Forest-related Ecosystem Services Research Articles

Factors Explaining the Willingness of Small-Scale Private Forest Owners to Engage in Forestry—A German Case Study

In Germany, 24% of the forest area is owned by small-scale private forest owners, whose property is affected by a societal demand for forest-related ecosystem services. In the inhomogeneous group of small-scale private forest owners, different living conditions and lifestyles exist, which are affecting the management of the forest ownership. To support the management activities of small-scale private forest owners, institutional instruments exist, but these are only used by a small proportion of forest owners. In order to gain insights into the accessibility and activation of small-scale private forest owners for management, and to draw conclusions for appropriate support instruments, a large number of studies have analyzed the factors influencing the management activities of forest owners. Some studies identify socio-demographic and socio-economic variables as important influencing factors, but do not take into account their complex interdependencies, which have developed as a result of the pluralization of lifestyles and individualization of forest owners. For this reason, in addition to the influencing factors identified in the literature as relevant for forest management activities of small-scale private forest owners, the lifestyle segmentation approach of Sinus milieus established in German market research was applied in this study. This approach allocates forest owners based on their complex lifestyles into ten different milieu groups. A logistic regression analysis was used to determine the parameters influencing the willingness to engage in eight different forest management activities. The results show that the willingness to engage in forest management activities in the future is higher compared to actions in the past. In addition to timber harvesting-related activities, the small-scale private forest owners show a high action potential for non-commodity-related activities. Non-commodity-related activities can primarily be explained by the Sinus milieu affiliation of the small-scale private forest owners. This result underlines the usefulness of a lifestyle segmentation approach such as the Sinus milieus to address small-scale private forest owners in a target group specific way in line with their willingness to engage in specific forest management activities. Institutional instruments such as the membership in a forest owners association or subsidies do not play a significant role for non-commodity-related activities and seem to be inappropriate for targeting small-scale private forest owners for these activities. Timber harvesting-related activities are primarily influenced by the presence of professional foresters, socio-demographic factors or institutional instruments. Based on these empirical findings, implications can be drawn for the target group-specific addressing of forest owners based on different management activities. In this way, forest owners can be motivated to engage in forest management and the provision of forest-related ecosystem services.

Towards sustainable forestry: Using a spatial Bayesian belief network to quantify trade-offs among forest-related ecosystem services

Assessing trade-offs among ecosystem services (ESs) that are provided by forests is necessary to support decision-making and to minimize negative effects of timber harvesting. In this study, we examined how spatial data, forest operational rules, ESs, and probabilistic statistics can be combined into a practical tool for trade-off analysis that could guide decision-making towards sustainable forestry. Our main goal was to analyze trade-offs among the wood provisioning ES and other forest ESs at the landscape level using a Bayesian belief network (BBN). We used LiDAR data to derive four ES layers as inputs to a spatial BBN: (i) wood provisioning; (ii) erosion regulating; (iii) climate regulating; and (iv) habitat supporting. We quantified operational constraints with four forest operational rules (FOR) that were defined in terms of: (i) potential harvest block size; (ii) distance between a small potential harvest block and a larger harvest block; (iii) gross merchantable volume (GMV); and (iv) distance to an existing resource road. Maps of the most probable trade-off classes between the wood provisioning ES and other ESs enabled us to identify areas where timber harvesting should be avoided or where timber harvesting should have a very low negative effect on other ESs. Even with our most restrictive management scenario, the total GMV that could be harvested met the annual allowable cut (AAC) volume required to meet sustainable forestry objectives. Through our study, we demonstrated that high-resolution spatial data could be used to quantify trade-offs among wood provisioning ES and other forest-related ESs and to simulate small changes in ES indicators within the BBN. We also demonstrated the potential to evaluate management scenarios to reduce trade-offs by considering FOR as inputs to the BBN. Maps of the most probable trade-off classes among two or three ESs under operational constraints provide key information to guide forest management decision-making towards sustainable forestry.

Advancing the application of remote sensing for forest information needs in Canada: Lessons learned from a national collaboration of university, industrial and government stakeholders

The Canadian forest sector requires detailed information regarding the amount and characteristics of the forest resource. To address these needs, inventory systems that spatially quantify timber and other forest related ecosystem services are required, that are accurate, comprehensive and timely. The Assessment of Wood properties using Remote Sensing (AWARE) was a five-year project involving collaboration between seven Canadian universities, and seven forest companies with support provided by provincial and federal forestry agencies and other non-for-profit forestry focused organisations. AWARE provided methods and tools to enhance the characterization of forests at national, landscape and individual tree scales. The project supported 24 post-doctoral fellows, PhD and MSc students that examined the roles that advanced three-dimensional remote sensing technologies can play in the development of accurate forest inventory systems across Canada. In this review we examine the AWARE research project, review research highlights, key outcomes, future research needs, and provide an assessment of successes and challenges the project faced over its five-year lifetime.

How afforestation affects the water cycle in drylands: A process-based comparative analysis.

The world's largest afforestation programs implemented by China made a great contribution to the global "greening up." These programs have received worldwide attention due to its contribution toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, emerging studies have suggested that these campaigns, when not properly implemented, resulted in unintended ecological and water security concerns at the regional scale. While mounting evidence shows that afforestation causes substantial reduction in water yield at the watershed scale, process-based studies on how forest plantations alter the partitioning of rainwater and affect water balance components in natural vegetation are still lacking at the plot scale. This lack of science-based data prevents a comprehensive understanding of forest-related ecosystem services such as soil conservation and water supply under climate change. The present study represents the first "Paired Plot" study of the water balance of afforestation on the Loess Plateau. We investigate the effects of forest structure and environmental factors on the full water cycle in a typical multilayer plantation forest composed of black locust, one of the most popular tree species for plantations worldwide. We measure the ecohydrological components of a black locust versus natural grassland on adjacent sites. The startling finding of this study is that, contrary to the general belief, the understory-instead of the overstory-was the main water consumer in this plantation. Moreover, there is a strict physiological regulation of forest transpiration. In contrast to grassland, annual seepage under the forest was minor in years with an average rainfall. We conclude that global long-term greening efforts in drylands require careful ecohydrologic evaluation so that green and blue water trade-offs are properly addressed. This is especially important for reforestation-based watershed land management, that aims at carbon sequestration in mitigating climate change while maintaining regional water security, to be effective on a large scale.

Selvicoltura e schianti da vento. Il caso della “tempesta Vaia”

Abstract: On October 29th, 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 characteristics - such 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.

Challenges and Opportunities of Aligning Forest Function Mapping and the Ecosystem Service Concept in Germany

In the context of considering natural capital in decision-making, the ecosystem services concept is steadily increasing in importance. This also holds for the forest sector in Germany. This development calls for a harmonisation of approaches and terms used in the forest sector, as well as being made compatible with the ecosystem services concept and relevant classifications. In Germany, and a number of Central European countries, a common way to assess the multifunctional benefits of forests is the forest function mapping method. Due to the federal multi-level governance system in Germany, each state has its own classification of forest functions and mapping. A first objective of this paper is to align the various forest function categories across German states as a basis to relate them to the ecosystem services concept. Second, this bottom-up approach is combined with a top-down approach, building on the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES). The aim is to develop a harmonised, methodological framework, suitable for accounting forest-related ecosystem services, as a step towards future ecosystem services monitoring and reporting commitments in the forest sector. Finally, the challenges and opportunities of the ecosystem services concept for forest management are discussed and ways forward are elaborated.

Improved Water Consumption Estimates of Black Locust Plantations in China’s Loess Plateau

Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is a major tree species in China’s large-scale afforestation. Despite its significance, black locust is underrepresented in sap flow literature; moreover, the published water consumption data might be biased. We applied two field methods to estimate water consumption of black locust during the growing seasons in 2012 and 2013. The application of Granier’s original sap flow method produced a very low transpiration rate (0.08 mm d−1) while the soil water balance method yielded a much higher rate (1.4 mm d−1). A dye experiment to determine the active sapwood area showed that only the outermost annual ring is responsible for conducting water, which was not considered in many previous studies. Moreover, an in situ calibration experiment was conducted to improve the reliability of Granier’s method. Validation showed a good agreement in estimates of the transpiration rate between the different methods. It is known from many studies that black locust plantations contribute to the significant decline of discharge in the Yellow River basin. Our estimate of tree transpiration at stand scale confirms these results. This study provides a basis for and advances the argument for the development of more sustainable forest management strategies, which better balance forest-related ecosystem services such as soil conservation and water supply.

Continuous cover forestry is a cost-efficient tool to increase multifunctionality of boreal production forests in Fennoscandia

Earlier research has suggested that the diversification of silvicultural strategies is a cost-efficient tool to ensure multifunctionality in production forests. This study compared the effects of continuous cover forestry and conventional rotation forestry on ecosystem services and biodiversity in boreal forests in Finland. We simulated over 25,000 commercial forest stands for 100years under continuous cover and rotation forest management. Forests without management were used as a reference. We compared the effects of silvicultural practices over space and time on ecosystem services, biodiversity indicators and multifunctionality. Our results revealed that continuous cover forestry was better than rotation forest management in terms of timber net present value, carbon sequestration, bilberry production, scenic beauty and the number of large trees. It provided higher habitat availability for indicator species dependent on deciduous trees and mature forest structure. Rotation forest management was better than continuous cover forestry in terms of harvested tree biomass, cowberries, mushrooms, and species dependent on high tree volume. In general, multifunctionality was higher in continuous cover forests than in rotation forests. Therefore, continuous cover forests may have a greater potential to produce simultaneously multiple benefits from forests. However, unmanaged forests often provided the highest levels of services and biodiversity making their role indispensable in delivering forest related ecosystem services and, especially, in the maintenance of biodiversity. Continuous cover forestry does not itself guarantee the maintenance of all ecosystem services and biodiversity in commercial forests but it can be an important part of a successful progression towards more sustainable forestry.

Remote sensing combined with social-ecological data: The importance of diverse land uses for ecosystem service provision in north-eastern Madagascar

Through ongoing deforestation in the tropics, forest-related ecosystem services are declining, while ecosystem services provided by agricultural land uses are on the increase. Land system science provides a framework for analysing the links between land use change and the resulting socio-environmental trade-offs. However, the evidence base to support the navigation of such trade-offs is often lacking, as information on land use cannot directly be obtained through remote sensing and census data is often unavailable at sufficient spatial resolution. The global biodiversity hotspot of north-eastern Madagascar exemplifies these challenges. Combining land use data obtained through remote sensing with social-ecological data from a regional level household survey, we attempt to make the links between land use and ecosystem service benefits explicit. Our study confirmed that remotely sensed information on landscapes reflects households’ involvement in rice production systems. We further characterized landscapes in terms of “ecosystem service bundles” linked to specific land uses, as well as in terms of ecosystem service benefits to households. The map of landscape types could help direct future conservation and development efforts towards places where there is potential for success.

社会生態学的生産ランドスケープにおける生態系サービス間のシナジーとトレードオフ解析：石川県下の基礎自治体を事例として

生態系サービスは相互に関わり, あるサービスの向上が他のサービスを低下させるトレードオフと, 双方のサービスが共に向上するシナジーが知られる. このような理解は, より多くの生態系サービスが発揮される生態系管理に貢献することから, 本研究では, 石川県19市町を対象とし, 生態系サービス35項目, 市町の基本属性20項目について関連性を調べた. その結果, 森林面積が大きく景観のモザイク性が高いか, 耕地面積が大きく人口が多いかという市町の基本属性が, 森林に関わる生態系サービスが高いか, 農業や文化に関わる生態系サービスが高いかに関連していることが示された. 本解析は, 生態系サービス間の関わりを定量的に示すとともに, 重要な課題となる関係性の位置付けを明確にし, 効率的な意思決定を可能にするものである.

Restoring forest landscapes for biodiversity conservation and rural livelihoods: A spatial optimisation model

Conserving nature in the presence of humans is especially challenging in areas where livelihoods are largely based on locally available natural resources. The restoration of forests in such contexts calls for the identification of sites and actions that improve biodiversity protection, and ensure the provision of and accessibility to other forest-related ecosystem services. This paper introduces an integer-linear programming (ILP) approach to identify reforestation priorities that achieve such goals. Applications of ILP to nature conservation are many, but only a few of them deal with the problem of restoration, and none of the available models considers the basic needs of the local population. Given constraints on a restoration budget, the potential conversion of productive lands and the travel time to reach harvestable forest, the model maximises the amount of reforestation area (weighted by priority values) and minimises the harvesting of existing forest, while ensuring the conservation of landscape diversity, the satisfaction of timber demands and the stabilisation of erosion-prone land. As an input, suitability maps, generated through a combination of ecological criteria, are used to prioritise the selection of reforestation sites. An application to a 430 km 2 area in Central Chiapas (Mexico) resulted in compact patches and thus a manageable reforestation plan. Acceptable trade-offs were found between the amount of soil stabilisation possible and the prioritisation goals, while uncertainty in the prioritisation scores did not significantly affect the results. We show that restoration actions can be spatially designed to benefit both nature and people with minimal losses on both sides.