This paper describes an open-source geographical information system (GIS) called Whitebox Geospatial Analysis Tools (Whitebox GAT). Whitebox GAT was designed to provide a platform for the rapid ...development and testing of experimental geospatial analysis methods, supported by its extensible design, integrated facilities for custom plug-in tool authoring, and its novel open-access design philosophy. One of the unique characteristics of Whitebox GAT is the ease with which users can inspect and modify the algorithms for individual geoprocessing tools. The open-access software model that Whitebox GAT adopts is designed to lessen the barriers that are often imposed on end-users when attempting to gain deeper understanding of how a specific function operates. While Whitebox GAT has an extensive range of GIS and remote sensing analytical capabilities, making it broadly suited for advanced scientific research applications in the Earth Sciences, this paper focusses on the software's application in the field of geomorphometry. An airborne LiDAR data set for a small headwater catchment of the Missisquoi River in northern Vermont, USA, was filtered to identify ground-points and then interpolated into a 2.0m resolution bare-Earth DEM. The DEM was processed to remove spurious off-ground objects (mainly buildings), to reduce surface roughness under heavy forest cover, and to hydrologically pre-condition the DEM. These data were then used to extract salient hydrological structures, i.e. the stream network and their associated sub-basins.
•A new open-source geographical information system is introduced.•Whitebox is a platform for developing and testing geospatial analysis techniques.•The open-access project model facilitates experimenting with existing functionality.•The paper demonstrates Whitebox GAT's capabilities for geomorphometric processing.•The hydrological structure of a small catchment is modeled using LiDAR data.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
The article discusses the concept of the draft Federal Law of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation put forward by the CEPL staff. The timeliness of such a discussion by the wide professional ...community is recognized. Proposals are being made to change a number of provisions of the Concept. It is proposed to clarify the status of “wild forests”. The thesis about the inadmissibility of leaving the cutting areas of oak forests for natural overgrowth is emphasized, which leads to the transformation of strategically valuable oak formations of the Central Black Earth Region into significantly less valuable deciduous forests without his participation. The authors support the position on the unacceptability of the existing model of private forest management, which leads to “deterioration of the state of forests, reduction of their economic and ecological potential.” A number of proposals are being made to improve the country’s forestry. It is proposed to restore the Ministry of Forestry, transfer the use of forest resources to state forestry enterprises, staffed with personnel, equipment and machinery for the production of all types of forestry work. To add to the section on the indefinite use of forest plots, research institutions, educational institutions, in the use of which there are forest plots for long-term research. It is necessary to exclude other types of use of forest areas (for example, hunting use), where research or educational activities are carried out.
This paper provides a perspective for comparing trade-offs between harvested wood flows and forest carbon stocks with different forest management regimes. A constant management regime applied to a ...forest area with an even age-class distribution leads to a steady state, in which the annual harvest and carbon stocks remain constant over time. As both are desirable – carbon stocks for mitigating climate change and harvests for the economic use of wood and displacing fossil fuels – an ideal strategy should be chosen from a set of management regimes that are Pareto-optimal in the sense of multi-criteria decision-making. When choosing between Pareto-optimal alternatives, the trade-off between carbon stock and harvests is unavoidable. This trade-off can be described e.g. in terms of carbon payback times or carbon returns.
As numerical examples, we present steady-state harvest levels and carbon stocks in a Finnish boreal forest region for different rotation periods, thinning intensities and collection patterns for harvest residues. In the set of simulated management practices, harvest residue collection presents the most favorable trade-off with payback times around 30–40 years; while Pareto-optimal changes in rotation or thinnings exhibited payback times over 100 years, or alternatively carbon returns below 1%. By extending the rotation period and using less-intensive thinnings compared to current practices, the steady-state carbon stocks could be increased by half while maintaining current harvest levels. Additional cases with longer rotation periods should be also considered, but were here excluded due to the lack of reliable data on older forest stands.
•A method is presented to compare the climate impacts of forest management scenarios at regional level.•The steady-state carbon balance is assumed to be the best criteria for climate benefits of managed forests in longer term.•The study is based on comparison of commercial forestry practices representing Southern Finland.•The forest carbon stocks could be 1.5 – 2 times higher than at present without diminishing harvest.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico on the 6th and 20th of September 2017, respectively. These two powerful Cat 5 hurricanes severely defoliated forest canopy and deposited massive amounts ...of litterfall in the forests across the island. We established a 1-ha research plot in each of four forests (Guánica State Forest, Río Abajo State Forest, Guayama Research Area and Luquillo Experiment Forest) before September 2016, and had collected one full year data of litterfall production prior to the arrival of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Hurricane-induced litterfall was collected within one week after Hurricane Irma, and within two weeks after Hurricane Maria. Each litterfall sample was sorted into leaves, wood (branches and barks), reproductive organs (flowers, fruits and seeds) and miscellaneous materials (mostly dead animal bodies or feces) after oven-drying to constant weight. Annual litterfall production prior to the arrival of Hurricanes Irma and Maria varied from 4.68 to 25.41 Mg/ha/year among the four forests, and annual litterfall consisted of 50–81% leaffall, 16–44% woodfall and 3–6% fallen reproductive organs. Hurricane Irma severely defoliated the Luquillo Experimental Forest, but had little effect on the other three forests, whereas Hurricane Maria defoliated all four forests. Total hurricane-induced litterfall from Hurricanes Irma and Maria amounted to 95–171% of the annual litterfall production, with leaffall and woodfall from hurricanes amounting to 63–88% and 122–763% of their corresponding annual leaffall and woodfall, respectively. Hurricane-induced litterfall consisted of 30–45% leaves and 55–70% wood. Our data showed that Hurricanes Irma and Maria deposited a pulse of litter deposition equivalent to or more than the total annual litterfall input with at least a doubled fraction of woody materials. This pulse of hurricane-induced debris and elevated proportion of woody component may trigger changes in biogeochemical processes and soil communities in these Puerto Rican forests.
Achmad B, Diniyati D. 2018. The income structure of smallholder forest farmers in rural Sumbawa, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 19: 936-946. This research investigated the economic well-being of forest ...farmers in Labuhan Badas Village, Sumbawa regency of Indonesia. It aimed: (i) to describe the daily economic activities of community-based forest (HKm) farmers who reside inside the state forest and of farmers in privately owned forest (POF) who reside outside the state forest areas; and (ii) to analyse their income structure in relation to the corresponding economic activities. The research was conducted from August 2015 to April 2016. The survey sample consisted of 34 HKm and 34 POF farmers who were selected purposively. Data collected through interview and focus group discussion techniques were analyzed descriptively. The research determined that the incomes of HKm farmers were generated from14 sources, mainly from activities in the non-agricultural sector, while those for POF farmers were generated from 12 sources mainly from activities in the agricultural sector. The total income of HKm farmers was significantly lower than the income of POF farmers and indicated a moderate level of economic disadvantage. The economic welfare of farmers in both research locations has been assessed to be below an adequate level. Therefore various economic innovations such as the cultivation of honey bees and the processing of unused potential resources (e.g. making wine from cashew fruit) are needed to accelerate the attainment of a decent level of economic well-being
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) decline disease, decreased growth, and regeneration failure have been related to a low supply of Ca and Mg. There is increased interest in augmenting cation ...availability via liming, but there is little information on the amounts of lime required and the longevity of the lime treatment. A single application of 22.4 Mg ha‐1 of dolomitic limestone in 1985 at four forested sites in Potter County, PA has shown that soil, soil water, and sugar maple foliage chemistry are significantly altered by liming and the changes in soils and foliage persist as long as 21‐yr post‐treatment. By 2001, only 3 kg ha‐1 of lime remained undissolved while increases in exchangeable Ca and Mg, and pH continued through 2006 at depths up to 35 to 45 cm. Exchangeable Mn and Al concentrations were significantly reduced by lime application, though effects were slower to develop at deeper depths. Soil solution chemistry from 1996 was highly variable but reflected the changed soil nutrients. On limed plots, sugar maple foliage had elevated concentrations of Ca and Mg in 2006 samples, indicating the persistence of the lime treatment. Comparison of Ca/Al ratios in soil solution, soils, and foliage show inconsistencies from previous published risk thresholds. Species‐specific thresholds of Ca and Mg availability in soil and foliage have better potential management application and should be more rigorously tested as stress indicators.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
This study was carried out to determine the opinions of forest engineers about the importance of marketing for business management and its structure in forestry enterprises. Within the scope of the ...research, the opinions of forest engineers and companies that are in the position of customers were also compared on some issues regarding the structure of the marketing function in forest enterprises. The data of research were collected through literature and documentation analysis, observation, interview and survey techniques. 410 people participated in the online survey conducted for forest engineers working in the public or private sector. The survey for companies purchasing products from the Isparta Regional Directorate of Forestry was conducted face-to-face with 59 company officials. Basic statistical tests, chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test were used in the analysis of the research data. According to the research findings; It has been determined that the effects of the production concept, which is the first stage of the marketing development processes, have rather decreased, and that marketing has started to be given more importance especially in terms of promotion efforts. However, there are also important shortcomings such as the lack of importance to non-wood products and services, the problems in the pricing and sales of forest products etc.
The aim of this research is to assess the current status, potential and problems of human resources for forestry in municipal state forest management institutions (MSFMIs) of Kazakhstan. A total of ...120 MSFMIs are functional in Kazakhstan, with almost 5.5 thousand employees, of which 6.1% are women. Overall 63% are foresters, 13% are masters of the wood, 13% are engineers of forestry of all categories, 7% are forest wardens and 4% are directors. The quality of education of forest workers also varies and a minority of forest workers has a higher education. The scenario also suggested that almost 3000 specialists had taken up the advanced training courses from 2003 to 2019. According to a survey of employees of the MSFMIs of two pilot oblasts (Almaty and East Kazakhstan), the average age of an employee is 44.7 years and 79.2% of employees have a work experience of up to 15 years. The main issues and difficulties observed in the work of MSFMIs staff were low wages, lack of modern technique and equipment for forest service, lack of systematic continuing education of employees, poor quality of education, as well as staff turnover, especially foresters, which consequently affects their professional level.
The share of forest resources of the Far East accounts for 43 % of the forest area and 33 % of the timber reserves of the Russian Federation. In general, the Far East federal district has the largest ...forest resources among regions of Russia, while the Far East forests are an important factor in the ecological sustainability of the territory. A significant part of forest complex of the Far East federal district has been developed and transformed. Forests are mainly represented by conifer tree species, the share of clear cuts in the region is relatively small, 45 % of forest fund lands are classified as exploitable, and the allowable cut by regions is developed to 56 %. The dynamics of timber harvesting has a steady downward trend (compared to 2015 in 2019 decrease in volumes is 359.3 thousand m3), care felling is 6 % of the total share of actually harvested marketable timber. The areas of untimely inventory (forest planning) of forest lands exceed 75 %, while the wooded area of the territory is 60.5 % as a whole. The main threat to the preservation of forest fund of the Far East federal district is represented by fires (they tend to grow annually in number and area), clearcutting, which are carried out in most regions in the forests, where they are impractical, and illegal logging (annual damage is estimated at hundreds of millions of rubles, and the share of persons brought to criminal responsibility in relation to the number of initiated criminal cases does not exceed 31 %). Subjects reports on the volumes of reforestation mainly due to natural reforestation, with an insignificant share of agrotechnical maintenance. Article attempts to analyze the data of official statistics (Execution..., 2020), in order to identify the characteristic contemporary trends in the development of the situation in the state of the forest fund of the Far East.
Forest cover plays an important role in terms of biodiversity and the environment. The Beni Salah national forest in its part which is located in the Guelma province in the extreme northeast ...of Algeria is an illustrative example where forest fires represent the chronic phenomenon which weighs heavily on this forest. The present study comes after a forest fire that occurred in 2021, when 3 000 ha of this forest were ravaged by forest fires according to the conservation of forests of Guelma. The main objective of this research is to map the severity of burns and estimate the severely burned area using Sentinel-2 satellite images based on remote sensing indices such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Differenced Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (dNDVI), Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR), Differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR), Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GNDVI), Differenced Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (dGNDVI), Burn Area Index (BAI) and Relativized Burn Ratio (RBR). The result obtained revealed that 28.23% of the study area represents a seriously burned area. The established burn severity map is a real decision-making tool, but it still has certain limitations.
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