Protected Forest Reserves Research Articles

Species richness of Cyatheales in the upper Santo Domingo Canyon, Antioquia, Colombia

The Regional Protective Forest Reserve of the Canyons of the Melcocho and Santo Domingo Rivers in eastern Antioquia, Colombia, spans 26,533 ha with elevations from 706 to 2,937 m above sea level. This study addresses the limited prior research on ferns in the region by observing tree ferns and allied species (Cyatheales) between 1,967 and 2,600 m above sea level. We identified 11 species: Alsophila erinacea (H.Karst.) D.S.Conant, Cyathea cnemidaria Lehnert, Cyathea latevagans (Baker) Domin, Cyathea planadae N.C.Arens & A.R.Sm., Cyathea pauciflora (Kuhn) Lellinger, Cyathea nigripes (C. Chr.) Domin, Cyathea squamipes H. Karst., Cyathea tryonorum (Riba) Lellinger, Cyathea vilhelmii Domin, Lophosoria quadripinnata (J.F.Gmel.) C.Chr. and Sphaeropteris quindiuensis (H.Karst.) R.M.Tryon. All species are newly recorded from the reserve, with some records representing extensions of their known distributions. This species richness within a small altitudinal gradient highlights the reserve’s importance for the conservation of tree ferns in Colombia’s Central Cordillera.

Mapping oil palm expansion within the protected lowland rainforest of Nigeria using Google Earth engine

Increasing demand for Elaeis guineensis (African Oil Palm) products both for domestic and industrial use has led to its continuous expansion. The influence of oil palm plantation establishment on the economic well-being of communities and ecosystems cannot be over-emphasised. The study focuses on the rapid expansion of oil palm plantations within all protected areas and forest reserves in the lowland rainforests of Ondo State, Nigeria using. Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) was used to map oil palm expansion using 10-metre resolution Sentinel-2A images for 2015 and 2020 in Google Earth Engine (GEE). We found expansion of both smallholder and commercial oil palm plantations within eight of the thirteen protected areas with three protected areas (Ipele, Onisere and Akure Ofosu) showing a significant increase in oil palm plantation establishment. The use of object-based classification techniques, which combines contextual information within the image domain to discriminate landscape features such as oil palm canopy features, was effective in delineating oil palm from the forest canopy and other crops. While Google Earth Engine, a server-based remote sensing domain with petabytes of data, is effective for monitoring large-scale tropical forests.

Integrative systematics and conservation of endangered Carabus nankotaizanus (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in Taiwan

Abstract The endangered endemic ground beetle, Carabus nankotaizanus Kano, 1932 (Coleoptera: Carabidae), consists of 4 subspecies distributed across the lowlands to mountain forests of Taiwan. However, continuous morphological variation among the subspecies and large altitudinal range gaps between lowland and mountain populations of C. nankotaizanus raise questions concerning its species boundaries. We assessed the species boundaries between lowland and mountain populations of C. nankotaizanus using an integrative approach combining morphological, molecular, life-history, and ecological traits. Future suitable habitats were predicted using ecological niche models to evaluate the effect of range shifts driven by climate warming. The analyses of morphological and ecological traits indicate that the lowland and mountain populations of C. nankotaizanus are 2 distinct phenetic and ecological species. The molecular phylogeny further supported 4 divergent groups (paraphyletic C. nankotaizanus sp. 1 of the northern lowland + monophyletic C. nankotaizanus sp. 2 of the northern mountain, paraphyletic C. nankotaizanus sp. 3 of the southeastern lowland + monophyletic C. nankotaizanus sp. 4 of the mountain groups). We recommend the designation of the 4 cryptic C. nankotaizanus as candidate species and officially protected evolutionary lineages. Future range shifts of C. nankotaizanus sp. 1 to higher latitudinal lowlands of northern Taiwan may pose significant challenges to its conservation due to urban development and island boundary. By contrast, upcoming range shifts of the mountain C. nankotaizanus species to higher altitudes of protected national parks and forest reserves in the Central Mountain Range may not represent a major threat to its survival.

Characterizing long‐term population conditions of the elusive red tree vole with dynamic individual‐based modeling

AbstractOld growth forests are declining globally, threatening dependent wildlife. Many arboreal old‐growth obligates, such as the threatened red tree vole, are difficult to monitor for changes in habitat occupancy, and abundance. Yet, conservation planning relies on this information to prevent population declines. We integrated a range of species, habitat, and landscape change information to develop a dynamic habitat‐population model. The spatial individual‐based model simulated dynamic patterns of occupancy that responded to annual habitat maps, describing 36 years of observed change. We simulated population dynamics and local movement to characterize changes in occupancy and abundance, and the capacity of remaining habitat to support red tree voles. Red tree vole redistribution patterns strongly corresponded to wildfire footprints and timber extraction locations. Population strongholds are likely to exist in clumped pockets of old‐growth forest that were unaffected by wildfire and in protected old forest reserves. However, the exact number and locations of local clusters remain uncertain. Simulated population losses occurred at different paces in different places, underscoring the need for recurring evaluation of population changes with field occupancy surveys and modeled evaluations that can anticipate potential connectivity and extirpation thresholds. This modeling approach was effective at leveraging existing information for a data‐light species to assess how historical changes to the quantity, quality, and configuration of habitat likely influenced the potential landscape capacity, species abundance, and distribution. Dynamic individual‐based modeling can benefit conservation planning for red tree vole and other reclusive forest species by providing biologically nuanced assessments of abundance and distribution. Such models can also project the long‐term benefits and impacts of spatially explicit land management plans.

CHANGE OF FOREST LAND USE BASED ON CONSERVATION POLICY AND PRACTICE: A CASE STUDY IN DANUM VALLEY, MALAYSIA

Southeast Asia’s forest and green areas are undergoing a fast and substantial experienced sudden change, depending on complex area management issues resulting in deforestation, including Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia. The study purposely to determine the land-use pattern at Danum Valley through a geospatial approach. GIS data was collected from government official departments such as the Sabah Forest Department and Urban and Regional Planning Sabah Department. Land-use changes analysis, namely Relative land use percentages and matrix analysis used to understand the changing pattern and current scenario of land use activity at Danum Valley. Preliminary findings indicate a change of forest land use from Class 2 Commercial Forest Reserve into Class 1 Protected Forest Reserve during the three times series within an area of influence near Danum Valley.

The Effects of Feral Dogs on Wildlife in a Nature Reserve in Southern Turkey

Feral dogs can negatively impact wildlife through predation, fear interceded behavioural changes, harassment, hybridisation, and disease transmission. Thus, the presence of feral dogs in nature reserves poses a major problem for wildlife conservation. In this study, we recorded the effects of free-roaming dogs (Canis familiaris) on wildlife species in a protected Mediterranean forest reserve in southern Turkey. By using camera traps and line transects we sought to understand how the presence of feral dogs impacted the main wildlife species in the study area. Applying presence-absence transect surveys and camera trapping techniques to estimate animal occurrence we covered approximately 97,00 ha and recorded 4209 images over a 154-week period. We found that the presence of feral dogs was significantly correlated with the movement of frequently observed wildlife species. Based on transect surveys, the species significantly affected by dog presence were fallow deer (Dama dama), wild boar (Sus scrofa), beech marten (Martes foina), badger (Meles meles), and red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Based on the camera trap data, fallow deer were negatively affected and wild boar not affected by dog occurrence while wild goat (Capra aegagrus) and caracal (Caracal caracal) were positively affected. The occurrence of wild boars, wild goats, hares, beech martens, red foxes and caracals across our study area increased with distance from agricultural land, while the occurrence of deer decreased. Overall, our findings suggest that the presence of dogs has a strong influence on wildlife in our study reserve. Since protected areas often are a final refuge for many of the species observed in this study, there is a need to take urgent measures to prevent feral dog impacts on wildlife and to reduce feral dog populations in wildlife reserves.

The effectiveness of legal participation in the environmental conflict of the Rio Blanco Forest Reserve

The article presents the results of the case study of Rio Blanco and Quebrada Olivares Protected Forest Reserve, which started from the research problem that addressed the effectiveness of citizen participation in the conflict generated in the surrounding sector of the protected area. The methodological strategy was focused on a socio-legal investigation applying the principles of an empirical-analytical approach. Firstly, the study area and the legal and contextual background were described. Secondly, a conceptual approach of the main socio-legal referents that explain the environmental conflict generated in relation to the case study were addressed. Finally, the legal mechanisms that constituted the scenarios of citizen participation were carefully analyzed. It is concluded that in addition to mobilizing the exercise of judicial mechanisms, they generate socio-legal consequences around the internalization of rights, the transformation of the conflict and the legitimacy of legal compliance.

Long-term monitoring reveals widespread and severe declines of understory birds in a protected Neotropical forest

Long-term studies on the population dynamics of tropical resident birds are few, and it remains poorly understood how their populations have fared in recent decades. Here, we analyzed a 44-y population study of a Neotropical understory bird assemblage from a protected forest reserve in central Panama to determine if and how populations have changed from 1977 to 2020. Using the number of birds captured in mist nets as an index of local abundance, we estimated trends over time for a diverse suite of 57 resident species that comprised a broad range of ecological and behavioral traits. Estimated abundances of 40 (∼70%) species declined over the sampling period, whereas only 2 increased. Furthermore, declines were severe: 35 of the 40 declining species exhibited large proportional losses in estimated abundance, amounting to ≥50% of their initial estimated abundances. Declines were largely independent of ecology (i.e., body mass, foraging guild, or initial abundance) or phylogenetic affiliation. These widespread, severe declines are particularly alarming, given that they occurred in a relatively large (∼22,000-ha) forested area in the absence of local fragmentation or recent land-use change. Our findings provide robust evidence of tropical bird declines in intact forests and bolster a large body of literature from temperate regions suggesting that bird populations may be declining at a global scale. Identifying the ecological mechanisms underlying these declines should be an urgent conservation priority.

Assessing Economic and Shared Social Values of Forest Conservation to Improve Water Availability: A Case Study of the Protected Forest Reserve of El Quinini, Colombia

Assessing Economic and Shared Social Values of Forest Conservation to Improve Water Availability: A Case Study of the Protected Forest Reserve of El Quinini, Colombia

Assessment of land use change in the Thuma forest reserve region of Malawi, Africa

A study was conducted in Thuma area in central Malawi to quantify contemporary land cover and to explore the degree of land use change in the Thuma forest reserve area of Malawi by analysing and comparing satellite-derived land cover maps from 1997, 2007 and 2017. The study was carried out using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS), focusing on analysis of Landsat 5 ETM and Landsat 8 ORI/TIRS satellite images. The classification was conducted for the following distinct classes; closed forest, open forest, shrubland, savanna grassland, agriculture fields, and water. The analysis revealed that closed forest diminished from 19% in 1997 to 10% in 2007 to 6% in 2017. Open forest reduced from 30% to 21% from 1997 to 2007 but increased to 22% in 2017. Agriculture area almost doubled from 37% in 1997 to 64% in 2017. The actual area from 1997 to 2017, shows that closed forest has reduced from 7,000 ha to 3,000 ha while open forest from 12,900 ha to 7800 ha. Savanna grassland has doubled from 5,900 ha to 13,000 ha. However, future studies should use modern satellites such as Sentinel and Landsat 9 for improved quantification of changes. The findings show that even the protected forest reserve (previously dominated by closed forest) is not fully protected from deforestation by local communities. Government and other stakeholders should devise measures to meet the needs of the surrounding communities and the ecological/biophysical needs of the reserves. Based on this study, issues of re-demarcation of the forest reserve and the accessed area should also be explored. This study serves as a reference for the management of Thuma Forest Reserve as a refuge for natural tree species, rivers that harbour endemic fish species (Opsaridium microlepis and Opsaridium microcephalis) and the sustainable management of endangered elephants in the reserve.

Exploring willingness-to-pay for the restoration and maintenance of reserved forests in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana

In recent years, debates on the alarming rate of forest depletion emanating from growth in urban settlement and changed urban land-use patterns have gained prominence across the globe. The present study adopts a demand-side management approach to investigate household's willingness-to-pay for the restoration and maintenance of protected forest reserves in three municipalities in Ghana. Using survey data of 733 households from the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, we model the demand for forest restoration and maintenance, respectively, by means of the contingent valuation technique. As part of the findings, the study shows evidence that a household is willing to pay Gh¢50.99 ($8.67) and Gh¢31.12 ($5.29) per annum to restore and maintain the protected forests, respectively. These amounts constitute less than one percent of the average household income per month. Consequently, critical validity tests are conducted to validate the robustness of the results. This study provides willingness-to-pay estimates for forest and forest resources, and its associated determinants. These estimates seek to bridge the information gap and inform policy decisions toward the overarching aim of ensuring sustainable forest management in Ghana.

Forest Transformation in the Wake of Colonization: The Quijos Andean Amazonian Flank, Past and Present

Forest transformation modified the Quijos’ ancient mountainscapes in three ways: scientific approximation, entrepreneurial investing, and community engagement. We concentrate the study in the Cumandá Protected Forest reserve as exemplar in the Quijos valley. Our objective is to understand forest transition trends and prospects of sustainability by answering qualitative research questions of impact on cloud forest vegetation from a socioecological standpoint. We used ethnographic work, personal interviews, surveys to the community, and queries to authorities; our qualitative methods included critical discourse analyses, onomastic interpretation, and matrix comparison for ecological legacies, focused on three sectors of the economy that we posit impacted these forests, all indicative of a more competitive, globalized framework: forest tourism, retreating forest frontier, and mining forested watersheds. We found that these sectors also helped alleviate poverty in local communities so that ecotourism, non-traditional forest product harvest, and subsistence mining of water could become stewards, despite the fact that such a nuanced approach has not yet been fully implemented by local governments. We conclude that Hostería Cumandá promotes new conservation narratives in positive ways, since it fuels grassroots organizations to incorporate nature conservation into restoration ecology efforts, provides studies on mountain forest species of concern in the area, generates local employment, and converts a transitory, ephemeral attraction into an international tourism destination.

Forest Loss and Susceptible Area Prediction at Sefwi Wiawso District (SWD), Ghana

Forests provide immeasurable merits for the economies of most developing countries. Forests in developing countries experience harmful human-induced impacts such as unregulated removal of biodiversity and unsustainable land conversion. The Sefwi Wiawso District (SWD) located in Ghana, which includes portions of six protected forest reserves (FRs) such as Muro, Tano Suhien, Tano Suraw, Suhuma, Sui River, and Krokosua, is the subject of this study. The impacts of selected spatial variables on forest losses were examined using retrospective and predictive approaches. Past deforestation patterns were analyzed using classified Landsat 5 and 7 imagery from 1984 to 2017. Pixel areas in hectares (ha) from land use land cover (LULC) classifications were used to detect land cover classes that were vulnerable to potential loss. The study also carried out a simple forest prediction using the simple moving averages (SMA) forecasting model based on the past and present deforestation patterns from LULC classification. The results showed that 3587.49 hectares (ha) of protected forest cover was converted into agricultural lands and barelands. In addition, 2532.96 hectares (ha) was converted from close forest to nonforest land cover from 2000 to 2017, which is equivalent to a 16% reduction in close forest cover within the FRs in the SWD. This loss was also 11% higher than close forest areas between 2000 and 2010. SMA forecasting showed that from 2017 to 2024, 877.38 hectares (ha) of close forest resources will convert to open forest resources and other nonforest land cover. Subtle accessibility routes such as navigable rivers and unofficial roads are the key instigators of protected forest clearance in the Sefwi Wiawso Forest District (SWFD). The SWFD is surrounded by many communities and is susceptible to uncontrollable biodiversity removal due to lack of proper monitoring of agricultural practices, mining operations, fuelwood collection, and illegal hunting, which represents a means of livelihood for the forest fringe community dwellers. The research serves as a benchmark for similar studies in efforts to investigate, measure, and project land cover change in protected forest areas.

A new species of Besleria (Gesneriaceae) from the Serranía El Pinche (Cauca), southwestern Colombia.

A new species of the genus Besleria (Gesneriaceae), endemic to the department of Cauca, Colombia, is described and illustrated here. The new species, Besleria santaclarensis Clavijo & Sánchez-Taborda, was discovered in the Regional Protective Forest Reserve “Serranía El Pinche”, Cordillera Occidental of the Colombian Andes. B. santaclarensis is distinguished by the epedunculate inflorescences, usually in the leafless axils near the base, with up to eight orange flowers, and by the magenta calyx that covers 2/3 of the corolla.

Interception and runoff of the high Andean forest in the “El Malmo” Protective Forest Reserve

Tropical forests are globally important for their biodiversity and the ecosystem services, and they are key to the global water cycle. Anthropogenic changes and pressures affecting tropical forests affect the fundamental role of tropical forests in water supply. This study evaluates the relationship between the vegetation coverage in the high Andean forest of the “El Malmo” Protected Forest Reserve and the quality and quantity of intercepted runoff; the life zone analyzed comprises four types of cover: dense high Andean forest, low secondary vegetation, broadleaf plantation and mosaic of pasture with natural spaces. Eight setups (two per cover) were installed, each composed of a runoff plot and a precipitation meter under the canopy; data collection was carried out every eight days for 24 weeks. The results indicate that precipitation interception does not vary in each canopy, while surface runoff and its quality with respect to sediment are affected, which is mainly due to differences in soil physical conditions. The cover that allows the best dimensions of water quality and quantity is the dense high Andean forest. The influence of anthropic intervention in the area and the presence of invasive species negatively affect these variables. This work provides knowledge on the hydrological behavior of the reserve for forest management. It also generates information on the interception/runoff relationship in the forests of the Cundiboyacense region, which has not been available until now, becoming an starting point of comparison for further research in high Andean ecosystems.

Common Macroscopic Fungi and Mosses of North Central Mindanao

Macroscopic fungi and mosses are organisms thriving mostly in the forest ecosystem. A study of these groups of fungi and mosses was conducted at the different protected areas and forest reserves in North Central Mindanao from August 2016 to October 2018. The collection and photo-documentation of these organisms were done to determine and account the existing species in the different ecosystems in the area. The Transect Line (TL) Method was used, established from the different areas of North Central Mindanao with 10m x 50m quadrat sampling and with an interval of 50 meters between quadrats. The fungal and moss species within the quadrats along the TLs were identified and recorded. Field sampling of fungi resulted in the identification of 76 families, 122 genera, and 185 species. For mosses, the study revealed 174 species, 97 genera, and 39 families. The discovery of some species previously known only in the other regions of the Philippines and the possible new species implies that the protected areas and watershed, and perhaps other areas not covered by initial surveys, might generate additional species record. Hence, it deserves continuous research to gain more information on Philippine biodiversity, which will serve as a baseline information for conservation efforts Keywords : macrofungi, mosses, field survey, new records, North Central Mindanao

Characterization of Green Infrastructure at the Local Level with Geographical Information System, Tunja (Colombia)

This article presents a characterization of the areas likely to integrate a Green Infrastructure (GI) for the Tunja city at local scale and spatial analysis is mainly applied to the land cover and land use of the study area. To identify the areas that could be integrated into the GI, four thematic dimensions were first zoned (ecological connectivity, multifunctionality, ecological status and accessibility to the population); they were later normalized on a scale of 1 to 10 to make them comparable; the dimensions were combined by an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and finally those areas whose pixel values ​​were above the third quartile were selected in the integration of the dimensions. The zoned dimensions the following weights were obtained: ecological connectivity (48%), multifunctionality (30%), ecological status (13%) and accessibility to the population (9%). It was found that the main areas likely to integrate into the GI are concentrated in the western fringe of the city; however, the northwestern area has a greater fragmentation and lower ecological status than the southwestern zone (which refers mainly to the Protective Forest Reserve El Malmo). Likewise, several areas or patches were identified to the south of the city (referring mainly to wooded areas and presence of wetlands) as well as small wooded areas in the urban perimeter, but with greater isolation among the other areas of GI. Within the urban perimeter the zoning of areas that could be integrated into a GI was practically null.

Deforestation is driven by agricultural expansion in Ghana's forest reserves

Ghana's protected forest reserves have suffered average annual deforestation rates of 0.7%, 0.5%, 0.4%, and 0.6% for the periods 1990–2000, 2000–2005, 2005–2010 and 2010–2015, respectively. The Ashanti region has recorded the second highest deforestation rates. Despite the government's efforts to maintain and protect Ghana's forest reserves, deforestation continues. We observed deforestation patterns in the Ashanti region of Ghana from 1986 to 2015 using Landsat imagery to identify the main causes of deforestation. We obtained and processed two adjacent Landsat images from the United States Geological Survey's (USGS) National Centre for Earth Resources Observation and Science at 30 m spatial resolution for 1986, 2002, and 2015. We then supported the results with findings from 291 farm household surveys in communities fringing the forest reserves. By 2015, dense forest covered 53.3% of the land area of the forest reserves, and the remaining area had been disturbed. Expansion of annual crop farms and tree crops caused 78% of the forest loss within the 29-year period. Afforestation projects are ongoing some of which employ the participation of farmers, yet agricultural expansion exerts more pressure on the remaining dense forest. Agricultural intensification on existing farmlands may reduce farm expansion into the remaining forest areas. Strengthening and enforcing forest protection laws could minimise the extent of agricultural encroachment into forests. Mixed tree-crop systems could reduce the effects of arable farming on deforestation, limit the clearance of trees from farmlands, enhance the provision of ecosystem services, and improve the soil's fertility and moisture content. A forest transition may be underway leading to more trees in agricultural systems and better protection of residual natural forests.

A new wilderness for Central Europe? — The potential for large strictly protected forest reserves in Germany

The German National Strategy on Biological Diversity (NBS) aims to establish wilderness areas on 2% of the German terrestrial territory by 2020, however wilderness areas in Germany currently only cover 0.6% of the total land area. Operationalizing the wilderness concept in densely populated countries like Germany where few primary habitats remain is challenging. In this study, we developed minimum criteria (including fragmentation, compactness and size) for forest wilderness areas and assessed their number, spatial distribution and extent for Germany. We tested their ecological representativeness in the main German ecoregions, their compatibility with ecological networks, overlaps with existing protected areas, and forest ownership. Our results revealed a potential for forest wilderness areas to cover 10.3% of the German terrestrial territory for candidate sites ≥1000 ha, which is reduced to 4.1% and 0.6% when applying larger minimum sizes (3000 ha; 10,000 ha). Candidate sites of ≥10,000 ha were restricted to mountainous regions (n = 12) and the less populated Northeast German Plain (n = 4). Forest ownership and protected areas designated to protect cultural landscapes further limit this potential. Our study is a first step toward the systematic planning for wilderness areas in Germany. It shows the country's potential to achieve its wilderness goals, if criteria are adapted to high infrastructure densities and rely on developing wilderness in currently used forests. Considering the number of forest areas that extend over national borders, concerted efforts at the European level could lead toward ecologically valuable networks of protected wilderness areas in Europe.

Evaluating rule breaking behavior in a Nigerian protected forest reserve area

This paper investigated the rule breaking conduct in a Nigerian protected forest reserve area in order to exploit natural resources using Randomized Response Technique (RRT) for data collection. Evident from this study show a higher proportion of the residents surrounding Oba Hills Forest Reserve, Nigeria illegally poach, encroach to farm, extract timber, gather firewood and graze their domestic animals in the conservation area. With the high level of noncompliance to the conservation rules in this study, there is a need for the government and conservation managers to identify and harness social norms that encourage compliance, as well as increasing probabilities of detection and stricter law enforcement on those that flout the conservation rules.Keywords: biodiversity conservation, sensitive behaviors, compliance, randomized response technique