with a mega-phylogeny. We applied evolutionary ordination to assess how phyloge- netic composition varies across Amazonia. We used variation partitioning and Moran's eigenvector maps (MEM) to test and quantify the separate and joint contributions of spatial and environmental variables to explain the phylogenetic composition of plots. We tested the indicator value of lineages for geographic regions and edaphic forest types and mapped associations onto the phylogeny.
Results: In the terra firme and várzea forest types, the phylogenetic composition var- ies by geographic region, but the igapó and white-sand forest types retain a unique evolutionary signature regardless of region. Overall, we find that soil chemistry, cli- mate and topography explain 24% of the variation in phylogenetic composition, with 79% of that variation being spatially structured (R2 = 19% overall for combined spa- tial/environmental effects). The phylogenetic composition also shows substantial spatial patterns not related to the environmental variables we quantified (R2 = 28%). A greater number of lineages were significant indicators of geographic regions than forest types.
Main Conclusion: Numerous tree lineages, including some ancient ones (>66 Ma), show strong associations with geographic regions and edaphic forest types of Amazonia. This shows that specialization in specific edaphic environments has played a long-standing role in the evolutionary assembly of Amazonian forests. Furthermore, many lineages, even those that have dispersed across Amazonia, dominate within a specific region, likely because of phylogenetically conserved niches for environmental conditions that are prevalent within regions.

Lo studio degli scarabei in pietra dura della Sardegna punica (fine VI-III sec. a.C.), oggetto della tesi di dottorato che ha portato alla presente pubblicazione, nasce da un interesse profondo nei confronti della glittica sviluppato in occasione della laurea e maturato ulteriormente negli anni. Tale ricerca ha tentato di soddisfare l’esigenza di disporre di un quadro aggiornato e quanto più possibile completo su una classe di materiali che ancora necessita di approfondimenti, mettendone a fuoco gli aspetti tecnologici, funzionali, tipologici, iconografici e stilistici. La notevole mole di reperti da schedare ed esaminare ha messo in luce una serie di informazioni che si pongono come base per il prosieguo della ricerca sotto tutti i suoi aspetti, da quelli già analizzati a quelli che per difficoltà oggettive non è stato possibile approfondire. Questo lavoro si propone anche come momento di inizio per la prossima valorizzazione e fruizione non solo degli scarabei in pietra dura, ma dell’intera collezione glittica del Museo Archeologico di Cagliari. Infatti attualmente è dedicato uno spazio espositivo tutt’altro che adeguato ad una collezione che annovera reperti di grande interesse e straordinario valore documentale, ferma restando l'oggettiva difficoltà di una esposizione efficace per oggetti con dimensioni così ridotte. Tale lavoro di ricerca  per la prima volta riunisce in un solo lavoro tutti gli scarabei in pietra dura della collezione museale cagliaritana.

Field studies in Amazonia have found a relationship at continental scales between soil fertility and broad trends in forest structure and function. Little is known at regional scales, however, about how discrete patterns in forest structure or functional attributes map onto underlying edaphic or geological patterns. We collected airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data and VSWIR (Visible to Shortwave Infrared) imaging spectroscopy measurements over 600 km 2 of northwestern Amazonian lowland forests. We also established 83 inventories of plant species composition and soil properties, distributed between two widespread geological formations. Using these data, we mapped forest structure and canopy reflectance, and compared them to patterns in plant species composition, soils, and underlying geology. We found that variations in soils and species composition explained up to 70% of variation in canopy height, and corresponded to profound changes in forest vertical profiles. We further found that soils and plant species composition explained more than 90% of the variation in canopy reflectance as measured by imaging spectroscopy, indicating edaphic and compositional control of canopy chemical properties. We last found that soils explained between 30% and 70% of the variation in gap frequency in these forests, depending on the height threshold used to define gaps. Our findings indicate that a relatively small number of edaphic and compositional variables, corresponding to underlying geology, may be responsible for variations in canopy structure and chemistry over large expanses of Amazonian forest.

We investigated the regeneration requirements of the two dominant tree species in a 14 mixed-oak forest of SW Portugal: Q. suber (cork oak, evergreen) and Q. faginea 15 (Portuguese oak,winter-deciduous). We hypothesized that: (1) recruits of different oak 16 species are differentially influenced by soil and overstory variables; and (2) different 17 factors explain the recruitment occurrence and performance of the same species. We 18 sampled the recruits' height and diameter, and several environmental and forest structure 19 variables of their microsites. Both recruitment occurrence and performance were 20 modelled using generalized linear models. Our final models predicted the probability of 21 occurrence of recruits of Q. faginea and Q. suber with 74% and 82% of accuracy, 22 respectively, and explained about 50% of the variance of their recruitment performance. 23 The recruits of Q. faginea tended to occur in microsites with higher canopy height, 24 canopy density and litter cover, and closer to both conspecific and heterospecific adults, 25 while the opposite was true for recruits of Q. suber. The performance of recruits of Q. 26 suber was favoured by the higher litter cover (a good surrogate for N and P availability), 27 but negatively affected by the higher litter depth. We concluded that: (1) there were 28 significantly different regeneration niches for each species (Q. faginea and Q. suber), (2) 29 the factors explaining the of recruitment occurrence differed from those explaining the 30 recruitment performance; (3) the overstory plays a complex and important role in the 31 regeneration process; (4) different variables apparently related with the same 32 environmental factor (e.g. litter cover and litter depth) could affect recruits in an opposite 33 way, (5) sensitive trade-offs must be considered for delineating management actions, 34 since they could favour the regeneration of Q. suber but, at the same time, negatively 35 affect the regeneration of Q. faginea.

We collected and mapped epigeous fruitbodies of both ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and saprobic fungi in an old-growth Quercus ilex L. Mediterranean forest within a permanent transect of 6400 m2 over three consecutive fruiting seasons. Out of 5382 fruitbodies, a total of 234 species were found, including 166 and 68 ECM and saprobic taxa, respectively. Both communities were mainly composed of rare species. Two genera, Russula and Cortinarius, accounted for 34.4% of ECM fruitbodies and 50% of species diversity. The three most abundant ECM species were Laccaria laccata (Scop.: Fr.) Berk. & Broome, Inocybe tigrina R. Heim, and Lactarius chrysorrheus Fr. The fruiting ECM community encompassed a few Mediterranean species and numerous broad host range temperate species. We also analysed the fruiting patterns in relation to forest structure, host composition, and natural canopy gaps. The results showed (i) a significant correlation of species richness to tree density, (ii) a richness decrease as th...

Mangroves are amongst the most efficient carbon-sequestering ecosystems, and S. apetala is one of the key species which is planted along the coastal belt in Bangladesh. However, silvicultural operations like thinning on the carbon stock of this planted species is still inconclusive. Here, several silvicultural approaches (with or without thinning and with or without recruitment) was conducted to compare the development of planted forests in terms of forest management. Also, an individualbased model (e.g., KiWi model) has been created to evaluate demographic processes in coastal mangrove forests using abiotic environmental parameters. The findings demonstrate that 3.5 m radius thinning produces the highest aboveground carbon stocks in in S. apetala plantations in the study area. In Bangladesh coastal plantations, the 2.5 m and 3.0 m thinning radius are ideal because they include an adequate number of trees while producing as much aboveground carbon as the 3.5 m thinning radius. This experiment strongly demonstrates that the KiWi model can simulate genuine dynamic growth patterns and that thinning has an influence on carbon stock. Simulation experiments tailored to the study sites' configurations gave a forecast of future stand development, which is critical for mangrove forest management and policy implementation.

Forest site classification adapted to the respective site conditions is one prerequisite for sustainable silviculture. This work aims to initiate the forest site classification for pine plantations in the southern Andean region of Ecuador. Forest productivity, estimated by the dominant height of 20-year-old trees (DH 20 ), was related to data from climate, topography, and soil using 23 plots installed in pine plantations in the province of Loja. Forest site productivity was classified as: low (class C: 13.4 m), middle (class B: 16.6 m), and high (Class A: 22.3 m). Strong determinants to differentiate the forest site classes were: the short to medium term available Ca and K stocks (organic layer + mineral soil standardized to a depth of 60 cm), soil acidity, the C:N ratio, clay and sand content, forest floor thickness, altitude, and slope. The lowest forest productivity (Class C) is mainly associated with the lowest short to medium term available K and Ca stocks. Whereas, in site classes with the highest forest productivity, pines could benefit from a more active microbial community releasing N and P, since the soil pH was about 1 unit less acidic. This is supported by the lowest forest floor thickness and the narrowest C:N ratio.

Forest site classification adapted to the respective site conditions is one prerequisite for sustainable silviculture. This work aims to initiate the forest site classification for pine plantations in the southern Andean region of Ecuador. Forest productivity, estimated by the dominant height of 20-year-old trees (DH 20 ), was related to data from climate, topography, and soil using 23 plots installed in pine plantations in the province of Loja. Forest site productivity was classified as: low (class C: 13.4 m), middle (class B: 16.6 m), and high (Class A: 22.3 m). Strong determinants to differentiate the forest site classes were: the short to medium term available Ca and K stocks (organic layer + mineral soil standardized to a depth of 60 cm), soil acidity, the C:N ratio, clay and sand content, forest floor thickness, altitude, and slope. The lowest forest productivity (Class C) is mainly associated with the lowest short to medium term available K and Ca stocks. Whereas, in site classes with the highest forest productivity, pines could benefit from a more active microbial community releasing N and P, since the soil pH was about 1 unit less acidic. This is supported by the lowest forest floor thickness and the narrowest C:N ratio.

Table of Contents 1 Chapter One modeling 7. Parameter estimation of Weibull distribution 8. Comparison among Normal, Lognormal and Weibull distribution in tree Diameter and Height distribution modeling Chapter Three Material and methods Site description Species description Sampling design Data collection and measurement Data analysis 1. Fitting normal and lognormal distribution 2. Estimation of Weibull parameters 2.1.Maximum likelihood method 2.2. Moments method 3. Model evaluation Chapter Four Results Descriptive statistics of tree diameters Diameter distribution models Model evaluation References

Achieving carbon neutrality is crucial for urban ecosystems. Forests growing near cities largely determine the state of the environment in urban areas. The aim of the present research is to assess the carbon productivity dynamics in forests near Krasnoyarsk (a large industrial center) over a 50-year period in terms of carbon sequestration and conservation. The study was based on forest inventory conducted in Karaul'noe Forestry in 1972, 1982, and 2002 and forest inventory covering six forest compartments in 2022. The forest covers 3980 ha and consists of 52 forest compartments. The analysis was based on the assessment of carbon productivity dynamics and followed four levels of principles: forestry, structure, forest compartment, and forest stand. The research was based on forest fund dynamics, analyzing methods, long-term forest inventory, assessing carbon stock, and growing stock dynamics. Pine is the dominant forest-forming species that absorbs the most carbon in the study area. Pine is long-lived, covers a vast area, and has the highest carbon sequestration potential. At the forest structure level, the predominant carbon pools are mid-late successional and late successional stands dominated by pine, birch, and aspen. Forest compartment-level analysis revealed three trends in carbon sequestration: carbon balance, a decrease in carbon sequestration, and an increase in carbon sequestration. Notably, the prevailing trend is determined by changes in carbon sequestration by dominant forest-forming species (pine). Forest stand-level analysis showed that stands have become more and more uneven-aged. About 65% of total carbon stock is concentrated in mid successional, mid-late successional and late-successional stands, and 35% in young stands. The carbon sequestration rate decreases in forests with age. However, pine forests increase biological productivity and continue to successfully sequester carbon. Deciduous forests have lost their carbon sequestration potential, and the area they occupy is currently decreasing in the study area. The development of the young generation in pine stands suggests that the carbon sequestration potential in forests growing near the city will not decrease and may even increase due to climate change.

This report summarizes our current knowledge of leaf-level physiological processes that regulate carbon gain and water loss of the dominant tree species in an old-growth forest at the Wind River Canopy Crane Research Facility. Analysis includes measurements of photosynthesis, respiration, stomatal conductance, water potential, stable carbon isotope values, and biogenic hydrocarbon emissions from Douglas-fir 1 (Pseudotsuga menziesii), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), and western red cedar (Thuja plicata). Leaf-level information is used to scale fluxes up to the canopy to estimate gross primary production using a physiologybased process model. Both light-saturated and in situ photosynthesis exhibit pronounced vertical gradients through the canopy, but are consistently highest in Douglas-fir, intermediate in western hemlock, and lowest in western red cedar. Net photosynthesis and stomatal conductance are strongly dependent on vapor-pressure deficit in Douglas-fir, and decline through the course of a seasonal drought. Foliar respiration is similar for Douglas-fir and western hemlock, and lowest for western red cedar. Water-use efficiency varied with species and tree height, as indexed using stable carbon isotopes values for foliage. Leaf water potential is most negative for Douglas-fir and similar for western hemlock and western red cedar. Terpene fluxes from foliage equal approximately 1% of the net carbon loss from the forest. Modeled estimates based on physiological measurements show gross primary productivity (GPP) to be about 22 Mg C m )2 y )1 . Physiological studies will be necessary to further refine estimates of stand-level carbon balance and to make long-term predictions of changes in carbon balance due to changes in forest structure, species composition, and climate.

As more forest entities worldwide consider pursuing Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, a critical question remains on whether stand-level management impacts differ between certified and uncertified forests. To begin to answer this question, we measured forest structure on three FSC-certified stands, three uncertified stands, and six adjacent unharvested reference stands (12 stands total) composed primarily of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) on non-industrial private properties in

Modelling sawn timber volume and strength development at the individual tree level – essential model features by the example of Douglas fir Poschenrieder W., Rais A., van de Kuilen J.-W.G., Pretzsch H. (2016). Modelling sawn timber volume and strength development at the individual tree level – essential model features by the

In Mediterranean environments in western North America, historic fire regimes in frequent-fire conifer forests are highly variable both temporally and spatially. This complexity influenced forest structure and spatial patterns, but some of this diversity has been lost due to anthropogenic disruption of ecosystem processes, including fire. Information from reference forest sites can help management efforts to restore forests conditions that may be more resilient to future changes in disturbance regimes and climate. In this study, we characterize tree spatial patterns using four-ha stem maps from four oldgrowth, Jeffrey pine-mixed conifer forests, two with active-fire regimes in northwestern Mexico and two that experienced fire exclusion in the southern Sierra Nevada. Most of the trees were in patches, averaging six to 11 trees per patch at 0.007 to 0.014 ha 21 , and occupied 27-46% of the study areas. Average canopy gap sizes (0.04 ha) covering 11-20% of the area were not significantly different among sites. The putative main effects of fire exclusion were higher densities of single trees in smaller size classes, larger proportion of trees ($56%) in large patches ($10 trees), and decreases in spatial complexity. While a homogenization of forest structure has been a typical result from fire exclusion, some similarities in patch, single tree, and gap attributes were maintained at these sites. These within-stand descriptions provide spatially relevant benchmarks from which to manage for structural heterogeneity in frequent-fire forest types.

The reestablishment of natural fire regimes can have numerous benefits for forest ecosystems, including the restoration of stand structure through a reduction in tree densities and increased representation of large diameter trees. However, fire effects may depend on how departed the ecosystem is from its historical fire frequency. Red fir (Abies magnifica) forests occupy a broad geographic area across which historical fire return intervals and stand structures vary. Using historical stand inventory data from the Vegetation Type Mapping (VTM) project, we evaluated red fir forests in the Sierra Nevada in California and the Cascade-Klamath region of northwestern California and southern Oregon to determine how reintroduced fire effects vary regionally and if these differences are related to historical fire return intervals or structural conditions. We sampled a total of 29 overlapping fires and found that reestablishing fire in red fir forests consistently restored historical forest structure across a wide geographic range by reducing the density of small trees and maintaining large trees. However, the effect of fire was most evident in the Sierra Nevada where the percent difference in total tree density between unburned and burned plots was significantly greater (77% difference) than in the Cascade-Klamath (53% difference), and burned plots in the Sierra Nevada had significantly lower densities of both small (<30 cm dbh) and medium sized trees (30-60 cm dbh). These stronger fire effects may be related to greater departure from reference fire return intervals in the Sierra Nevada, as well as the region's warmer and drier conditions increasing the availability of fuel to burn and susceptibility of trees to fire-related mortality. We found that departure from reference fire return intervals followed a similar pattern to departure from historical tree density in both study regions. Unburned plots were 61% departed from reference fire return intervals in the Cascade-Klamath and 69% departed in the Sierra Nevada. In these same plots, departure from VTM total tree density estimates were 37% in the Cascade-Klamath and 44% in the Sierra Nevada. We suggest that incorporating historical references for structural conditions together with regional or local estimates of historical fire return intervals contributes to an improved understanding of how reference conditions varied at local and regional scales, and their importance in the restoration of fire-dependent forests.

In Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forests, heterogeneity in overstory tree spatial patterns is an important ecological characteristic associated with resilience to frequent fires. Regional managers often emphasize this heterogeneity as a key component of forest treatments. There is a lack of information about how the dimensions of fire-resilient tree spatial patterns might vary with topography, which is an important influence on forest structure. We mapped, analyzed, and compared overstory tree spatial patterns across three topographic slope positions (ridges, mid-slopes, and valleys) in unlogged stands with multiple recent lower/mixed-severity burns. Using analysis of Individual trees, Clumps of trees, and Openings (ICO), we found significant differences in a number of spatial pattern metrics, including stand-level tree density and maximum clump size (highest in valleys), forest opening size (largest on ridges), and species composition (percent shade-intolerant stems highest on ridges). We found notably non-significant differences in within-clump tree densities at all spatial scales. Additionally, stand-level averages for forest structure across topography did not consistently capture spatial patterns for individual trees or smaller clump sizes, but often matched trends for clumps and openings in the largest size classes. As "megafires" become more common, prescribed fire and thinning treatments will be used more often to increase forest resilience. By quantifying variable tree spatial patterns across topographic positions in frequent-fire forests, we provide general guidelines for marking prescriptions that may increase resilience of treated forests to increasing fire intensity.

The long-term persistence of forest ecosystems hinges on their resilience to ongoing disturbance. Quantification of resilience in these valuable ecosystems remains difficult due to their vast extent and the longevity of forest species. Resilience to wildfire may arise from feedback between fire behavior and vegetation structure, which dictates fuel loading and continuity. Regular fire generates structural variability which may then enable forests to withstand future fires and retain their fundamental properties and functions-- a hallmark of a resilient system. A century of fire suppression in the western United States has homogenized the structure of many forests, potentially upsetting these feedbacks and compromising forest resilience. We investigate the generality and scale of the effect of structural variability on wildfire behavior in yellow pine/mixed-conifer forest of California&#39;s Sierra Nevada using cloud computing and texture analysis of a 33-year time series of satellit...

Changing climate and a legacy of fire-exclusion have increased the probability of high-severity wildfire, leading to an increased risk of forest carbon loss in ponderosa pine forests in the southwestern USA. Efforts to reduce high-severity fire risk through forest thinning and prescribed burning require both the removal and emission of carbon from these forests, and any potential carbon benefits from treatment may depend on the occurrence of wildfire. We sought to determine how forest treatments alter the effects of stochastic wildfire events on the forest carbon balance. We modeled three treatments (control, thin-only, and thin and burn) with and without the occurrence of wildfire. We evaluated how two different probabilities of wildfire occurrence, 1% and 2% per year, might alter the carbon balance of treatments. In the absence of wildfire, we found that thinning and burning treatments initially reduced total ecosystem carbon (TEC) and increased net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB). In the presence of wildfire, the thin and burn treatment TEC surpassed that of the control in year 40 at 2%/yr wildfire probability, and in year 51 at 1%/yr wildfire probability. NECB in the presence of wildfire showed a similar response to the no-wildfire scenarios: both thin-only and thin and burn treatments increased the C sink. Treatments increased TEC by reducing both mean wildfire severity and its variability. While the carbon balance of treatments may differ in more productive forest types, the carbon balance benefits from restoring forest structure and fire in southwestern ponderosa pine forests are clear.

Sustainable forest management integrates ecological, social, and economic objectives. To achieve the former, researchers and practitioners are modifying silvicultural practices based on concepts from successional and landscape ecology to provide a broader array of ecosystem functions than is associated with conventional approaches. One such innovation is disturbance-based management. Under this approach, forest practices that emulate natural ecological processes, such as local disturbance regimes, are viewed as more likely to perpetuate the evolutionary environment and ecosystem functions of the forest matrix. We examine how this concept has been applied in three U.S. forest types: Pacific Northwest temperate coniferous, Western mixed-conifer, and Northeastern northern hardwood forests. In general, stand-level treatments have been widely used and often closely mimic historic disturbance because forest structure and composition guidelines have been well defined from reconstructive research. Disturbance-based landscape management, however, has not yet been closely approximated in the three forest types we examined. Landscape implementation has been constrained by economic, ownership, safety, and practical limitations. Given these constraints we suggest that disturbancebased management concepts are best applied as an assessment tool with variable implementation potential. Silviculture practices can be compared against the frequency, scale, and level of biological legacies characteristic of natural disturbance regimes to evaluate their potential impact on ecosystem sustainability. Recent landscape ecology texts and some U.S. regional management plans ) have proposed using natural disturbance as a model for sustainable forest management. This chapter examines how forest managers can use natural disturbance patterns and

Mountainous topography creates fine-scale environmental mosaics that vary in precipitation, temperature, insolation, and slope position. This mosaic in turn influences fuel accumulation and moisture and forest structure. We studied these the effects of varying environmental conditions across a 27,104 ha landscape within Yosemite National Park, California, USA, on the number of fires and burn severity (measured from Landsat data for 1984-2010) and on canopy cover at two heights (>2 m and 2-8 m) and dominant tree height (measured with airborne LiDAR data). We used site water balance (actual evapotranspiration and climatic water deficit) and topography (slope position, slope, and insolation) as environmental predictors. Random forest modeling showed that environmental conditions predicted substantial portions of the variations in fire and forest structure: e.g., 85-93% of the variation in whether a location did not burn, burned once, or burned twice; 64% of the variation in the burn severity; and 72% of the variation in canopy cover >2 m for unburned forests, 64% for once-burned forests, and 59% for twice-burned forests. Environmental conditions also predicted a substantial portion of forest structure following one and two fires, even though the post-fire forest structures were substantially different than pre-fire structures. This suggests a feedback mechanism in which local fire regimes and pre-fire forest structures are related to local environments, and their interaction produces post-fire structures also related to local environments. Among environmental predictors, water balance had the greatest explanatory power, followed by slope position, and then by slope and insolation. Managers could use our methods to help select reference areas that match environmental conditions, identify areas at risk for fires that endanger critical habitat or other resources, and identify climate analog areas to help anticipate and plan for climate change.

In Mediterranean environments in western North America, historic fire regimes in frequent-fire conifer forests are highly variable both temporally and spatially. This complexity influenced forest structure and spatial patterns, but some of this diversity has been lost due to anthropogenic disruption of ecosystem processes, including fire. Information from reference forest sites can help management efforts to restore forests conditions that may be more resilient to future changes in disturbance regimes and climate. In this study, we characterize tree spatial patterns using four-ha stem maps from four oldgrowth, Jeffrey pine-mixed conifer forests, two with active-fire regimes in northwestern Mexico and two that experienced fire exclusion in the southern Sierra Nevada. Most of the trees were in patches, averaging six to 11 trees per patch at 0.007 to 0.014 ha 21 , and occupied 27-46% of the study areas. Average canopy gap sizes (0.04 ha) covering 11-20% of the area were not significantly different among sites. The putative main effects of fire exclusion were higher densities of single trees in smaller size classes, larger proportion of trees ($56%) in large patches ($10 trees), and decreases in spatial complexity. While a homogenization of forest structure has been a typical result from fire exclusion, some similarities in patch, single tree, and gap attributes were maintained at these sites. These within-stand descriptions provide spatially relevant benchmarks from which to manage for structural heterogeneity in frequent-fire forest types.

This study delves into the relationship between cyber-physical systems (CPS) and economic security, with particular emphasis on how networking technologies facilitate more efficient data integration. It investigates how CPS adoption is reshaping national economies by influencing productivity levels, altering labor market structures, and introducing new cybersecurity challenges. Employing a hybrid research design that merges cross-sectional data evaluation with expert consultations, the research offers a comprehensive view of the implications of CPS implementation on sectoral productivity, employment trends, and macroeconomic resilience. CPS are positioned in the study as strategic innovations powered by data intelligence, underlining both their promising opportunities and associated threats. The findings support the development of informed policy measures that aim to enhance benefits while reducing potential risks. Ultimately, the work contributes to the evolving discourse on CPS by offering a balanced analysis of their socio-economic impacts and outlining actionable recommendations for decision-makers and industry stakeholders to capitalize on CPS innovations effectively.

In permanently uneven-aged forests, continuous ingrowth of recruitment into higher stand layers is a critical process for the formation and maintenance of differentiated stand structures. This study analyses the abundance and diversity of recruitment (diameter at breast high (DBH) 0.1-4 cm) across 241 research plots in 11 structurally differentiated Norway spruce (silver fir)-dominated forest stands distributed at altitudes between 500 and 1,440 m a.s.l. The influence of light conditions and lateral competition characteristics on the height increment and crown architecture of recruitment was investigated in detail for 352 Norway spruce and 361 silver fir trees. Light-related variables were confirmed to directly affect the recruitment distribution only to a limited extent. Under relatively low light conditions in montane stands, silver fir reached higher height increments than Norway spruce. The better adaptation of silver fir to shaded conditions was reflected also in its higher apical dominance ratio compared to Norway spruce. The height increment and apical dominance ratio of Norway spruce and silver fir recruitment were positively correlated with indirect radiation, DBH, and relative crown length (RCL), but not with lateral competition. These results confirm that the regulation of light conditions in permanently unevenaged stands is crucial for the growth dynamics of recruitment, as well as for the future proportions of Norway spruce and silver fir in mixed, structurally diverse stands.

Tropical tree height-diameter (H:D) relationships may vary by forest type and region making large-scale estimates of above-ground biomass subject to bias if they ignore these differences in stem allometry. We have therefore developed a new global tropical forest database consisting of 39 955 concurrent H and D measurements encompassing 283 sites in 22 tropical countries. Utilising this database, our objectives were: 1. to determine if H:D relationships differ by geographic region and forest type (wet to dry forests, including zones of tension where forest and savanna overlap). 2. to ascertain if the H:D relationship is modulated by climate and/or forest structural characteristics (e.g. standlevel basal area, A). 3. to develop H:D allometric equations and evaluate biases to reduce error in future local-to-global estimates of tropical forest biomass. Annual precipitation coefficient of variation (P V ), dry season length (S D ), and mean annual air temperature (T A ) emerged as key drivers of variation in H:D relationships at the pantropical and region scales. Vegetation structure also played a role with trees in forests of a high A being, on average, taller at any given D. After the effects of environment and forest structure are taken into account, two main regional groups can be identified. Forests in Asia, Africa and the Guyana Shield all have, on average, similar H:D relationships, but with trees in the forests of much of the Amazon Basin and tropical Australia typically being shorter at any given D than their counterparts elsewhere. The region-environment-structure model with the lowest Akaike's information criterion and lowest deviation estimated stand-level H across all plots to within a median -2.7 to 0.9% of the true value. Some of the plot-to-plot variability in H:D relationships not accounted for by this model could be attributed to variations in soil physical conditions. Other things being equal, trees tend to be more slender in the absence of soil physical constraints, especially at smaller D. Pantropical and continental-level models provided less robust estimates of H , especially when the roles of climate and stand structure in modulating H:D allometry were not simultaneously taken into account. Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America, with Shiela Lloyd also providing invaluable assistance with manuscript preperation.

Tree growth predictions still present a challenge to forestry scientists. Species richness, ecological behavior variations, and different climate and soil interactions make it difficult to predict and understand tree growth in managed forests. This study examined the relationship between soil, climate, and forest management parameters and tree growth, using data from more than 30 years of monitoring in the Brazilian Amazon. We evaluated all trees with DBH ≥ 20 cm in a database of 66,182 observations in 166 permanent plots, corresponding to 17,440 individuals and 642 species. We used the CAFOGROM growth model approach to analyze the dataset, and found 10 statistically distinct species groups in terms of tree diameter growth and maximal DBH for the species. Species classification based on ecological characteristics plays a crucial role in mitigating the impacts of treatment decisions and selective logging in forest management, making it possible to adopt appropriate practices and define logging intensities and cutting cycles compatible with conserving forest structure and species population. The model revealed variations in species growth resulting from the influence of factors including light, nutrients, and competition. Depending on the group, soil properties such as percentage of sand, silt, total carbon, presence of aluminum and phosphorus, and exchangeable bases or cation exchange capacity can accelerate or limit tree growth. However, no direct relationship has been found between specific soil and climate variables and an ecological group or tree size. Our study highlights distinct growth patterns among different species groups in response to reduced-impact logging and environmental variables. Effective forest management requires a nuanced approach, considering the varied growth responses of different species groups to ensure sustainable use and conservation of forest resources.

«Il rapporto di serietà e serenità dell’arte soggiace», secondo Adorno, «a una dinamica storica»: una volta mutate le condizioni da cui essa era scaturita, dunque, la sgargiante levità del musical classico «si ottunde irrecuperabilmente» divenendo «alla fine [...] insopportabile». Se, come è noto, è «dopo Auschwitz» che secondo il filosofo tedesco «non ci si può più immaginare un’arte serena», altri fantasmi tormentano a partire dagli anni sessanta la coscienza degli Stati Uniti (che del nazionalsocialismo erano stati irriducibili avversari). Con il frantumarsi delle effimere speranze generate dal riformismo di John Fitzgerald Kennedy e poi, soprattutto, con l’intensificarsi dell’intervento militare statunitense in Vietnam, la società nordamericana entra in una fase di sistematica messa in discussione dei suoi principi fondanti dalla quale sarebbe scaturito un diffuso movimento di contestazione capace di farne vacillare le fondamenta fino a poco prima ritenute incrollabili. In questo mutato contesto, prosegue ancora il saggio di Adorno, «il contenuto di verità della gioia sembra essere diventato inaccessibile. Ne discende che i generi si sfrangiano», primo tra tutti il musical, la cui identitaria spensieratezza diviene – in un’America attraversata dalle lotte per l’emancipazione delle comunità razzializzate, dal dilagante antimilitarismo e dal crescente dissenso nei confronti del modello capitalista e della morale borghese – propriamente inimmaginabile.

Mapping for biodiversity informatics requires information on habitat so that known species occurrences may be extrapolated to maps of potential species occurrences. In the case of vegetation requirements for habitat, most current datasets of actual vegetation have been derived from optical (e.g. aerial photography or Landsat) remotely sensed data. These data are largely limited to describing horizontal structure: vegetation community composition and landscape spatial metrics. This paper introduces new radar remote sensors that are more suited to directly measure vegetation height and other multi-dimensional forest structural variables such as density, basal area, and biomass, and to map these as continuous fields over large areas. We discuss this in the context of bird species, one of the taxonomic groups whose habitat preferences may be strongly influenced by multi-dimensional structure. The site for the pilot study is the Michigan Forests Test Site (MFTS) in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, an area of mixed hardwood and coniferous forest communities. Our study uses two methods, one inductive and one deductive, to investigate the utility of incorporating radar data into biodiversity informatics databases. We evaluate the use of radar alone and also in combination with Landsat data for mapping of bird habitat for biodiversity informatics.

Le niveau de dissimilarité entre la biodiversité présente dans la forêt sèche et dans les prairies secondaires est très apparent en milieu tropical. Une différence est aussi observable selon l'impact du feu sur la faune des prairies secondaires. L'étude de la biodiversité des fourmis dans la forêt sèche de Beanka et sur les prairies secondaires environnantes a permis de confirmer ces affirmations. En prairie secondaire, un site récemment brulé et un site non brulé ont été choisis. Les fourmis ont été échantillonnées par quatre méthodes quantitatives standardisées (le tamisage des litières mini-Winkler, le pitfall, le monolithe et les pièges à appât) et une méthode non standardisée : la collecte systématique. L'efficacité de ces méthodes a été également évaluée. En forêt, deux sites ont été choisis et les fourmis ont été échantillonnées avec une méthode standardisée du tamisage des litières : le maxi-Winkler et la méthode non standardisée : la collecte systématique. Pour l'ensemble des sites étudiés, il en résulte d'une part que c'est dans la forêt que la diversité de la myrmécofaune a été la plus élevée avec 94 espèces contre 33 espèces dans les prairies secondaires. Le nombre d'espèces partagées a été de 15. Une moyenne de 60 espèces endémiques a été inventoriée dans la forêt de Beanka. Une estimation a été proposée puisqu'à l'heure actuelle, une partie de la systématique des principaux genres et espèces de fourmis malgaches est encore sous révision. Dans les prairies secondaires par contre aucune espèce endémique n'a été recensée. La majorité des ces espèces de prairies secondaires avait une large distribution dans d'autres prairies et forêts de Madagascar. Treize espèces de fourmis exotiques ont été répertoriées sur l'ensemble des sites. Dix d'entre elles ont été collectées dans la forêt contre huit dans les prairies secondaires. Dans les prairies secondaires, d'après l'allure de la courbe d'accumulation des espèces, l'efficacité des méthodes utilisées varie selon l'état de la végétation, ayant subi ou non de l'influence du feu. En prairie

Most public and private forest lands of North America have been modified to varying degrees from years of human activity. Certain high-value 'non-timber forest products' have been over-exploited and are difficult to find. Forest farming practices can be used by private enterprise to grow desirable non-timber forest products on private lands, to supplement family income, and to allow biodiversity to reestablish within forests. Special fores products (SFPs) or non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are high-value specialty product items derived from green plants, fungi, invertebrates, and other organisms that inhabit forested areas. These products fall into four general categories (See table on page 2): • food (e.g., mushrooms and nuts) • botanicals (e.g., herbs and medicinals) • decoratives (e.g., floral greenery and dyes) • handicrafts (e.g., baskets and wood products) Definition

We studied the response to hurricanes of 2 Pinus caribaea Morelet var. hondurensis Barr. & Golf. (Honduran Pine) plantations and paired secondary forests over a period of 32 years (1982 to 2014). Plantations differed in age (38 and 53.5 years old), as did the paired secondary forests. The study included the passage of 2 hurricanes (1989 and 1998). The hurricanes altered forest structure by lowering the basal area and tree density, accelerated tree mortality to over 5% per year and ingrowth rate to over 200 stems/ha at the Cubuy plantation, caused variability and reduction in individual tree growth rates, and dramatically changed species composition and dominance of stands. Honduran Pines were heavily affected by the hurricanes, losing dominance, and almost disappearing from the Cubuy site, in effect converting that pine plantation into a secondary forest with few pines. The susceptibility of Honduran Pine to strong winds raises concern about its suitability for plantation forestry in the hurricane belt of the Caribbean. Their use for commercial timber production would have to consider the recurrence of hurricanes in the region.

Stem profile needs to be modeled with an accurate taper equation to produce reliable tree volume assessments. We propose a semiparametric method where few a priori functional form assumptions or parametric specification are required. We compared the diameter and volume predictions of a penalized spline regression (P-spline), P-spline extended with an additive dbh-class variable, and six alternative parametric taper equations including single, segmented, and variable-exponent equation forms. We used taper data from 147 loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) trees to fit the models and make comparisons. Here we show that the extended P-spline outperforms the parametric taper equations when used to predict outside bark diameter in the lower portion of the stem, up to 40% of the tree height where the more valuable wood products (62% of the total outside bark volume) are located. For volume, both P-spline models perform equal or better than the best parametric model, with taper calibration, whic...

This report summarizes our current knowledge of leaf-level physiological processes that regulate carbon gain and water loss of the dominant tree species in an old-growth forest at the Wind River Canopy Crane Research Facility. Analysis includes measurements of photosynthesis, respiration, stomatal conductance, water potential, stable carbon isotope values, and biogenic hydrocarbon emissions from Douglas-fir 1 (Pseudotsuga menziesii), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), and western red cedar (Thuja plicata). Leaf-level information is used to scale fluxes up to the canopy to estimate gross primary production using a physiologybased process model. Both light-saturated and in situ photosynthesis exhibit pronounced vertical gradients through the canopy, but are consistently highest in Douglas-fir, intermediate in western hemlock, and lowest in western red cedar. Net photosynthesis and stomatal conductance are strongly dependent on vapor-pressure deficit in Douglas-fir, and decline through the course of a seasonal drought. Foliar respiration is similar for Douglas-fir and western hemlock, and lowest for western red cedar. Water-use efficiency varied with species and tree height, as indexed using stable carbon isotopes values for foliage. Leaf water potential is most negative for Douglas-fir and similar for western hemlock and western red cedar. Terpene fluxes from foliage equal approximately 1% of the net carbon loss from the forest. Modeled estimates based on physiological measurements show gross primary productivity (GPP) to be about 22 Mg C m )2 y )1 . Physiological studies will be necessary to further refine estimates of stand-level carbon balance and to make long-term predictions of changes in carbon balance due to changes in forest structure, species composition, and climate.

KARTAWINATA, K., PURWANINGSIH, PARTOMIHARDJO, T., YUSUF, R., ABDULHADI, R. & RISWAN,S. 2008.Floristics and structure of a lowland dipterocarp forest at Wanariset Samboja, East Kalimantan, Indonesia.Reinwardtia 12(4): 301– 323. — The results of a floristic inventory of trees with DBH &lt; 10 cm in a lowland dipterocarp forest in East Kalimantan show that 553 species of 192 genera in 62 families, represented by 5847 individuals, with the total basal 2 area of 350.01 m occurred in the plot of 10.5 hectare sampled. The two leading families in terms of number of species were Myrtaceae and Lauraceae while according to the total sum of importance values for families were Dipterocarpaceae and Euphorbiaceae. The forest had the second highest species richness in Indonesia. We recorded 225 species of dipterocarps , constituting 4.53 % of total species with basal area of 85.53 m . or 24.44 % of the total basal area in the plot. Shorea laevis (a diptererocarp) and Pholidocarpus majadum, (a palm)...

Se instalaron 13 parcelas de 0.1 ha (10 m x 100 m) en el bosque amazónico preandino del sector del Río Quendeque (14°58"S 67°47"W; con 367 m en promedio) del Parque Nacional Madidi con el objetivo de evaluar la estructura y diversidad florística mediante un análisis de la importancia ecológica de las plantas leñosas. En los levantamientos se midieron todos los individuos con diámetro a la altura del pecho (DAP) > 2.5 cm. El bosque estudiado presenta una estructura horizontal o distribución diamétrica en forma de "J" invertida, la cual expresa la dinámica del bosque. La curva área vs. especie o de riqueza florística no llegó a un punto de inflexión, donde las especies nuevas dejaron de ser encontradas, debido a que una gran parte de las especies son raras como consecuencia de ser poco abundantes y por tener baja frecuencia o distribución espacial irregular. Se registraron 2.776 individuos, pertenecientes a 64 familias y 294 especies de plantas leñosas, con un área basal de 42.7 m 2 . Las familias con mayor riqueza de especies fueron Fabaceae (27 especies), Rubiaceae (21), Sapotaceae (16), Moraceae (14) y Myrtaceae (14). Las familias Arecaceae, Moraceae, Annonaceae, Sapotaceae y Rubiaceae, así como las especies Pentaplaris davidsmithii, Brosimum alicastrum, Socratea exorrhiza, Rheedia acuminata, Iriartea deltoidea y Duguetia spixiana fueron las de mayor importancia ecológica en función al Índice de Valor de Importancia (IVI), lo que significa que tienen mayor adaptación en el sitio.

Se instaló y midió 10 parcelas de muestreo de 0.1 ha (= 1 ha) en el sector boscoso de Tambo Quemado, Pelechuco, correspondiente a los limites superiores de la formación de ceja de monte en Yungas. Posterior a un análisis de similitud procedimos a analizar las 10 parcelas como una unidad representativa del bosque en esta área. Se registraron y evaluaron 3360 individuos con DAP >2.5 cm, sumando un área basal de 25.1 m 2 y 19.4 m 2 para los árboles con DAP >10 cm. Se encontró 66 especies y 28 familias. Las familias con mayor riqueza en el área de estudio son Asteraceae con nueve especies, Melastomataceae con ocho especies, Solanaceae con seis especies, finalmente Araliaceae y Symplocaceae con cuatro especies. Las especies de mayor importancia ecológica son Weinmannia fagaroides (con 16.7% del IVI), Clethra cuneata (9.2%), Miconia theizan (6.8%) Myrsine dependens (6.7%), Miconia higrophila 1 (5.0%), Miconia setulosa (4.7%) y Schefflera herzogii (4.5%). Las familias Cunnoniaceae (con 16.5% del IVIF), Melastomataceae (15.6%), Clethraceae (12.1%), Myrsinaceae (8.0%), Asteraceae (6.5%) y Araliaceae (6.1%) son las de mayor importancia ecológica. La estructura horizontal de este bosque expresada por medio de su distribución diamétrica se asemeja a una curva vacía o una "J" invertida. La estructura vertical presenta el mismo patrón que la horizontal, con gran abundancia de individuos en las clases de tamaños menores y a medida que aumenta la altura el número de individuos disminuye proporcionalmente.

This study examines the potential of combining decision support approaches to identify optimal bundles of ecosystem services. A forested landscape, Zona de Interven&ccedil;&atilde;o Florestal of Paiva and Entre-Douro and Sousa (Portugal), is used to test and demonstrate this potential. The landscape extends over 14,000 ha, representing 1,976 stands. The property is fragmented into 376 holdings. The overall analysis was performed in three steps. First, we selected six alternative solutions (A to F) in a Pareto frontier generated by a multiple criteria method within a decision support system (SADfLOR) for subsequent analysis. Next, an aspatial strategic multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) analysis was performed with the Criterium DecisionPlus (CDP) component of another decision support system (EMDS) to assess the aggregate performance of solutions A to F for the entire forested landscape with respect to their utility for delivery of ecosystem services. For the CDP analysis, SADfLO...

Landscape-scale disturbance events, including ecological restoration and fuel reduction activities, can modify habitat and affect relationships between species and their environment. To reduce the risk of uncharacteristic stand-replacing fires in the southwestern United States, land managers are implementing restoration and fuels treatments (e.g., mechanical thinning, prescribed fire) in progressively larger stands of dry, lower elevation ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest. We used a Before-After/Control-Impact experimental design to quantify the multi-scale response of avifauna to large (;250-400 ha) prescribed fire treatments on four sites in Arizona and New Mexico dominated by ponderosa pine. Using distance sampling and an information-theoretic approach, we estimated changes in density for 14 bird species detected before (May-June 2002 and after (May-June 2004-2005) prescribed fire treatments. We observed few site-level differences in pre-and posttreatment density, and no species responded strongly to treatment on all four sites. Pointlevel spatial models of individual species response to treatment, habitat variables, and fire severity revealed ecological relationships that were more easily interpreted. At this scale, pretreatment forest structure and patch characteristics were important predictors of posttreatment differences in bird species density. Five species (Pygmy Nuthatch [Sitta pygmaea], Western Bluebird [Sialia mexicana], Steller's Jay [Cyanocitta stelleri ], American Robin [Turdus migratorius], and Hairy Woodpecker [Picoides villosus]) exhibited a strong treatment response, and two of these species (American Robin and Hairy Woodpecker) could be associated with meaningful fire severity response functions. The avifaunal response patterns that we observed were not always consistent with those reported by more common studies of wildland fire events. Our results suggest that, in the short term, the distribution and abundance of common members of the breeding bird community in Southwestern ponderosa pine forests appear to be tolerant of low-to moderate-intensity prescribed fire treatments at multiple spatial scales and across multiple geographic locations.

Species composition and diversity of fungi and bryophyte communities occurring on dead beech trees were analysed in five European countries (Slovenia, Hungary, The Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark). Altogether 1009 trees were inventoried in 19 beech dominated forest reserves. The realized species pool of fungi was approximately three times larger than that of bryophytes (456 versus 161 species). low beta fungal diversity, and intermediate alpha, but low beta bryophyte diversity, and a rather low frequency of threatened species. These patterns seem to reflect the favourable climate for growth in combination with severe impact from past human disturbance. The Dutch sites are characterized by low fungal alpha and beta diversity, and low bryophyte alpha, but intermediate beta diversity, and very low frequencies of threatened species in both groups. These characteristics clearly relate to the low degree of naturalness of the beech forests in The Netherlands.

PlotToSat offers a practical and time efficient way to the challenge of extracting time-series from multiple Earth Observation (EO) datasets at numerous plots spread across a landscape. This opens up new opportunities to understand and model various ecosystems. Regarding forest ecology, plot networks play a vital role in monitoring and understanding the dynamics of forest ecosystems. These networks often contain thousands of plots arranged systematically to represent an ecosystem. Combining field data collected at plots with EO time-series will allow us to better understand phenology and ecosystem composition, structure and distribution. Linking plot networks with EO data without PlotToSat is time consuming and computational expensive because plots are small and spread out, requiring data from multiple satellite tiles. PlotToSat processed a full year of multi-tile Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data (estimated 18.3TB) at 15,962 plots from the fourth Spanish Forest Inventory in less than 24 h. PlotToSat, implemented using the Python API of Google Earth Engine, offers a new and unique workflow that is innovative due to its efficient, scalable and adaptable implementation. It supports Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data, but its flexible design eases integration of additional EO datasets. New environmental modelling is expected to emerge facilitating EO time-series analyses and investigating interactive effects of environmental drivers.