Reforestation Research Articles

Afrotropical secondary forests exhibit fast diversity and functional recovery, but slow compositional and carbon recovery after shifting cultivation

AbstractQuestionsHuman disturbance is increasingly affecting forest dynamics across the tropics. Forests can recover via natural secondary succession to pre‐disturbance levels of biodiversity, species composition, and ecosystem carbon stocks. Central Africa will be subject to increasingly high shifting‐cultivation pressure in the next decades, but succession trajectories of these ecosystem properties are still poorly known for the Congo basin. We addressed two questions: (1) how does taxonomic and functional composition and diversity shift during secondary succession; and (2) how fast do above‐ground carbon stocks recover during secondary succession in tropical forests?LocationCentral Congo basin.MethodsWe conducted an inventory of trees (diameter at breast height [DBH] ≥ 10 cm), measured species traits and soil texture and carbon content in 18 plots, located along six secondary succession stages (i.e., from agricultural to old growth forest sites). We measured tree diameter, height for 20% of trees distributed across diameter classes, wood traits from all species, and leaf traits from species that contributed to 85% of the plot basal area.ResultsWe showed that secondary forests recover relatively fast in terms of tree species diversity, alpha functional diversity, and fine‐root carbon, with near‐old‐growth forest values after six decades past disturbance, while floristic composition exhibited slower recovery. Secondary forests only partially shifted from acquisitive to a conservative life history, with shifts in leaf traits being largely decoupled from wood traits. Only 43% of above‐ground carbon recovered after 60 years of forest regrowth, potentially through a slow recovery of the large‐sized tree stems that dominate carbon stocks of old‐growth forests.ConclusionsOur findings underline the capacity of Afrotropical forests to recover species and alpha functional diversity after clear‐cutting through shifting cultivation. Simultaneously, old‐growth forests harbor a particular floristic community and store a large quantity of carbon with much longer recovery trajectories, stressing the need for conservation of these forests in the Congo basin.

Fire-derived phosphorus fertilization of African tropical forests

Central African tropical forests face increasing anthropogenic pressures, particularly in the form of deforestation and land-use conversion to agriculture. The long-term effects of this transformation of pristine forests to fallow-based agroecosystems and secondary forests on biogeochemical cycles that drive forest functioning are poorly understood. Here, we show that biomass burning on the African continent results in high phosphorus (P) deposition on an equatorial forest via fire-derived atmospheric emissions. Furthermore, we show that deposition loads increase with forest regrowth age, likely due to increasing canopy complexity, ranging from 0.4 kg P ha−1 yr−1 on agricultural fields to 3.1 kg P ha−1 yr−1 on old secondary forests. In forest systems, canopy wash-off of dry P deposition increases with rainfall amount, highlighting how tropical forest canopies act as dynamic reservoirs for enhanced addition of this essential plant nutrient. Overall, the observed P deposition load at the study site is substantial and demonstrates the importance of canopy trapping as a pathway for nutrient input into forest ecosystems.

First record of interspecies grooming between Raffles’ Banded Langur and Long-tailed Macaque

In primates, observations of interspecies grooming are not uncommon, especially between species of the same genus. However, little is reported about grooming between different genera and less is discussed about its ecological significance. Here, we report the first sighting of Long-tailed Macaques grooming the Critically Endangered and rare Raffles’ Banded Langur during two independent events at Gunung Lambak Recreational Forest in Kluang, Malaysia.

Urban forests host rich polypore assemblages in a Nordic metropolitan area

Urban forests are often remnants of former larger forested areas, and traditionally considered as degraded habitats due to negative effects of urbanization. However, recent studies have shown that urban forests managed for recreational purposes can be structurally close to natural forests and may provide habitat features, such as dead wood, that are scarce in intensively managed forest landscapes. In this study, we assessed how urbanization affects polypore species richness and the number of red-listed polypore species in forest stands, and the occurrences of polypore species on individual units of dead wood. Spruce-inhabiting polypore assemblages and their associations to urbanization, local habitat connectivity and dead-wood abundance were investigated in southern Finland. The effects of urbanization on polypore species richness and individual species were largely negligible when other environmental variability was accounted for. Several red-listed polypore species were found in dead-wood hotspots of urban forests, though urbanization had a marginally significant negative effect on their richness. The main driver of total species richness was dead-wood abundance while the number of red-listed species was also strongly dependent on local habitat connectivity, implying that a high degree of fragmentation can decrease their occurrence in urban forests. We conclude that the highest potential for providing habitats for threatened species in the urban context lies in large peri-urban recreational forests which have been preserved for recreational purposes around many cities. On the other hand, overall polypore diversity can be increased simply by increasing dead-wood abundance, irrespective of landscape context.

Diversity and abundance of insects in the recreational forest of Bukit Keluang, Besut, Terengganu.

Bukit Keluang is one of the famous natural recreational sites in Besut, Terengganu due to their beautiful sandy beaches and beautiful landscapes. Bukit Keluang recreational forest consist coastal and lowland dipterocarp forest. The studies on the biodiversity are never been reported at this area and thus, we aimed to investigate the diversity and abundance of insects in the coastal and inland forest of Bukit Keluang recreational forest. We built two plots which are Plot A in the coastal area and Plot B in the inland forest at Bukit Keluang. For each plot, three types of insect traps were used; yellow pan traps, pitfall traps, and Malaise traps. The traps were left for seven days and all insect samples collected were brought to the laboratory for sorting, enumerating and identifying up to order level. A total of 455 individuals of insects consisted of 10 orders (i.e. Hymenoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Collembola, Homoptera, Orthoptera, Dermaptera, Blattodea and Isoptera) were successfully collected from the forest of Bukit Keluang. Among them, Hymenoptera order dominated the number of individuals collected at 67.25% followed by Diptera (11.21%) whilst Collembola and Dermaptera were the least abundance order collected at 0.22%, respectively. The coastal forest recorded a total of 271 individuals (nine orders) while inland forest recorded 184 individuals (eight orders). No significant difference (p>0.05) of insect abundance was recorded between both plots. However, the Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (H’) showed that the diversity of insects in the inland forest was slightly higher (H’=1.52) than the coastal forest (H’=0.86). We conclude that the insects’ diversity in Bukit Keluang is relatively higher in inland forest but lower in coastal forest. As no other insect survey has been conducted in this study area in the past, this study delivers a basic evidence and dataset of diversity and abundance for insect which may beneficial for further conservation research at Bukit Keluang in the future.

Local visitors’ willingness to pay of entrance fee at Taman Negeri Gunung Stong, Kelantan

The forest ecosystem offers plenty of benefits and provisions for the environment and human wellbeing. One of the forest ecosystem’s potential advantages is that it serves as a recreational forest area for tourists. However, most tourist destination faces minimal or raising public support for natural attraction maintenance and management. Hence, managing the recreational forest lacks financial resources to provide and restore adequate recreation facilities. This study aims to determine local visitors’ willingness to pay an entrance fee in Taman Negeri Gunung Strong, Kelantan, Malaysia. A total of 150 respondents who had visited Taman Negeri Gunung Stong has participated in this study. The sampling techniques employed in this study is a probability stratified sampling approach. A contingent valuation method dichotomous choice was performed in this study to elicit the mean value of willingness to pay. The study found that the mean willingness to pay for an additional entrance fee to enter Taman Negeri Gunong Stong is estimated at RM 5.03 per visit. The variable of socioeconomic which is the only income influences the mean value on acceptance of suggested price. The study is proposed that the entrance fee collections can provide support as supplementary funds for the allocations made of management and maintenance costs in Taman Negeri Gunung Stong.

Assessing the potential of social media for estimating recreational use of urban and peri-urban forests

Social forest functions including recreation are important for increasingly urbanised societies. For effective management of forest recreation areas, monitoring visitor frequencies is crucial. Increasingly, attempts are being made to incorporate recreational use data into National Forest Inventories (NFI), but given the large scale of national assessments, such data is often elusive. In this study we explore the potential of geotagged social media data for assessing visitor frequencies and explore recreational activities through text-based social media data. We analysed data from Twitter, Flickr and Instagram, both at local scale for 10 NFI forest sites, as well as at national scale to assess recreational use. Data availability was significantly correlated between the three platforms, even though absolute counts differed markedly. The model of recreational visitation based on social media data correlated significantly with an existing potential recreational model, indicating that social media data are a valid source of information for recreational use and can be used in future studies to assess recreational potential. Although data availability limits assessments for small areas of forests, large scale assessments using social media are feasible, and provide a potentially more empirically grounded assessment of recreational potential than theoretical models alone. We suggest that future work should aim at integrating social media data into traditional theoretical recreational models as part of a method triangulation, particularly for areas where recreational usage by visitors is high, but population counts are low. However, because social media data are provided by commercial platforms, we believe that more research is needed into harvesting and analysing other forms of content generated by users to decrease the dependency on commercial social media platforms that may or may not be available in the long run, and can be run locally or through central organisations involved in forest and landscape monitoring and observation.

Valuing the impacts of forest disturbances on ecosystem services: An examination of recreation and climate regulation services in U.S. national forests

The increasing frequency and severity of forest disturbances challenge the sustainable provision of ecosystem services by forests, and this is true even in regions with net forest growth. The combination of ecosystem service losses from forest disturbances that are immediate as well as the slower post-disturbance process of forest regrowth could result in long-lasting social, economic, and environmental costs. Using economic and geospatial analysis, we estimate the value of recreational services losses due to drought and quantify the social cost of carbon emissions due to wildfires and bark beetle damage in three National Forests in the Sierra Nevada region, California (Inyo National Forest, Tahoe National Forest, and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit). Our findings indicate that recent droughts resulted in an annual reduction of about $73 million, $36 million, and $15 million for Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Tahoe, and Inyo National Forests, respectively. Tree biomass loss due to wildfires and bark beetle damage generated around 10 Mt CO2 of total emissions from 2003 and 2012. The estimated cumulative social costs of such emissions were around $0.8 million for fire and $2.4 million for bark beetle (using a 3% discount rate for related climate change damage). The social costs almost tripled under extreme climate damage projections. Our analysis could inform adaptation and management strategies to conserve or enhance the health and function of publicly managed forests, and to protect their flow of ecosystem services for present and future generations.

Climate Change and Informal Education in the Opinion of Forest Users in Poland

Climate change affects various aspects of the economy, agriculture, economics, and politics, including forestry. There is more and more talk about the real impact of the effects of climate change. This paper presents the results of a survey on the perceptions of two groups, foresters and recreational forest users, about climate change and its impacts on forested areas; 130 foresters and 146 recreational forest users participated in the survey (total n = 276). The survey was conducted from April to November 2019 and consisted of three parts. The first part included questions about the demographic characteristics of the respondents (gender, age, education, place of residence), the second part focused on the respondents’ views on climate change and its implications for forest ecosystems, and the third part focused on informal forest education and its relationship to climate change. The results of our study indicated that progressive climate change affecting forest ecosystems is clearly felt by the professional group related to forests such as foresters, and to a lesser extent by people using forests for tourism and recreation. According to foresters, the effects of climate change on forest areas include rapid changes in weather patterns and more frequent insect infestations. On the other hand, people resting in forests mainly observe the lack of snow cover and occurrence of drought. Informal forest education insufficiently covers the topic of climate change. Thus, our study can help guide informal education towards topics related to climate change and the need for sustainable forest use.

Prevalence of Babesia canis DNA in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected in forest and urban ecosystems in west-central Poland

Babesia canis, a widely distributed European tick-borne protozoan haemoparasite, causes canine babesiosis, the most important tick-borne disease afflicting dogs worldwide. The meadow tick, Dermacentor reticulatus, is considered to be the primary vector of this parasite in central Europe. Females of the more broadly distributed and medically important castor bean tick, Ixodes ricinus, also commonly feed upon dogs, but their role in the enzootic transmission cycle of B. canis is unclear. Here, we screened 1,598 host-seeking I. ricinus ticks collected from two different ecosystems, forest stands vs. urban recreational forests, for the presence of B. canis DNA. Ticks were sampled during their two seasonal peaks of activity, spring (May/June) and late summer (September). Babesia species were identified by amplification and sequencing of a hypervariable 18S rRNA gene fragment. Babesia canis was the only piroplasm detected in 13% of 200 larvae and 8.2% of 324 nymphs in the forest ecosystems. In urban recreational areas, B. canis DNA was found in 1.5% of 460 nymphs, 3.5% of 289 females and 3.2% of 280 males. Additionally, three samples, including one female, one male, and one nymph, were co-infected with B. venatorum and one nymph with B. divergens or B. capreoli. Our findings implicate that B. canis can be transmitted transovarially and maintained transstadially within populations of I. ricinus, but the vector competence of I. ricinus for transmitting B. canis remains to be investigated.

Does restoration success vary with stage of tree growth under restoration plantings and regrowth forests?

Does restoration success vary with stage of tree growth under restoration plantings and regrowth forests?

Evaluation of soil carbon dynamics after forest cover change in CMIP6 land models using chronosequences

Land surface models are used to provide global estimates of soil organic carbon (SOC) changes after past and future change land use change (LUC), in particular re-/deforestation. To evaluate how well the models capture decadal-scale changes in SOC after LUC, we provide the first consistent comparison of simulated time series of LUC by six land models all of which participated in the coupled model intercomparison project phase 6 (CMIP6) with soil carbon chronosequences (SCCs). For this comparison we use SOC measurements of adjacent plots at four high-quality data sites in temperate and tropical regions. We find that initial SOC stocks differ among models due to different approaches to represent SOC. Models generally meet the direction of SOC change after reforestation of cropland but the amplitude and rate of changes vary strongly among them. The normalized root mean square errors of the multi model mean range from 0.5 to 0.8 across sites and 0.1–0.7 when excluding outliers. Further, models simulate SOC losses after deforestation for crop or grassland too slow due to the lack of crop harvest impacts in the models or an overestimation of the SOC recovery on grassland. The representation of management, especially nitrogen levels is important to capture drops in SOC after land abandonment for forest regrowth. Crop harvest and fire management are important to match SOC dynamics but more difficult to quantify as SCC rarely report on these events. Based on our findings, we identify strengths and propose potential improvements of the applied models in simulating SOC changes after LUC.

BAIT PREFERENCES BY DIFFERENT SMALL MAMMAL ASSEMBLAGES FOR EFFECTIVE CAGE-TRAPPING

The ecological study of small mammals often uses the cage-trapping method, installed with baits. Capture rates vary according to different baits used. We want to determine the bait preferences by different small mammal groups. The cage-trapping approach used common domestic bait types available, namely, aromatic banana, sweet potato with peanut butter, oil palm fruit, dried salted fish, jackfruit, and roasted coconut flesh. Sampling was conducted in three different habitat categories, namely urban, semi-urban, and recreational forests, located in Selangor, Malaysia, for one year. A total of 537 small mammals from 15 species were sampled, which was then grouped into seven groups (i.e., Rattus sp., Maxomys sp., Sundamys sp., Leopaldamys sabanus, Suncus murinus, squirrels, and Tupaia glis). Bait preferences were significantly different among the different small mammal groups, i.e., F (6,35) = 5.621, p = 0.000, with bananas shown to be most preferred bait, followed by oil palm fruits and sweet potatoes. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) analysis revealed that the Rattus species encompassed the most diverse bait preference, while S. murinus and L. sabanus were the most selective. Muridae preferred sweet potatoes with peanut butter over bananas, while Sciuridae and Tupaiidae preferred bananas, and Soricidae preferred dried salted fish. This study elucidates the most effective bait selection for different small mammal assemblages, serving as a guide to increase capture rates when sampling targeted population of small mammals. Apart from that, it is helpful for effective rodent pest control.

Distribution of pathogenic Leptospira in environmental water and soils of selected recreational forests in Perak, Malaysia.

Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonotic disease endemic in tropical regions. Aiming at assessing the potential infection risks via recreational exposure, the molecular prevalence of pathogenic Leptospira in 14 amenity forests in five selected districts of the state of Perak was determined. Water and soil samples along streams and waterfalls were subjected to culture of leptospires and the pathogenic Leptospira spp. was detected by lipL32-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Twenty out of 154 samples (13%) that tested positive for leptospires were mostly soils and still water recorded with tolerable temperatures (22.2- 26.5°C) and pHs (5.73-6.70). The localised prevalence was highly varied among eight positive forests (6.7-41.7%), particularly higher in Kampar and Kinta districts which are the more populated urban areas. The importance of public health surveillance should not be underrated given the high prevalence of Leptospira spp. in forests in close proximity to indigenous settlements, even where the places are clean. Overall, this study discovered a wide distribution of pathogenic Leptospira spp. in recreational areas.

Negotiating between forest conversion, industrial tree plantations and multifunctional landscapes. Power and politics in forest transitions

Increasing forest cover through reforestation and forest regrowth constitutes an essential contribution to mitigating the climate crisis, especially in the tropics. The Southeast Asian country of Lao PDR is on the brink of a forest transition, that is, a shift from net deforestation to net increases in forest area. This process is, however, contested and this article sheds light to power and politics in forest transitions and the implications for forests and people in Lao PDR and beyond. We develop a conceptual framework rooted in political ecology and critical state theory to identify visions and strategies by institutional actors that aim to transform the forests in particular ways, reflect on their power resources and synthesize three development projects from these strategies. We identify an antecedent dominant extractivist development project, focused on state-led timber extraction and large-scale land acquisitions. We argue that green development strategies that commodify forests through offsetting schemes, results-based payments from REDD+ and industrial tree plantations are increasingly mobilized to complement and modernize this extractivist development trajectory. Whereas these strategies align in their focus on land sparing to intensify agricultural and forest production, on the margins, we carve out an alternative livelihoods-based development project that supports extensive agroecological practices (including shifting cultivation) and integrates forests into multifunctional landscapes, re-centering local interests in reforestation approaches. The research therefore contributes to a more complex understanding of power and politics in forest transition research as well as a nuanced understanding of forest politics in political ecology.

PECULIARITIES OF FORESTS AND FOREST USE ON THE TERRITORY OF SOE «TERNOPIL FORESTRY»

The analytical investigation of forests (age structure, age-class composition, forest categories) and forest use on the territory of SOE “Ternopil forestry” has been made. It has also been defined that within the activities of Ternopil forestry the differences in age structure of forest ranges, kinds of compositions and functional types of forests have been noticed.
 SOE “Ternopil forestry” is located in the central part of Ternopil oblast, which is characterized by a low level of forest cover: Zbarazh region – 9.1%, Pidvolochysk region – 5.1%, Terebovlia region – 8.4%, Ternopil region – 7.9%, Zboriv region – 11%.
 The area of SOE “Ternopil forestry” is 26015.0 ha; including territory covered with forests – 23913.2 ha (91.9%). The enterprise is also composed of 8 forest divisions such as Mykulyntsi, Skalat, Terebovlia, Ternopil, Mshanets, Zbarazh, Zaliztsi and Budaniv divisions.
 The fraction of area covered with forest vegetation on the territory of SOE “Ternopil forestry” is between about 91.3 % in Skalat forest division up to 96.1% in Ternopil forest division. The parts which are not covered with vegetation are represented by seed plots, artificial forests, open forests, burned areas, timber blockings, meadows, biomeadows, forest paths, glades and others. The forest plantations dominate in the structure of total area of the forest fund (57.3%); they occupy the area of 14606.0 ha and forest seed plots – 36.4%.
 The largest area in forestry is taken up by recreation forests (12.7 thousand ha). They have the largest part among the other forest categories (48.6%). The smallest part is taken up by the forests, which carry nature conservation, scientific and history and culture mission.
 Exploitable forests are represented on the territory of Budaniv forestry and occupy the area of 3142.9 ha. Besides that, we have to note that the part of forests in all divisions has special way of using and can be exploited.
 In the age structure of forests the major part is taken up by middle-aged plantations (64.6%). The largest part of the latest is in Mshanets division – 71.5% and Ternopil division – 67.4%. The biggest part of young plantations is in Zaliztsi division – 21.1% and Mykulyntsi division – 18.3%.
 They take the largest area in Terebovlia forestry (3668.3 ha). There is a sufficient part of recreation forests in the majority of forestry and its amount fluctuates between 83.8% up to 98.1%. The smallest part of recreation forests is in Budaniv (1.8%) and Zaliztsi (9.5%) divisions.
 The dominating type of landscape in recreational forests is closed type – 89.3% of the area, half open – 6.4% and open – 4.3%.
 The average age of forest plantations in SOE “Ternopil forestry” is 61 years. The oldest are European Beeches – 80 years, European Oak – 65 years, Scots pine – 56 years, English field maple – 60 years.
 The main forest forming species are hard wooden broadleaved species which make up 86.4%. They take up the largest part in Skalat (93.6%) and Mykulyntsi (94.4%) forest divisions. Among the broadleaved species the European Oak is dominating, and takes up the area of 13270.7 ha. More than 50% of the area where conifers grow are taken up by the Scots Pine.
 One of the ways of forest use on the SOE “Ternopil forstry” territory is stocking up wood from logging of the main use and also logging of formation and recreation. The renewable logging is done in all the forest categories. The annual amount of such logging comes to 2.3 thousand m3. Besides the logging of main use there others – formation and hygienic of forests, care logging (enlightening, selective cutting, thinning) sanitation and forest renewals. The main amount of wood is logged from the main use on the area of 66 ha and amounts to 20189 m3
 It has been defined that the main ways of the forest use are logging and recreational forest use.
 Key words: forests, forest use, age structure, forest categories, recreational forests

Forest-associated bee species persist amid forest loss and regrowth in eastern North America

Forest-associated species, which depend on forest habitat for their survival, are among the world's most vulnerable species due to widespread forest loss. However, in many parts of the world, forests are re-growing. Thus, if forest-associated species can persist in young forests their conservation outlook is less bleak. We examined the effects of forest loss and regrowth on bee pollinators in eastern North America using three datasets totaling 36,605 individual specimens. First, we conducted a regional-scale study to identify forest-associated and habitat generalist bee species. Second, we examined how the abundance and richness of each group change with forest area and age, by collecting bees from forests chosen to vary orthogonally in these variables. Lastly, we examined whether the results of our field studies were consistent with long-term, regional trends in the richness of both groups, using a dataset of museum specimens collected between 1872 and 2011, which was a period of reforestation in our study region. We found that the abundance and richness of forest-associated bees increase with forest area, while being relatively insensitive to forest age. By contrast, habitat generalist bees are unaffected by forest area, but decrease in abundance with forest age. Consistent with these results, we found a 16% increase in the richness of forest-associated bees over a 140-year time series as reforestation occurred in eastern North America, but no significant trend for habitat generalists. Overall, our results show that the loss of forest area from a landscape harms forest-associated bees, and that young forests have high conservation value for both forest-associated and habitat generalist bees.

FOREST FUND OF RIVNE REGION: STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS

In the article, we investigated the current state of the forest fund of Rivne region, which is in the process of reform. We analyzed the dynamics of forest-covered lands from the 1996 to the present time. Forests of Rivne region by ecological and socio-economic significance and depending on the main functions performed by them are divided into the following categories: protective forests - 45085.4 ha, operational forests - 527010.3 ha, recreational and health forests - 63821,8 ha, forests of nature protection, scientific, historical and cultural purpose - 78253.9 ha. The study of the forest species in the Rivne region showed a predominance of coniferous species – 65 % (softwood – 25 %, hardwood – 10 %). The dominant species were found: pine – 65 %, birch hung – 14,8 %, alder black – 10 %, ordinary oak – 8.6%. The study of the age structure of the forests makes it possible to talk about its unevenness, since 12.5 % belong to ripe and overgrown forest stands, 23.4 % to young, 40.1 % to medieval. Average age of forest stands of the forest fund: coniferous – 54 years, hardwood – 71, softwood – 44. The study of the age structure showed the progressive aging of forests, an increase in the average age of over 10 years and an increase in the area of perennial plantings. Distribution of tree stands by age classes showed that the largest share of areas among all groups of rocks is occupied by trees of 5–7 classes of age, that is, medieval plantations. The youngest classes age 1–4 are most widely presented among softwood, 10–15 grades – among hardwood (about 20 %). That is, the smallest life spans are soft leafy breeds, and the longest are hard leafy breeds. In the study of the productivity of the tree plant, the following indicators, such as bonite, completeness, and stock of wood, have been studied, which made it possible to draw conclusions about the average productivity of the forests of the region. Woods of the Rivne region are marked by high classes of bonitet. The I and II bonitty classes make up more than 34 %. According to our estimates, the middle class of the forest stand bonite in the forest fund of the region is equal to I,72. The average completeness of plantations of the Rivne region is close to optimal and is 0.70. The most complete plantings are found: conifers, and the least – leafy. In the study of the productivity of the tree plant, the following indicators, such as bonite, completeness, and stock of wood, have been studied, which made it possible to draw conclusions about the average productivity of the forests of the region. The rocks of the forests are the closest to optimal. The main areas of forest ecologization in the Rivne region should be the multi-purpose use of forest resources and the continuity of forest use.
 Key words: forest, forest landscape, forest type, woodland, flood, forest fund, species composition, age structure, bonite class, completeness, forest use, reforestation.

Influence of Forest Visitors' Perceived Restorativeness on Social-Psychological Stress.

This study was conducted to verify the perceived restorativeness of citizens visiting forests on social–psychological stress and psychological resilience according to forest space type. The study involved a questionnaire survey conducted on citizens who visited forests between 1 May and 15 July 2020, when social distancing in daily life was being implemented. Three types of forest spaces (urban forest, national park, and natural recreation forest) were selected for the survey. They used the survey results of 1196 people as analysis data for this study. In this study, the PRS (Perceived Restorativeness Scale) and the PWI-SF (Psychosocial Well-being Index Short Form) were used to evaluate perceived restorativeness and social–psychological stress of citizens visiting forests. In the study, the average score of visitors’ perceived restorativeness was 5.31 ± 0.77. Social–psychological stress was found in the healthy group, potential stress group, and high-risk group. These groups made up 8.0%, 82.5%, and 9.5% of the respondents, respectively. Pearson’s correlation analysis between perceived restorativeness and social–psychological stress revealed that the higher the perceived restorativeness, the lower the social–psychological stress. “Diversion Mood”, “Not bored”, and “Coherence”, which are the sub-factors of perceived restorativeness according to the forest space type, were found to have meaningful results for psychological resilience. However, there was no significant difference in the forest space type between “Compatibility” and social–psychological stress, which are sub-factors of perceived restorativeness. In conclusion, the forest space type affects the psychological resilience of those who visit the forest. Urban forests, national parks, and natural recreation forests are places to reduce stress.

Social discounting, inequality aversion, and the environment

Measures of inequality aversion are elicited using hypothetical decision tasks. The tasks require an assessment of projects in the presence of environmental inequalities across space and time. We also test the effect of different environmental domains (air pollution, recreational forest and soil fertility) and contextual framings (gain/loss, within/between regions and present–future/past–present inter-temporal trade-offs). Estimated mean inequality aversion is higher in the intra-temporal framing (an elasticity of 2.9), than in the inter-temporal framing with either negative (2.0) or positive (1.4) growth in environmental quality. Differences across environmental domains exist but are less pronounced. Similar results hold for pure time preference. Losses are associated with a lower pure rate of time preference but higher inequality aversion compared to gains. The results indicate how domain-specific ‘dual’ discount rates or rather changing relative shadow prices for the environment might be calibrated. Yet, seen as an exercise in empirical social choice, the context dependent results reject the classical Utilitarian formulation of a single Ramsey Rule.