Forest Products Research Articles

Epistemological dimensions of Indigenous honey collection in the Kattunaicken community of South India.

Indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) has proven effective in environmental governance, forest management, and sustainable development, yet it is threatened by globalization and rapid social-ecological changes. In southern India, I investigated the engagement of the Kattunaicken community with the forest, particularly through honey collection, to explore the connection between their Indigenous epistemological identity and their role in caring for the forest and its inhabitants. I conducted 48 interviews and accompanied 11 forest walks as part of walking ethnography with male community members, who are primarily involved in honey collection within the Wayanad district of Kerala. The Kattunaicken identity was intrinsically linked to their knowledge of the forest, with reciprocal epistemological interactions between the community and forest entities (trees, animals, and bees). Honey collection emerged as an epistemological endeavor, manifesting their Indigenous identity through the collective "knowing" of the forest that encompassed sensorial, ethical, and metaphysical dimensions that facilitated harmonious coexistence and care for the forest and its inhabitants. The Kattunaicken world of knowing challenges extractivist interpretations of nontimber forest product collection, emphasizing the importance of Indigenous epistemologies in shaping alternative knowledge construction for forest conservation. Their epistemological framework highlights care as an active process emerging from collective understanding and negotiation among all entities within their shared epistemic realm, fostering a harmonious coexistence that transcends conservation efforts.

Evaluation of Fractions Obtained Through Steam Distillation and Hydroalcoholic Maceration of Wood Chips from Pinus mugo for Flavouring Italian Spirit grappa

In the Italian Alps, mountain pine (Pinus mugo) is traditionally used to flavour the Italian spirit grappa. While its shoots and needles are well-studied, little is known about the potential of its wood and bark. This study explores the sequential extraction of Pinus mugo wood chips for grappa aromatisation, combining steam distillation and hydroalcoholic maceration to isolate volatile and non-volatile compounds. The wood chips were subjected to steam distillation to extract essential oils, followed by maceration in a 40% ethanol solution for 33 days. Three extracts were produced: essential oil, and hydroalcoholic extracts from fresh and post-distillation wood chips. The daily monitoring of maceration included pH, ORP, and colour analysis using the CIELAB methodology. The essential oil yield was 0.36 ± 0.12 mL per kg of wood chips. Fresh wood chips exhibited faster extraction and colour development compared to spent material. A sensory analysis distinguished grappas flavoured with essential oils but found no perceptible differences between those flavoured with fresh versus spent wood chips. This approach promotes the sustainable valorisation of Pinus mugo through circular extraction methods, enabling the customisation of grappa’s sensory profile and supporting diversification in Non-Wood Forest Products.

The Impact of Shifting from Subsistence to Cash Crops on the Livelihoods of the Soliga Tribe in India

Efforts to protect and conserve nature are essential worldwide. However, in many protected forests, local communities have lived for centuries, relying on the environment for food, income, shelter, and cultural practices. Conservation regulations often impact their livelihoods. This study examines the challenges and opportunities for sustaining the livelihoods of Soliga tribe farmers in Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve, South India. A participatory workshop with five researchers and 25 diverse farmers (male, female, young, and old) discussed: a) current agricultural and livelihood practices; b) key drivers of land-use changes; and c) necessary actions for sustainable livelihoods. Findings showed that shifting from traditional subsistence crops to cash crops like coffee, pepper, and floriculture reduced food availability but increased cash income. Non-timber forest products such as honey, berries, nuts, and firewood significantly supplemented household needs. Challenges included low coffee yields due to disease and poor soil, changing rainfall patterns, limited land, and wildlife crop damage. The forest conservation policies enforced during the recent decades have limited their access to resources and traditional lands, affecting their food security and economic stability. Additionally, limited access to education and employment opportunities restricts their social and economic mobility. Ongoing research and support are needed to enhance sustainable farming techniques such as mulching, composting, intercropping, integrated pest management, and controlling Lantana spp. to achieve resilient farming systems.

Productivity of coniferous forests evaluated by remote sensing and field-based models

Abstract The inadequacy of Norway spruce (NS) monocultures in fulfilling ecosystem services, due to deteriorating health and consequent forest ecosystem collapses, has recently become a concerning issue for the forestry sector in Central Europe. This study investigates spruce forest productivity using in-situ field observations (DendroNetwork) and satellite remote sensing (RS) data in the Czech Republic during the past two decades. Tree growth index and moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer net primary productivity were used to assess productivity at the national scale along an elevation gradient. The analyses of spatiotemporal variation in carbon dynamics indicate a decreasing trend in productivity in 51% and 80% (2800 km2 and 4200 km2) of the spruce stands from the RS and in-situ data, respectively. The increasing trend is particularly evident in montane regions, where satellite data identified an elevation threshold around 900 m a.s.l. while in-situ data 700 m a.s.l. In these energy-limited montane areas, NS may benefit from increased temperatures and may remain relatively safe from drought stress. The decreasing trends detected by both approaches indicate deteriorating conditions for NS in lower elevations. This study suggests that combining in-situ and RS data provides an efficient and robust way to estimate forest productivity at the national scale. The anticipated response of spruce forests associated with declines in productivity and growth in areas with low to moderate elevation points to the adverse effects of climate change by shifting the ecological optimum to higher elevations. We conclude that detailed mapping of forest response to changing environmental conditions is critical to support sustainable forest management and decision-making, ultimately reflecting the need to adopt adequate strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change and related natural and anthropogenic disturbances.

Can the Forestry Sector in Jiangsu Province Gain Competitiveness Under Impoverished Forest Resources?

Jiangsu province’s forestry industry offers valuable insights for resource-poor regions in China. This study aims to determine the competitiveness of different forestry sectors in Jiangsu province and identify the industrial structural changes in this context. The shift-share method is employed to analyze the primary, secondary, and tertiary forestry industries, encompassing 17 sub-sectors, and investigate the industrial regional types. By combining location quotient values and inter-sector characteristics, the leading sectors are identified. The findings reveal that the Kuznets facts and the Engel effect in the industry structure have facilitated the process of increasing the value of ecological products; this is particularly evident between 2002 and 2018, as well as in 2021. Within the primary forestry industry, the Flower cultivation sector and the Economic forest product sector emerge as the leading sectors, outperforming the national growth effect by 7.18 and 1.02 times, respectively. In the secondary forestry industry, the Wood processing sector, the Furniture manufacturing sector, the Wood paper-making sector, and the Non-timber forest product sector mostly show the Progressive types as the leading sectors from 2006 to 2020. The tertiary industry’s regional types fluctuate from the Progressive type to the Medium type, with the Forestry tourism sector, the Ecological service sector, and the Non-forestry service sector displaying leading industry characteristics. Recommendations for enhancing inter-sector integration include fostering collaborative agglomeration, unlocking the potential value of wetland resources, and strengthening cross-industry integration through e-commerce clusters to improve the forester’s e-commerce operational capabilities.

Quantity and Quality of Narrow-Leaved Ash (Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl) Wood Forest Products in Relation to Tree Crown Defoliation

Forest stands are developing in changeable climate conditions that influence stand health and consequently assortment quality. Narrow-leaved ash is strongly affected by dieback because of new fungal diseases. The main aim of this study was to determine the quantity and quality of produced wood assortments in dieback-affected narrow-leaved ash stands. Based on the study results, the average tree value increased with tree diameter and partially decreased with tree crown defoliation degree. The healthy (crown defoliated up to 25%) and 3A (crown defoliated from 61 to 80%) trees had significantly higher average tree values (EUR/m3) compared to the significantly defoliated 3B trees (crown defoliated from 81 to 99%) and dead trees (100% defoliated crown). The influence of stand age and share of narrow-leaved ash in stand volume were confirmed as factors influencing the average tree value. Wood chips quality remained the same regardless of tree crown defoliation degree. Based on the significance influence of the tree crown defoliation degree on the average tree value, current assortment tables should be expanded in order to achieve more accurate expected values.

Trucks-to-trucks: a comparison of the raw forest products transportation industry and other forms of commercial trucking in the US South

ABSTRACT Forest products transportation in the US South is an essential component of the wood supply chain connecting raw materials with manufacturing facilities. Owners and operators of log trucks face many challenges to business success. This review analyzed variables associated with owning and operating commercial trucks in the United States to compare raw forest products transportation and general trucking applications. The variables for both log trucks and general trucking included fuel costs, fuel economy, insurance, driver characteristics and availability, driver wages, truck and trailer configurations, fleet characteristics, weight limits, and safety. Log trucks were approximately 5 years older than other commercial trucks and operated in smaller fleets of 5–10 trucks. The smaller size of log truck fleets often placed them at a disadvantage to larger carriers in insurance and fuel costs, with smaller fleets having less opportunity to buy fuel in bulk and paying 0.006–0.025 USD more per kilometer for insurance than larger fleets. Knowledge gaps include inadequate estimates of the number of log truck operators and limited information related to log truck transportation costs. Continued research into challenges faced by log truck owners is critical to better understand the industry and identify solutions to profitability challenges.

Functional response of two Mesocomys species on factitious host Antheraea pernyi and their biocontrol potential against the Japanese giant silkworm Caligula japonica.

The Japanese giant silkworm (JGS) Caligula japonica is a significant defoliator pest in East Asia, causing severe economic losses in forest and fruit production. To establish a cost-effective biological control program against JGS, the age-stage, two-sex life table method was used to accurately assess the potential efficacy of two Mesocomys species (M. albitarsis and M. trabalae) in controlling this pest. Our study focused on the functional response of two Mesocomys species to Chinese oak silkworm (COS) Antheraea pernyi eggs (factitious host), as well as their reproductive attributes when exposed to JGS eggs (target host). Both Mesocomys species exhibited a type II functional response to increasing densities of COS eggs. Mutual interference of M. trabalae was greater than that of M. albitarsis at high parasitoid densities. Two Mesocomys parasitoids reared from COS eggs effectively parasitized JGS eggs, albeit with differing parasitism capacities. M. albitarsis had an average fecundity of 190.4 offspring, which was 3.8-fold higher than M. trabalae. Consequently, M. albitarsis demonstrated superior reproductive metrics when parasitizing JGS eggs, with more oviposition days (Od), intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ) and net reproduction rate (R0) compared to M. trabalae. Additionally, the net killing rate (C0) of M. albitarsis was 145.2 eggs/female, significantly higher than M. trabalae (32.6 eggs/female). Mesocomys albitarsis was identified as a more potent biocontrol agent against JGS than M. trabalae under indoor conditions. Some mutual interference at high parasitoid rearing densities likely reduces the per capita parasitization efficiency of both Mesocomys parasitoids. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.

Drivers of forest productivity in two regions of the United States: Relative impacts of management and environmental variables.

Climate, environmental conditions, and management strategies are key factors affecting forest net ecosystem production (NEP). However, little is known about the relationship between management approaches and regional to continental-scale forest productivity. In this study, we utilized forests of the U.S. Southeast (SEUS) and Pacific Northwest (PNW), two ecologically and socio-politically distinct regions, to answer the question: Does management exert a stronger influence on NEP than environmental factors? We estimated Geographically Weighted Regression models of NEP derived from the Ecosystem Demography Model as a function of soil, topography, climate, and forest management practices for the period 2000-2015 using 383 and 407 10×10km2 landscapes in SEUS and PNW, respectively. Results showed that forest management practices were important in predicting NEP only in mountainous northeastern areas of the SEUS; in the PNW, NEP had a more complex relationship with management and was positively related to ecological, preservation, and passive management. Management, topography, and soil were more strongly correlated with NEP in the PNW than in the SEUS, in which 81%, 83%, and 83% of PNW locations showed significant relationships with at least one management, topography, or soil variable, repectively. In contrast, seasonal precipitation and temperature were stronger predictors of NEP in the SEUS than other drivers, with 99% and 84% of the locations influenced by at least one seasonal temperature or precipitation variable, respectively. The findings of this study may provide a valuable framework for forest management - climate change strategies that could be extended across regional scales.

Impact of Militancy on the Trade of Pinus Gerardiana Nuts (Chilghoza) in District North Waziristan Agency (Ex FATA)

The trade of pinus gerardiana nuts (Chilghoza) is critical for the economy and livelihoods of communities in District North Waziristan Agency, formerly FATA. Its commercial value supports local economies and provides employment, highlighting the importance of sustainable management and market access for these valuable non-timber forest products. This research investigates the effects of militancy on non-timber forest products (NTFPs) trade, particularly Chalghoza nuts, in District North Waziristan Agency, previously known as Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). NTFPs play a crucial role in the livelihoods and economies of many communities globally. However, regions affected by militancy often face challenges disrupting NTFP trade, impacting local populations' livelihoods. The study employs quantitative analysis and qualitative case studies to explore the relationship between militancy and NTFPs, focusing on Chalghoza nuts. Data were collected from key stakeholders, including NTFPs and Chalghoza nuts collectors, traders, and government officials, during and after periods affected by terrorism and military operations. Twenty-seven plant species were identified as commercially important NTFPs, with Chalghoza nuts being the most significant due to their commercial value and support to the local economy. Findings indicate that women and youth predominantly collect NTFPs and Chalghoza nuts, while the market trade is controlled by older men. Most respondents were illiterate and untrained, relying on personal experiences and traditional methods for collection, transportation, and packing. The study highlights significant impacts of terrorism and military operations on Chalghoza nuts trade in North Waziristan Agency, FATA. The presence of terrorism creates instability, fear, and insecurity, leading to 32% unemployment among Chalghoza collectors/traders, with 14% shifting to other sectors. An inequitable profit gap was recorded among local collectors, middlemen, and traders, sometimes exceeding 200%. Military operations and militancy disrupt production, transportation, and market access, resulting in decreased productivity, increased costs, and reduced profit. Additionally, military operations cause collateral damage, casualties, and destruction of Chalghoza market infrastructure and supply chains, exacerbating industry challenges. The study recommends conflict-sensitive resource management strategies prioritizing NTFP-dependent communities' security and welfare, ensuring safe access, sustainable harvesting, and equitable trade to uplift the rural economy.

Quantification of the Influencing Factors of Stand Productivity of Subtropical Natural Broadleaved Forests in Eastern China Using an Explainable Machine Learning Framework

Natural broadleaf forests (NBFs) are the most abundant zonal vegetation type in subtropical regions. Understanding the mechanisms influencing stand productivity in NBFs is important for developing “nature-based” solutions for climate change mitigation. However, minimal research has captured the effects of nonlinearities and feature interactions that often have nonlinear impacts on stand productivity and influencing factors. To address this research gap, we used continuous forest inventory data, and a machine learning model for stand productivity of NBFs was constructed. Subsequently, through leveraging the interpretable machine learning framework of the SHapley Additive explanation (SHAP) and partial dependence plot, we determined global and local explanations of the influencing factors of stand productivity. Our findings indicate the following: (1) The Autogluon model performed the strongest based on R2, RMSE, and rRMSE metrics. (2) The basal area (BA), neighborhood comparison of diameter at breast height (NC), and stand age (AGE) were the key influencing factors. Stand productivity increased with increasing BA and decreased with increasing NC and AGE. BA was maintained above 15 m2ha−1 and NC was maintained below 0.45, which represent favorable conditions for NBFs to maintain optimal growth. (3) SHAP interaction values were calculated to determine the effects of the five major interactions on stand productivity. Our study provides a reference for the sustainable management of NBFs, thereby highlighting the important role of forests in mitigating climate change.

Diversity of Insect Species in PT Sumber Graha Sejahtera of Production Forest in West Wara District, Luwu Regency

Diversity of Insect Species in PT Sumber Graha Sejahtera of Production Forest in West Wara District, Luwu Regency

Canopy openness rather than tree species determines atmospheric deposition into forests.

Atmospheric nutrient deposition plays a crucial role in supplying nutrients to forests on poor soils, making it a key factor in maintaining nutrient stocks and forest productivity. We compared total atmospheric deposition in production forests of European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) by measuring bulk deposition and throughfall while accounting for canopy exchange. We assessed the differences in total deposition resulting from forest management practices such as high-thinning, shelterwood and clearcutting, on forest structure for both macronutrients and micronutrients in areas exposed to high nutrient deposition. We demonstrate that total nutrient deposition is highest in Douglas fir stands and lowest in Scots pine stands, primarily due to differences in dry deposition. The total deposition in forest exceeds national estimates because nutrient deposition in forests was higher than expected compared to more open areas. Canopy openness strongly influences the total deposition of all nutrients except phosphorus (P). Total deposition increases by a factor of 2.2 when moving from clearcuts to closed forests, with the extent of the increase varying among tree species and nutrients. Additionally, total deposition fluctuates between seasons, revealing clear seasonal patterns in both throughfall and canopy exchange. Our results suggest that the effective capture of potentially growth-limiting nutrients (such as K, Ca, Mg and Mn) in closed and thinned production forests significantly contributes to the resilience of forests on nutrient-poor, acidified soils. Our results underscore the importance of considering the effects of harvest intensity on canopy openness and forest structure and, to a lesser extent, tree species when calculating nutrient inputs from atmospheric deposition.

Forest land property rights and forest ecosystem quality: Evidence from forest land titling reform in China.

This study leverages multi-source remote sensing data and a quasi-natural experimental design to assess the impact of the Forest Land Titling Reform on forest ecosystem quality in China. Our analysis reveals that the reform led to approximately a 1% enhancement in forest vegetation quality and a 2.5% increase in forest productivity, findings that were robust across multiple tests. The reforms' effects were more substantial in the Northeast, Northwest, and tropical forest regions than in other regions. In economically underdeveloped central and western regions, the impacts of reform were more significant than in the economically developed eastern areas. Our in-depth examination shows that the Forest Land Titling Reform has fostered increased forest ecosystem quality by securing farmers' property rights, thereby stimulating their commitment to forest cultivation and management, encouraging the infusion of operational capital, and diminishing the extent of forest disasters. The study underscores that a well-defined and secure structure of property rights constitutes a fundamental element for the conservation and sustainable exploitation of forest resources.

Statistical power and the detection of global change responses: The case of leaf production in old-growth forests.

Forests sequester a substantial portion of anthropogenic carbon emissions. Many open questions concern how. We address two of these questions. Has leaf and fine litter production changed? And what is the contribution of old-growth forests? We address these questions with long-term records (≥10 years) of total, reproductive, and especially foliar fine litter production from 32 old-growth forests. We expect increases in forest productivity associated with rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and, in cold climates, with rising temperatures. We evaluate the statistical power of our analysis using simulations of known temporal trends parameterized with sample sizes (in number of years) and levels of interannual variation observed for each record. Statistical power is inadequate to detect biologically plausible trends for records lasting less than 20 years. Modest interannual variation characterizes fine litter production, and more variable phenomena will require even longer records to evaluate global change responses with sufficient statistical power. Just four old-growth forests have records of fine litter production lasting longer than 20 years, and these four provide no evidence for increases. Three of the four forests are in central Panama, also have long-term records of wood production, and both components of aboveground production are unchanged over 21-38 years. The possibility that recent increases in forest productivity are limited for old-growth forests deserves more attention.

Stable nutrient utilization of trees promotes community biomass accumulation in Korean pine and broad-leaved mixed forests after logging.

The recovery of community productivity in disturbed temperate forests is affected by fluctuating nutrient environments. How plant growth achieves high biomass accumulation in a limited nutrient environment remains unclear but may be attributed to the flexibility of plant nutrient utilization. Nutrient homeostasis (H) reflects the ability of plant tissues to maintain a relatively constant N and P content under nutrient fluctuations and represents flexible or stable plant nutrient utilization. We aim to reveal the influence of plant nutrient utilization mechanisms on community biomass accumulation after logging. We chose 28 post-logged Korean pine and broad-leaved mixed forests after seven recovery periods (6, 14, 25, 36, 45, and 55 years after logging) with six low-intensity selective logged treatments and one unlogged treatment (100 years after logging). We then estimated the H value of leaf N (HN), leaf P (HP), and leaf N:P ratio (HN:P) and the biomass of 234 plant species with different functional groups, soil nutrient, and species diversity. The leaf HN of 13.19 and the leaf HP of 9.87 reached the maximum at 36 and 45 years after logging, respectively. The HN:P at the community level reached the maximum at 36 years after logging. The robust linear trend between nutrient H and biomass suggests the accumulation of biomass benefits from stable nutrient utilization after logging. Considering the soil nutrient and species diversity, nutrient H showed the major explanation of biomass accumulation in trees, herbs, and whole community. The stable N utilization of tree species accounts for the maximum independent contribution (25.05%) to the community biomass accumulation. Herb species with flexible P utilization had major contribution (37.97%) to herb biomass accumulation. Our study highlights the vital role of high HN in promoting community biomass accumulation in logged forest to assess forest sustainability.

Forest management impacts on soil phosphorus cycling: Insights from metagenomics in Moso bamboo plantations.

Bamboo forests are crucial ecosystems and provide essential ecological and economic services in both tropical and subtropical regions. Soil phosphorus (P), a vital nutrient for plant growth, is fundamental to the productivity and health of bamboo forests. However, the microbial mechanisms through which management practices affect soil P processes in bamboo forests remain poorly understood. This study employed metagenomics to examine alterations in microbial P cycling in Moso bamboo plantations under three distinct management conditions. The results revealed that intensive management (M2, annual fertilization, selective harvesting, and understory vegetation removal) significantly increased soil inorganic P (Pi) by 61.76% and 87.39% compared to extensive management (M1, selective bamboo trunk and shoot harvesting every two years) and non-management (M0), respectively, while decreasing soil organic P (Po) by 50.41% and 41.05%. Forest management significantly altered the bacterial communities: Firmicutes, WPS-2, and Acidobacteriales were represented in M2, Xanthobacteraceae in M1, and Chloroflexi AD3, Acidothermus, and Subgroup_2 in M0. M2 significantly increased the community-level habitat niche breadth and weakened the deterministic process of bacterial community assembly relative to M1 and M0 (p≤0.05). Furthermore, functional metagenomics showed that the total abundance of genes related to Po mineralization, P transportation, and P regulation was significantly lower (p≤0.05) in M2 than in M0 and M1. pstA, pstB, and pstC were more abundant in M2 (p≤0.05), whereas phnN, phnI, phnG, phoA, phoD, phnC, phnD, and phnE were more abundant in M1 (p≤0.05), and phnF was significantly abundant in M0 (p≤0.05). A partial least squares path model indicated that soil bacterial community and P cycling genes had direct effects on Pi and Po, respectively. These findings enhance our understanding of the links between forest management practices and P cycling, providing insights for improving soil functionality and nutrient balance.

How does forest fertilization influence tree productivity of boreal forests? An analysis of data from commercial forestry across Sweden.

Forest fertilization is a forest management practice that is often claimed to increase productivity in boreal forests. Although regarded as an efficient way to increase profitability, it is also costly, and associated with risks such as biodiversity loss and nitrogen leaching from the soil. To be both cost-efficient and sustainable, potential enhanced productivity due to fertilization should be balanced against the adverse environmental impact. One effective strategy is to limit fertilization to sites where it can most significantly increase tree productivity, while avoiding application in less suitable areas. However, the current understanding of the specific conditions under which forest fertilization optimally stimulates tree growth is limited. To clarify this, we analysed standing tree volume from 32,498 recently harvested fertilized and unfertilized stands from Sweden's largest forest owner. We applied generalized additive models to quantify the effect of fertilization on standing tree volume at harvest and how the fertilization effect depended on dominant tree species, stand characteristics (site index, stem density), climatic conditions (temperature sum), and management (thinning, stand age at harvest). We found that the effect of operational fertilization was highly context-dependent. In pine-dominated stands, fertilization failed to increase tree volumes in cold climates and low-productive stands. In spruce-dominated stands, fertilization did not result in increased tree volumes in low-productive and high-productive stands. For a more sustainable and cost-efficient application of this practice we suggest that the context dependency of the efficiency of fertilization is given more attention. Hence, we recommend to refrain from fertilizing pine-dominated stands situated on low-productive land or in regions with cold climates, such as those found in northern Sweden.

Human Footprint and Forest Disturbance Reduce Space Use of Brown Bears (Ursus arctos) Across Europe

ABSTRACTThree‐quarters of the planet's land surface has been altered by humans, with consequences for animal ecology, movements and related ecosystem functioning. Species often occupy wide geographical ranges with contrasting human disturbance and environmental conditions, yet, limited data availability across species' ranges has constrained our understanding of how human pressure and resource availability jointly shape intraspecific variation of animal space use. Leveraging a unique dataset of 758 annual GPS movement trajectories from 375 brown bears (Ursus arctos) across the species' range in Europe, we investigated the effects of human pressure (i.e., human footprint index), resource availability and predictability, forest cover and disturbance, and area‐based conservation measures on brown bear space use. We quantified space use at different spatiotemporal scales during the growing season (May–September): home range size; representing general space requirements, 10‐day long‐distance displacement distances, and routine 1‐day displacement distances. We found large intraspecific variation in brown bear space use across all scales, which was profoundly affected by human footprint index, vegetation productivity, and recent forest disturbances creating opportunity for resource pulses. Bears occupied smaller home ranges and moved less in more anthropized landscapes and in areas with higher resource availability and predictability. Forest disturbances reduced space use while contiguous forest cover promoted longer daily movements. The amount of strictly protected and roadless areas within bear home ranges was too small to affect space use. Anthropized landscapes may hinder the expansion of small and isolated populations, such as the Apennine and Pyrenean, and obstruct population connectivity, for example between the Dinaric Pindos population and the Alpine or Carpathian population. Our findings call for actions to maintain bear movements across landscapes with high human footprint, for example by maintaining forest integrity, to support viable bear populations and their ecosystem functions.

Lignin-based porous carbon adsorbents for CO2 capture.

A major driver of global climate change is the rising concentration of atmospheric CO2, the mitigation of which requires the development of efficient and sustainable carbon capture technologies. Solid porous adsorbents have emerged as promising alternatives to liquid amine counterparts due to their potential to reduce regeneration costs. Among them, porous carbons stand out for their high surface area, tailorable pore structure, and exceptional thermal and mechanical properties, making them highly robust and efficient in cycling operations. Moreover, porous carbons can be synthesized from readily available organic (waste) streams, reducing costs and promoting circularity. Lignin, a renewable and abundant by-product of the forest products industry and emerging biorefineries, is a complex organic polymer with a high carbon content, making it a suitable precursor for carbon-based adsorbents. This review explores lignin's sources, structure, and thermal properties, as well as traditional and emerging methods for producing lignin-based porous adsorbents. We examine the physicochemical properties, CO2 adsorption mechanisms, and performance of lignin-derived materials. Additionally, the review highlights recent advances in lignin valorization and provides critical insights into optimizing the design of lignin-based adsorbents to enhance CO2 capture efficiency. Finally, it addresses the prospects and challenges in the field, emphasizing the significant role that lignin-derived materials could play in advancing sustainable carbon capture technologies and mitigating climate change.