Article
Ecology
Nemai Sahani, Tirthankar Ghosh
Summary: The study integrated remote sensing and GIS with different machine learning algorithms to prepare trail susceptibility mapping, and found that the logistic regression model performed better in predictive accuracy assessment.
ECOLOGICAL INFORMATICS
(2021)
Article
Remote Sensing
Yi Lin, Kerstin Wiegand
Summary: The potential of LiDAR in expanding forest ecology has been recognized, but traditional methods cannot fully utilize 3D characterization of trees, posing a challenge for the field. Further exploration of 3D tree spatial pattern analysis is needed to support future developments in this area.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Victor Danneyrolles, Yan Boucher, Richard Fournier, Osvaldo Valeria
Summary: This study investigated the effects of climate, tree species composition, and other environmental variables on boreal forest regrowth following clearcut logging in eastern Canada. It predicted a beneficial, but limited effect of projected climate changes on forest regrowth rates, with conifer forests being more positively affected compared to mixed and broadleaved forests. The predicted increased regrowth rates were mainly associated with increased temperature, while changes in climate moisture had a minor effect.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Eva Bianchi, Harald Bugmann, Christof Bigler
Summary: Radial and height growth rates are suitable indicators of impending tree mortality risk for adult trees, but their applicability to saplings remains unknown. Mortality of coniferous saplings in mountain forests is mainly influenced by light availability, with recent radial growth rate and tree size showing weak association with sapling mortality.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Pekka Kaitaniemi, Anna Lintunen
Summary: This study explored a simple tree height- and distance-based competition index to predict structural tree attributes in three boreal tree species growing in low to moderate densities within mixed stands. The results suggest that quantifying competitive interactions based on individual tree heights and locations has the potential to improve the prediction of tree attributes, although outcomes may vary by species.
Article
Forestry
Olga Cholewinska, Andrzej Keczynski, Barbara Kusinska, Bogdan Jaroszewicz
Summary: The study found that the species of large trees have a significant impact on the diversity, distance, and frequency of adjacent trees, and as the diameter of the large tree increases, the distance between neighboring trees and the large tree also increases.
Article
Forestry
Claire Gely, Susan G. W. Laurance, Nigel E. Stork
Summary: Climate change is predicted to intensify droughts, leading to increased insect attack and tree mortality in temperate forests. The impact of drought on tropical rainforests remains less known. Severe drought conditions may increase wood-boring insect attack, potentially affecting long-term tree health and mortality.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yu Gao, Tong Zhang, Kunihiro Sasaki, Misato Uehara, Yu Jin, Lu Qin
Summary: The study highlights the importance of understanding tourists' preferences and spatial cognition during forest walking to improve forest landscape planning. It identifies differences in tourists' spatial cognition of forest landscapes at different walking passage stages, as well as variations in factors influencing tourists' viewing intentions. The research suggests that matching landscape elements or facilities according to the spatial cognitive characteristics of scenes in different walking passages can enhance tourists' viewing intentions, particularly in forest landscape spaces with forest elements.
URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Anne-Sophie Caron, Essivi Gagnon Koudji, Ira Tanya Handa, Miguel Montoro Girona, Emma Despland
Summary: Insect outbreaks have significant effects on forest ecosystems, including changes in soil arthropod communities. This study aimed to understand the effects of forest tent caterpillar outbreaks on ant communities in temperate and boreal forests in Canada. The results showed that outbreak sites had decreased ant species richness and increased evenness in boreal forests, with significant changes in species composition. In the temperate forest, similar but weaker patterns were observed. These findings highlight the importance of disturbances like insect outbreaks in driving changes in ant communities.
Article
Plant Sciences
Anne Bienert, Louis Georgi, Matthias Kunz, Goddert von Oheimb, Hans-Gerd Maas
Summary: Mobile laser scanning (MLS) is a valuable technique for automated tree segmentation and parameter determination in forest research. The detection rate of trees in MLS data strongly depends on the distance to the travelled track, with trees being almost completely segmented up to a distance of about 30 m from the trajectory. The accuracy of tree parameters derived from MLS-segmented trees is similar to those from TLS-segmented trees.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Dimitrios I. Raptis, Vassiliki Kazana, Nikolaos Onisiforou, Christos Stamatiou, Angelos Kazaklis
Summary: This study aimed to explore the biological processes related to tree height allometry of Black pine and develop a generalized mixed-effects model for tree height prediction. The proposed model, with three additional basic covariates and two random parameters, explained almost 96% of the height variance. The results showed that while competition and site-connected variables affected total height, crown base height was a significant factor in height expression.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jiejie Wang, Anthony R. Taylor, Loic D'Orangeville
Summary: Large projected increases in forest disturbance pose a major threat to the Canadian boreal forest ecosystem. However, contrary to previously conflicting results, this study reveals that increasing thermal energy could lead to significant growth and offset the negative impacts of drought and wildfire in wood supply and carbon sequestration. The findings have important implications for ecological forecasts and the global economy.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Thomas A. M. Pugh, Rupert Seidl, Daijun Liu, Mats Lindeskog, Louise P. Chini, Cornelius Senf
Summary: Human activities have significantly affected the dynamics, structure, and function of temperate and boreal forests, leading to substantial differences compared to their natural state. Forestry activities and past land-use change have altered forest age structure and composition. These changes have important implications for carbon dynamics and forest management.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Paulo Ricardo Rodrigues Piovesan, Robyn Jeanette Burnham, Isolde Dorothea Kossmann Ferraz, Jose Luis Campana Camargo
Summary: Liana density is positively associated with forest fragmentation. The compositional change associated with disturbance, particularly in the diverse genus Machaerium Pers. (Fabaceae), is explored in this study. Inventorying lianas in permanent plots in Central Amazonia, Brazil, the researchers found that the response of different Machaerium species to forest disturbance varied.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
C. Fermaniuk, K. G. Fleurial, E. Wiley, S. M. Landhausser
Summary: This study investigated the carbon reserve dynamics in mature boreal Betula papyrifera trees, finding that branches are the largest and most dynamic storage pool, with a seasonal fluctuation four to eight times greater than in other organs. The greater whole-tree seasonal NSC fluctuation in boreal B. papyrifera may result from higher soluble sugar concentration requirements in branches for frost protection, and/or a larger reliance on reserves to fuel new leaf and shoot growth in the spring.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
D. Johan Kotze, Subhadip Ghosh, Nan Hui, Ari Jumpponen, Benjamin P. Y-H Lee, Changyi Lu, Shawn Lum, Richard Pouyat, Katalin Szlavecz, David A. Wardle, Ian Yesilonis, Bangxiao Zheng, Heikki Setala
Summary: The study showed that vegetation type affects soil organic matter, total carbon, and total nitrogen content, but inconsistently across climatic zones. In boreal and temperate urban parks, plant-trait effects were weak in old parks but stronger in young parks, with soils under trees accumulating more organic matter, carbon, and nitrogen compared to lawns. Urbanization was found to dominate natural factors, resulting in lower values of organic-matter-related soil properties under trees in parks compared to forests.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
D. J. Kotze, H. Setala
Summary: In urban environments, recalcitrant woody material decomposes slower while labile litter decomposes faster in open urban habitats. This may be due to the reduced abundance of saprotrophic fungi in urban environments and environmental factors favoring bacterial activity in open habitats.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Marju Prass, Satu Ramula, Miia Jauni, Heikki Setala, D. Johan Kotze
Summary: The study found that the invasive species Lupinus polyphyllus may decrease plant species richness, but the ecological impact caused by this invader does not significantly change or accumulate with time since invasion.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Aku Korhonen, Otto Miettinen, Johan D. Kotze, Leena Hamberg
Summary: Urban green areas have less biodiversity potential, and the wood-inhabiting fungal communities in urban tree trunks are less diverse compared to semi-natural forests. Urban forests provide less favorable habitats for most wood-inhabiting fungal species and red-listed species. However, 33% of urban trunks still host at least one red-listed species. The landscape-scale effects may be influenced by local climatic conditions and the availability of species pools, while the substrate-scale variability of deadwood plays a significant role in shaping wood-inhabiting fungal communities.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xi Shu, Marja Mesimaki, D. Johan Kotze, Mark Wales, Long Xie, Renan Benicke, Susanna Lehvavirta
Summary: The study highlights the importance of children in urban green space planning and design, and how they can express their needs and preferences through empathy-based stories. Both designed green spaces and wild nature offer a range of activities and experiences for children.
URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Christine C. Rega-Brodsky, Myla F. J. Aronson, Max R. Piana, Ela-Sita Carpenter, Amy K. Hahs, Adriana Herrera-Montes, Sonja Knapp, D. Johan Kotze, Christopher A. Lepczyk, Marco Moretti, Allyson B. Salisbury, Nicholas S. G. Williams, Kirsten Jung, Madhusudan Katti, Ian MacGregor-Fors, J. Scott MacIvor, Frank A. La Sorte, Vallari Sheel, Caragh G. Threfall, Charles H. Nilon
Summary: Since the 1990s, urban biodiversity research has gained increasing recognition. However, the majority of studies have focused on single cities in the Palearctic and Nearctic realms, with a limited scope for research in the Global South and integration of multi-species and multi-trophic interactions. Furthermore, there is a need to link biodiversity to ecosystem function and services.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
D. Johan Kotze, Elizabeth C. Lowe, J. Scott MacIvor, Alessandro Ossola, Briony A. Norton, Dieter F. Hochuli, Luis Mata, Marco Moretti, Sara A. Gagne, I. Tanya Handa, Theresa M. Jones, Caragh G. Threlfall, Amy K. Hahs
Summary: Invertebrates are the most diversified animal group on Earth and play a crucial role in almost all terrestrial ecosystems, including urban forests. Understanding their role can help preserve biodiversity in urban environments and raise awareness of their importance in maintaining healthy greenspaces.
Article
Ecology
Kukka Kyro, Tuomas Kankaanpaeae, Eero J. Vesterinen, Susanna Lehvavirta, David Johannes Kotze
Summary: Vegetated roofs, as human-manufactured ecosystems, can serve as promising conservation tools for various species and habitats. A 3-year study on newly constructed vegetated roofs with shallow substrates and different types of vegetation revealed that these roofs had similar species richness to ground level habitats but differed in community composition. The roofs developed novel arthropod communities that were distinct from ground level habitats but similar to each other. The proportion of predators also increased on the roofs. Further investigation is needed to understand the role of these isolated communities in species networks and ecosystem function.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Changyi Lu, D. Johan Kotze, Heikki M. Setala
Summary: The study found that plant functional type influences soil nitrogen dynamics in urban greenspace soils, potentially due to its effect on earthworm biomass. Evergreen trees have the highest ability to promote nitrogen accumulation and reduce nitrous oxide emissions in urban parks. Additionally, the age of the park affects nitrogen accumulation under trees and lawns, highlighting the role of vegetation in influencing soil nitrogen dynamics in urban greenspaces.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Long Xie, Sari Timonen, Alan C. Gange, Kirsi Kuoppamaki, Marleena Hagner, Susanna Lehvavirta
Summary: Three experiments were conducted to investigate the survival and growth of plant growth-promoting microbes (PGPMs) in vegetated building envelopes (VBEs). The results showed that substrate pH, plant species, and biochar amendment had significant impacts on the microbial populations. This paper provides reference and inspiration for other VBE research involving substrate microbial manipulation.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Juanjo Galan, Francisco Galiana, D. Johan Kotze, Kevin Lynch, Daniele Torreggiani, Bas Pedroli
Summary: The development of landscape adaptation planning for climate change relies on understanding the unique characteristics of the landscape and its inhabitants, including spatial patterns, culture, governance systems, socio-economic structures, planning methods, history, and collectively envisioned futures. This requires a systemic and integrative approach to address various drivers of change, challenges, and interests.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE-HUMAN AND POLICY DIMENSIONS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Long Xie, Xi Shu, D. Johan Kotze, Kirsi Kuoppamaki, Sari Timonen, Susanna Lehvavirta
Summary: This study conducted rain simulations on vegetation containers in vertical greenery systems to investigate stormwater management efficiency. The results showed that plant growth-promoting microbes significantly reduced runoff quantity, while well-ventilated sandy loam substrate improved water-use efficiency. Additionally, environmental conditions like substrate moisture, air temperature, and natural precipitation also influenced stormwater retention and evapotranspiration efficiency.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yuan Wang, Jari Niemela, D. Johan Kotze
Summary: Urban greenspace provides important cultural ecosystem services (CES) to citizens, but the interaction between landscape features and land use contexts in influencing CES remains unclear. This study compared the CES of 20 urban forest patches in Helsinki, Finland, and found that maintaining large urban forests is more effective in promoting CES in high-density areas, while in low-density areas, small forests with open greenspace in the surroundings also contribute to CES experiences.