Forest Landscape Management Research Articles

PROFILE: Forest Landscape Management Revisited.

/ Over the last decade, forest management planning has shifted its focus from a production-oriented approach to an ecosystem-based approach. Forest landscape management has thus emerged as a new challenge to forest managers. In this paper we examine the evolutionary process of forest management leading to landscape management and compares and contrasts its concept and principles to its predecessor, the conventional forest resource management approach. It explains the conceptual framework, provides the principles and the improvements over conventional management planning, and discusses different design approaches towards the landscape management concept. However, the paper points out that the evolutionary process of forest management provides sustainable healthy forest ecosystems. Smarter use of information technology, such as geographic information systems and remote sensing, a comprehensive digital spatial database, better understanding of spatial forest ecosystem dynamics across spatial and temporal scales, effective public involvement, better decision-making tools, and development of workable management strategies towards sustainability are prerequisite to make the realization of holistic management approach on the ground happen.KEY WORDS: Forest landscape management; Holistic approach; Spatial structurehttp://link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/00267/bibs/24n4p437.html</HEA

Forest Landscapes: Their Effect on the Interaction of the Southern Pine Beetle and Red-Cockaded Woodpecker

Abstract The nature of the interaction of the southern pine beetle and red-cockaded woodpecker was investigated using spatially explicit information on the structure of a forest landscape mosaic and knowledge of the behavior of the two organisms. This interaction is the basis for defining functional heterogeneity--how an organism perceives and responds to the elements forming the landscape. Implications for forest landscape management are discussed. The approach used illustrates how information on landscape configuration can be used with knowledge of animal behavior to investigate species interaction in forests.

Controlling spatial structure of forested landscapes: a case study towards landscape management

This paper presents an overview of the landscape management design process and focuses on changes in forest landscape dynamics as a result of different harvesting patterns and initial landscape structure. A case study involved two different forest landscapes, one quite fragmented and the other little fragmented, with both covering the same total area and having similar forest age class distributions. The effects of four different harvesting patterns (scatter, negative edge distribution, edge progressive and nuclei progressive) and two different initial forest landscape structures on landscape fragmentation were explored using a GIS-based landscape management model (LANDMAN). The model suggested that future landscape patterns vary greatly according to initial landscape structure as well as to the four harvesting patterns. The scatter harvesting pattern created fragmented landscapes, while the nuclei progressive pattern significantly reduced fragmentation, regardless of initial spatial structure. Likewise, the negative edge distribution and edge progressive harvesting patterns tended also to reduce fragmentation. The model indicated that for a given harvesting pattern, fragmentation was generally reduced in the initially fragmented forest, whereas the clustered forest became fragmented initially, but later recovered. In conclusion, the case study demonstrated that geographically prescribed harvesting patterns, in combination with indicators of forest performance and landscape fragmentation, provide an opportunity to design management for the creation of alternative forest landscapes of significantly different spatial structure. The prerequisites for on-the-ground forest landscape management are a quantitative description of the forest landscape, a computer model, geographically-prescribed harvest interventions, an understanding of spatial forest dynamics, and a GIS-based management design process.

Managing Nordic boreal forest landscapes for biodiversity: ecological and economic perspectives

More conservation-oriented forest management practices have been implemented recently in the Nordic countries. The goal of this ecological forest landscape management is to reconcile the commercial harvesting of boreal forests with biodiversity conservation. Management aims at maintaining viable populations of the full array of naturally occurring species in an area while still keeping the timber flow as maximal as possible. Basic ecological tools of managing landscape for biodiversity are (1) to mimic natural disturbance regimes, (2) to set aside areas in permanent or temporary nature reserves, and (3) to enhance dispersal of organisms by creating habitat corridors and stepping stones. The ecological basis of this management system is not well founded, and much more empirical and theoretical research is needed to justify and further develop forest landscape management. It has also proved difficult to assess the economic consequences of more conservation-oriented forest management because the market economy largely fails to give value to forest products other than fibre. Considerable methodological development in the valuation of non-timber goods has occurred in recent years, but there is still much controversy over the justification of the valuation procedure in principle. It seems that both economic and moral approaches to the issue of valuation are inseparable from the choices and decisions we have to make about ecological systems. Perhaps the most fruitful outcome can be achieved by using moral and economic arguments in parallel.

An Ecological Aesthetic for Forest Landscape Management

An Ecological Aesthetic for Forest Landscape Management

Assessment of structural dynamics in forest landscape management

Le developpement et l'implantation de strategies d'amenagement des paysages constituent un pas important dans l'evolution de l'amenagement forestier traditionnellement centre sur la gestion de la production de ressources, telles que le bois et les habitats fauniques, vers la gestion de l'ecosysteme forestier. Cet article decrit et applique un processus de conception des mosaiques forestieres a l'aide d'un modele d'amenagement du paysage (LANDMAN) base sur un systeme d'information a reference spatiale qui incorpore des patrons de coupe et des indicateurs de performance en utilisant des mesures de la structure spatiale. Dans le cadre d'une etude de cas, un petit secteur a ete identifie et caracterise a l'aide de mesures de structure spatiale. Les effets structuraux de quatre patrons de coupes (coupes dispersees, coupes minimisant les lisieres contrastees, coupes concentrees a dispersion lineaire et coupes concentrees a dispersion radiale) sur la fragmentation du paysage forestier ont ete analyses. Les indicateurs de performance ont quantifie les changements de structures spatiales dans le temps. Le niveau d'alteration de la structure des paysages a varie de facon importante selon les quatre patrons de coupe. Le patron de coupes dispersees a cree un paysage fragmente, alors qu'un patron de coupes concentrees a dispersion radiale a significativement reduit la fragmentation. De facon analogue, les coupes minimisant les lisieres contrastees et le patron de coupes concentrees a dispersion lineaire avaient aussi tendance a reduire la fragmentation et a imiter les patrons des perturbations naturelles telles que les feux et les insectes. En tout etat de cause, l'etude de cas a demontre que des modeles geographiques de patrons de coupe et des indicateurs de performance permettent de concevoir un amenagement qui se traduit par des paysages forestiers differents. Cet article arrive a la conclusion que l'amenagement des forets a l'echelle du paysage, qui met l'accent sur la structure spatiale, constitue une evolution souhaitable.

Assessment of structural dynamics in forest landscape management

Assessment of structural dynamics in forest landscape management

Designing forest management to control spatial structure of landscapes

Characterising and regulating spatial structure of forested landscapes is an important step towards shifting the traditional focus of forest management from managing resource flows, such as timber and wildlife habitat, to managing forests. Concerns about maintenance of forest ecosystems, biodiversity and wildlife, as well as economic benefits have lead to the concept of forest landscape management. The focus of forest landscape management, like contemporary management, is the management of forest structure. Forest landscape management, however, is based upon the premise that resource flows as well as biodiversity levels and ecosystem processes are determined by the array and spatial arrangement of forest conditions, i.e. spatial structure, and its change over time. Using a quantitative description of spatial forest structure, we developed a forest landscape management design process. A geographic information system (GIS) based landscape management model was developed that incorporated harvesting intervention patterns (i.e. geographically referenced format of intervention) and forest performance indicators using spatial structure measurements. We demonstrate that geographically based harvesting patterns and performance indicators have the potential to design management for the creation of alternative forest landscapes of significantly different spatial structure. We conclude that forest landscape management, with its spatial structure focus, is a desirable evolution in forest management planning. It represents a common basis that various interest groups can use to communicate their values and objectives. Forest landscape management, however, is only possible with a GIS-based management design process in place. This must include: (i) a means of quantitatively measuring spatial structure so that objectives may be set and performance evaluated; (ii) a knowledge of what constitutes performance in spatial structure; (iii) a design toolkit of geographically referenced interventions; (iv) understanding of spatial forest dynamics; (v) a computer model.

Characterizing spatial structure of forest landscapes

Forest landscape management is based on the premise that resource flows as well as biodiversity levels and ecosystem processes are determined by the array and spatial arrangement of forest conditions, i.e., spatial structure, and its change over time. This paper points out that a quantitative basis for measuring spatial structure is a prerequisite to implementing forest landscape management. Without such, structural objectives cannot be established nor can the understanding of spatial dynamics necessary to achieve structural objectives be mastered. This paper presents a comprehensive collection of measurements, some old and some new, organized in a hierarchical framework. The framework organizes structural measurements by geographical scale, i.e., landscape and patch, and within these by areal, lineal, and topological categories. The hierarchical framework is offered as a means to simplify interpretation of a rather large and complex set of measurements. Using this framework, the paper presents more than two dozen measurements. In each case, the measurements are discussed in terms of calculation algorithm, interpretation, and timber and (or) wildlife habitat context. The potential use of the measurements for quantifying landscape structure is demonstrated with an example. The paper concludes with a general discussion of the implications of the measurements presented for forest landscape management.

Ecological and economic effects of forest landscape structure and rotation length: simulation studies using ECOLECON

ECOLECON is a spatially-explicit, object-oriented computer simulation model that simulates animal population dynamics and economic yield from timber harvests based on forest landscape structure and timber management schemes. The model has been parameterized to simulate the population dynamics and extinction probability of Bachman's Sparrow ( Aimophila aestivalis), a species of management concern in southeastern pine forests. Simulations with ECOLECON have shown that forest landscape structure and management options such as rotation lengths influence both population sizes of the sparrows and economic returns from timber harvests. Sparrow population size and economic income were often maximized by different management strategies. For example, land expectation value reached a maximum when a rotation length was 20 years; however, whenever harvest rotation length was shorter than 80 years, sparrow population size had a negative linear relationship with rotation lengths. As the amount of mature pine habitat increased, sparrow population size increased, but annual net income decreased. Fragmentation of landscapes with only a small amount of mature habitat caused lower population sizes, but fragmentation of landscapes with a large amount of mature habitat resulted in a larger population size. Differences in placement of the mature habitat within the landscapes resulted in large differences in population size. Larger stand sizes produced higher economic revenues, but the effect of stand size on population size was confounded by the amount of mature habitat. Simulation models such as ECOLECON provide a potentially powerful tool for balancing wildlife population needs and economic revenues through designing and managing forested landscapes.

Forest Research Priorities in Canada, 1993: An Overview for the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers

The Forestry Research Advisory Council of Canada in cooperation with provincial and territorial forest research advisory committees has prepared this fifth annual review of forest research priorities for the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers.The top five priorities from each committee were scored from 5 points for highest priority down to 1 point for lowest. The resulting 11 research topics in descending order of priority are:1. Integrated forest landscape management systems and decision support.2. Inventory, growth and yield, ecological site classification.3. Ecosystem functioning, soil and biodiversity conservation.4. Pest and weed management and alternatives to chemicals.5. Ecological effects of natural and human-caused disturbances.6. Lower-cost silviculture and harvesting, natural regeneration.7. Forest fire management and control.8. Socio-economic knowledge and resolution of resource use conflicts.9. Mixedwood management.10. Incentives for private investment.11. Planting stock quality and tree improvement.Eight issues likely to affect future research priorities were identified by more than one respondent, as follows:1. Global trade, competition, and world public opinion.2. Concern and input about sustainable forestry and the environment.3. Public participation.4. New policies on forestry, tenure, sales, and forest protection.5. Lack of long-term research funding, communication, and coordination.6. Shortage of fiber, long-term viability of the industry.7. Land claims and forestry on aboriginal lands.8. Increasing need for information at all levels.Other concerns include climate change, government debt, population growth and shifts, and protected and old-growth forests.Discussion of these priorities and issues at a meeting of FRACC and representatives from the provincial and territorial committees produced some general conclusions, as outlined below.To resolve resource use conflicts and to manage forests sustainably for all benefits, managers need better information that only research can provide. The goal is management systems that produce a blend of outputs from the forest and maintain the diversity and mosaic structure of naturalforest ecosystems. This kind of forestry will meet the desires of most Canadians and go far to restore public confidence in forest management.In short, research must provide additional knowledge to enable forest managers to:• Sustain the diversity and resilience of the forest ecosystems.• Improve forest health and resistance to pests.• Increase forest productivity for all values.• Reduce forest management and fire protection costs.• Access all available knowledge and data in making decisions.• Determine the socio-economic value of Canadian forests.• Improve profits and competitiveness in the forest industry.Many feel that forestry research in Canada is quite well focused on these questions, but more effort is required to ensure sufficient long-term funding and to improve local application of research results.The usefulness of this annual survey of research priorities was reviewed. It was concluded that the annual meeting of FRACC with representatives of provincial and territorial research advisory committees and the annual presentation to CCFM are very useful. However, a survey of priorities every year is, in the light of experience, unnecessary. A biennial review of priorities is recommended, with presentation to CCFM and subsequent publication. In the alternate years, a workshop of FRACC and provincial and territorial committee representatives is suggested, which would examine a major research topic in depth and present the results and conclusions to CCFM. A report could be published if appropriate.

Natural forest landscape management: A strategy for Canada

Our purpose in writing this paper is to stimulate discussion about new concepts and approaches to forest management for Canada. This paper is designed to introduce the concept to Canadian foresters. The authors are working on an expanded technical edition that will deal in more detail with the practical concerns of forest resource managers.

次元的景観概念を導入した森林の取扱いに関する一考察

次元的景観概念を導入した森林の取扱いに関する一考察

National Forest Landscape Management, Vol. 2; Chapter 1, The Visual Managment System. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. April 1974. 47p

National Forest Landscape Management, Vol. 2; Chapter 1, The Visual Managment System. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. April 1974. 47p

The Analysis and Management of Forest Landscapes: Exotics, Eucalypts or Solitude?

SUMMARY Landscape management has long been an integral part of forest management in Australia. But there is a far shorter history of landscape analysis, and, at present, actual analyses of landscape preferences are rare. This paper reports on the successes and failures of a series of such analyses. The successes then form the basis of a review of recent criticisms of forest policies of landscape management. The critics argue, inter alia, that native forest is preferred to exotic forest. This particular criticism seems to be invalid and misleading. Furthermore, there are other, apparently more important, landscape characteristics which the critics often ignore.