Protection Of Forest Resources Research Articles

Возрастная динамика нормальных древостоев ольхи серой в таежной зоне северо-востока европейской части России

In order to organize, plan and conduct forest management on a scientific basis in stands with predominance and participation of gray alder (Alnus incana (L.) Moench), formed in the conditions of the taiga zone, reliable data on the structure, growth and productivity of stands are needed. At present, there is an urgent need to develop growth progress tables for gray alder stands, as the areas occupied by this species have significantly increased as a result of abandoned agricultural lands overgrowth. The development of a unified system of regulatory and reference materials for accounting the number, assessment of the condition and volume of use of stands of gray alder in the European North of Russia is an important and urgent task. Growth progress tables for normal gray alder stands located in the taiga zone of the north-east of the European part of Russia have not been developed by anyone before. The purpose of this research is to study the age dynamics of normal gray alder stands to compile growth progress tables. We used 193 model trees of gray alder, as well as data from 175 sample plots. As a research result for the growth progress tables with relative stands density of 1.0 we obtained the equations for determining the average height, diameter, and stands stock by bonity classes. On the basis of the obtained equations, the tables of growth progress of normal stands by bonity classes were developed. The proposed tables will contribute to improving the accuracy of forest inventory, will give the opportunity to objectively assess the forest resources of the most represented stands, to forecast their growth when performing a set of works on the protection, conservation, and reproduction of forest resources, improving the ecological functions of the forest, as well as to control management in stands. For citation: Tretyakov S.V., Koptev S.V., Karaban A.A., Paramonov A.A., Davydov A.V. Age Dynamics of Normal Gray Alder Stands in the Taiga Zone of the North-East of the European Part of Russia. Lesnoy Zhurnal = Russian Forestry Journal, 2023, no. 6, pp. 70–80. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.37482/0536-1036-2023-6-70-80

Efficiency evaluation and nonlinear multi-objective optimization of forestry industry transformation in the Heilongjiang state-owned forest region

With the deepening of the concept of sustainable development of the whole society, protecting forest resources has become a crucial task of the current society. The present forestry industrial structure of Heilongjiang state-owned forest areas has undergone significant changes, and the transformation of the forestry industry has become increasingly prominent. How to deepen the forestry industry transformation and improve its efficiency has become an important research direction in forest areas. This work first analyzes the data envelopment method, and further designs the evaluation method of forestry transformation efficiency in forest areas. Then, the evaluation index system of forestry industry transformation efficiency in Heilongjiang state-owned forest areas is built. The relevant nonlinear multi-objective optimization (MOO) constraints are designed. Relevant data are quoted to evaluate the efficiency of the forestry industry transformation in the Heilongjiang state-owned forest areas. The results show that: (1) During 2015–2021, the average value of the scale, technical, and comprehensive production efficiencies of Heilongjiang state-owned forest areas were 0.765, 0.53, and 0.399, all of which were less than 1. And they were in a relatively ineffective state. (2) The overall industrial transformation of state-owned forest areas was optimistic. The technical efficiency decreased slightly in 2017, while the pure technical efficiency was greater than 1 in 2016 and 2018. The efficiency value increased to the peak by the end of 2021. (3) In the transformation of the forestry industry in state-owned forest areas, the influence of the industrial economy and resource protection subsystems was the first and backward, and the contribution of the social development subsystem was in the middle. (4) In the MOO problem, the forest area should be planned according to the proportion of public welfare, multi-functional, and commercial forests: 35.2%, 38.8%, and 26%, respectively. This work provides an essential reference for protecting forest resources and contributes to the transformation and development of the social forestry industry.

An attention-based dual-encoding network for fire flame detection using optical remote sensing

Automatic extraction of flame area plays an important role in forest fire detection, which can accurately understand the spatial distribution and development trend of forest fire, so as to effectively realize the protection of forest resources. However, due to the instability and spread of fires, and the complexity of the background, accurate early fire detection is extremely challenging. At the same time, the image pixel proportion of the flame area in early stage is much smaller than that in the background, which causes a serious class imbalance problem. With the fast development of deep learning, some achievements have been made in flame extraction, but there are still some deficiencies in the existing networks, such as limited feature representation, poor feature capturing ability on micro objects, insufficiency processing of local features, etc. This paper proposes an attention-based dual-encoding segmentation network, abbreviated as ADE-Net, for pixelwise early fire detection. To realize strong feature representation, a dual-encoding path, consisting of semantic units and spatial units, is introduced to extract richer features, and an attention fusion module (AFM) is introduced to fully integrate spatial and semantic information and achieve effective feature aggregation. In addition, faced with the class imbalance problem, a multi-attention fusion (MAF) module is introduced to obtain more discriminating features to make the segmentation network to focus on the key pixel areas. Furthermore, a feature enhancement module, named attention-guided enhancement (AGE) module, is proposed to enrich the feature representation of local feature maps. Finally, to realize better multi-scale global feature extraction and fusion, a global context fusion (GCF) module is proposed into the bottleneck layer for multi-scale feature enhancement. Experimental results show that the proposed ADE-Net has a good early fire detection ability from remote sensing images, and it has obtained a competitive advantage compared with advanced segmentation models.

Theoretical preconditions for the development of accounting in forestry enterprises on the challenges of sustainable development

Purpose. The purpose of the article is the formation of theoretical principles of accounting in forestry enterprises on the challenges of the concept of sustainable development, in terms of defining the directions of improving the information support system of rational forestry for the purpose of preservation, reproduction and use of forest resources at the micro and macro levels of the economy. Results. Based on the results of the study, it is established that to ensure the functioning of domestic forestry enterprises on the principles of sustainable development, a necessary condition is to take into account economic, environmental and social goals in management. For this purpose, the directions of economic operations on forest use (harvesting and processing of forest products, reproduction of forest resources) are identified, which can be used as a basis for clarifying the composition of accounting objects specific to forest enterprises for further development of their organizational and methodological support. It is proved that forest resources and losses caused to the environment due to irrational forest use should be reflected in accounting, which will allow forming information support for forest resources management at the microeconomic level. Scientific novelty. The lack of a developed management mechanism that would ensure the conservation, reproduction and rational use of forest resources leads to the loss of national wealth. The evolution of the modern world market economy necessitates the interaction of society and nature, which is based on the postulates of the theory of sustainable development. For forestry, it is the observance of the balance of economic interests of the subjects of forest relations and the protection of forest resources. The above necessitated the delineation of areas for improving the information system of rational forest use in order to preserve, reproduce and use forest resources at the micro and macro levels of the economy. Practical value. The main results of the study can be used: at the microeconomic level (forestry enterprises) – to develop a management mechanism that would ensure the conservation, reproduction and rational use of forest resources; improvement of the system of information support of rational forest use in terms of development of organizational and methodological support of accounting of objects specific to forestry; at the macroeconomic level – to prevent the loss of a component of the country’s national wealth – forest resources; control over the availability and condition of forest resources, which is a component of economic security of the state.

Understanding the impact of interprovincial trade on forest resources in China

Intensified interprovincial trade causes timber flows between regions in China, exacerbating the contradiction between economic development and forest conservation. To understand the impacts of interprovincial trade on forest resource depletion in China, this study developed a timber-extended multiregional input–output model to quantify the virtual timber harvest volume (THV) of each province. A forest stress index (FSI) is also developed to reflect the pressure of forest resource protection in different regions and evaluate the impacts of interprovincial trade on forest stress at national and provincial scales. The results showed that provinces within main forest zones (e.g., Guangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian) presented higher production-based THV than consumption-based THV while the opposite was true for provinces in the rest of the country (ROC) (e.g., Shanghai, Shandong, and Jiangsu). Interprovincial trade in China resulted in 36.86 million m3 of virtual timber flow annually (2008–2017 average), approximately 16.80% of the country's total production-based THV. During the study period, trade activities continuously reduced China's FSI, but ROC provinces mitigated their forest stress at the cost of increasing the burden on provinces in forest zones. Additionally, distant trade tended to have a stronger effect on provincial forest stress compared with trade between adjacent provinces. The findings identified the critical regions and trade routes that directly or indirectly drove forest degradation and revealed the effects of interprovincial trade on forest stress. Furthermore, this study proposed potential policy measures to promote the sustainable management of forest resources in China.

An Alternative Method for Dating of Wildfire Occurrence from Tree-Ring Cores: A Case Study in Northeastern Asia

The tree-ring fire scar stands as a pivotal proxy for reconstructing historical wildfire occurrences, providing invaluable context for comprehending contemporary wildfire activities during the Anthropocene era. Precise identification of fire scars often necessitates sampling complete tree disks. Yet, stringent forest resource protection policies limit such collection in certain regions, thus curtailing the application of tree-ring-based fire reconstruction. While current methods based on tree-ring cores can ascertain the age range of fire events, pinpointing the exact year remains challenging. In this study, we propose a novel approach for detecting fire occurrence years by recognizing abrupt shifts in the tree-ring geometric center (TRGC). This method entails extracting a minimum of three tree-ring cores from the uninjured side of the tree and in proximity to the fire scar. We validated this method’s efficacy using samples from Transbaikal of Russia, in northeastern Asia, where fire years have already been documented. Our results show that this method accurately identified the fire year in nine fire scars with a 67 percent probability of exact agreement with the actual fire year. It is noteworthy that this method particularly excels in cases of trees with a single fire scar. We recommend employing the traditional method of collecting tree-ring cores near the fire scar to establish the age range of the fire scar. Subsequently, within this determined range, we suggest detecting the shifts in the TRGC to accurately pinpoint the exact year of the fire scar.

Dynamic Change of Forest Ecological Benefit of the Natural Forest Protection Project in the Upper Reaches of Yangtze River

The Natural Forest Protection Project (NFPP) is an ecological restoration project aimed at safeguarding natural forests, and is one of China’s six main forestry initiatives. The upper reaches of the Yangtze River represent the main distribution area of natural forests in China, and are an important area for the implementation of the NFPP. A systematic assessment of forest ecosystem changes in the upper Yangtze River region before and after implementation of the NFPP is of great scientific significance for the improvement of the project implementation effect, regional ecological protection, and further protection and restoration of natural forest resources. This study uses the NFPP area in the Yangtze River’s upper reaches as the study area; the data are primarily derived from the 1998 and 2020 forest resources category II survey data, long-term monitoring data from forest ecological stations, and public social data published by authoritative Chinese organizations. Based on the above data, we used the full index system of forest ecosystem services, continuous observation, and inventory system with the distributed measurement method to analyze the dynamic changes in forest ecosystem services in the study area in terms of three aspects: physical quality, value quality, and dominant function. The results of the study show that: (1) over the studied time scale, compared to the 1998 baseline, the physical quantities (soil erosion control, water regulation, and PM10 retention) and value of each service function of the forest ecosystem in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River project area in 2020 showed a significant increasing trend; (2) at the spatial scale, changes in forest ecosystem service functions in the upper reaches of Yangtze River under the NFPP showed significant spatial heterogeneity from 1998 to 2020; (3) in 2020, the total value of forest ecosystem services in the study area was 3,261,161,000,000 yuan/a, of which the functional value of biodiversity conservation was 1,294,426,000,000 yuan/a and the functional value of water conservation was 841,069,000,000 yuan/a, indicating that the forest ecosystem of the study area plays an important role as a “green gene pool” and “green water reservoir”; (4) the forest ecosystem service functions of the NFPP in the upper reaches of Yangtze River are intricately tied to forest resource features such as forest area, forest volume, age-group structure of arbor forest, etc., which influence the physical quantity and value of each forest ecosystem service function to varying degrees. In addition to illustrating the amazing efficiency of the natural forest preservation initiative, this study provides a scientific foundation for future natural forest resource conservation and restoration. It can serve as a reference for the project’s subsequent development as well to provide scientific foundations and guidance for the development of the natural forest protection and restoration program and to promote the protection and restoration of more natural forest resources.

A Spatiotemporal Survey of Tikjda Forest Dynamics Over A 34-Year Period by Aerial Photographs

Abstract Obtaining accurate forest cover information and dynamics of land occupation, through time, such as the spatial extent and pattern of disturbance and recovery is essential knowledge and assistance for forest managers and a crucial basis for the protection and conservation of current forest resources. Because most recent researches have focused on forest field survey and monitoring, a land classification containing information on forest cover dynamics is critically needed. Over the last decades, advances in remote sensing technology have enabled an accurate classification of different land covers from several sensors and remotely sensed data. We presently retained Tikjda forest (Djurdjura southerner, Algeria) as a case study to investigate the possibility of aerial photos classification and to analyze the historical dynamics of the area using a change detection analysis of multi-temporal data. To classify the study area’s main cover types, we used photographs collected over a period of 34 years (i.e., from 1983 to 2017). The results revealed that in 2017, Tikjda forest was composed of forest areas (24.1%), degraded areas (49.7%), and barren areas (26.2%). Throughout the investigated period, the analysis revealed a notable increase in barren areas (+9.8%), and degraded areas (+14.4%), While forest areas experienced a significant decrease (−24.2%). Moreover, the results confirm the potential of aerial photographs for an accurate classification of forests.

Global drivers of timber carbon stock from income-based perspective

Introduction: Timber and its products are key carriers of carbon stocks and can cause a hysteresis effect of carbon release in the carbon cycle of forest ecosystems. The literature regarding the cross-regional flow of timber carbon stock mainly pays attention to production- and consumption-based perspectives, which cannot reflect how the primary inputs drive timber carbon stock flow. The income-based perspective accounting can identify the influence of primary input suppliers and supplement research on timber carbon stock embodied in trade. The goal of this paper is to explore the cross-regional flow of global timber carbon stock and identify the critical countries from an income-based perspective.Methods: We used the Ghosh-multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model to calculate the income-based timber carbon stock flow among 190 countries. Furthermore, combined with the Leontief-MRIO model, a comparative analysis is carried out to analyze the different results of the income-based, production-based, and consumption-based methods.Results: The results showed that the income-based timber carbon stock of the United States and China were among the top countries in imports and exports simultaneously. However, their export volumes were significantly larger, meaning that these countries have invested more primary resources in timber products. The timber carbon stock of the United States mainly flows into Canada and Brazil. In China, the largest flow went to Canada. Furthermore, the flow to the United States increased significantly. Moreover, comparing the three perspectives shows that the United States’ primary inputs have a greater impact on the global timber production chain than their production- and consumption-based roles. Brazil and Russia, as main primary resource suppliers of timber carbon stock, are more important than as final consumers.Discussion: The research can contribute to clarify the flow of forest resources embodied in global trade activities. Furthermore, it also provides a scientific basis to fairly account for carbon offset shares to achieve better the goal of forest resource protection agreed upon in COP26.

The effects of forest types and age groups on forest provisioning and supporting service value in Sanhu Nature Reserve, Northeast China

The promotion of forest resource protection and sustainable development relies greatly on the value of forest ecosystem services. In Jilin Songhuajiang Sanhu National Nature Reserve in Northeast China, a total of 169 sample plots were examined and analyzed to evaluate the provisioning and supporting services provided by the forest ecosystem. The study revealed that the near-mature and over-mature Fraxinus mandshurica forest have relatively high timber supply and species resources conservation values per unit area, respectively. Furthermore, the mature Betula platyphylla forest has the highest forest nutrient retention value, while the near-mature Juglans mandshurica forest has the highest soil conservation value, with the nitrogen fixation value accounting for the highest proportion. The forest ecosystem services in the reserve have a total value of 659.07 million $⋅y–1. The main contributors to the value are the services of soil fertilizer conservation, timber supply, and species resources conservation, with the mixed broad-leaved forest and Quercus mongolica forest being the main contributors, accounting for 63.1 and 18.8% of the total value, respectively. Nonetheless, the service value of per unit area in J. mandshurica forest is the highest. Near-mature and mature forests are the main contributors to the total value, accounting for 42.3 and 34.9%, respectively. Forest lands exhibit significant variations in the values of provisioning and supporting services across different stand types and age groups.

Linking climate policy across economic sectors: A case for green growth in Nepal

AbstractWhile the energy sector is the largest global contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector account for up to 80% of GHG emissions in the least developed countries (LDCs). Despite this, the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of LDCs, including Nepal, focus primarily on climate mitigation in the energy sector. This paper introduces green growth—a way to foster economic growth while ensuring access to resources and environmental services—as an approach to improving climate policy coherence across sectors. Using Nepal as a case country, this study models the anticipated changes in resource use and GHG emissions between 2015 and 2030, that would result from implementing climate mitigation actions in Nepal's NDC. The model uses four different scenarios. They link NDC and policies across economic sectors and offer policy insights regarding (1) energy losses that could cost up to 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, (2) protection of forest resources by reducing the use of biomass fuels from 465 million gigajoules (GJ) in 2015 to 195 million GJ in 2030, and (3) a significant reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 relative to the business‐as‐usual (BAU) case by greater use of electricity from hydropower rather than biomass. These policy insights are significant for Nepal and other LDCs as they seek an energy transition towards using more renewable energy and electricity.

Legal Regulation of Fire Safety in Forests: Problems and Ways to Solve them

The article analyzes the issues of legal regulation of fire safety in forests. The main problems and indicators of the record number of forest fires in Russia are identified: imperfection of the regulatory and legal regulation of fire safety of forests; inconsistent system of state management of the forest complex; lack of an orderly model structure of specialized institutions in forests and fire extinguishing at the level of Russian subjects, taking into account the peculiarities of the regions; others. The article also reveals the positions of Russian scientists regarding the protection of state forest resources, etc. Responsibility for illegal actions that may lead to forest fires is being considered. The list of necessary components of a technical nature for fighting forest fires has been determined. Proposals have been made to level out the identified problems in order to reduce forest fires and preserve forest resources in our state.

Methodology and practical implementation of research of changes in forest coverage of Volyn region using remote sensing

Introduction. Forests are an integral component of the environment. However, in recent years, there has been a trend towards deforestation in the Volyn region. The main causes of losses were felling and destruction of forests by pests, diseases and fires. The purpose of the article. The purpose of the study is to develop a methodology for assessing the forest cover of the Volyn region, its verification, assessment of the current state of the forest cover, determination of the trend of change and outline of the main measures to improve the protection and rational use of forest resources. Methods. Research methods: expeditionary (to study the state of forest cover in a specific area of interest), mathematical statistics (for statistical processing of monitoring results), expert evaluation (to establish the reasons for changes in forest cover), remote sensing (to assess the extent of change in forest cover). Used Ecological passports of the Volyn region for 2017-20, materials of own research, data from web services for monitoring the forests, Sentinel-2 satellite images. Results. Data on the area of forests and deforestation in the Volyn region, obtained from various sources, are compared with each other. For example, according to EOS Forest Monitoring data, the area of forests in the Volyn region in 2020 was 1,108 million ha, according to Global Forest Watch – 0,733 million ha, according to the results of determining the area of forests in Google Earth Engine – 0,853 million ha. Forest cover was 55,02%, 36,38% and 42,35%, respectively. According to official information from the Ecological Passport of the region – 34%. Such differences are understandable and are explained by the difference in the method of definition. For the period 2001-21 forest losses amounted to 0,103 million ha. The area of non-forest land for forestry purposes is growing. In 2017, their area amounted to 1692.3 ha, in 2018 - 32459.3 ha, in 2019 - 34136.86 ha, in 2020 - 42436.33 ha. Evidently, in 2018, there were changes in the approach to defining these lands. The area of dead forest plantations is decreasing. If in 2017 it amounted to 2915 ha, then in 2018 it decreased by 43.01%, in 2019 - by another 22.36%, in 2020 - by another 33.22%. Most of the forest plantations died from pests and diseases. The above-mentioned decrease in the area is explained by effective and large-scale sanitary felling in previous years. The area of forests destroyed by fires is insignificant. Forest losses were caused by extreme weather conditions in some years (2017, 2019). Measures for the rational use and protection of forests in the Volyn region are proposed. The scientific novelty consists in an attempt to compare different assessment methods for a definition of the current state of forest cover in the Volyn region and the trend of its change. Practical significance is determined by the possibility of using the obtained results for the development of a set of measures for the rational use and protection of forests in the Volyn region.

Has the Development of the Non-Timber Forest Products Industry Achieved Poverty Alleviation? Evidence from Lower-Income Forest Areas in Yunnan Province

Considering the notion that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”, the effective exploitation of the economic value of forest resources is an important research topic, especially in forest-rich areas. The development of the non-timber forest products (NTFPs) industry has promoted both ecological and economic benefits and has effectively improved farmers’ incomes while protecting forest resources. In order to evaluate the effects of the NTFPs industry on sustaining farmers’ livelihoods and protecting ecological environments, we constructed a performance evaluation index system to determine the poverty alleviation performance of the NTFPs industry in Yunnan Province using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), which covered three aspects: the achievement of poverty alleviation, the sustainability of poverty alleviation and satisfaction with poverty alleviation. Then, we selected Sanhe Village in Nujiang Prefecture, Yunnan Province, as an example to verify and rationalize the evaluation index system and comprehensively evaluate the poverty alleviation performance of the NTFPs industry. Based on data from questionnaires and field interviews, we found the following: (1) the overall poverty alleviation performance of the NTFPs industry in Sanhe Village was 79.33, which indicated that the effect was good; (2) the scores for the achievement of poverty alleviation, the sustainability of poverty alleviation and satisfaction with poverty alleviation were 50.56, 18.57 and 10.2, respectively; (3) there were some problems with the poverty alleviation performance of the NTFPs industry, such as limited capital investments, the weak roles of cooperatives and enterprises, the low enthusiasm of lower-income households and incomplete poverty alleviation projects. Finally, we devised some suggestions that could improve the poverty alleviation performance of the NTFPs industry. This paper presents the performance evaluation index system for the poverty alleviation performance of the NTFPs industry, which could provide a reference for evaluating the developmental effects of the NTFPs industry in other lower-income forest areas. Through our empirical analysis of the development effects of the NTFPs industry on farmers’ livelihoods and ecological environments in Sanhe Village, we found that the development of the NTFPs industry significantly improved the farmers’ livelihoods and ecological environments.

Determination of economic efficiency of forest resources through industrial development

One of the sectors that support the industrial development of Romania, in addition to the machine construction industry, is also the wood processing industrial activities sector, an industry that has prospects for expansion in terms of modernity in demand and capacity, the only limitation comes from the requirement of development sustainable, that is, from the requirement to protect forest resources. However, this limitation can be solved by changing the type-size structure of production and increasing the weight of furniture production in favor of semi-finished products (wood, furniture, etc.). In the context of economic sustainability, the development of the industrial sector based on wood resources in Romania is becoming a strategic sector in the current period. Studying the potential of the industrial sector based on forest resources can bring clarifications to the formation of strategies in the fields of forestry, agriculture, the wood industry, etc. The author's concerns in the presented research are oriented towards providing more statistics and data on the share of forest resources in the last 10 years in Romania to establish the level of economic efficiency for sustainable development.

The effect of payments for ecosystem services on forest cover, land use, and capacity building in northern Mexico

The endorreic watershed of Laguna de Santiaguillo, located in Durango, Mexico, provides important ecosystem services to local communities. Due to its size and forest diversity, it is the refuge for many reptiles and migratory birds. It captures a large amount of carbon dioxide in its soil and vegetation, all while catching the water that will then be used for agriculture and aquifer recharge. To improve these ecosystem services, as well as maintain a collaborative relationship with the watershed, several community-owned properties in this area, known as ejidos, enrolled in a federally supported Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) program. This program grants economic subsidies to landowners to help protect forest resources. However, there is little information on the effect that this program has on these types of community-owned properties. Through a spatial analysis, the vegetation index was estimated, as well as the impact that this program has had on the communities and their resources. A Difference-in-Differences (DiD) method was used to test for differences in remotely sensed vegetation cover and land use between PES and non-PES ejido recipients. Socioeconomic indicators, obtained from surveys, were also evaluated. Results show that changes in vegetation cover and land use were significant in secondary forests but not in primary forests in the selected periods. The overall difference, given by the DiD model, show no significant differences in land use changes. This study can help resource managers to monitor the additionality on forest resources and internal organization of ejido participants.

POLA KOMUNIKASI MANAJEMEN KONFLIK: STUDI FENOMENOLOGI PADA POLISI HUTAN DI CAGAR BIOSFER CIBODAS

The current reality is showing that the communities surrounding Cibodas Biosphere Reserve (CBC) are still doing horrible things, as evidenced by the fact that they are still taking the resources from the forest or illegally entering the area. In this case, the Forest Police (Polhut) who have responsibility for maintaining forest security, need to act to minimize disturbances in the forest area. This study aims to obtain an overview of Polhut’s communication patterns in dealing with disturbances at the Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park (TNGGP) as the core area of ​​the CBR. This study used a qualitative method through a phenomenological approach with the communication effectiveness theory. The information-gathering was conducted through an in-depth interview with two Polhut TNGGP officers who have been experienced for more than ten years in their duties. The information was processed according to the communication methods and theories. The results showed that the communication pattern conducted by the Polhut to the communities used persuasive interpersonal communication and group communication. Polhut realized that they must be close to the communities so that they can invite them to act a role in protecting forest resources. However, the communication has not been effective because there are still some obstacles to the communities and some of the supporting factors for the effectiveness of communication have not been fulfilled.

Habitat Suitability Evaluation of Different Forest Species in Lvliang Mountain by Combining Prior Knowledge and MaxEnt Model

The accurate habitat suitability evaluation of forest species is vital for forest resource management and conservation. Therefore, the previously published thresholds of soil organic carbon (SOC) contents for the six main forest species were used to screen sample points in this study; the maximum entropy modeling (MaxEnt) was applied to predict the potential distribution of those species in Lvliang Mountain, Shanxi Province, China. The following results were derived: (1) the area under the curve (AUC) value of the MaxEnt model was 0.905, indicating the model results had high accuracy; (2) the main environmental factors affecting the woodlands were mean diurnal temperature range, solar radiation, population density and slope; (3) the model accurately depicted the most suitable areas for those species, namely Populus davidiana Dode (Malpighiales: Salicaceae), Betula platyphylla Sukaczev (Fagales: Betulaceae), Quercus wutaishanica Mayr (Fagales: Fagaceae), Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco (Pinales: Cupressaceae), Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Kuzen. (Pinales: Pinaceae) and Pinus tabuliformis Carrière (Pinales: Pinaceae). This study has improved the representativeness of the samples based on prior knowledge to enhance the biological meaning and accuracy of the prediction results. Its findings provide a theoretical basis for the forest resource protection, management measures alongside the reconstruction of low-yield and low-efficiency forests.

LAND COVER ANALYSIS OF TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES OF ZHYTOMYR REGION USING GIS TECHNOLOGIES

Today, the deep and wide implementation of geoinformation technologies in the many fields of human activity is due to the powerful development of three scientific and technical components: statistical, software, technical and space technologies. In this article, based on GIS technologies, an analysis of the state of land use and its changes in the territory of Zhytomyr oblast was carried out, also how russian aggression against Ukraine affected these processes. The structure and the dynamics of the main classes of the land cover of the oblast for past 7 years were analyzed, the main causes and consequences of such trends were determined, and the analysis of changes in the land cover was carried out. According to the results of this study, in 2022, 52% of the territory of the Zhytomyr oblast was under forested areas, which consist of two categories: forests and other forested areas. The first category remained unchanged during the studied period since the government system of protection and reproduction of forest resources functions effectively. While the second category significantly decreased due to the fact that firewood is the most available of the fuel resources for heating building, so the population began to harvest wood in the form of felling and clearing old gardens, forested bushes and rivers (irrigation canals), forest strip. Agriculture of the Zhytomyr oblast is developing due to extensification. According to Google Dynamic World data, in 2022, 34% of the territory of the Zhytomyr oblast is systematically used for growing agricultural crops. Over the past seven years, there has been a significant increase cultivated land by 27%. In the structure of the land cover of the Zhytomyr oblast, the grass cover is 4.9%, but it is gradually decreasing. A decrease was observed for all types of territorial communities until 2021 (10% annually on average), while in 2022 the decline slowed down significantly in rural and village territorial communities and stopped in urban ones. This dynamic is connected with two factors: 1) part of the gardens of rural households were sown with grass due to the fact that men were mobilized to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a result of russian aggression, and growing grass requires the least human costs; 2) russian aggression caused a shortage of certain food products and their significant increase in price, while keeping cattle provides food for the rural household, so in 2022 most of the offspring from cattle were not sold and left for further maintenance, in turn, the increase in cattle requires more feed, an important component of which is grass.

Refined Assessment of Economic Loss from Pine Wilt Disease at the Subcompartment Scale

Pine wilt disease is a major plant epidemic that has significantly impaired the ecological safety of pine wood, the national economy, and peoples’ livelihood. It is challenging to accurately assess the loss from pine wilt disease through academic research or field work. Based on the 342,000 subcompartments of epidemic data of pine wilt disease in China in 2020, this study builds a refined assessment indicator system and measurement model for economic loss from disasters at the subcompartment scale and assesses direct economic loss and ecological service value loss. The results show that through direct economic loss and ecological service value loss, China lost USD 7.40 billion in 2020, including a direct economic loss of USD 1.11 billion and ecological service value loss of USD 6.29 billion. Of the direct economic loss, the forest material resource loss and protection expense reached USD 0.17 billion and USD 0.94 billion, respectively; of the ecological system service losses, regulation service, supporting service, and cultural service losses reached USD 4.58 billion, USD 1.35 billion, and USD 0.36 billion. Spatial distribution analysis showed that the loss declined from southeast to northwest, with Shandong, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi suffering the greatest losses. Based on the subcompartment scale, this study employs a more refined assessment indicator system and measurement model to provide accurate real-world assessment results.