Decrease In Forest Area Research Articles

Changes in the forest landscape of Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve, Philippines

Changes in the forest landscape of Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve were evaluated given the three different time periods of remotely sensed datasets using ISOCLUST method. The classification explicitly figured out that the forest areas are persistent or still intact while spatially expanding the coverage from the area. The change analysis revealed that the spatial distribution of various land-cover categories was subjected to gain and loss based on the latest and previous remotely sensed data sets. High gains for forest areas and many losses on agroforestry areas were established at certain time spans. The land cover by category denotes a decrease of forest areas between 1993 and 2002, and eventually increases in line with the latest period. The increase in agroforestry areas was merely detected between 1993 and 2002 and subsequently reduced the possible expansion of its area coverage. A great deal of land cover can be perceived to the restoration efforts made in the study area. Applying NDVI in the segmentation process during the image classification demonstrated to be a constructive approach of classifying land cover types.

Assessment of MIROC3.2 HiRes Climate and CLUE-s Land Use Change Impacts on Watershed Hydrology Using SWAT

The aim of this study was to evaluate hydrologic impacts of potential climate and land use changes in a mountainous watershed in South Korea. The climatic data predicted by MIROC3.2 HiRes GCM A1B for three time periods (2010-2039, 2040-2069, and 2070-2099) were prepared using a change factor statistical downscaling method. The future land uses were predicted using the Conservation of Land Use and its Effects at Small regional extent (CLUE-s) model by establishing logistic regression model for five land use types with 11 driving forces represented by spatial information. By applying the climate and land use predictions to the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), the watershed hydrologic components (including evapotranspiration, surface runoff, groundwater recharge, and streamflow) were evaluated. For the predicted 2070-2099 temperature and precipitation changes (+4.8C and +34.4%), and 6.2% decrease in forest areas and 1.7% increase in urban areas, the combined land use with climate change scenario resulted in more streamflow change (+55.4%) than the single climate and single land use change scenario (+39.8% and +10.8%), respectively. The predicted large increase in future precipitation and the corresponding decrease in forest land are predicted to have substantial impacts on watershed hydrology, especially on surface runoff and streamflow. Therefore, to mitigate negative hydrologic impacts and utilize positive impacts, both land use and climate changes should be considered in water resource planning for the Chungju dam watershed.

Investigation of Environment Changes about a Certain Village in Northern Part of China

With the development of society and economy, the issues of environment have becoming the focus of all around the world, especially in the developing countries. In China, on one hand, villagers' income was rising. On the other hand, the environment was running down gradually: In 2009, pesticides were used by 89% of farmers. Upon 300,000 tons of pesticides were used in the whole country annually. And 60~70% of pesticides were dissolved in waters and soils; 67% of daily rubbishes were discarded arbitrarily by villagers in country; 74% of farmers made use of plastic film, while only 13% of it was cleared completely; the decrease of forest areas that due to the denudation was almost 50% compared with the last 5 years; in villages, many resources were not effectively used. 64% of the villagers did not re-use waste consciously. It can be concluded that protection of the ecological environment in rural areas was urgent. As a sample writer took an investigation in a village.

Halland's forests during the last 300 years: a review of Malmström (1939)

Carl Malmström's historical forest maps of the province of Halland, in south-western Sweden, were published over 70 years ago, but are still important to science and conservation. They show the transformation of a seventeenth century landscape of temperate broadleaves to a landscape dominated by open land and heather (Calluna vulgaris) in the nineteenth century, and to a landscape of coniferous forest plantations in the twentieth century. This article summarizes and reviews the original research, first published in Swedish in 1939. Malmström concludes that the large changes to forest abundance and composition over the last 300 years were predominantly the product of human endeavours. The most important causal factors behind the decrease in forest area until the mid-nineteenth century were the incentives to increase arable land and meadows, the grazing and burning of Calluna heaths, and logging for timber, fencing and firewood. The subsequent increase in forest abundance after this period were due to agricultural improvements, the cessation of heather burning and active reforestation. Malmström had a relatively holistic view of the ecosystem for his time, yet his perspective remains that of an early twentieth century silviculturalist as he did not put his observations into the context of conservation or landscape ecology. Despite acknowledging that beech forest is the natural vegetation for the area, he still concludes that coniferous plantations have won full domiciliary rights. Recent research has confirmed Malmström's views on the patterns and processes that characterized changes in land use and forest composition in the province of Halland, although there has been some question as to the “naturalness” of seventeenth century beech forests.

Integrated landscape analyses of change of miombo woodland in tanzania and its implication for environment and human livelihood

.Landscapes bear witness to past and present natural and societal processes influencing the environment and human livelihoods. By analysing landscape change at different spatial scales over time the effects on the environment and human livelihoods of various external and internal driving forces of change can be studied. This paper presents such an analysis of miombo woodland surrounding the Mkata plains in central Tanzania. The rich natural landscape diversity of the study area in combination with its historical and political development makes it an ideal observation ground for this kind of study. The paper focuses on long‐term physical and biological changes, mainly based on satellite information but also on field studies and a review of documents and literature.The miombo woodlands are highly dynamic semi‐arid ecosystems found on a number of nutrient‐poor soil groups. Most of the woodlands are related to an old, low‐relief geomorphology of erosion surfaces with relatively deep and leached soils, or to a lesser extent also on escarpments and steep Inselberg slopes with poor soils.Each period in the past has cast its footprints on the landscape development and its potential for a sustainable future use. On a regional level there has been a continual decrease in forest area over time. Expansion of agriculture around planned villages, implemented during the 1970s, in some cases equals the loss of forest area (Mikumi‐Ulaya), whilst in other areas (Kitulangalo), the pre‐independence loss of woodland was small; the agricultural area was almost the same during the period 1975–1999, despite the fact that forests have been lost at an almost constant rate over the same period. Illegal logging and charcoal production are likely causes because of the proximity to the main highway running through the area.Contrasting to the general regional pattern are the conditions in a traditional village (Ihombwe), with low immigration of people and a maintained knowledge of the resource potential of the forest with regards to edible plants and animals. In this area the local community has control of the forest resources in a Forest Reserve, within which the woody vegetation has increased in spite of an expansion of agriculture on other types of village land.The mapping procedure has shown that factors such as access to transport and lack of local control have caused greater deforestation of certain areas than during the colonial period. Planned villages have furthermore continued to expand over forest areas well after their implementation, rapidly increasing the landscape fragmentation. One possible way to maintain landscape and biodiversity values is by the sustainable use of traditional resources, based on local knowledge of their management as illustrated by the little change observed in the traditionally used area.

Land use transformation in the mountainous mainland Southeast Asia region and the role of indigenous knowledge and skills in forest management

The mountainous mainland Southeast Asia region, that covers adjoining parts of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China, contains the region's largest remaining tropical forest. The people living in the forested mountains, who belong to a diversity of ethnic minority groups, possess a wealth of local knowledge and skills in forest management. With rapid decrease in forest area, implementation of forest conservation policies, improved access to market and replacement of shifting cultivation with permanent cropping, land use and management in the region has been rapidly changing. Some indigenous knowledge and technology in forest management will inevitably continue to be lost in the process, but not all. This paper shows how local forest management systems have been adapted to deal with the change, with specific focus on deployment and adaptation of indigenous knowledge and skills. First background on the region and its traditional land use systems will be provided. A review will then be made of the cropping system changes that have been taking place and their driving forces and how local farmers have adapted indigenous knowledge and skill in forest management to meet current needs and conditions. Cases drawn from studies in the region will illustrate how deployment of indigenous technology not only helps the farmers to improve their productivity but can also provide services in forest regeneration and biodiversity conservation. To do this farmers, including those who were former migratory opium growers, make use of the knowledge of their own environment and locally available genetic resources and the community's organizational and management skills. It will also be shown that farmers’ knowledge and skills are not static, but continually revised and integrating modern inputs as well as transfer of new ideas and innovations.

Assessing changes of forest area and shrub encroachment in a mire ecosystem using digital surface models and CIR aerial images

This paper presents an approach to assess increase and decrease (2002–1997) of forest area and other wooded areas in a mire biotope in the Pre-alpine zone of Central Switzerland using logistic regression models and airborne remote sensing data (CIR aerial images, DSM derived from them). The present study was carried out in the framework of the Swiss Mire Protection Program, where increase and decrease of forest areas are key issues. In a first step, automatic DSMs were generated using an image matching approach from CIR aerial images of 1997 and 2002. In a second step, the DSMs were co-registered and normalized using LiDAR data. Tree layers from both years of various levels of detail were then generated combining canopy covers derived from normalized DSMs with a multi-resolution segmentation and a fuzzy classification. On the basis of these tree layers, fractional tree/shrub covers were calculated using explanatory variables derived from these DSMs only. Bias was estimated by analysing the distribution of the fractional model differences. The corrected models reveal a decrease of tree/shrub probability which indicates a decrease of forest and other wooded areas between 1997 and 2002. The models also indicate real shrub encroachment in open mire. The detection of shrub encroachment may be helpful for selective logging purposes for sustainable mire habitat management. The study stresses the importance of high-resolution and high-quality DSMs and highlights the potential of fractional covers for ecological modeling.

Himalayan black bear mauling: offense or defense?

The Asiatic Black Bear ( Ursus thibetanus or Selenarctos thibetanus), also known as the Tibetan black bear, the Himalayan black bear, or the moon bear is a omnivorous mammal. This animal is declared threatened animal and rarely comes in human contact. Recent decrease in forest area has, however, increased the chances of bear-human interaction, hence causing injuries to humans. There is only one published report in English literature on Himalayan black bear mauling. We present 5 cases referred to our department over a period of 1 year.

Urbanization and forest cover change in regional directorate of Trabzon forestry from 1975 to 2000 using landsat data

In this study, forest cover change and urbanization in the borders of Regional Directorate of Trabzon Forestry (RDTF), which is located in NE of Turkey, was investigated during a 25 year period. Spatial and temporal changes in forest cover were also analyzed using Geographical Information System (GIS) and FRAGSTATS. Forest cover changes were detected from a time series of satellite images of Landsat MSS in 1975, Landsat TM in 1987, and Landsat ETM+ in 2000 using Remote Sensing (RS) and GIS. The results showed a decrease in forest area, productive forest area and degraded forest area. Total forest area decreased in the first period (1975--1987), however increased during the second (1987--2000) period. 36,807 hectares (7% of the study area) mixed forest area converted to conifer forest. During the whole study period, the average annual deforestation rate was 977 ha year(-1), equivalent to 0.42% year(-1) using the compound-interest-rate formula. Total number of forest fragments decreased from 135,039 to 132,839 (1.6%) during a 25 year period. On the other hand, total population lived in the borders of Trabzon City increased from 1975 to 2000 even though the rural population decreased. According to the results, the decrease of forest areas may well be explained by increasing population and urbanization. The decrease of number of patches and degraded forest area can be disclosed by the fact that the decline of rural population has positively affected the development of forest areas.

Interpretation of recent temperature and precipitationtrends observed in Korea

The possibility of climate change in the Korean Peninsula has been examined in view of the general increase in greenhouse gases. Analyses include changes in annual temperature and precipitation. These analyses are supplemented with our observations regarding the apparent decrease of forest areas.

Forest Cover Change in the Ohangwena Region, Northern Namibia: a Case Study Based on Multitemporal Landsat Images and Aerial Photography

Forest cover in northern Namibia was estimated by analysing Landsat MSS images from 1973, 1981 and 1989 as well as Landsat TM images from 1992 and 1996. Aerial photography from 1970 and 1992 was used as reference data for the classification. The spectral separation of sample areas was best for the Landsat images of 1981 and 1992, and lowest for the Landsat image of 1973. The accuracy of classifying training-set pixels was substantial when only non-forest and forest areas were classified, and moderate when the classification involved six different biomass densities. In the eastern part of the test area, which is dominated by Tree Savanna and Woodland, there was a clear decrease in forest area between 1981 and 1992, the annual change being −0,5%. The factors which may have affected the classification of satellite images include problems in reference data, seasonal differences in vegetation, differences in weather conditions, abundance of mixed pixels as well Colophospermum mopane, a tree species with a dist...

Effects of fire frequency on plant communities and landscape pattern in the Massif des Aspres (southern France)

Fire frequency can affect pattern and diversity in plant communities and landscapes. We had the opportunity to study changes due to recurring wildfires on the same sites over a period of 50 years in the “Massif des Aspres” (southern France). The study was carried out in areas occupied byQuercus suber andQ. ilex series. A comparison of historical and cartographical documents (vegetation maps covering a 50 year interval and an accurate map of major wildfires during this period) allowed us to determine the changes occurring over time with or without fire action. Plant communities were grouped into three main vegetation types: forests, treed shrublands and shrublands. The passage of three successive wildfires on the same site led to a decrease in forest areas and an increase in shrublands; however, shrublands were already present before the first fire of the period under consideration. Less frequent fire occurrence induced more complex heterogeneity and greater landscape diversity. In the study region as a whole, with or without fire action, a significant decrease in forest surfaces was recorded, whereas there was an increase of unforested communities such as treed shrublands and shrublands. In some parts of the Massif fires increased the homogeneity of the landscape, in other parts they created a greater heterogeneity and diversity of plant communities.

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Forest as one of natural resources should be managed on sustainable bases for the prosperity of the people. As the number and the income of the people increasrd, the needs or demand for forest products also increased. On the other hand, the increase in population stimulates the decrease in forest land areas. To solve this problem there is a need to increase or optimize the production of forest lands so that the decrease in forest areas does not mean the decrease in forest products. One of the solutions is to establish forest plantations on degraded lands, and to convert natural forests which are less productive to forest plantations which are more productive. Reforestation of degraded forest requires a lot of capital, and financially not profitable, therefore it needs a subsidy, Since degraded forest is not profitable and the locations are scattered in small areas, State Owned Enterprice (BUMN) or Forest Service (Dinas Kehutanan) should do reforestation on these areas. On the other hand conversion of natural forest to forest plantation is financially profitable, therefore it does not need subsidy and can be done by private industry, For this purpose the master plan of natural forest that could be converted to forest plantation should be well prepared. Institutional aspects of these two types of forest plantations are discussed in this report.

Carbon isotope indicators of catchment vegetation in the Brazilian Amazon

Paniculate organic carbon (POC) samples from rivers draining wholly forested catchments in the Amazon Basin exhibit carbon isotope values (δ13C) of generally between −27 and −30‰. These values are distinct from those of POC from rivers draining nonforested (grassland/woodland) catchments, which are generally higher than ‐26‰. The difference is due to the presence in the nonforested regions, of grasses which assimilate carbon via the C4 photosynthetic pathway (average δ13C = ∼−13‰), rather than the C3 pathway (average δ13C = ∼−28‰) utilized by forest vegetation, and to negligible utilization of low‐δ13C respired carbon dioxide in regions of open vegetation. A change in the area of the Basin covered by closed forest will lead to a modification in the carbon isotope composition of exported POC as a result of changing (1) the proportion of C4 carbon in the total biomass (2) the relative proportion of the total POC derived from upstream, high‐altitude (Andean) sources, (3) erosion rates, and (4) productivity. All of these factors will tend to reinforce each other in their effect on the carbon isotope composition of POC exported from the Basin, with a decrease in forest area leading to an increase in the δ13C value of POC (and vice versa). There is a sufficient difference between the δ13C values of POC exported from forested and non‐ forested catchments to elucidate past vegetation and therefore climatic changes in the Amazon Basin (and other tropical river basins), using the δ13C record in POC from either terrestrial or offshore sedimentary sequences. The carbon isotope composition of POC in rivers draining recently deforested regions indicates that the isotopic composition of coarse (>63 μm) riverine POC will respond to vegetation changes in a catchment within years to decades, whereas the δ13C value of fine‐grained (<63 μm) riverine POC may take longer to respond.