Search results for "forest management"
showing 10 items of 188 documents
Effects of stump removal on soil decomposer communities in undisturbed patches of the forest floor
2011
Abstract Soil preparation after clear-cutting leads to fragmentation of forest floor and, consequently, changes the habitat of decomposers. Stump removal for bioenergy is further increasing the disturbance in the soil. We studied responses of decomposers to stump removal in boreal spruce forests during the first 4 years after clear felling in relation to mounding. Samples for each decomposer organism group were taken from undisturbed forest floor patches that are the main habitat for decomposers after forest regeneration and whose amount and size obviously differ between the treatments. Microbial biomasses and community structure, and the abundance of enchytraeids, were not found to be affe…
Sensitivity of soil processes in northern forest soils: are management practices a threat?
2000
Abstract There is evidence that forest management practices influence soil-decomposer communities. It is also established that changes in the trophic structure and composition of these communities can induce changes in soil-nutrient dynamics, thereby affecting plant growth. Whether forest productivity is affected by management-induced changes in, e.g. soil faunal structure, is, however, yet to be shown. The aim of this study was (1) to determine the resolution of the ecological hierarchy (e.g. species, functional groups, trophic levels) at which a change in soil fauna would alter biotically-controlled processes in soils, and (2) to examine the sensitivity of soil fauna of the boreal forest …
The implications of stand composition, age and spatial patterns of forest regions with different ownership type for management optimisation in northe…
2015
Abstract Forests with different ownership type often form complex mosaics of stands, thus adding new challenges to the spatial planning of sustainable management in forested landscapes. This study attempted to analyse the spatial patterns and age structures of forest regions with different ownership type and to formulate suggestions for the optimisation of tactical planning of forest management planning by addressing ecological functionality at the landscape level. We hypothesised that structure of forests of various ownership groups differs significantly. National forest inventory data from 2011 was used in this study to compare spatial patterns of forest stands and clearcuts, as well as f…
Forest types for biodiversity assessment at regional level: the case study of Sicily (Italy)
2007
Within Europe the question of plant coenosis is attracting growing interest. The quality and quantity of collected information on forest resources at a global level largely depends on the capacity to collect and analyse data at national and sub-national scale in a way compatible with those at global or continental levels. In Italy the acceptance of all the international agreements and protocols on the protection of the environment and management of natural resources, requires a standardization of collected information and statistics, with the aim to produce homogeneous and integrative data at global level. This need is reflected in the following points: (1) the adoption of a classification …
Linking woodland key habitat inventory and forest inventory data to prioritize districts needing conservation efforts
2012
Woodland key habitat (WKH) inventories have been conducted in northern European countries, with the aim to create networks of minimally disturbed forest stands for protection. The goal of national forest inventory is to provide information relevant to forest management, such as on forest types, trees species composition, age structure and wood volume. The aim of this study was to link these two inventory databases to identify districts of Latvia most deficient in connectivity and habitat quality, in order to prioritize districts needing conservation effort. As an example, the area of deciduous forest with nemoral tree species (oak, ash, lime, maple and elm) and aspen was chosen. These fores…
Il piano di gestione dei boschi demaniali del Comune di Bivona (Provincia di Agrigento)
2014
L’area dei Monti Sicani costituisce uno dei comprensori in cui è stata realizzata la maggiore estensione di rimboschimenti di conifere della Sicilia occidentale, nell’ambito della politica di salvaguardia del territorio dal dissesto idrogeologico intrapresa dallo Stato e continuata dalla Regione. Lo stato qualitativo di queste formazioni è carente a causa di diverse ragioni: frequenti incendi, pascolo eccessivo, elevata frammentazione degli habitat naturali, mancanza di adeguati interventi selvicolturali. Da queste considerazioni emerge la necessità di conoscere e gestire più adeguatamente tali boschi attraverso la realizzazione di Piani di Gestione Forestale, strumento operativo-applicativ…
La pianificazione forestale in Sicilia: storia e recenti evoluzioni
2018
In Sicilia la pianificazione forestale ha avuto di recente una svolta resasi necessaria sia per motivi richiesti dall’autorità europea e da quella nazionale, sia per un’oggettiva necessità del territorio. Dal punto di vista normativo la storia degli ultimi decenni ha visto la Sicilia dotarsi di norme e giuridicamente all’avanguardia e lungimiranti dal punto di vista della conservazione del patrimonio naturale. Si fa infatti riferimento ai piani di assestamento forestale per la gestione del patrimonio boschivo isolano dalle leggi regionali del 1989, del 1996, del 2004 con l’emanazione di linee guida regionali e della LR 14/2006. Quest’ultima in particolare richiamava anche alla necessità di …
The role of traditional Erica arborea L. management practices in maintaining northeastern Sicily’s cultural landscape
2007
The tree heath (Erica arborea L.), a small evergreen tree found in the Mediterranean region and parts of Eastern and Central Africa, produces lignotubers that are highly valued for making smoking pipes. The Peloritani Mountains of northeastern Sicily are historically one of the most important areas in Italy for the production of these high quality lignotubers, known as briar root wood. In the past, tree heath shrublands were also an important source of charcoal. Erica arborea utilisation has declined dramatically during the past century, mostly due to the decreasing demand for smoking pipes, as well as the increasing frequency of wildfires and large-scale afforestation activities in this re…
Using SMAA-2 method with dependent uncertainties for strategic forest planning
2006
Abstract Uncertainty included in forest variables is normally ignored in forest management planning. When the uncertainty is accounted for, it is typically assumed to be independently distributed for the criteria measurements of different alternatives. In forest management planning, the factors introducing the uncertainty can be classified into three main sources: the errors in the basic forestry data, the uncertainty of the (relative) future prices of timber, and the uncertainty in predicting the forest development. Due to the nature of these error sources, most of the involved uncertainties can be assumed to be positively correlated across the alternative management plans and/or criteria.…
High boreal forest multifunctionality requires continuous cover forestry as a dominant management
2021
Intensive extraction of forest resources lowers biodiversity and endangers the functioning of forest ecosystems. As such, alternative management regimes have emerged, aspiring to promote forest biodiversity and nature protection in managed forests. Among them, continuous cover forestry, (i.e. selective logging), has received considerable attention and is being promoted by some researchers and NGOs. Yet, the full consequences of banning clear-cuts (i.e. rotation forestry) and replacing it entirely with continuous cover forest remains uncertain. We explore how restricting forest management alternatives (either rotation forestry or continuous cover forestry) will affect landscape-scale forest …