Permanent Forest Research Articles

Occurrence of a female melanistic leopard Panthera pardus delacouri (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) in Ulu Sat Permanent Forest Reserve, Machang, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia from camera traps reconnaissance survey 2023

The Indochinese leopard, Panthera pardus delacouri is classified as Critically Endangered in the Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The subspecies has been recorded for the first time in Ulu Sat Permanent Forest Reserve (USPFR). Camera trap records show the presence of a female melanistic leopard, which is of additional biological interest. It is hoped that these observations will stimulate long-term studies on leopards of USPFR and promote conservation efforts in the area.

Investigating Forest Cover Change Using Historical GIS Technologies: A Case Study with an Example of Jurbarkas District of the Republic of Lithuania

Effective forest management systems based on comprehensive tools need to be developed for the analysis and assessment of forest cover change. This requires a wide range of data, starting from old maps, which allow the reconstruction of spatially referenced information on past forest areas, to recently collected data. The research methodology proposed in this paper involves a combined analysis of data from different sources, using statistical, comparative, and visual analysis methods. The case study is Jurbarkas District of the Republic of Lithuania characterized by a high land productivity score. The research found that the highest forest cover areas were in the 19th century and the lowest in the 20th century. It can be seen that during the period under research, forest areas ‘migrated’ from an area favorable for agricultural activities to a less favorable area with higher slopes. Permanent forest cover areas and the age of the dominant trees have been identified. The age of the trees in the forest areas has allowed for the identification of the periods when the most intensive logging took place. The rate of forest cover change made it possible to predict the total disappearance of the forest areas provided that the factors influencing forest cover change at that time remained unchanged. If the trends in forest change in Jurbarkas District had been maintained in the period between the 19th and 20th centuries, the forest would have disappeared in 2006.

Integrated Supervised Classification of LULC in Identifying Musang King Durian Illegal Farming Location

Musang King Durian (MKD) is in high demand due to its unique taste and aroma; hence, some opportunistic farmers grow it on a large scale. The issue arises when some MKD is planted on encroached land in remote places, making it impossible for local authorities to locate them. This study proposes to examine the changes in land use land cover (LULC) within the Benom Permanent Forest Reserved area that were reported to have land invasion activities caused by illegal MKD plantations between 2019 and 2022 using Sentinel imagery. The objectives were to investigate the location of illicit MKD farming at Mount Benom based on the interpretation of LULC changes and Normalized Different Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis. ArcGIS and eCognition Developer software were used for data processing and analysis to identify water bodies, bare land, green areas, forests, and potential illegal MKD plantings (PIDP) areas. Between the years 2019 and 2022, it was found that there has been a significant rise in water bodies (36%), green areas (34%), and forests (19%). However, the potential illegal MKD plantation area fell by 59%, while bare land declined by 35%. These downsizing changes might occur due to illegal MKD destroyed operations executed in 2019 by the forestry department in Raub, Pahang. Keywords: illegal farming, image classification, land use land cover, supervised classification

Floristic composition and biomass estimate of Rubiaceae in Bangi Permanent Forest Reserve, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia

A study on floristic composition, community structure and biomass of Rubiaceae was carried out in Bangi Permanent Forest Reserve, Selangor. In the 0.45 ha of ecological plots, a total of 17 species from three genera of Rubiaceae was recorded for trees with a diameter ≥ 1.0 cm DBH. Three genera viz. Canthium, Ixora and Urophyllum were represented by two species each, while remaining genera comprised of a single species each. Shrub group represented the largest total number of species with seven species followed by the understorey with four species. The range of tree DBH in the study plot was between 1.0 and 31.3 cm. The genus with highest density was Aidia, viz. 244 trees/ha, represented by Aidia densiflora. Total basal area for Rubiaceae was 1.69 m2/ha, with the genus Aidia, specifically the species Aidia densiflora, contributing the highest basal area of 0.57 m2/ha (33.91%). Total biomass estimate (above ground and below ground) for this family was 16.71 t/ha. At genus level, Timonius contributed the highest total biomass value, viz. 5.82 t/ha (34.85%), represented by the species Timonius wallichianus.

ПРОБЛЕМИ ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ САМОСІЙНИХ ЛІСІВ В КОНТЕКСТІ ЗБЕРЕЖЕННЯ ЛІСОВИХ НАСАДЖЕНЬ ПРИРОДНОГО ПОХОДЖЕННЯ

In the presented material, an attempt was made to generalize the existing regulatory and legislative basis of Ukraine regarding the increase of forest cover, protection and preservation of self-forested areas of state and communal ownership, as well as to form the main practical problems and prospects in their use. For this, the author considered the unique importance of self-seeding forests in the context of ensuring the ecological properties of forest plantations, in particular, carbon deposition and oxygen production; the scale of self-forested lands is determined; a quantitative assessment of the areas of self-seeded forests transferred to permanent forest use to the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" from the united territorial communities is given, using the example of the Chernihiv region; the existing trend of exceeding the volume of emissions from the increase in arable land in Ukraine over the volume of absorption from forests, swamps, and steppes is noted. The article presents a number of negative trends regarding the increase in the volume of wood harvesting, including for military needs, which causes the felling of forest plantations of natural origin. The shortcomings of the existing legislative mechanisms regarding the lack of restrictions on the activities of agricultural producers on pastures, hayfields, coastal strips, floodplains and other carbon-rich ecosystems are indicated. Ways to increase the volume of sold wood for the national economy in the conditions of a full-scale invasion due to effective anti-corruption, restriction of wood exports and effective functioning of the State Environmental Inspection of Ukraine are presented. An analysis of the legislation of the European Union regarding mechanisms for the preservation and restoration of carbon-rich ecosystems, including the restoration of most drained peatlands, the introduction of restrictions on access to the EU market for agricultural products and wood, the production of which has led to deforestation, has been carried out, which should be a reference point for the state leadership in the declared European integration path of Ukraine's development.

Small mammal assemblage in Gunung Tebu Forest Reserve, Terengganu: An environmentally sensitive area in East Coast Peninsular Malaysia

Effective spatial planning plays a pivotal role in defining the progress and growth of a certain region. One aspect of spatial planning by PLANMalaysia involves the incorporation of environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs), which comprises eleven different landscape management. Integrating biological features is crucial when defining ESA Permanent Forest Reserve, as relying solely on physical attributes may not accurately reflect the true sensitivity of the environment. Therefore, there is a need to gather biological information to strengthen existing ESA. A study was conducted in Gunung Tebu Forest Reserve (GTFR) from April to July 2023. Multiple trapping approaches were deployed to assess volant and non-volant small mammal assemblage. In total, 155 individuals comprised of 31 species of small mammals were documented with the highest species abundant recorded by Maxomys rajah (n = 29) and Leopoldamys sabanus (n = 27). The diversity indices were varied throughout five sampling sessions, (Shannon = 1.841 to 2.543), (Simpson = 0.7951 to 0.9056). Comparison on species assemblage between GTFR and forest reserves in Hulu Terengganu showed a moderate similarity level. This finding offers the most recent insight of the small mammals in GTFR and highlights the significance of conserving and preserving (ESA) in permanent forest reserves.

Aboveground carbon sequestration of Cunninghamia lanceolata forests: Magnitude and drivers

Understanding the spatial variation, temporal changes, and their underlying driving forces of carbon sequestration in various forests is of great importance for understanding the carbon cycle and carbon management options. How carbon density and sequestration in various Cunninghamia lanceolata forests, extensively cultivated for timber production in subtropical China, vary with biodiversity, forest structure, environment, and cultural factors remain poorly explored, presenting a critical knowledge gap for realizing carbon sequestration supply potential through management. Based on a large-scale database of 449 permanent forest inventory plots, we quantified the spatial-temporal heterogeneity of aboveground carbon densities and carbon accumulation rates in Cunninghamia lanceolate forests in Hunan Province, China, and attributed the contributions of stand structure, environmental, and management factors to the heterogeneity using quantile age-sequence analysis, partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM), and hot-spot analysis. The results showed lower values of carbon density and sequestration on average, in comparison with other forests in the same climate zone (i.e., subtropics), with pronounced spatial and temporal variability. Specifically, quantile regression analysis using carbon accumulation rates along an age sequence showed large differences in carbon sequestration rates among underperformed and outperformed forests (0.50 and 1.80 ​Mg⋅​ha−1·yr−1). PLS-PM demonstrated that maximum DBH and stand density were the main crucial drivers of aboveground carbon density from young to mature forests. Furthermore, species diversity and geo-topographic factors were the significant factors causing the large discrepancy in aboveground carbon density change between low- and high-carbon-bearing forests. Hotspot analysis revealed the importance of culture attributes in shaping the geospatial patterns of carbon sequestration. Our work highlighted that retaining large-sized DBH trees and increasing shade-tolerant tree species were important to enhance carbon sequestration in C. lanceolate forests.

Оценка целесообразности применения мотоблоков и мини-тракторов для механизации работ в лесных питомниках Российской Федерации

At the moment, a significant part of the equipment operated in permanent forest nurseries is worn out by 70-80%. At the same time, the existing equipment has excessive productivity, which in conditions of small forest nurseries leads to excessive operating costs. The area of sowing departments and fallow fields in modern nurse-ries rarely exceeds 3 hectares, which makes it possible to accept small farms as the closest analogy in terms of the volume of agrotechnical work. Based on the cluster analysis of the nomenclature of existing machines and tools of various types, the options for re-equipping forest nurseries with small-sized mobile energy means (SMEM) and small-scale mechanization means (SMM) in modern geopolitical conditions were evaluated. Firstly, the information on ploughshares, disc harrows, spreaders of solid fertilizers, sprayers, precision seeders and cul-tivators for aggregation with tillers and mini-tractors available for purchase was analyzed. Secondly, the neces-sary level of power-to-weight ratio of the heavy vehicle has been determined to perform the entire list of mecha-nized work on growing planting material in a forest nursery. Thirdly, the economic feasibility of using tillers and mini-tractors to perform work in forest nurseries by calculating "hourly operating costs" was evaluated. The re-duction of the range of SMEM and SMM models offered on the market of the Russian Federation is not a limiting factor. There are enough machines and tools of Russian, Belarusian and Chinese production to ensure mecha-nized work in a forest nursery. The most effective are SMEM with an engine power of 30 kW and a load capacity of 700 kg rear suspension. SMEM is economically feasible to use with an annual volume of work equivalent to 60 hectares of conventional arable land, or less. With large volumes, the use of more productive tools with a trac-tor of traction class 1.4 is economically justified.

FORMS: Forest Multiple Source height, wood volume, and biomass maps in France at 10 to 30 m resolution based on Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) data with a deep learning approach

Abstract. The contribution of forests to carbon storage and biodiversity conservation highlights the need for accurate forest height and biomass mapping and monitoring. In France, forests are managed mainly by private owners and divided into small stands, requiring 10 to 50 m spatial resolution data to be correctly separated. Further, 35 % of the French forest territory is covered by mountains and Mediterranean forests which are managed very extensively. In this work, we used a deep-learning model based on multi-stream remote-sensing measurements (NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidar mission and ESA's Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellites) to create a 10 m resolution canopy height map of France for 2020 (FORMS-H). In a second step, with allometric equations fitted to the French National Forest Inventory (NFI) plot data, we created a 30 m resolution above-ground biomass density (AGBD) map (Mg ha−1) of France (FORMS-B). Extensive validation was conducted. First, independent datasets from airborne laser scanning (ALS) and NFI data from thousands of plots reveal a mean absolute error (MAE) of 2.94 m for FORMS-H, which outperforms existing canopy height models. Second, FORMS-B was validated using two independent forest inventory datasets from the Renecofor permanent forest plot network and from the GLORIE forest inventory with MAE of 59.6 and 19.6 Mg ha−1, respectively, providing greater performance than other AGBD products sampled over France. Finally, we compared FORMS-V (for volume) with wood volume estimations at the ecological region scale and obtained an R2 of 0.63 with an MAE of 30 m3 ha−1. These results highlight the importance of coupling remote-sensing technologies with recent advances in computer science to bring material insights to climate-efficient forest management policies. Additionally, our approach is based on open-access data having global coverage and a high spatial and temporal resolution, making the maps reproducible and easily scalable. FORMS products can be accessed from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7840108 (Schwartz et al., 2023).

Prospects of Halal Green Tourism in Brunei Darussalam

In recent years, there has been a growing interest among academics worldwide in the concepts of halal and green tourism, particularly focusing on sustainability. This trend has created both opportunities and challenges for tourism stakeholders, as there is a strong interest from tourists in both halal and green tourism experiences. Brunei Darussalam, with about 80% of its land covered in primary tropical forest and a significant portion devoted to permanent forests and forest reserves, offers numerous green tourist attractions despite its small size. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the concepts and relevant aspects of halal-green tourism, this study explores the existing literature and theories related to the topic. Using a qualitative approach and secondary data collection, the study provides insights into halal-green tourism in Brunei. Furthermore, a SWOT analysis of the Brunei tourism industry is presented based on the information gathered. The data indicates that Brunei offers an ideal balance of environmentally friendly and halal-friendly services, making it an attractive destination for halal-green tourism. The SWOT analysis serves as a valuable guideline for relevant authorities and policymakers in planning the future development of the country’s tourism industry. Additionally, local travel agencies can utilize this analysis to promote and enhance halal green tourism in Brunei.
 Keywords: Brunei, green tourism, halal green tourism, halal tourism, SWOT analysis

Stronger latitudinal phylogenetic patterns in woody angiosperm assemblages with higher dispersal abilities in China

AbstractAimThe equator‐to‐poles decline in the number of species, namely the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG), is the most conspicuous pattern in biology, yet the underlying mechanisms of this pattern remain controversial. Species dispersal could have strong effects on large‐scale species distributions but has rarely been considered in understanding the LDG. Here we sought to examine how dispersal ability may influence the latitudinal phylogenetic patterns of woody angiosperm assemblages.LocationChina.TaxonWoody angiosperms.MethodsBased on a highly supported mega‐phylogeny constructed from plastid genomes, we assessed the patterns of phylogenetic relatedness and dissimilarity of 1184 trees with three different seed dispersal modes (i.e. zoochory, anemochory and autochory) in 12 permanent forest dynamic plots covering tropical, subtropical and temperate zones in China.ResultsWe found that, compared with zoochorous and anemochorous species, the less vagile autochorous trees exhibited a much weaker latitudinal pattern in phylogenetic relatedness and higher phylogenetic dissimilarity among plots. The phylogenetic dissimilarity pattern of autochorous trees was explained more by geographic distance than environmental factors, consistent with a dominant role for dispersal limitation.Main ConclusionsOur study, for the first time, demonstrates that seed dispersal mode strongly influences the latitudinal phylogenetic patterns of woody angiosperm assemblages in China and highlights the importance of interaction between dispersal limitation and environmental filtering in determining the large‐scale distribution of forest biodiversity.

Logs or permits? Forestry land use decisions in an emissions trading scheme

AbstractNegative carbon emissions options are required to meet long‐term climate goals in many countries. One way to incentivise these options is by paying farmers for carbon sequestered by forests through an emissions trading scheme (ETS). New Zealand has a comprehensive ETS, which includes incentives for farmers to plant permanent exotic forests. This research uses an economy‐wide model, a forestry model and land use change functions to measure the expected proportion of farmers with trees at harvesting age that will change land use from production to permanent forests in New Zealand from 2014 to 2050. We also estimate the impacts on carbon sequestration, the carbon price, gross emissions, GDP and welfare. When there is forestry land use change, the results indicate that the responsiveness of land owners to the carbon price has a measured impact on carbon sequestration. For example, under the fastest land use change scenario, carbon sequestration reaches 29.93 Mt CO2e by 2050 compared to 23.41 Mt CO2e in the no land use change scenario (a 28% increase). Even under the slowest land use change scenario, carbon sequestration is 25.89 Mt CO2e by 2050 (an 11% increase compared with no land use change). This is because, if foresters decide not to switch to permanent forests in 1 year, carbon prices and ultimately incentives to convert to permanent forests will be higher in future years.

Identifying Suitable Variables for Visual Aesthetic Quality Assessment of Permanent Forest Reserves in the Klang Valley Urban Area, Malaysia

Permanent forest reserves (PFR) in urban areas are an integral aspect of the urban forest concept and the basis of a city’s green infrastructure. The preservation of natural forests in urban areas has become a widely researched topic due to the environmental, social, and economic benefits provided by it. Although several studies have shown that visual aesthetics play a role in preserving natural forests in urban areas, visual aesthetic value is typically not prioritized in preservation plans since it varies based on the physical characteristics of natural forests in urban areas, making it difficult to measure universally. Therefore, this research aims to identify the suitable variables for assessing the visual aesthetic quality of permanent forest reserves within urban areas in Malaysia. This study selected two permanent forest reserves based on four criteria. Data were collected via participant-generated images taken along selected forest trails based on participant visual aesthetic preferences. Researchers and experts analyzed and classified the data according to content to identify suitable visual aesthetic quality variables. This research identified 14 suitable variables for assessing the visual aesthetics of PFRs in urban areas, with a dominant preference for information-processing theory variables. Mystery was the most present variable for the visual aesthetic quality assessment of PFRs. Furthermore, participants’ educational and emotional backgrounds, categorized as design, environmental, social, and technical, impacted their visual aesthetic preferences. Our findings serve as a foundation for assessing the visual aesthetic quality of natural forests within urban areas in Malaysia.

Financial comparison of afforestation using redwood and radiata pine under carbon regimes within New Zealand

The accurate regional characterisation of the quantity and value of carbon for key plantation species is important for both forest owners and governments. New Zealand is committed to reaching carbon net zero by 2050 and forests are currently dominated by the fast growing species radiata pine (Pinus radiata) which comprises 90% of all plantations. However, coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is a promising alternative species, that is particularly suited to permanent carbon regimes, as the species is capable of rapid growth over hundreds of years. Recent increases in the carbon price have stimulated afforestation rates within New Zealand and permanent forests now comprise almost one-quarter of new plantings. Using growth models to predict carbon over a 100 year period, the objective of this study was to regionally compare carbon yields and net present value (NPV) for radiata pine and redwood carbon regimes.Model predictions show that by age 100 years, total carbon for redwood exceeded that of radiata pine within eight of the nine regions within New Zealand. Gains were greatest in the North Island, where redwood carbon exceeded that of radiata pine by on average 74%, with differences reaching up to 85% (5,203 vs. 2,808 tonnes CO2/ha at age 100 years). Under a flat baseline real carbon price of $80/tonne CO2, the NPV for redwood was very similar to that of radiata pine within four of the five North Island regions. This similarity between species was maintained across the examined carbon price range which included 26 real carbon values ranging from $35 to $160/tonne CO2. However, NPV for radiata pine exceeded that of redwood within all South Island regions as growth rates for radiata pine were greater over the first 50 years and these earlier returns have higher weighting in discounted cashflow analysis. There was marked divergence in NPV between species across all four South Island regions with increasing carbon price. The establishment of a large permanent redwood resource over the next few decades in the North Island could greatly assist New Zealand to meet its carbon obligations over both the medium to long term.

Decision-Tree Application to Predict and Spatialize the Wood Productivity Probabilities of Eucalyptus Plantations

Brazil is one of the world’s wood short-fiber producers, cultivating 7.5 million hectares of eucalypt trees. Foresters and resource managers often face difficulties in surveying reliable Eucalyptus productivity levels for the purpose of purchasing and prospecting lands. Spatial data science (DS) and machine learning (ML) provide powerful approaches to make the best use of the large datasets available today. Agriculture has made great use of these approaches, and in this paper, we explore how forestry can benefit as well. We hypothesized that both DS and ML techniques can be used to improve Eucalyptus productivity zoning based on multiple operational datasets of tree growth and environment. Based on more than 12,000 permanent forest inventory plots of commercial Eucalyptus plantations and the climate, soil, and altitude variables associated with them, a supervised ML approach was adjusted to model the forest plantation productivity. A multi-tuning of the decision-tree (DT) algorithm hyperparameters was prepared to yield 450 DT models, with a better one delivering an RMSE of 53.5 m3 ha−1, split in 35 terminal nodes, here interpreted as Eucalyptus productivity zones. The DT model showed an optimum performance index of 0.83, a coefficient of determination of 0.91, a root mean squared error of 12.3 m3 ha−1, and a mean absolute percentage error only of 3.1% in predicting the testing dataset throughout the study area. The DT rule set was interpreted in a user-friendly table and was prepared to classify any location within the study area in each one of the 35 productivity zones based on the required environment variables of the DT algorithm. The high quality of the model obtained made it possible to spatialize the DT rules, providing a reliable cartographic visualization of the probability levels of true Eucalyptus productivity for a huge region of forest-based industries in Brazil. These data-science techniques also provided a yield gap analysis using a very down-to-earth approach. We estimated a yield gap by an amount of 4.2 × 107 m3, representing a few more than 113,000 ha, or 15% of the current forest base. This is the amount of avoided area expansion to accumulate the same wood stock in case the productivity is raised to the attainable level in each zone. This present study provided deeper analysis and reproducible tools to manage forest assets sustainably.

Declining tree growth resilience mediates subsequent forest mortality in the US Mountain West.

Climate change-triggered forest die-off is an increasing threat to global forests and carbon sequestration but remains extremely challenging to predict. Tree growth resilience metrics have been proposed as measurable proxies of tree susceptibility to mortality. However, it remains unclear whether tree growth resilience can improve predictions of stand-level mortality. Here, we use an extensive tree-ring dataset collected at ~3000 permanent forest inventory plots, spanning 13 dominant species across the US Mountain West, where forests have experienced strong drought and extensive die-off has been observed in the past two decades, to test the hypothesis that tree growth resilience to drought can explain and improve predictions of observed stand-level mortality. We found substantial increases in growth variability and temporal autocorrelation as well declining drought resistance and resilience for a number of species over the second half of the 20th century. Declining resilience and low tree growth were strongly associated with cross- and within-species patterns of mortality. Resilience metrics had similar explicative power compared to climate and stand structure, but the covariance structure among predictors implied that the effect of tree resilience on mortality could partially be explained by stand and climate variables. We conclude that tree growth resilience offers highly valuable insights on tree physiology by integrating the effect of stressors on forest mortality but may have only moderate potential to improve large-scale projections of forest die-off under climate change.

Sample coverage estimation, rarefaction, and extrapolation based on sample-based abundance data.

Sample coverage, the proportion of individuals that belong to observed species in a sample, is a metric used to measure the completeness of a sample. Rather than using equal sample sizes, equal sample coverage has become a widely accepted standard for comparing diversity across multiple assemblages, resulting in a more accurate representation of the true relationship between the richness of the assemblages. In practice, sample-based abundance data are the most frequently used data type for evaluating species diversity. In sample-based abundance data, the sampling unit (e.g., a plot, net, trap, or transect) is randomly selected from the target area, and the number of individuals for each species observed in the sampled unit is recorded. In this case, the individuals in the sample are no longer randomly and independently sampled, and the Good-Turing estimators of abundance-based sample coverage in reference, rarefied, and extrapolated samples may be severely biased when individuals present a highly spatially aggregated pattern. Here, I derive a novel estimator of abundance-based sample coverage based on the Good-Turing frequency formula. Additionally, a new analytical approach is introduced for enabling smooth coverage-based rarefaction and extrapolation to compare richness among assemblages. The near unbiasedness of the proposed estimator and a less biased richness ratio achieved using the newly developed coverage-based standardizing approach are demonstrated by analyzing three ForestGEO permanent forest plot data sets.

A species richness estimator for sample‐based incidence data sampled without replacement

Abstract The accurate estimation of species richness in a target region is still a statistical challenge, especially in a highly heterogeneous community. Most richness estimators have been developed based on the assumption that data are randomly sampled with replacement or that data are sampled from an infinite population. However, in reality, most sampling schemes in the field are implemented as sampling without replacement (SWOR). As such, estimators derived based on sampling with replacement may cause overestimation as the sampling fraction increases and not converge to the true richness as the sampling fraction approaches one. Sample‐based incidence data, in which the sampling unit is a plot, and only the presence or absence of a species in each chosen plot is recorded, is one of the most commonly used data types for assessing species diversity in ecological studies. In this manuscript, according to sample‐based incidence data collected through SWOR, a new richness estimator is proposed using a truncated beta‐binomial mixture model. The new estimator was obtained through the moment approach, which avoids using iterative numerical algorithms for parameter estimation and presents a closed‐form estimator as an alternative to the maximum likelihood method. Although the newly proposed method is a parametric‐based richness estimator, similar to nonparametric estimators, only the rare species in the sample (i.e. the frequencies of uniques and duplicates) are required to estimate undetected richness. Based on the hypothetical models, the statistical performances of the proposed estimator are evaluated under varying degrees of heterogeneity and different mean species detection rates. Compared to other widely used nonparametric and parametric estimators, the simulation results indicate that the proposed estimator has a smaller bias and lower root mean square error when the sampling fraction is greater than 10%, particularly in highly heterogeneous communities. In addition, one ForestGEO permanent forest plot dataset is used to evaluate and compare the proposed approach with other estimators discussed in the study. The results demonstrate that the proposed estimator, in comparison to other widely used estimators, produces less biased estimate of true richness, along with more accurate 95% confidence interval.

Оценка качества лесосеменного материала на экспериментальном участке сосны обыкновенной (Pinus sylvestris L.) при адаптивном восстановлении лесных ландшафтов

When choosing a technology for restoring forest landscapes, the quality of forest seed material is a significant factor. To develop a reference information system to support decision-making for adaptive restoration of forest landscapes, it is necessary to have data on the types and quality of forest seed material. Existing studies directly or indirectly confirm, on the one hand, the influence of seed quality on the quality of future plantations, on the other hand, the influence of forest characteristics on the quality and quantity of seeds. Preservation of the quality of forest seed material in conditions of large-scale harvesting of Scots pine seeds (Pinus sylvestris L.) is possible with the development of permanent forest seed plots, and (or) the use of modern technologies for separating forest seeds without loss of genetic diversity and increasing not only germination and seed germination energy, but also the vitality of seedlings, their stability to the change of abiotic factors. Descriptive statistics of biometric parameters of trees and cones of Scots pine on the experimental site (N51°50.00'; E39°22.09', 113 m ASL) demonstrates the following values (average; average error): the height of the tree (186.2; 11.7), the diameter of the root neck of the tree (5.9; 0.3), the ratio of the height of the tree to the diameter of the root neck (31.90; 0.97), the number of cones (9; 4), the number of seeds (12; 5). There is a strong positive correlation at the level of p < 0.0001 between diameter and height, a strong positive correlation between the number of cones and the number of seeds (p < 0.001), a strong positive correlation (p < 0.05) between the height of the tree and the number of cones. In the future, it is planned to evaluate the relationship of accumulated degree days, accumulated precipitation, normalized difference vegetation index with the cones and seeds number.

Economic Valuation for Recreational Services of The Permanent Forest Estate in Kuala Kubu Bharu: A Travel Cost Analysis

Economic Valuation for Recreational Services of The Permanent Forest Estate in Kuala Kubu Bharu: A Travel Cost Analysis