Entire Forest Area Research Articles

Моделирование теплового режима дорожной одежды и земляного полотна лесовозных дорог

Soil freezing is observed throughout almost the entire forested area of the Russian Federarion in winter. The effect of negative temperatures on dusty-clay soils causes a number of adverse processes that change the properties of the soils themselves. One of the most unfavorable of these processes is the accumulation of moisture in soils under the influence of the movement of the freezing front. When freezing, water-saturated clay soils increase dramatically in volume. This leads to the appearance of frost heaving in the active zone of the forest roadbed, which has an extremely adverse effect on the structure of the entire pavement and can lead to damage to the pavement with a sharp deterioration in the transport and operational qualities of forest roads. To combat frost heaving, it is necessary to study the patterns of changes in the water-thermal regime of road structures. The depth of freezing of the pavement and the roadbed is of the greatest importance for predicting frost heaving and developing measures to combat this phenomenon. The article describes the developed system for monitoring the temperature of the road structure to a depth of 3 m and the measurement results which allow us to evaluate the temperature change at different depths from the road surface and determine the freezing depth. A total of 32 sensors have been installed with a step of 10 cm. A numerical simulation of the freezing process of the pavement and the upper part of the roadbed of a forest road has been performed, with the results compared with the indicators of field observations. Good data convergence has been revealed. According to the results of experimental studies, the freezing value has been 173 cm, and according to the results of numerical simulation – 190 cm. The average error in the results of numerical simulation of the freezing process of the pavement and the upper zone of the forest roadbed has been 8–10 % compared to the experimental data.

Effectiveness assessment of protected areas based on the states, trends, and relative changes in forest ecosystem: a case study in the Three Parallel Rivers Region, China

Establishing protected areas (PAs) is a major measure of biodiversity conservation, and various methods have been explored to assess PAs’ effectiveness. However, those methods mainly compared the relative changes in land cover between treated samples inside the PAs and their matched samples outside the PAs, which would produce misjudgments, especially in some climax communities with a relatively steady state. Thus, in this study, we constructed an integrated framework through a series of assessments according to the state, trend, and relative change of each PA to explore the conservation effectiveness of PAs in the Three Parallel Rivers Region in China from 2000 to 2020. Here, “state” refers to the difference among samples from within and outside the PA, assessed through yearly sample mean comparison. “Trend” means linear regression of mean forest area of each PA throughout the assessment period. “Relative change” means the difference in the mean value of the slope of forest changes between the treated samples inside each PA and their matched control samples outside of PAs. The entire forest area within all PAs in the Three Parallel Rivers Region showed a significant increasing trend from 2000 to 2020 (R2 = 0.919, P<0.05). Among all the PAs, twelve (86%) had a positive effect on protecting the forest ecosystem, and two had a nonsignificant effect. Among the factors affecting the state and relative change in PAs’ forests, the annual total precipitation was the most important, followed by distance to the nearest road. Moreover, the management-level variable was an essential factor in the state of PAs’ forest ecosystems, which indicated that national PAs (nature reserves and natural parks) were in a better state than local (provincial- and county-level) nature reserves. Overall, the conservation effectiveness of forests in PAs was assessed at a regional scale in the Three Parallel Rivers Region, implying that our framework would be additional useful in regions with high biodiversity and steady ecosystems. This framework better avoids underestimating conservation effectiveness assessment tasks than traditional methods do. Thus, we posit that this framework is suitable for future global or country-level assessments.

Tree species composition, growing stock and biomass carbon dynamics of the major timber species in Hindu Kush regions of Pakistan.

Using inventory data, this study evaluates the species composition, growing stock volume (GSV), and biomass carbon (BMC) of the five major timber species in the sub-tropical, and temperate/sub-alpine regions of Pakistan. It was found that the stem density varies between 50 and 221 trees ha -1, with a mean of 142 trees ha-1 (13.68 million trees for entire forest area). Among the species, Pinus wallichiana showed a high species composition (27.80%) followed by Picea smithiana (24.64%). The GSV was found in the range of 67.81 to 425.94 m3 ha-1, with a total GSV value of 20.68 million m3 for the entire region. Similarly, The BMC ranged from 27.04 to 169.86 Mg ha-1, with a mean BMC value of 86.80 Mg ha-1. The total amount of stored carbon was found at 8.69 million tons for a total of 95842 ha of commercially managed forest. Furthermore, the correlation analysis between the basal area (BA) and GSV and BMC showed that BA is the best predictor of GSV and BMC. The findings provide insights to the policy makers and forest managers regarding the sustainable commercial forest management as well as forest carbon management in the recent global carbon management for climate change mitigation.

«REGULATION ON FOREST PRESERVATION» AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN KAZAN GOVERNORATE IN THE LATE XIX – EARLY XX CENTURY

At the end of the XIX – the beginning of the XX century the development of forestry in Russia, including Kazan governorate, was to a certain extent determined by the state policy in this area and forest legislation then in force.
 
 The purpose of the study is to characterize the content of the “Regulations on Forest Preservation” dated 1888 and to analyze its implementation in the territory of Kazan governorate.
 
 Materials and methods. The work carried out is mainly based on the analysis of previously unknown archival documents extracted from the fund of Kazan Governorate Forest Protection Committee of the State Archive of the Republic of Tatarstan and the fund of the Forest Department of the Russian State Historical Archive. Materials from published sources and scientific literature on forestry issues were also used. The research is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity and consistency.
 
 Study results. The “Regulation” paid the main attention to proper management of the economy in protective and water-conserving forests. They were subject to mandatory saving from exhaustion and extermination. At the beginning of the XX century there were more than 200 such protective forest estates in Kazan governorate. Direct control over the forest resources conservation in the governorate was conducted by Kazan Forest Protection Committee, which was assisted by the ranks of the state forest administration, forest guards, police and other institutions. The number of forest estates subject to the forest protection law in Kazan province increased significantly over time. This was accompanied by the establishment of state control, primarily over the forests of private individuals and peasant rural societies, clear regulation of the volume and order of forest use, reforestation and other fundamental aspects of forestry. Gradually, the effect of the “Regulation” spread to almost the entire forest area of the governorate, regardless of the category of forest owners.
 
 Conclusions. In general, implementation of the “Regulation on Forest Preservation” had, undoubtedly, a positive impact on the condition and development of forest protection legislation and Russia’s forest industry, including Kazan governorate of the period under review.

The Identification of the Abundance of European Larch Trees in Polish Forests

The purpose of the study was to identify the abundance of European larch trees in Polish forests, taking into account the size of areas and their location. A dendrometric analysis (volume, age of trees) was performed as a source of knowledge on the availability of the raw material base as a response to the production needs of wood products in Poland. The detailed data were made available in 2023 by the Directorate General of State Forests on the basis of a license specifying the conditions of use of the vector record of the forest numerical map and appraisal description data. European larch trees are in areas all around Poland. They grow throughout the country, with most stands located in the southern and northern parts of Poland. Stands with a dominant share of larch in the species composition (i.e., those that are part of trees stands with a minimum area of 0.1 ha) occupy 44,813 ha and occur in 17,553 stand divisions. The analysis of productivity showed that the average height of larch stands in Poland ranges from 5 m to 45 m. Tree stands are predominately 26–30 m in height. Most stands with trees over 30 m high are located in the RDFS Krosno (over 15% of the entire forest area with larch as the dominant species). European larch stands in Poland are characterized by significant differences in the average DBH. They are correlated with the age of the stands.

Woody species diversity, composition, structure and carbon storage of a dry evergreen montane forest of Essimingor Nature Forest Reserve in Tanzania

Abstract. Mwakalukwa EE, Mwakisu A, Maliondo SMS. 2023. Woody species diversity, composition, structure and carbon storage of a dry evergreen montane forest of Essimingor Nature Forest Reserve in Tanzania. Intl J Trop Drylands 7: 26-36. The biodiversity status of flora and fauna of many forests found on small protruding and isolated hills in most parts of dry areas in Tanzania is largely less studied. Their contribution to climate mitigation options also remains largely unknown. This study assessed the woody species diversity, composition, structure and carbon stocks potential of a dry evergreen montane forest of Essimingor Nature Forest Reserve in Tanzania. The vegetation data were collected from 23 concentric sample plots of 5m, 15m, and 20m radius laid systematically across the entire forest area of 6,100 ha. A total of 54 trees and shrubs species belonging to 29 families were identified. Diversity indices indicated the forest to have a high diversity of woody species. The most important species were Cassipourea malosana, Diospyros abyssinica and Drypetes natalensis. Stand structure comprised 288±173 stems ha-1, basal area of 11.47±7.23 m2ha-1 and standing volume of 27.3±16.3 m3ha-1. The mean above-ground and below-ground carbon stocks were 56.93±34.60 Mg C ha-1 and 34.71±19.72 Mg C ha-1, respectively. The observed high species diversity and carbon density signify the importance of conservation efforts bestowed in this reserve. Quantification of other carbon pools for estimation of the total carbon stock potential of this forest is recommended.

Vaia, un punto di partenza

In October 2018, the three-days storm Vaia flattened 42 million trees to the ground, across a vast area extending from Lombardia to Friuli Venezia Giulia. This extreme weather, which has never been recorded before in Italy, reflects the dramatic nature of climate change. Not only did the storm significantly alter the entire forest area, it also led to the uncontrolled proliferation of the bark beetle, negatively impacting the Italian timber industry. PEFC Italy has set up the ‘Filiera Solidale’ initiative in order to restore the value and importance of timber. In fact, it is aimed at encouraging the purchase of objects and structures made of wood from the storm-damaged areas at a fair price. In this regard, two successful examples are described: The Social Housing Project, inaugurated on 30 May 2022 in Rovereto, and the historic Legnolandia company in Friuli. In both cases, the timber comes from the forests that were devastated by the Vaia storm. In addition, the WOWnature project by Etifor (the spin-off of a project by the University of Padua) offers the chance to get directly involved by adopting a tree in the areas that have been most affected by Vaia and the bark beetle. The care and concern shown for the storm-ravaged forests is an excellent starting point for planning the future of the Alpine territories, focusing on the necessary balance between human and nature.

Effects of lidar coverage and field plot data numerosity on forest growing stock volume estimation

ABSTRACT Forest parameter estimation is required to support the sustainable management of forest ecosystems. Currently, forest resource assessment is increasingly linked to auxiliary information obtained from remote sensing (RS) technologies. In forest parameter estimation, airborne laser scanning (ALS) data have been demonstrated to be an invaluable source of information. However, ALS data are often not available for the entire forest area, whereas images from multiple satellite systems offer new opportunities for large-scale forest surveys. This study aims to assess and estimate the contribution of field plot data and ALS data along with Landsat data to the precision of growing stock volume (GSV) estimates. We compared different approaches for model-assisted estimation of mean forest GSV per unit area using different proportions of field sample data, ALS cover data, and wall-to-wall Landsat data. Model-assisted estimators were used with NFI sample data in an Italian study area using 10 RS predictors, specifically the seven Landsat 7 ETM+ bands and three fine-resolution metrics based on ALS-derived canopy height. We found that relative to the standard simple expansion estimator, the model-assisted estimators produced relative efficiency of 1.16 when using only Landsat data and relative efficiencies as great as 1.33 when using increasing levels of ALS coverage.

Medical Plant Species: Distribution, Traditional Utilization, Conservation and Role in Tourism Development in the Forest of Taman Gumi Banten, Wanagiri Village, Buleleng, Bali

Taman Gumi Banten Forest is located in Wanagiri Village, Sukasada District, Buleleng Regency, Bali Province. This forest was previously managed by the local government. When managed by the government, illegal logging occurred and expansion of cultivated plants into the forest. The government then grants the forest for its management to the customary village. The forest that is managed by this customary village is based on local wisdom so that this forest remains sustainable until now and there is no illegal logging and expansion of cultivated plants into the middle of the forest. The purpose of this study was to determine the various species of medicinal plants and their mapping in the perspective of traditional medicinal plant use, processing methods, usage methods, designation of medicinal plants, tourism perspectives, and local wisdom-based conservation. The research population was all plant species in the forest of Taman Gumi Banten. The research sample for (1) mapping study was the entire forest area of Taman Gumi Banten. (2) Plant species samples are all plant species covered by squares with a size of 20x20 m² (for trees), 5x5 m² (for saplings), and 1x1 m² for seeds / seedlings). To find out the various types of plants that can be used as medicinal plants, deep interview methods, observation, questionnaires, and check lists are used. The informants were Balian / Shaman (2 people), Village Head and staff (5 people), Traditional Village Head staff (5 people), Stakeholders / Pastors (3 people), General Community (10 people). Total informants were 25 people. The collected data were analyzed descriptively. The results showed: (1) The overall plant species and medicinal plants in the Taman Gumi Banten forest, Wanagiri Village, Sukasada District, Buleleng Regency have been mapped. (2) The traditional use of medicinal plants by the Balinese people generally has three properties, namely tis (cold), dumelade (not cold and not hot), and anget (hot). (3) In the perspective of developing forest tourism, there are opportunities to be developed as a tourism object.

Machine learning based soil maps for a wide range of soil properties for the forested area of Switzerland

Spatial soil information in forests is crucial to assess ecosystem services such as carbon storage, water purification or biodiversity. However, spatially continuous information on soil properties at adequate resolution is rare in forested areas, especially in mountain regions. Therefore, we aimed to build high-resolution soil property maps for pH, soil organic carbon, clay, sand, gravel and soil density for six depth intervals as well as for soil thickness for the entire forested area of Switzerland. We used legacy data from 2071 soil profiles and evaluated six different modelling approaches of digital soil mapping, namely lasso, robust external-drift kriging, geoadditive modelling, quantile regression forest (QRF), cubist and support vector machines. Moreover, we combined the predictions of the individual models by applying a weighted model averaging approach. All models were built from a large set of potential covariates which included e.g. multi-scale terrain attributes and remote sensing data characterizing vegetation cover.Model performances, evaluated against an independent dataset were similar for all methods. However, QRF achieved the best prediction performance in most cases (18 out of 37 models), while model averaging outperformed the individual models in five cases. For the final soil property maps we therefore used the QRF predictions. Prediction performance showed large differences for the individual soil properties. While for fine earth density the R2 of QRF varied between 0.51 and 0.64 across all depth intervals, soil organic carbon content was more difficult to predict (R2 = 0.19–0.32). Since QRF was used for map prediction, we assessed the 90% prediction intervals from which we derived uncertainty maps. The latter are valuable to better interpret the predictions and provide guidance for future mapping campaigns to improve the soil maps.

Species diversity and stand structural diversity of woody plants predominantly determine aboveground carbon stock of a dry Afromontane forest in Northern Ethiopia

Aboveground carbon (AGC) stock in forests is affected by several biotic and abiotic factors. Understanding those factors is crucial in managing forests for climate change mitigation and other ecosystem services. This study examined effects of diversity attributes (species and stand structural diversity of woody plants) and topographic attributes (altitude and slope) on AGC stock of a dry Afromontane forest. Data from individual woody plants for estimating AGC were collected from 252 plots (20 × 20 m) established in a systematic grid (2 × 2 km) covering the entire forest area. Woody plant diameter diversity and woody plant height diversity were used as proxies for stand structural diversity. Structural equation modelling was applied to test the effects of the selected attributes on AGC stock, and together they explained 71% of the variation. Stand structural diversity was the most important driving factor for the AGC stock. Woody plant species diversity had both direct and indirect effects on AGC stock, but the indirect effect through its influence on stand structural diversity was more pronounced. Altitude and slope were both negatively but weakly associated with AGC stock. Our results provide insight on the effects of diversity and topographic attributes on AGC stock, which can assist future management of the forest. Enhancing stand structural diversity by means of selection cutting systems and woody plant species diversity by means of enrichment planting can be effective treatments. When considering dry Afromontane forests’ widespread distribution, the potential contribution in carbon sequestration and thereby mitigating climate change is substantial. Hence, the results and management suggestions from the present study may have practical interest for the management of dry Afromontane forests not only in Ethiopia but also in Africa at large.

Assessment, Monitoring and Prediction of Forest Fire Danger Using Atmospheric Soil Measuring Complex

Large-scale combustion of forest fuels stops when the entire forest area is burned out, when a natural obstacle is encountered on the path of a forest fire front (channel of a large river, mountain range) or at the beginning of the rainy season. In this situation, the problem can be solved only in anticipation of a catastrophic phenomenon, which is possible only when developing a methodology for assessing, monitoring, and predicting forest fire dangers. The purpose of this article is to develop a methodology for assessing, monitoring, and predicting forest fire dangers using an atmospheric-soil measuring complex, which provides information on the meteorological parameters and some data on soil in the control zone of a forest fire situation. The structure of the instrumental network for monitoring environmental parameters in order to forestall forest fires is proposed. Criteria for assessing forest fire dangers have been developed using data from the atmospheric-soil measuring complex located at one of the stations in the Republic of Buryatia. Typical results of assessment, monitoring, and predicting forest fire danger using these data are presented. Recommendations are proposed for the implementation of the methodology under consideration in the practice of forest fire protection.

A Permanent Research Platform for Ecological Studies in Intact Temperate Mountainous Forests from Slătioara UNESCO Site and Its Surroundings, Romania

This paper describes a permanent research platform (PRP) designed and implemented in “Codrul secular Slătioara” and its surroundings (2205.85 ha), having also the role of introductory paper for future research articles based on data collected from this platform. “Codrul secular Slătioara” is known as one of the largest temperate mountainous intact forests of Europe and, in 2017, it was included in UNESCO World Heritage List, as part of the “Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe”. Moreover, the PRP overlaps other three scientific reserves, the share of strictly protected forests exceeding 70%. This platform has a multiple role, being developed for research, conservation and educational activities. The PRP was designed for an ecological analysis of the intact forest ecosystems. It contains 193 circular sample plots, each of them of 500 m2, and it is structured on two levels. The first level contains 58 sample plots corresponding to a square grid of 500 × 500 m, stretching over the entire forested area, and the second level contains 135 plots, placed according to a square grid of 100 × 100 m, covering 136 ha within the core area of the UNESCO site. We measured the characteristics of 8296 living trees, 1743 standing dead trees, 1900 dead wood trunks, 3214 saplings, and the abundance–dominance indices of flora species. Thus, we identified 14 tree species, 17 shrub species, and 248 other cormophyte species forming the herbaceous layer. In terms of volume, the main tree species are Norway spruce, silver fir and European beech. The tallest species are Norway spruce (56 m) and silver fir (51 m). The average volume of living trees is 659 m3·ha−1, with a maximum of 1441 m3·ha−1. The mean total dead wood volume is about 158 m3·ha−1, with sample plots where the total dead wood volume exceeds 600 m3·ha−1. After presenting the results of preliminary data processing, the paper describes the main research topics to be further considered, based on the PRP, and the foresights related to the PRP’s monitoring and development.

Spatio-temporal divergence in the responses of Finland’s boreal forests to climate variables

Spring greening in boreal forest ecosystems has been widely linked to increasing temperature, but few studies have attempted to unravel the relative effects of climate variables such as maximum temperature (TMX), minimum temperature (TMN), mean temperature (TMP), precipitation (PRE) and radiation (RAD) on vegetation growth at different stages of growing season. However, clarifying these effects is fundamental to better understand the relationship between vegetation and climate change. This study investigated spatio-temporal divergence in the responses of Finland’s boreal forests to climate variables using the plant phenology index (PPI) calculated based on the latest Collection V006 MODIS BRDF-corrected surface reflectance products (MCD43C4) from 2002 to 2018, and identified the dominant climate variables controlling vegetation change during the growing season (May–September) on a monthly basis. Partial least squares (PLS) regression was used to quantify the response of PPI to climate variables and distinguish the separate impacts of different variables. The study results show the dominant effects of temperature on the PPI in May and June, with TMX, TMN and TMP being the most important explanatory variables for the variation of PPI depending on the location, respectively. Meanwhile, drought had an unexpectedly positive impact on vegetation in few areas. More than 50 % of the variation of PPI could be explained by climate variables for 68.5 % of the entire forest area in May and 87.7 % in June, respectively. During July to September, the PPI variance explained by climate and corresponding spatial extent rapidly decreased. Nevertheless, the RAD was found be the most important explanatory variable to July PPI in some areas. In contrast, the PPI in August and September was insensitive to climate in almost all of the regions studied. Our study gives useful insights on quantifying and identifying the relative importance of climate variables to boreal forest, which can be used to predict the possible response of forest under future warming.

Quantification and mapping of fragmented forest landscape in dry deciduous forest of Burdwan Forest Division, West Bengal, India

Structural pattern of a forest landscape may affect the habitat quality directly. Therefore, monitoring and assessing the changes of forest cover is important for a biodiversity as well as the local ecosystem. Forest fragmentation in unprotected land rapidly changes the forest shape and size in an entire landscape. The present study addresses the issues related to the changing pattern of Burdwan Forest Division (BFD) landscape during the past 29 years (1990–2019) using satellite images. The entire forest area was categorized into 38 forest patches. Supervised image classification using ArcGIS software was used to detect the temporal changes of the forest cover in BFD. Different landscape indices have also been calculated to consider fragmentation with the help of FragStat 4.2 software. The result of the forest cover changes shows that though there is a less variation of forest changes from 1990 (80.66% forest cover) to 2019 (80%) forest cover, patch level variation is striking. Result from different landscape indices shows that, the patches with larger size (ID-1, 6, 15, 17) are more fragmented and complex than the smaller (ID- 5, 9, 18). This result is also supported and validated by regression method. This study may be helpful for the forest division and planners for policy makers to mitigate the factors affecting the fragmentation of this protected forest and to adopt suitable strategies for maintain ecological balance.

Rohingya refugee flooding and changes of the physical and social landscape in Ukhiya, Bangladesh

Bangladesh has been dealing with one of the world’s largest refugee emergencies along its border with Myanmar (especially in the rough wooded zone of Ukhiya sub-district, Cox’s Bazar) due to a massive influx of Rohingya refugees, particularly since 25 August 2017. Resulting high impacts threaten the viability of local plantation as well as natural forests (societal and ecological assets). This research aims to evaluate the impact of the influx on the physical landscape in the Ukhiya sub-district as well as changes of socio-cultural landscape. The study was relied on both geo-spatial and survey data analysis. We argue that Rohingya flooding has a significant impact on changes of physical and socio-cultural landscape of the area in and around Rohingya camps. Results from the normalized difference vegetation index analysis identified that during 2015–2018 the forestry adjacent to the Kutupalong camps (Ukhiya sub-district) declined by 11.23 km2. Forestry cover fell from approximately 68.9% of all land to 2.72%; the decline representing about 15.2% of the entire forested area. Furthermore, the highest elevated area of Kutupalong camps (estimated to be 41 m) is likewise affected by anthropogenic activities, for instance, wholesale cutting into the slope, and street and stair construction which is gradually rising the potentiality of landslide and inland flood in several camps. Out of which 27.76% settlements, 0.35% and 9.61% settlements are at risk of landslide and flood, respectively, in the Kutupalong RC and Kutupalong extension campsite. A large proportion of Rohingyas also used wood for fuel; wood used originates from the adjacent forest and is the primary explanation for forestry consumption in Ukhiya sub-district. Its forests and elevation will never return to their original condition if the consumption of forestry assets proceeds unabated. It is argued, that these research findings may inspire locals, national, and global aid agencies to contribute to the introduction of forestry management and environmental protection.

Carbon stock in Japanese forests has been greatly underestimated

An accurate estimate of total forest carbon (C) stock and C uptake is crucial for predicting global warming scenarios and planning CO2 emission reductions. Forest inventory, based on field measurements of individual tree sizes, is considered the most accurate estimation method for forest C stock. Japan’s national forest inventory (NFI) provides stand-scale stem volume for the entire forested area based on (1) direct field measurements (m-NFI) and (2) prediction using yield tables (p-NFI). Here, we show that Japanese national and local forestry agencies and some research studies have used p-NFI and greatly underestimated the Japanese forest C stock (58–64%) and net annual C uptake (41–48%). This was because approximately 10% of the forest area was not counted in p-NFI and because the yield tables in p-NFI, which were constructed around 1970, were outdated. For accurate estimation of the forest C stock, yield tables used in p-NFI should be reconstructed or ideally field measurement campaigns for m-NFI should be continued. In the future, appropriate forest management plans are necessary to effectively use the high CO2 absorption capacity of Japanese forests and these should be compared with other industries’ CO2 reduction plans from a cost-benefit perspective.

Analysis of spatiotemporal dynamics of forest Net Primary Productivity of Nepal during 2000–2015

ABSTRACTProper estimation and spatiotemporal trend analysis of net primary productivity (NPP) are very important for forest ecosystem monitoring and management. In this article, we investigate the spatiotemporal trend and variability of the Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator (BEPS)-derived forest NPP over Nepal during the period 2000–2015. This study is the first attempt to simulate nation-wide NPP at 500 m spatial resolution at the daily step for the recent 16-year period. In our work, we use a process-based model BEPS, to estimate the NPP in the forest of Nepal. All the meteorological, forest cover, soil data, leaf area index (LAI), tree cover, biomass, and biophysical parameters, required for the model, were downloaded from different sources or prepared, pre-processed and used in the BEPS model to come up with the daily NPP. In spite of some fluctuations in NPP in some years, there is an overall positive change in the NPP throughout the study period. The annual average national NPP has been raised from 1.34 g m−2 day−1 to 1.74 g m−2 day−1 from 2000 to –2015. Examining the inter-annual variation, we found almost 87% of the total forested area has a positive inter-annual variation and 13% negative. The overall average daily NPP per m2 over the entire forest in the entire period ranges from 0.1 to 4.7 g m−2 day−1 with an average of 1.65 g m−2 day−1. Similarly, by physiographic regions, the average NPP in the plain was 2.43 g m−2 day−1, hills 1.83 g m−2 day−1, and mountain 1.41 g m−2 day−1. The total daily NPP for the entire forest area ranges from 3 to 257 tons with an average of 96 tons over the study period. NPP was found to be highly influenced by rainfall, solar radiation, and temperature. While in case of the variation of NPP on different forest types, broad-leaved forest was found to have almost 1.7 times more (NPP 1.97 g m−2 day−1) than that of needle-leaved forest (NPP 1.18 g m−2 day−1). The slope per cent of <15% is favourable (NPP 2.15 g m−2 day−1) for higher NPP among different slope per cent. We found that this method could be more convenient for estimation and studies of the NPP in Nepal. The result from this study gives us important information on intra and inter-annual spatiotemporal trends and variability of NPP in the forest of overall Nepal of different physiographic regions. It also gives us information on the variation in trends of NPP with the change in various climatic and vegetation parameters, which can be important for the proper forest ecosystem monitoring, management, and planning operations.

РЕКРЕАЦИОННЫЙ ПОТЕНЦИАЛ СОМОВСКОГО ЛЕСНИЧЕСТВА ВОРОНЕЖСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ И ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ ЕГО РАЗВИТИЯ

Recreational use of forest resources is the most important for urban green forests. Every year the problem of satisfying the population growing needs for recreation in the forest, while ensuring its preservation, acquires special relevance. The main function of Somovskoe Forestry (Voronezh region) is environmental protection, which includes the implementation of protective, water conservation, and recreational functions. Grass pine forests are the most comfortable for vacationers in Somovskoe forestry. In the study, the recreational potential of the Somovskoe Forestry (Voronezh region) has been estimated based on the methods of various authors, types of landscapes, types and forms of recreation, stages of digression, planning and aesthetic value. It has been revealed that most of the plantations are occupied with a closed type of l of horizontal closeness. The predominant class of aesthetic evaluation of the examined stands is II. The largest area is occupied by the strata with III and IV stage of digression. The main types of recreation in the stands of Somovskoe forestry are everyday and camping ones. The main forms are off-road and road ones. The predominant class of aesthetic assessment is II (65% ± 3.2). It is a plantation with reduced visibility and patency. The recreational potential of the studied artificial pine plantations is not higher than class II. Recommendations on regulating the movement of vacationers with the goal of hindering the "development" of the entire forest area, the development of measures to improve the culture and discipline of recreants, to increase the sustainability and productivity of plantations have been given on the basis of research results.

Wall-to-wall spatial prediction of growing stock volume based on Italian National Forest Inventory plots and remotely sensed data

Spatial predictions of forest variables are required for supporting modern national and sub-national forest planning strategies, especially in the framework of a climate change scenario. Nowadays methods for constructing wall-to-wall maps and calculating small-area estimates of forest parameters are becoming essential components of most advanced National Forest Inventory (NFI) programs. Such methods are based on the assumption of a relationship between the forest variables and predictor variables that are available for the entire forest area. Many commonly used predictors are based on data obtained from active or passive remote sensing technologies. Italy has almost 40% of its land area covered by forests. Because of the great diversity of Italian forests with respect to composition, structure and management and underlying climatic, morphological and soil conditions, a relevant question is whether methods successfully used in less complex temperate and boreal forests may be applied successfully at country level in Italy.For a study area of more than 48,657 km2 in central Italy of which 43% is covered by forest, the study presents the results of a test regarding wall-to-wall, spatially explicit estimation of forest growing stock volume (GSV) based on field measurement of 1350 plots during the last Italian NFI. For the same area, we used potential predictor variables that are available across the whole of Italy: cloud-free mosaics of multispectral optical satellite imagery (Landsat 5 TM), microwave sensor data (JAXA PALSAR), a canopy height model (CHM) from satellite LiDAR, and auxiliary variables from climate, temperature and precipitation maps, soil maps, and a digital terrain model.Two non-parametric (random forests and k-NN) and two parametric (multiple linear regression and geographically weighted regression) prediction methods were tested to produce wall-to-wall map of growing stock volume at 23-m resolution. Pixel level predictions were used to produce small-area, province-level model-assisted estimates. The performances of all the methods were compared in terms of percent root mean-square error using a leave-one-out procedure and an independent dataset was used for validation. Results were comparable to those available for other ecological regions using similar predictors, but random forests produced the most accurate results with a pixel level R2 = 0.69 and RMSE% = 37.2% against the independent validation dataset. Model-assisted estimates were more precise than the original design-based estimates provided by the NFI.