Tree Belts Research Articles

Unveiling the lifeblood of cities: Identifying urban ecological networks from the perspective of biodiversity conservation

Urban biodiversity faces threats from habitat loss, landscape fragmentation, and human disturbances. Ecological networks (ENs) can enhance habitat connectivity and bolster population resilience to disruptions. To safeguard the biodiversity of Nanjing's urban area, this study selected understory insectivorous birds as indicator species for biodiversity, employing a comprehensive approach integrating the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model and the area threshold method to delineate ecological source areas. Key indicators directly linked to the species distribution were extracted based on the habitat suitability assessment results, and an ecological resistance surface was crafted using spatial principal component analysis. Subsequently, the circuit theory model was applied to pinpoint ecological corridors, pinch points, and barrier points. The findings unveiled the following: (1) The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), human activities (HA), and canopy height (CH) were critical indicators influencing biodiversity. The response curves of the NDVI and CH were positively correlated with the probability distribution of indicator species, while the response curve of the HA showed an overall negative correlation with the same distribution. (2) The spatial distribution characteristics of the ecological network revealed a ‘one axis, two cores, intersecting’ pattern. Ecological sources were supported by mountainous forests and riverside green spaces, symmetrically distributed on both sides of the Yangtze River. Ecological corridors were forming continuous tree belts along highways and riverways, predominantly concentrated on the eastern side of the Yangtze River. Ecological pinch points and barriers were primarily located at the intersections of fragmented green spaces and developed areas in the northeastern and southeastern regions of the study area. (3) This study finally identified 30 ecological source areas, 65 ecological corridors, 8 pinch points, and 8 barrier points. This study presents a construction paradigm for urban ENs from the vantage point of biodiversity conservation, including both regional specificity and universal applicability, providing vital theoretical underpinnings and pragmatic insights for urban sustainability.

Improving Traffic-noise-mitigation Strategies with LiDAR-based 3D Tree-canopy Analysis

The leaves on trees absorb road noise and serve as noise barriers. Tree structures such as tree belts and isolated trees have various methods for absorbing sounds. The depth, surface area, and noise-absorption coefficient of trees contribute to noise absorption. Therefore, this study aims to address this issue of traffic-noise pollution through the use of trees; in particular, by analyzing the noise-absorption coefficient of leaves, the surface area of the leaves, and the depths of the trees. However, the study stresses the need for 3D tree-canopy visualization to identify these factors. To achieve this, the study used LiDAR point clouds to provide accurate data for the convex hull visualizations of canopies. Additionally, a formulated equation for calculating traffic noise after absorption has been suggested by combining the traffic-noise absorption and Henk de Kluijver traffic-noise models. The study also compares the effectiveness of tree belts and isolated trees in reducing noise pollution, concluding that, below a canopy of trees, there is no noise reduction. Finally, the study has demonstrated that the number and sizes of leaves affect noise absorption, showing that noise pollution can be reduced by 1 to 3 dB(A) in the research area by using trees.

Wildfire Scenarios for Assessing Risk of Cover Loss in a Megadiverse Zone within the Colombian Caribbean

Rising wildfire incidents in South America, potentially exacerbated by climate change, require an exploration of sustainable approaches for fire risk reduction. This study investigates wildfire-prone meteorological conditions and assesses the susceptibility in Colombia’s megadiverse northern region. Utilizing this knowledge, we apply a machine learning model and the Monte Carlo approach to evaluate sustainability strategies for mitigating fire risk. The findings indicate that a substantial number of fires occur in the southern region, especially in the first two seasons of the year, and in the northeast in the last two seasons. Both are characterized by high temperatures, minimal precipitation, strong winds, and dry conditions. The developed model demonstrates significant predictive accuracy with the HIT, FAR, and POC of 87.9%, 28.3%, and 95.7%, respectively, providing insights into the probabilistic aspects of fire development. Various scenarios showed that a decrease in soil temperature reduces the risk mostly in lower altitudes and leaf skin reservoir content in the highest altitudes, as well as in the north region. Sustainability strategies, such as tree belts, agroforestry mosaics, and forest corridors emerge as crucial measures. The results underscore the importance of proactive measures in mitigating wildfire impact, offering actionable insights for crafting effective sustainability strategies amid escalating fire risks.

SDEWES 2023: Barriers and Possibilities for the Development of Short-Rotation Coppice as an Agroforestry System for Adaptation to Climate Change in Central European Conditions

This article compares different production, economic, and selected environmental aspects of agroforestry systems in a standard (alley cropping) and a newly proposed design with fast-growing trees grown in short-rotation coppice. Our models of agroforestry systems (AFSs) are as follows: (i) alley cropping AFS with cherry and walnut trees in single rows (tree strips) with 28 m-wide arable fields between them (crop strips), and (ii) coppiced tree belt AFS with poplars and willows and 25 m-wide arable fields between them (crop strips). To evaluate the production characteristics of trees, we used yield curves from experimental plantations in conditions of the Czech Republic from previous research projects. Cost data were collected from long-term experimental plantations and combined with current operation and energy prices. The article presents an economic methodology for assessing the competitiveness of biomass production in AFSs under the current identified market conditions. Our results show that AFSs with short-rotation coppice can have similar economic and production results as annual crops if grown on suitable sites and with appropriate quality of agronomy. In comparison, alley cropping AFSs with fruit trees would not be economically viable for farmers without a significant subsidy for establishment and maintenance in the first years after establishment. Concerning the latest economic and political developments, the product from SRC (energy woodchips) can be evaluated as strategic, increasing the producer’s independence from purchased energy fuels.

Ecological role of introduced species and autochthon plants in protective tree belts of South Siberia

Assessment of the condition and morphological structure of tree species that constitute protective forest belts in southern Siberia has shown that plants perform ecological and economic functions under the most extreme conditions. The regions of Southern Siberia are characterized by a complex of negative environmental factors that have an adverse effect on the condition and growth of tree species of protective forest belts (soil conditions, lack of moisture, strong wind, salinization and deflation processes). Poplar and elm are used as introduced species in protective forest belts in South Siberia. Plants are characterized by intensive growth and average salt tolerance. Protective forest belts of autochthonous plant species (birch, pine, larch) have a more satisfactory condition compared to introduced species. However, poplar and elm grow in more difficult conditions (steppe areas of Khakassia), which determines their condition. In terms of growth intensity, as well as horizontal protection, introduced species largely exceed autochthonous plant species. Key words: protective forest belt, species, autochthonous plants, condition, morphological characterization

SEDLNet: An unsupervised precise lightweight extraction method for farmland areas

The cultivated land area of the world accounts for 10% of the total surface area of the world. Accurate statistics of the cultivated land area of various crops and reasonable planting planning can help solve the global food problem. In this experiment, a new neural network framework called SEDLNet was proposed to solve the regional problem of extracting cultivated crops through the study of Erdaohe Farm paddy field demonstration area. In this experiment, a channel attention mechanism was added to the convolutional network, and a compound loss function was designed. In terms of farmland extraction, mIOU reached 0.7675. In the field environment with weeds and tree belts, the mIOU of this method was up to 0.7475, and the mIOU of non-farmland was up to 0.5724, showing a strong advantage. The network designed by this method was simple to construct and easy to train. The average training time of the model was 1350 s, which is lower than other methods. The dual loss function was designed to keep a proper proportion, which can accelerate the convergence and improve the convergence effect. In addition, the recognition effect of the model can be improved by adding some line labels as auxiliary input. This experiment provides the basis for intelligent agricultural production and accurate statistics of global farmland area.

Introducing tree belt designer - A QGIS plugin for designing agroforestry systems in terms of potential insolation

Agroforestry systems support all categories of ecosystem services (ESs). In providing the regulating category of ESs, these systems have become an important strategy used to attenuate drought impacts and biodiversity losses on agricultural landscapes. Within the agroforestry design process aimed at ES provision, one of the agroforestry types used is tree belts (TBs). Unfortunately, due to the inappropriate spatial arrangement of TBs, agricultural landscapes often become too shaded or too sunny. In existing agricultural models of the TB impact on light conditions, only the average values of all TB parameters are considered. Moreover, these models can only be used for whole study plots, or a given plot can be divided into several zones parallel to the TB. Therefore, we developed the QGIS plugin to design TB simulations on a spatially continuous scale for more effective estimation of their impact on potential insolation. The design process is based on the user library containing the tree and shrub species, soil data, parcel-based layout, and digital surface model. In this study, we tested our plugin and its outcomes in terms of predicting changes in potential insolation.

Composition, abundance and biodiversity of terrestrial arthropods in pastures and their relationship with landscaping plants

We investigated the association of landscaping plants with the communities of ground-dwelling arthropods within pastures and tested the hypothesis that arthropod biodiversity increases with vegetation heterogeneity. The community characterization and biodiversity of arthropods in a pasture were compared with those within communities with landscaping plants, including forest remnants, Forsythia koreana and Prunus serotina. The total abundance of mites was greater within the forest remnants than within the pasture; however, the abundance of insects and spiders did not differ. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling and the multiresponse permutation procedure revealed that the community composition of insects and spiders differed according to vegetation type. The abundance of Teleogryllus emma was highest within the forest remnant community, which suggested the species’ dependency on vegetation type. Species richness and the Shannon index of insects increased within F. koreana but not within P. serotina compared with the pasture. This suggested that belts of shrubs might have a greater promoting effect on insect biodiversity than belts of trees. Species richness of spiders did not differ by vegetation type. The total number of insect and spider species within the study area increased by 2.8 and 3.5 times, respectively, by establishing three types of vegetation. These results suggested that increasing vegetation heterogeneity by establishing landscaping plants is a good option for conserving insect and spider biodiversity in pastures.

The Białowieża Forest as a Key Area for Understanding the History of European Forest Bird Communities

The last remnants of pristine forests in Europe, especially in the nemoral belt of deciduous and mixed deciduous coniferous trees, are unique for understanding the history, composition and structure of plant and animal communities. This is especially true for the Białowieża forest, NE Poland. The biogeographical history of emblematic forest clades of birds, e.g. woodpeckers, tits and nuthatches, is analyzed from molecular phylogenies which allow to determine their pace and mode of origination and differentiation. The flyways which connect temperate and tropical realms played a major role in the origination and differentiation of many extant lineages. Then, large differences in the structure of bird communities between North American and European forests are discussed and explained in the light of the geographic configuration of major land masses and past climatic changes and upheavals throughout the Neogene. From long term in depth studies in this forest, the composition and structure of bird communities may be used as references for understanding and measuring the processes and mechanisms of change in communities of the western managed forests.

Soil Nitrogen and Carbon Are Affected by Tapping and Weed Covering in a Rubber Plantation

AbstractClarifying the effects of rubber‐tapping and natural growth weed cover on the variations in the concentrations of soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) may be beneficial to rubber plantation management via optimizing soil N and C accumulations and reducing the risk of environmental pollution due to NO3− leaching. This study aims to compare the concentrations of soil total‐N, available‐N, NH4+‐N, NO3−‐N, and SOC for addressing N and C variations as affected by rubber‐tapping or weed covering in a 14‐year‐old rubber (Hevea brasiliensis cv. GT1) plantation in Xishuangbanna, southwest China. The soil samples at 0–20, 20–40, and 40–60 cm depths between July and December 2018 were examined monthly from no‐rubber‐tapping tree belt (NRTB) or rubber‐tapping tree belt and no‐rubber‐tapping weed zone (NRTWZ) or rubber‐tapping weed zone. The concentrations of SOC, total‐N, available‐N, NH4+‐N, and NO3−‐N vary with soil depths and sampling date. The average concentrations of SOC, total‐N, available‐N, NH4+‐N, and NO3−‐N at 0–60 cm soil depth are significantly higher for the NRTWZs than for the NRTBs. Soil total‐N was positively correlated with SOC; either positive or negative relationships are found among different soil N forms. More soil available‐N and NO3−‐N accumulate for tree growth under weed covering or no‐rubber‐tapping. These findings indicate that the variations in soil N and SOC concentrations should be taken into account as a part of rubber plantation management to improve soil N and C accumulations.

Hidden gaps under the canopy: LiDAR-based detection and quantification of porosity in tree belts

Tree belts (TBs) as one of the agroforestry types, provide many ecosystem services (ESs), that reduce the negative environmental impact of agriculture and increase agricultural productivity. Unfortunately, the lack of quantitative and spatial information regarding TB properties, such as the porosity expressed by gap fraction, often leads to insufficient information on the availability of ESs provided by TBs, such as windbreak efficiency, barrier effectiveness for soil erosion and ability to redistribute snow cover. Moreover, image data, which are usually used for the assessment of TB porosity, only provide 2D information. Therefore, we propose the first comprehensive method of TB porosity indicator estimation conducted by gap mapping using 3D LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data. The method allows to diagnose the spatial structure of TBs necessary for reliable evaluation of ES availability. Detailed cross-section diagnostic graphs and TB silhouette maps showed the intra-TB variation of porosity and thus may support the decision making on the crop types and may lead to better predictions of agricultural production. Also, on a testing study area, we revealed that the proposed method is suitable to significantly improve the accuracy of vegetation volume estimation in TB. Such a detailed analysis of the inner TB structure may be used to maximize the positive effect of tree belts on agricultural production and therefore is a way towards the sustainable agriculture as well as better assessment of ES provided by tree belts.

Re-analysis of socio-acoustic survey data in Tomakomai: Seasonal effects of a tree belt on road traffic noise annoyance

Several socio-acoustic surveys targeting residents living in row houses and apartments in Europe have shown that greenery reduces noise annoyance. In this study, socio-acoustic surveys were conducted every three months from August 2003 to May 2004 to investigate the seasonal effects of a tree belt on road traffic noise annoyance in Tomakomai, Japan. The survey area was a residential space along an arterial road and was divided into three sites. Site A directly faced the tree belt on the north side of the road, and Sites B and C directly faced the road on the north and south side of the road, respectively. Respondents aged 20–75 years who lived in detached houses directly facing the tree belt or the road were randomly selected from the registered voters’ list on the basis of one person per family. The numbers of respondents in summer, autumn, winter, and spring were 274, 250, 226, and 225, respectively. A multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to assess the annoyance and satisfaction with the residential area. The differences in noise annoyance responses were not significant from one site to the other. In contrast, respondents at Site A were significantly more satisfied with the residential area, and those at Site C were insignificantly less satisfied than those at Site B. The latter result was not conclusive due to insignificance. The findings were not consistent with the hypothesis that a green belt significantly reduces annoyance. The main reason was that while European houses had rooms facing quiet courtyards, Japanese detached houses had no quiet spaces. Therefore, without any quiet spaces in the small, detached houses in Japan, the green belt outside the houses did not reduce noise annoyance.

Rheophytes of the middle Caquetá River, Colombian Amazonia

We studied the rheophytic vascular flora of the middle Caquetá River basin in the Colombian Amazon, by sampling along the margins and islands of its two largest rapids, Angostura and Araracuara, along the rapids of the black-water Yarí river, its second largest tributary, and along a swift black-water creek flowing from a small Tepui into the latter. We identified and quantified rheophytes in 12 plots and collected other rheophytic species spotted outside the plots. We found 28 species of rheophytes, belonging to 20 families, mostly herbs and subshrubs. The rheophytic flora of the white-water Río Caquetá only shared three species, with that of the Yarí River; instead, the Yarí River shared no rheophytic species with its tributary creek, despite being just a few meters away. The family Podostemaceae dominates the extreme rheophytic belt, where the current hits the strongest. The most diverse families were Myrtaceae, and Xyridaceae (three species each); Acanthaceae (two species) is the most diverse family in the middle level, whereas Myrtaceae (three species) predominates in the upper rheophytic belt of small trees, and makes up a transition between the truly rheophytic and the riparian floras. The most abundant and frequent species was Pfaffia iresinoides (Amaranthaceae). Eight species are endemic to this area, and no species is shared with the other Neotropical areas where rheophytes have been surveyed.

Evaluation of Pandanus Trees as a Means of Eco-DRR against Storm Surge Wave on Saint Martin’s Island, Bangladesh

Saint Martin’s Island is a tiny island located in Bangladesh that is rich in biodiversity but threatened by many natural disasters, and it is often neglected due to being far from the mainland. Ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR) is the most urgently required provision for Bangladesh as it is a very easy and inexpensive way to survive natural adversities. In this study, attempts were made to quantify the capacity of an existing Pandanus forest on Saint Martin’s Island to reduce the storm surge disaster risk. For this, satellite images were processed with ErdasImagine and ArcGIS software, and land use and land cover changes were analyzed to determine the changes related to Pandanus trees over time. Storm surge wave height reduction was analyzed using the Bao regression model equation. The results show that the Pandanus tree population increased almost 3-fold from 2010 to 2021, and that the Pandanus trees can reduce the surge height, which will ultimately preserve 75% of the area of the island (2021). The minimum required patch width for the Pandanus tree belt was identified as 4.53 m. The areas highly vulnerable to flooding were also identified in this study.

Agroforestry systems as new strategy for bioenergy — Case example of Czech Republic

The paper deals with the analysis of economic efficiency of innovative agroforestry systems (AFS) using coppiced tree belts (CTB), which combine the advantages of traditional alley cropping with the short rotation coppice (dense plantation of fast-growing trees for biomass — SRC) on an agricultural field. We have analyzed and compared such innovative agroforestry system (AFS-CTB) with conventional food crops production in conventional 4 crop year rotation (winter barley, winter wheat, rapeseed and corn). The minimum price of production, (based on net present value criterion), was performed to enable simultaneous assessment of annual and perennial crops over time in order to obtain also economic evaluation and comparison. Our results show that AFS-CTB generate similar income and profits as from conventional annual crops when cultivating on suitable sites and adhering to good farming principles.

Impacts of Temporal Changes in Land Use/Cover on the Remaining Historical Forests in Guiyang, China

The remaining historical forests are crucial for maintaining biodiversity in urban areas. However, the integrity and stability of historical forests are affected by land-use/cover change. A better understanding of these impacts can help prioritize protection and restoration. In this study, we estimated the loss of area and levels of threats and analyzed the importance of critical areas for historical forests in the built-up area of a rapidly urbanizing city—Guiyang, China. We used the threat indicator, morphological spatial pattern analysis, and probability of connectivity based on InVEST, GuidosToolbox, and Conefor software. The results based on remote sensing image classification showed that 1988.46 ha of historical forestlands was transformed into other land-use/cover types. The mean value of the threat index of all the historical forest patches increased by 33% compared to the baseline year. The area of cores and bridges, considered as key nodes and links for the connectivity of forest networks, decreased by 193.32 and 353.61 ha, respectively. Most of the critical areas with high importance values for connectivity were located in the central part of the city and were severely threatened by the surrounding areas. We recommend that effective measures be implemented to control the further loss of historical forests and to increase the connectivity and buffering capacity of the remaining forests by creating tree belts and corridors in key locations.

Совершенствование технологии лесовосстановления на вырубках с применением энергонасыщенных тракторов

Currently applied partial reforestation in cuttings and removal of stumps by uprooting have a number of significant technological, environmental and economic disadvantages. These are removal of the humus layer of soil outside the cleared strips, compaction and reduction of soil porosity; formation of understump holes and their local waterlogging; littering of noncleared belts of trees between strips with felling debris and uprooted stumps; low productivity of uprooting machines and high energy consumption of stump uprooting; termination of agrotechnical tending after 2–3 years after planting and impossibility of cleaning stands due to their obstruction for tractor units; low level of traction force of special forest tractors and their insufficient power for uprooting stumps. Technology, machines and tools for reforestation in cuttings become the subjects of the research. The aim of the research is to provide a comprehensive mechanization of the reforestation process in order to improve work productivity, reduce energy and material consumption of the technology and create conditions for the effective use of machines and tools in combination with energy-efficient tractors of the traction-energy concept, ensuring the elimination of harmful effects on soil and plants ecology. The results of achieving the set aim and objectives are substantiation of forestry and ecological, technical, and economic feasibility of using the technology based on the complete clearing of cuttings from felling residues, dead wood and coppice of shrub vegetation by their crushing using mobile mulchers; removal of stumps in cuttings through crushing them at a depth of 0.15–0.20 m by an upgraded MUP-4A machine with scattering chips over the planting area and subsequent continuous tillage with a disk harrow BDK-2.5. Harmful effects on the ecology of soil and plants are practically eliminated with an increase in productivity, and the grinded woody biomass mixed with the soil turns into an organic fertilizer. The elimination of mechanical obstacles such as felling residues, fallen trees and stumps makes it possible to effectively use energy-efficient tractors by combining technological operations and performing them in one pass of the unit, as well as increasing the working width and operating speeds. Conditions for efficient operation of forestry machines and tools on tractormotor traction to protect the forest from pests, diseases, and fires, and for mechanization of various types of thinning are being created. For citation: Bartenev I.M., Drapalyuk M.V. Improving the Technology of Reforestation in Cuttings with the Use of Energy-Efficient Tractors. Lesnoy Zhurnal [Russian Forestry Journal], 2021, no. 5, pp. 117–133. DOI: 10.37482/0536-1036-2021-5-117-133

Effect of tree species and season on the ability of forest floors to abate environmental noise

The nature of the ground beneath a belt of trees along transport infrastructure can contribute significantly to the associated noise abatement. To get more insight in this topic, repeated measurements were performed, both in winter and summer time, in a common garden of six monoculture broadleaved tree stands (ash, cherry, lime, maple, beech and oak, all of the same age). A two-microphone technique was used to derive the ground surface impedance and soil properties describing the interaction between the forest floor and sound waves. The slit-pore and Zwikker and Kosten (phenomenological) ground impedance model, both in rigid backing configuration, were found to adequately predict the measured short-range level differences. The much higher moisture content of the forest floor during the winter campaign resulted in a strong increase in the deduced surface impedance. A clear overall tree species effect seemed absent, despite large differences in litter degradation rates. Additional measurements after raking away the organic layer allowed concluding that a pronounced forest floor might compensate for an acoustically harder mineral soil beneath. In tree belts aiming at noise reduction, litter should not be removed and care is needed not to compact the mineral soil, especially in case of stands with rapidly decaying litter and a thin organic horizon.

The state of natural grass at the reclamation facility of Ryazan Meschera

The purpose of the geobotanical survey was to analyze the natural grass stand at the Tinki-II drained object within Ryazan Meschera. When monitoring the former forage lands, the methods of Bogolyubov and Kravchenko, Neshtaev and others were used. The meadow survey area had an area of 10,000 m2 and was located near the main canal, a tree belt area, a settlement and an open collector. Earlier monitoring studies revealed the presence of degradation processes in peat soil that has been drained for 65 years, which manifested itself in the form of peat depletion, an increase in density, and the transformation of peat into a humified mass. The local flora dominated with the inclusion of such species as Elytrigia repens, Hypericum perforatum, etc. Plants with frequent occurrence and high Druda abundance (Elytrígia répens and Alopecúrus praténsis) were identified. The association Elytrígetum urtícetosum was highlighted. The entire variety of phytocenosis was grouped into dynamic series of community development: perennial, biennial, and annual grasses, considering their aboveground mass. The prospects for the development of meadow farming are unsatisfactory due to the low level of development of animal husbandry. At controlled facility Tinki-II, only 5 % of the meadow area leased by the Novoselki agricultural holding is now sown

The State of the Ash-Leaved Maple (Acer negundo L.) in the Barnaul Ribbon Pine Forest

Ash-leaved maple is one of the most aggressive alien species in most Russian regions. It was first brought to the Altai Krai in 1933. For a long time, maple had been used in the urban and village greenery planting and tree belt areas. Nowadays, it is actively settling along riverbanks, roadsides, abandoned lands, etc. Ash-leaved maple is a danger as a transformer species, preventing the pine’s reproduction in the unique natural communities – ribbon pine forests. We studied the state of the Acer negundo L. populations as a transformer species in the Barnaul ribbon pine forest. The maple population status was assessed by the transect method at the selected registration sites. The age of plants was determined by the method of T. A. Rabotnov. The first ordered branches were used for a more detailed characterization of the maple populations. The introduction of maples into the Pinus sylvestris L. communities is associated with a significant anthropogenic impact on the natural communities of the ribbon pine forest. There are pure maple communities formed in some places in the northern part of the ribbon pine forest. Throughout the Barnaul ribbon pine forest, the maple populations are normal and invasive only in the south part. The first-ordered maple branches in the southern part of the ribbon pine forest have signs of apex change associated with adverse ecological factors. The development indicators of maple trees along the entire ribbon pine forest were evaluated for the first time. The results indicate the high adaptability of maple to various ecological factors.