Management Of Mountain Forests Research Articles

Bird Response to Forest Structure and Composition and Implications for Sustainable Mountain Forest Management

Bird Response to Forest Structure and Composition and Implications for Sustainable Mountain Forest Management

Growth response of coniferous trees to climate change in the Qinling Mountains, China

As an important geographical boundary, the subalpine coniferous forests in the Qinling Mountains have critical effects on water conservation, biodiversity conservation and climate regulation at the regional and even larger scale. In recent decades, temperature significantly increased in the Qinling Mountains, with significant spatial heterogeneity. An understanding of the responses of the Qinling coniferous trees to climate change is important for the protection and management of mountain forests under climate change. In this study, we synthesized the relationships between the radial growth of coniferous trees and climate at different altitudes in the western, central, and eas-tern Qinling Mountains. The effects of climate change on coniferous trees were investigated from the aspects of radial growth, NDVI, phenology, and species distribution range. Furthermore, know-ledge gaps in the responses of tree growth to climate change and possible future directions in this field were discussed.

Role of an Altitudinal Zonal Basis and Remote Sensing Data in the Sustainable Management of Mountain Forests

This paper substantiates the necessity of improving the principles of using natural basis for ecosystem-focused forest management in mountain conditions using all the collected knowledge, regional databases, and new remote sensing facilities. The results of applying the spectral features of vegetation using the thermal range for studying the altitudinal differentiation of forest cover are given based on the example of the mountains of the Altai-Sayan region. Thus, forest-steppe, subtaiga light-coniferous small-leaved deciduous, mountain dark coniferous chern, mountain dark coniferous taiga, and subalpine classes of altitudinal belt complexes (ABC) can be defined in the Yenisei part of the Sayans. Particular forest-management systems should be used for each of them, taking into account the natural features of forests and their management purpose. One important task for mountain forestry and whole multipurpose forest use is to improve the ecological and geographical basis and present it in the form of medium-scale maps, which reflect not only the formational composition of forest cover, but also the altitudinal classes of ecosystems. Modern satellite remote sensing systems coupled with GIS technologies open up new possibilities for forest cover inventory, monitoring, and study methods. This makes it possible to introduce a high-quality natural basis into forest management, which is currently highly relevant at all levels of forest planning: from exploitation projects for separate forest plots to forest plans of federal subjects of the Russian Federation.

Productivity, fuel consumption and cost in whole tree cable yarding: conventional diesel carriage versus electrical energy-recuperating carriage

ABSTRACT Cable yarding is an inherently expensive extraction technology, but the mainstay for mountain forest management. Fuel cost represents a considerable share of total harvesting costs. Energy-recuperating, electrical slack-pulling carriages (EC), which recuperate energy during lateral yarding and store it as electrical energy in super-capacitors for powering slack-pulling during the subsequent yarding cycle have emerged only recently. Fuel consumption of cable yarding is expected to be lower when ECs are employed compared to working with conventional, diesel engine-powered slack-pulling drive (DC) carriages. To determine if reality matched expectations, a time and motion study was conductedduring which fuel consumption was extracted from the engine control systems using custom-made dataloggers for an uphill whole tree yarding operation in Austria. Average productivity was 21.9 m3 per productive system hour excluding delays (m3 PSH0 −1) at 0.89 m3 average tree volume and 58.4 m average yarding distance. Productivity was modeled as a function of average tree volume, yarding distance and lateral yarding distance. Average fuel consumption was 1.27 ± 0.97 l m−3 (DC) and 0.88 ± 0.56 l m−3 (EC). In the DC treatment, the carriage engine accounted for 9% of the total fuel consumption. Modeling revealed that fuel consumption depended on average tree volume, yarding distance, lateral yarding distance and carriage type as originally postulated. The latter effect interacted with that of average tree volume and EC’s advantage in fuel consumption was limited by a break-even average tree volume. In conclusion, the EC has the potential to improve profit margins in small-tree operations through lower fuel consumption.

Mountain forest management in a changing world

Mountain forest management in a changing world

Evaluating multifunctionality and adaptive capacity of mountain forest management alternatives under climate change in the Eastern Alps

Future provisioning of ecosystem services (ES) from mountain forests is uncertain due to potential impacts of climate change. For a case study catchment in the Eastern Alps in Austria we analysed how management and climate change may affect the provisioning of four ES (timber production, carbon sequestration, biodiversity and bird habitat quality, and protection against gravitational hazards). We used the PICUS forest ecosystem model to project seven management alternatives that differed with regard to cutting pattern size (SLIT, PATCH, STRIP) and two harvesting intensity levels (in terms of return interval) under historic climate and five transient climate change scenarios over 100 years. In addition no management and sanitary management were simulated. In total twelve indicators were linked to model output to quantify ES provisioning. Results under historic climate showed increased volume and carbon stocks in low-intensity management, while high-intensity management decreased stocks. Bird habitat quality was maintained only by low-intensity management using SLIT and PATCH cuts. In particular rockfall protection decreased strongly under the STRIP cut scenario. Improved tree growth in warming scenarios was counterbalanced by increasing damage from bark beetle disturbances. Canopy openings and increased deadwood supply from disturbances partly fostered bird habitat quality in no-management alternatives. Overall none of the management alternatives performed best for all ES. PATCH and SLIT regimes at (currently practiced) low intensity appeared as compromise to achieve multifunctionality at small scale. As involved trade-offs among ES can be substantial, partial segregation with priority on specific services in designated zones is recommended.

Nature experience, recreation activity and health benefits of visitors in mountain and urban forests in Vienna, Zurich and Freiburg

Mountain forests are managed for various purposes. Of these, recreation, leisure, and eco-tourism are increasingly gaining prominence. Yet, with the development of new techniques for creating and managing urban forests, the perception of the public with regard to mountain forests and such urban forests is narrowing. For the purpose of this study, eight mountain forests and urban forests located in Zurich (Switzerland), Vienna (Austria) and Freiburg (Germany) were shortlisted. These places are renowned for their well-functioning management of mountain forests and creation of urban forests. As the study was to focus on the comparison of the perceptions of visitors in terms of their satisfaction in urban and mountain forests, the interview covered the following questions: (i) how satisfactory was the nature experience; (ii) how satisfactory were the outdoor recreational activities; (iii) whether the nature experiences influenced the mental and physical health of visitors. Responses thus received for each of the mountain forests and urban forests were assessed, with the total number of respondents being 247. Tourists visiting the selected areas were randomly chosen for a one-on-one interview survey. Results of the survey show that there is a clear perceptions of visitors differed between urban and mountain forests. However, the gap is insignificant or almost nonexistent with respect to satisfaction level of outdoor recreational activities and health benefits. These results are contrary to the findings of previous studies, which argued that the natural landscape of mountain areas is superior to other artificially built green spaces. Visitors did not perceive significant differences in outdoor recreational activities and health effects between the two spaces.

Long-term development of soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks after shelterwood- and clear-cutting in a mountain forest in the Bavarian Limestone Alps

Forest soils store large stocks of soil organic matter (SOM) and are of vital importance for the ecosystem supply with nutrients and water. According to the available literature, depending on management regime and site properties, different negative and positive effects of forest management (particularly of forest thinnings and shelterwood cuttings) on soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) stocks are observed. To elucidate the long-term impact of different shelterwood systems and small clear-cuttings on the OC and N stocks of shallow calcareous soils in the Bavarian Alps, we conducted soil humus inventories on different plots of a mixed mountain forest management experiment started in 1976. The silvicultural multi-treatment experiment consists of a NW-exposed Main Experiment (ME) site with eight plots of different cutting intensity (two unthinned controls, two light shelterwood cuttings = 30 % of basal tree area removed, two heavy shelterwood cuttings = 50 % removed, and two clear-cuttings = 100 % removed) on Triassic dolostone. Additionally, plots were installed at a N-exposed dolostone (ND) site and two sites (FL, FH) on Flysch sandstone (each with one unthinned control and one heavy shelterwood cutting). The shelterwood cuttings from 1976 were repeated in 2003 to re-establish the overstorey basal area as produced by the first cutting in the different plots. Thirty-five years after the first treatments, forest floor SOC and N stocks were significantly decreased (up to −70 %) at the different shelterwood and clear-cut treatments compared to the unthinned control at the ME site despite vigorous development of natural rejuvenation. Also significantly smaller topsoil (forest floor plus mineral soil 0–10 cm depth) OC stocks (between −16 and −20 %) were detected at the thinned compared to the control plots. Differences in topsoil N stocks were also considerable (between −3 and −14 %), but substantially smaller than OC stock changes. For the total soil down to 30 cm depth, OC stocks in the differently thinned plots were consistently smaller compared to the unthinned control plots. Comparable to our findings at the ME site, heavy shelterwood plots at the three other sites (ND, FL, and FH) showed significant losses of OC in the forest floor (up to 43 %), mineral soil (up to 38 %), topsoil (up to 38 %), and total soil (up to 34 %). Significant large absolute and relative SOC decreases coincided with sites characterized by large initial humus stocks. Moreover, significant effects of heavy shelterwood cuttings on SOC and N stocks (on average 23 % SOC loss and 13 % soil N loss for the forest floor plus the uppermost 10 cm mineral soil) were detected on a regional level. Our results show that different shelterwood systems are accompanied with a considerable long-term decrease in OC and N stocks in shallow calcareous forest soils of the Bavarian Alps. However, a comparison with a windthrown forest stand at a nearby similar site indicates that SOM losses after thinning operations are small compared to decreases following windthrow or other calamities with subsequent large soil erosion and increased mineralization processes.

Analysis of governance systems applied in multifunctional forest management in selected European mountain regions / Analýza systémov governancie využívaných pri multifunkčnom manažmente lesov vo vybraných európskych horských oblastiach

Abstract The objective of this study is to map and analyse governance systems relevant for the implementation of multifunctional mountain forest management in selected European countries. This paper is based on the FP7 research project Advanced multifunctional forest management in European mountain ranges (ARANGE). Current governance systems relevant for the implementation of multifunctional forest management are analysed in seven case study areas: the Iberian Mountains (Spain), Western Alps (France), Eastern Alps (Austria), Dinaric Mountains (Slovenia), Scandinavian Mountains (Sweden), Western Carpathians (Slovakia) and Western Rhodopes (Bulgaria). Qualitative social research methods were applied for data collection. Semi-structured questionnaire was focused on the following elements of governance: participation and stakeholders interactions and inter-sectorial coordination. The results indicate that forest managers share a general perception of multifunctional forest management being focused on preserving or strengthening several forest functions and services including timber production. They believe that current governance systems basically support multifunctional management of mountain forests. The participatory and inter-sectoral processes are playing an important role in multifunctional forest management in selected European mountain regions.

Management of mountain forests in the hydrology of a landscape, the Czech Republic

Forests important from a water-management perspective cover 723,000 ha of the Czech Republic (CR), i.e. 27.6% of the forest area. These forests play an important role especially in a mountain landscape. Forests decrease peak flood flows, compensate water discharge and represent a source of high-quality fresh water. The optimum hydrological function is provided by forests that are healthy, ecologically stable, diversified, proper to site, growing on a good forest soil, managed by small-area felling and emulating natural processes. For mountain sites of the CR, the optimum proportion of Norway spruce (+ Silver fir) ranges from 70 to 80% and of European beech from 20 to 30%. Clear-cuts due to air pollution disasters led to replacement of the forest stand by perennial grassland increasing stormflows and decreasing the soil water supply to groundwater resources and the quality of water discharged from the forest. Skidding and hauling operations and an improperly constructed and maintained road network increased the surface runoff from a forest. Intraskeletal erosion occurs on pollution-disaster stone fields and in dying forest stands on stony sites. Reforestation of stone fields is necessary for the preservation of forests on stony and bouldery localities and their services for the cultural landscape situated below. In mountain headwaters, torrent control and forest amelioration are of great importance. These decrease peak flood flows, compensate water discharge and reduce bed-load and sediment transport. Forest amelioration enables the reforestation of waterlogged pollution-disaster areas.  

Permanence of resilience and protection efficiency in mountain Norway spruce forest stands: A simulation study

An objective of mountain forest management is to increase the ability of forest stands to protect human activities against natural hazards such as rock-falls and snow avalanches in a sustainable way. The challenge is to find a compromise between efficient instantaneous protection, favoured by dense stands, and continuous renewal, minimizing time periods of low protection efficiency. We used a Norway spruce stand dynamics model to compare the respective advantages of individual tree and gap selection silviculture in this context. We simulated stand dynamics over 800 years with either individual tree or gap thinning every 20 years with several thinning intensities. At each time step, we evaluated stand resilience, protection efficiency against rock-falls, protection efficiency against avalanches, and structural complexity with four indicators based on stand structure. Every scenario produced short time periods with low stand resilience and protection efficiency. Such periods can be tolerated if they are sufficiently rare compared to the local disturbance regime. We characterized the permanence of resilience and protection of a forest stand as its ability to remain within boundary values of the different indicators, without going out of them during continuous time periods longer than fixed maximum durations. Permanence of resilience and permanence of protection decreased with thinning intensity. Efficient protection against rock-falls was obtained with gap thinning of intermediate intensity while protection against avalanches was obtained only for very low thinning intensities. For our ecological context, the best compromise between resilience and protection was obtained with three 10 m radius gaps per hectare every 20 years (9.5% of the area of a stand). This strategy led to uneven-aged stand structures with a high diversity of diameters classes. Our results suggest that small gap silviculture may be a good way to combine forest renewal and protection efficiency in mountain regions.

Zonation and management of mountain forests in the Sierra de Manantlán, México

Zonation and management of mountain forests in the Sierra de Manantlán, México

Long-Term Impact of Cattle Grazing on Subalpine Forest Development and Efficiency of Snow Avalanche Protection

The study presented herein investigated the differences in stand structure of grazed and ungrazed subalpine forests and whether subalpine forests used for grazing satisfactorily protect against avalanches. In subalpine forests of Picea abies L. Karst and Larix decidua Miller, grazed and ungrazed plots of 225 m2 were analyzed through the use of dendroecological methods. The grazed forests were found to be less dense than the ungrazed forests and to have a higher percentage of European larch. However, the density of the forests investigated was high enough to impede the release of avalanches. The young trees grew faster in the grazed forests. There were less dominant trees in grazed forests, and these trees were much older than in ungrazed forests. The main structure types in the grazed and ungrazed forests were multilayered open and uniform dense, respectively. The management of mountain forests as wood pastures seems to enhance the readiness of the forest owners to conduct selective logging operations. Thus, forest grazing can encourage the development of heterogeneously structured forest stands, which can regenerate more easily while fulfilling a function of avalanche protection.

Sustainable management of mountain forests in the Czech Republic

Forest management in the Czech Republic (CR) was not shaped in the environment of natural forests but in the territory that was influenced by unregulated felling and animal grazing for a long time. Hence the fear for sustainable and balanced benefits from forests endangered by long-term uncontrolled exploitation was legitimate. Almost after three centuries of application of the sustainability principle, forests are considered not only as a source of renewable wood raw material but also as a tool of the environment formation. Mountain forests are an important landscape component of this country. They are an object of specific importance from the aspect of natural environment conservation, stabilization of natural processes and general landscape homeostasis. In addition, they fulfil a number of production and non-production functions. Cardinal elements of sustainable forest management in the CR conditions are as follows: management of the forest as an ecosystem, i.e. transition from exclusive care of forest tree species and their stands to care of the whole forest ecosystems; restructuring (conversion, reconstruction) of damaged and declining forests; optimum (species, genetic, spatial, age) structure of forest ecosystems differentiated according to site conditions and management targets; differentiated transition from general management to group or individual methods; utilization and support of spontaneous processes such as natural regeneration, competition and other principles of self-regulation. The above cardinal elements of sustainable forest management are applicable to forests of the CR in general, but their importance considerably increases in mountain forests where many species survive on the margin of subsistence. Moreover, mountain forests of CR have been heavily destroyed by anthropogenic factors, especially air-pollution ecological stresses, during the last three or four decades.

Adapting the Management of Mountain Forests to New Environmental Conditions

Adapting the Management of Mountain Forests to New Environmental Conditions

Static stability of forest stands in the seventh altitudinal vegetation zone in Slovakia

Models evaluating static stability (resistance to breaking or uprooting of trees caused by wind, snow or ice) of forest stands in the seventh altitudinal vegetation zone were determined. The empirical material came from 180 research plots (High Tatra and Low Tatra Mountains) established within the research project Research on methods for mountain forest management based on sustainable Development. Static stability was characterized by the slenderness ratio that was calculated from the mean height and diameter of target trees. Then the particular forest stands were categorized with regard to slenderness ratio, mean diameter and absolute site class using either tables or graphic models. Particularly, four static stability classes were made up: 1 – very good, 2 – good, 3 – sufficient, and 4 – insufficient. Practical application of the models is shown for forest stands grown in the area of Vajsková and Lomnistá valleys.

FORESTAR:

Past monoculture forestry in China has contributed to countrywide ecological disasters and economic difficulties in forestry regions. China抯 new forestry programs, Natural Forest Conservation Program and Returning Farmlands to Forests Program, provide opportunities for ecosystem management of mountain forests in China. A decision support system, FORESTAR, has been developed for better managing and protecting natural forests in Changbai Mountain area. It uses GIS-based forest inventory data at a scale of forestry bureau. The first version contains two sub-modules: forest operation and forest restoration. Under each sub-module, users can compare several decision options and make optimal choices. It can help field foresters, forest managers, and policy makers make multi-objective and consistent decisions in planning forest management at hierarchical administrative scales.

Property rights and multipurpose mountain forest management

Mountain forest management is, and has always been, multipurpose-oriented. It should provide for private goods, such as timber, as well as public goods, such as protection against natural forces. This paper investigates private, state and common property regimes in terms of theoretical managerial performance, since empirical studies are scarcely available. Private property rights are sufficient for the production of private goods, whereas public goods have to be safeguarded by state intervention. The performance of state property regimes depends on objectives set by society and their implementation by public officials. Whereas state intervention in private and public property regimes in mountain forests is a necessary condition for multipurpose forest management, common property regimes would be less dependent on it. Usually, the rights holders of common property regimes use mountain forests for the production of both private and public goods. One can conclude that common property regimes are promising for the multipurpose management of mountain forests. In practice, however, common forest property regimes in Switzerland and Austria have become very dependent on public support. Research is recommended in order to investigate into the underlying reasons.

Developing indicators for the sustainable management of mountain forests using a modelling approach

Methods to monitor the sustainability of forest management on local to regional scales are currently being developed in Europe, based on Pan-European criteria. However, current approaches to indicator development have several shortcomings. First, they fail to integrate the links among indicators. Second, they do not address the factors giving rise to specific indicator values explicitly. Third, they select indicators with an emphasis on data availability or ease of measurement rather than on informational content. To overcome these problems, we propose using a modelling approach to indicator development. What modelling and indicator development have in common is that they both try to capture the essence of real, complex systems. In this paper, we present an initial attempt to develop indicators for the sustainable management of mountain forests, using a modelling approach. Key issues that make the sustainable management of mountain forests a challenge, such as the poor ability of many stands to fulfil current human needs, are identified. A conceptual model depicting the most relevant system elements and links is described. In contrast to the Pan-European criteria and concept areas of sustainable forest management, which are result-oriented, the elements in the conceptual model are process-oriented. The approach could lead to a better understanding of the factors influencing the decision-making at the management unit level and to the identification of a set of meaningful indicators. To evaluate its full potential, however, a simulation model should be developed based on the conceptual model, and be applied to case studies.

Trends in Mountain Forest Management in Switzerland

This paper describes principles of modern forest management in mountain areas, which have been gaining recognition in Switzerland in the last decades. Mountain forests differ remarkably from lowland forests with respect to structure,dynamics, functions and management. The economic situation has worsened, knowledge of ecology has grown and the demands placed on forests have changed. In order to meet the demand for multiple use, mountain forests must be given specially adapted silvicultural treatment. The following methods are proposed: to profit from natural processes in forest regeneration,to establish micro-site conditions for forest regeneration,to implement cluster plantation, to enable natural dynamics to occur after a disturbance, to enhance structural diversity, to reduce costs by minimising interventions.