Article
Forestry
Stefan Julich, Janis Kreiselmeier, Simon Scheibler, Rainer Petzold, Kai Schwarzel, Karl-Heinz Feger
Summary: The study found that different tree species have a distinct impact on hydrological properties and soil pore size distribution. Older forest stands have higher transmission pores and therefore higher infiltration rates and water conductance. Oak trees showed higher hydraulic conductivities and air capacities compared to spruce, indicating a more connected macropore system. Additional measurements are needed to further understand the soil hydraulic properties of forest soils in temperate climates.
Article
Forestry
Umar Aftab Abbasi, Eskil Mattsson, Sarath Premalal Nissanka, Arshad Ali
Summary: Forests play a crucial role in global biogeochemical cycles, but local species diversity is decreasing and communities are becoming more homogenized. This study examined the effects of regional and local environmental factors and biotic processes on aboveground biomass (AGB) in tropical forests. The results showed that soil fertility and climatic water availability influenced local and regional biotic processes. Stand structural heterogeneity promoted species alpha-diversity but decreased beta-diversity. Species alpha-diversity and stand structural heterogeneity positively influenced AGB, while taxonomic and functional beta-diversity had negative effects on AGB.
JOURNAL OF FORESTRY RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Pascal Edelmann, Wolfgang W. Weisser, Didem Ambarli, Claus Baessler, Francois Buscot, Martin Hofrichter, Bjorn Hoppe, Harald Kellner, Cynthia Minnich, Julia Moll, Derek Persoh, Sebastian Seibold, Claudia Seilwinder, Ernst-Detlef Schulze, Stephan Woellauer, Werner Borken
Summary: A long-term experiment in Germany suggests that climate, soil traits, and forest structure have significant impacts on the decay process and mass loss of deadwood. Soil nutrient content and precipitation have negative effects on mass loss, while temperature has a positive effect. Forest structure has a small influence on mass loss. The results indicate that at the regional scale, organismic diversity and microbial activity have a stronger impact on the decay process than exogenous factors.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Adrian Lazaro-Lobo, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Carlos Lara-Romero, Pilar Castro-Diez
Summary: Non-native trees play an important role in providing services for human well-being, but their extensive use can have detrimental effects on the environment and socio-economic aspects. The demographic changes of Eucalyptus and Pinus at a regional scale are influenced by biotic, abiotic, and anthropogenic factors. The structure of the biotic community, abiotic conditions, propagule pressure, and human management practices all contribute to the performance of non-native trees in forests.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Richard Osei, Hugues Titeux, Kamil Bielak, Felipe Bravo, Catherine Collet, Corentin Cools, Jean-Thomas Cornelis, Michael Heym, Nathalie Korboulewsky, Magnus Lof, Bart Muys, Yasmina Najib, Arne Nothdurft, Maciej Pach, Hans Pretzsch, Miren del Rio, Ricardo Ruiz-Peinado, Quentin Ponette
Summary: This study found that tree species identity had a significant impact on SOC storage in mixed forests in Europe, while the effect of species mixing was not significant. The identity of different tree species significantly influenced SOC storage in the topsoil layers, while the mixing of species had a greater impact on SOC stocks in the deeper soil layers.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Sonja Vospernik
Summary: The study found that the basal area increment of tree growth is influenced by factors such as tree size, competition, climate, soil, and species mixtures. Different tree species in the Austrian National Forest Inventory have varied responses to these factors. Shade-tolerant tree species are more susceptible to competition, while temperature and precipitation during the growing season are key climate factors affecting tree growth.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Robert Jandl, Georg Kindermann, Cecilie Foldal, Silvio Schiller, Christina Bouissou
Summary: This study investigated reforestation at high elevation sites, finding that seedlings are highly vulnerable and the choice of tree species is limited by the site conditions.
Article
Plant Sciences
Xiaoyang Song, Min Cao, Jieqiong Li, Roger L. Kitching, Akihiro Nakamura, Melinda J. Laidlaw, Yong Tang, Zhenhua Sun, Wenfu Zhang, Jie Yang
Summary: This study examined elevational patterns of tree diversity and composition in tropical, subtropical, and subalpine forests in Yunnan Province, China. It found that species diversity decreased with increasing elevation, and species composition varied significantly within all three climatic zones. Specific tree species had elevational preferences, but abundant species at specific elevations had limited recruitment in the understory. The major factors determining elevational distributions of tree species varied across climatic zones, with air temperature playing a larger role in subalpine areas and soil moisture in tropical regions.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marieke Scheel, Mats Lindeskog, Benjamin Smith, Susanne Suvanto, Thomas A. M. Pugh
Summary: This study explores the factors driving changes in tree mortality rates in Central Europe, including climate drivers, management, and age structure. The findings suggest that forest productivity and management play a significant role in impacting regional-scale patterns of tree mortality. The study also emphasizes the challenge of comparing tree mortality trends from different observation types.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Jianqing Wang, Jiaoyan Mao, Yunyan Tan, Shu Kee Lam, Qiling Guo, Xiuzhen Shi
Summary: This study investigated the impacts of seven sub-tropical tree species on soil nematode communities. It found that deciduous trees significantly increased the abundance of soil nematodes, and both evergreen and arbuscular mycorrhizal trees increased soil nematode diversity. Root traits and soil properties were the best predictors of the community composition of soil nematodes.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Esio de Castro Paes, Gustavo Vieira Veloso, Manoel Nelson de Castro Filho, Saulo Henrique Barroso, Elpidio Inacio Fernandes-Filho, Mauricio Paulo Ferreira Fontes, Emanuelle Merce s Barros Soares
Summary: Physical and chemical remediation techniques used in contaminated areas are expensive and damaging to the soil structure. Biological alternatives, such as phytoremediation, are economical and applicable to large areas. This study evaluates the ability of plant species adapted to Brazilian semi-arid conditions to grow in soils contaminated with Pb, and concludes that P. juliflora, A. peregrina, and U. ruziziensis are more suitable for cultivation in soils containing high levels of Pb.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Jie Lei, Hanbin Wu, Xiaoyan Li, Wenfu Guo, Aiguo Duan, Jianguo Zhang
Summary: Near-natural forest management has significant effects on the rhizosphere soil bacterial communities of Chinese fir plantations, improving soil properties and increasing bacterial abundance and diversity. Different tree species also influence the composition of rhizosphere soil bacterial communities.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2023)
Article
Forestry
A. S. Mathys, P. Brang, J. Stillhard, H. Bugmann, M. L. Hobi
Summary: This study assessed the tree population dynamics over the past 60 years in the Swiss forest reserve network, finding a general decline in the density of dominant species, particularly light-demanding species, but an increase in species richness, especially in the colline vegetation zone. Both species-specific ingrowth and tree mortality were influenced by stand density and climate variables.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Review
Forestry
Ranieri Ribeiro Paula, Miguel Calmon, Maria Leonor Lopes-Assad, Eduardo de Sa Mendonca
Summary: The research revealed that different types of forest restoration models exhibit variations in SOC storage globally, with natural regeneration models having the highest average SOC storage value. Factors such as climate, soil type, and vegetation type have significant impacts on SOC storage, and sandy soils generally have lower values of SOC storage.
JOURNAL OF FORESTRY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Markus Sallmannshofer, Debojyoti Chakraborty, Harald Vacik, Gabor Illes, Markus Loew, Andreas Rechenmacher, Katharina Lapin, Sophie Ette, Dejan Stojanovic, Andrej Kobler, Silvio Schueler
Summary: The study compared global and regional models of native riparian tree species in central to south-eastern Europe, highlighting the importance of soil predictors over bioclimatic variables. The results showed most species are predicted to decrease in future occurrence probability, potentially leading to significant loss for economically and ecologically important tree species.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Sebastian Roessert, Elizabeth Gosling, Markus Gandorfer, Thomas Knoke
Summary: This study investigates the potential of producing woody biomass through short rotation coppices (SRC) to help farmers reconcile economic profit maximization with ecological concerns. The results show that SRC has a positive impact on achieving economic objectives and can help reduce trade-offs between economic and ecological goals.
AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Vahid Nasiri, Seyed Mohammad Moein Sadeghi, Fardin Moradi, Samaneh Afshari, Azade Deljouei, Verena C. Griess, Carmen Maftei, Stelian Alexandru Borz
Summary: This study examines the potential of integrating Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data to map forest canopy cover in the Mediterranean oak forests of western Iran. The study finds that SVM produces the highest accuracy in mapping forest canopy cover, and the use of a three-year dataset improves the classification ability of all machine learning models.
ISPRS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEO-INFORMATION
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Rohit Arora, Taraneh Sowlati, Joel Mortyn, Dominik Roeser, Verena C. Griess
Summary: A mixed-integer linear programming model is developed in this paper to optimize the scheduling of harvesting activities, considering the precedence relationship among activities. The objective is to minimize the total costs by determining the start and end time of each activity at each cut block while considering machine movement time. The model is applied to a case study of a large forest company in British Columbia, Canada, with the result of a harvesting cost only 1.37% higher than the lowest possible cost and only 3 idle machines. A detailed harvesting schedule is generated based on the start and end time and operating time of each activity at each cut block.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOREST ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Remote Sensing
Martin Queinnec, Nicholas C. Coops, Joanne C. White, Verena C. Griess, Naomi B. Schwartz, Grant McCartney
Summary: In this study, dominant species groups in a large boreal forest were mapped by combining area-based and individual tree metrics derived from LiDAR data with multispectral information from Sentinel-2 imagery. The study found that variables such as reflectance in the red edge region, tree crown area and volume, and cumulative distribution of LiDAR returns in the canopy were important for discriminating between species groups.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF REMOTE SENSING
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Arne Pinnschmidt, Rasoul Yousefpour, Anja Nolte, Olman Murillo, Marc Hanewinkel
Summary: Tropical forest plantations are important for meeting global wood demand, and mixed-species plantations have ecological potential. However, research on the economic viability and management of these plantations is lacking. This study estimated the economic potential and optimized the management of commercial mixed-species plantations in Central America, finding that certain mixtures were highly profitable and could compete with monoculture plantations. The study also highlighted the additional ecosystem services provided by mixed-species plantations.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kathleen Coupland, David Hamilton, Verena Griess
Summary: This research demonstrates how the combination of high-resolution LiDAR data and historical aerial photos can overcome challenges in assessing long-term tree canopy cover changes. The methods outlined in this study are suitable for detecting small-scale canopy changes over long time frames when inconsistent data types are available between the two time periods.
Article
Economics
Thomas Knoke, Carola Paul, Elizabeth Gosling, Isabelle Jarisch, Johannes Mohr, Rupert Seidl
Summary: Given the drastic changes in the environment, quantifying the economic resilience of different forest management systems remains challenging. This study presents an analytical framework to quantify economic resilience and compares continuous cover forestry with clear fell system in Central Europe. The continuous cover system showed higher economic return and resilience, with faster economic recovery from disturbance compared to the clear fell system.
ENVIRONMENTAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mirela Beloiu, Lucca Heinzmann, Nataliia Rehush, Arthur Gessler, Verena C. Griess
Summary: The study successfully used the Convolutional Neural Network algorithm, Faster R-CNN, and open-source aerial RGB imagery to geolocate and identify four tree species in heterogeneous forests. The average detection accuracy of single-species models was 0.76, and the accuracy increased in multi-species models. The performance of the models was mainly influenced by forest stand structure.
Article
Ecology
Arne Pinnschmidt, Rasoul Yousefpour, Anja Noelte, Marc Hanewinkel
Summary: Tropical reforestation plays a crucial role in mitigating the climate crisis by storing carbon dioxide. Recent studies have suggested that mixed-species reforestation could be more economically and environmentally beneficial compared to monoculture plantations. Using a simulation-optimization approach, this study compared the economic and carbon sequestration performance of mixed-species stands and monocultures in Costa Rica. The results showed that mixed-species stands outperformed monocultures in terms of net present value and carbon sequestration potential, suggesting that tropical mixed-species plantations can be a competitive alternative to monocultures.
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Sandrine Breteau-Amores, Rasoul Yousefpour, Marc Hanewinkel, Mathieu Fortin
Summary: This article compares different forest adaptation strategies based on stand diversification from an economic perspective to reduce risks of dieback caused by extreme drought and windstorms. The efficiency of the strategies was tested individually and combined through a simulation study, evaluating financial loss and reduction of carbon sequestration capacity. Results showed that diversification increased timber production and economic value, but reduced carbon storage. The study highlights the importance of integrating multiple risks in forest management instead of investigating them individually.
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Juan Carlos Zamora-Pereira, Marc Hanewinkel, Rasoul Yousefpour
Summary: Robust decision-making in forestry is important for reducing the risk of environmental damage and economic losses. This study proposes a methodology to identify robust drought adaptive strategies. The analysis found that an early active strategy would increase the net present value (NPV) while a highly-intense reactive strategy would have minimal losses. The study concludes that drought adaptation in forestry should occur sooner rather than later, considering constant revision.
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anja Noelte, Rasoul Yousefpour, Miguel Cifuentes-Jara, Marc Hanewinkel
Summary: Tropical reforestation is a powerful tool for carbon sequestration, but climate change impacts on productivity are often overlooked. Using a forest growth model, the study analyzed future productivity and found that temperature increase can lead to significant declines in productivity across tropical lowland climate zones. High-emission scenarios could reduce reforestation effectiveness as a climate action tool.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Thomas Knoke, Nick Hanley, Rosa Maria Roman-Cuesta, Ben Groom, Frank Venmans, Carola Paul
Summary: Understanding the factors contributing to forest losses is important for climate policies. This study simulates land-use decisions driven by market forces and identifies the trends, temporal variation, and social value of forest losses. Reducing global forest losses is essential for mitigating climate change.
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Robin Bourke, Rasoul Yousefpour, Marc Hanewinkel
Summary: By calibrating and validating a forest growth model for seven species in Germany and coupling it with a wind damage simulator, the study estimated the impact of wind damage on the net present value of Norway spruce and European beech in mixture and monoculture. The results showed that spruce management saw the sharpest declines in net present value under risk, while a heavily thinned spruce monoculture still obtained the highest end net present value.
ANNALS OF FOREST SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Remote Sensing
Vahid Nasiri, Mirela Beloiu, Ali Asghar Darvishsefat, Verena C. Griess, Carmen Maftei, Lars T. Waser
Summary: Tree species composition (TSC) is important for forest planning, biodiversity conservation, and forest resources management, but accurate information is lacking, especially for mixed forests and remote areas. This study develops a robust method for mapping TSC in a mixed temperate forest, using satellite time series, spectral-temporal features, and machine learning algorithms.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION
(2023)