scholarly journals WILDFIRES AS A FACTOR OF THE LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY AND FUNCTIONS OF FOREST ECOSYSTEMS

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-76
Author(s):  
A. P. Geraskina ◽  
◽  
D. N. Tebenkova ◽  
D. V. Ershov ◽  
E. V. Ruchinskaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Reference Analysis ◽  
Living Organisms

Due to ever-increasing anthropogenic impact and global climate change, wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense all over the world. The wildfire factor is turning into an acute problem for forested countries that requires prompt solutions as the areas of forest ecosystems are reducing catastrophically, which results in an irreparable loss of biodiversity that provides all ecosystem functions and forest services. Many biologists consider wildfires a factor destructive to biota that results in permanent loss of some species and groups of living organisms; even if it is possible for them to recover after a wildfire, they may need a lot of time to do so. However, some studies argue that not only do wildfires reduce the biodiversity in forest ecosystems, but they also increase it, thus contributing to species conservation and sustainable functioning of forests. This article is aimed at analyzing the works that study how wildfires impact the main components, biodiversity, and functions of forest ecosystems. The authors answer the question why wildfires, while being an obvious destruction factor, are sometimes considered a factor for increase in biodiversity. The “positive” influence wildfires have on biodiversity can mostly be reduced to mosaic patterns, that is, forest canopy gaps that occur after a wildfire. However, reference analysis shows that the persistent opinion found in a number of works that a certain frequency of wildfires is necessary to maintain forest communities may be associated with ignored or misunderstood importance of biotic factors in the functioning of forests. In contemporary forest ecosystems, populations of key large mammal species disappeared or are greatly reduced; therefore, there are no microsites they usually form, including large forest canopy leaps (gaps, glades) that provide both opportunities for photophilous flora and pollinating insects to develop and generally sufficient conditions for multi-aged polydominant forest ecosystems with high biodiversity. In the forestry practice, measures are known to maintain mosaics. They include special types of felling, supporting populations of key animal species, etc., and are both significantly less catastrophic in comparison with the wildfire factor and substantiated biologically. The authors provide recommendations for the conservation and maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem functions in contemporary forests.

scholarly journals Impact of global climate change and fire on the occurrence and function of understorey legumes in forest ecosystems

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédérique Reverchon ◽  
Zhihong Xu ◽  
Timothy J. Blumfield ◽  
Chengrong Chen ◽  
Kadum M. Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
And Function

scholarly journals Spatial Variation in Canopy Structure across Forest Landscapes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brady S. Hardiman ◽  
Elizabeth A. LaRue ◽  
Jeff W. Atkins ◽  
Robert T. Fahey ◽  
Franklin W. Wagner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temperate Forest ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Canopy Structure ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Lidar System ◽  
Stable Point ◽  
Eastern Usa ◽  
Forested Landscapes ◽  
Patch Scale

Forest canopy structure (CS) controls many ecosystem functions and is highly variable across landscapes, but the magnitude and scale of this variation is not well understood. We used a portable canopy lidar system to characterize variation in five categories of CS along N = 3 transects (140–800 m long) at each of six forested landscapes within the eastern USA. The cumulative coefficient of variation was calculated for subsegments of each transect to determine the point of stability for individual CS metrics. We then quantified the scale at which CS is autocorrelated using Moran’s I in an Incremental Autocorrelation analysis. All CS metrics reached stable values within 300 m but varied substantially within and among forested landscapes. A stable point of 300 m for CS metrics corresponds with the spatial extent that many ecosystem functions are measured and modeled. Additionally, CS metrics were spatially autocorrelated at 40 to 88 m, suggesting that patch scale disturbance or environmental factors drive these patterns. Our study shows CS is heterogeneous across temperate forest landscapes at the scale of 10’s of meters, requiring a resolution of this size for upscaling CS with remote sensing to large spatial scales.

European Forest Management Portfolios Optimized for Uncertain Future Climate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantin Gregor ◽  
Thomas Knoke ◽  
Andreas Krause ◽  
Mats Lindeskog ◽  
Anja Rammig
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Climate Scenarios ◽  
Wide Range

<p>Forests are considered a major player in climate change mitigation since they influence local and global climate through biogeochemical and biogeophysical feedbacks. However, they are themselves vulnerable to future environmental changes. Thus, forest management needs to focus on both mitigation and adaptation. The special challenge is that decisions on management strategies must be taken today while still a broad range of emission pathways is possible, and a good decision regarding one assumed pathway might turn out to be a bad decision when a different one materializes.</p><p>With our study we try to aid this decision-making process by finding management portfolios that provide relevant ecosystem functions such as local and global climate regulation, water availability, flood protection, and timber production for a wide range of future climate scenarios. To simulate according ecosystem processes and functions, we run the dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS for the most relevant forest types across Europe for four different RCPs and five different management options. We analyze our simulation outputs using robust optimization techniques to determine optimal forest management portfolios for each 0.5° grid cell in Europe that ensure a balanced provision of all considered ecosystem functions in the future under any of the four RCPs.</p><p>Generally, our simulations and optimizations show that diversified management portfolios are most suitable to provide the set of considered ecosystem functions in all climate scenarios everywhere in Europe. While the portfolios show different compositions in different regions, they are quite similar in adjacent grid cells. The suggested future forest composition in Europe tends to be fairly close to present day values except for Northern Europe where a much higher proportion of deciduous types is proposed.</p><p>Management as high forest (trees emerging from seeds) remains the most important form of management. The proposed share of coppice management is much higher in Central and Northern Europe (~20%) than in Southern Europe, where its disadvantages (e.g., high water consumption and its non-suitability to provide long-lived wood products) are more pronounced.</p><p>A succession of ~30% of managed forest to natural forest is proposed by the optimization as it provides highest carbon storage and surface roughness values. However, this infeasibly high share is reduced if the provision of wood harvest is valued higher in the optimization compared to the other ecosystem functions.</p><p>Current public focus on forests lies often on their potential for carbon sequestration, but future forest management must also address the other services that they provide. This work gives insights on how this may be done.</p>

scholarly journals Mitigating Effects of Climate Change and Deforestation on Bees With Respect to Their Ecology and Biology

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Musiliyu Oladipupo Mustafa ◽  
Olubusola Temitope Adeoye ◽  
Folorunso Ishaq Abdulalzeez ◽  
Olukayode Dare Akinyemi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Royal Jelly ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Tropical Rainforests ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Honey Production ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Populous Country

<p>Deforestation occurs around the world; though tropical rainforests are particularly targeted, it is considered to be one of the contributing factors to global climate change. While Nigeria is probably best known today for its oil deposits, according to the World Resources Institute, Nigeria is home to 4,715 different types of plant species, and over 550 species of breeding birds and mammals, making it one of the most ecologically vibrant places of the planet. It is also one of the most populous country with appalling deforestation record. This situation is hence making our ecosystems, biodiversity, agriculture and other natural endowments highly unsecured. The Forest provides excellent resources for bees and beekeeping, and bees are a vital part of forest ecosystems. Bees are essential for sustaining our environment because they</p><p>Pollinate flowering plants and conserves biological biodiversity along with their products (honey, propolis, bee wax, royal jelly and bee venom) which are beneficial to man. Conservation of the forest is therefore imperative for sustainable beekeeping. The study reviews the different causes of climate change and how they affect different natural forest activities which are weather-dependent. Also how climate change and other causes (both natural and man-made) lead to deforestation, which in turn distort sustainable honey production in Nigeria. Different sustainable measures hoped to alleviate the effects of climate change and deforestation where also discussed. </p>

scholarly journals Characterizing Tree Spatial Distribution Patterns Using Discrete Aerial Lidar Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaofei Wang ◽  
Guang Zheng ◽  
Zengxin Yun ◽  
L. Monika Moskal
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Point Processes ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Pair Correlation ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Spatial Distribution Patterns ◽  
Water Cycles

Tree spatial distribution patterns such as random, regular, and clustered play a crucial role in numerical simulations of carbon and water cycles and energy exchanges between forest ecosystems and the atmosphere. An efficient approach is needed to characterize tree spatial distribution patterns quantitatively. This study aims to employ increasingly available aerial laser scanning (ALS) data to capture individual tree locations and further characterize their spatial distribution patterns at the landscape or regional levels. First, we use the pair correlation function to identify the categories (i.e., random, regular, and clustered) of tree spatial distribution patterns, and then determine the unknown parameters of statistical models used for approximating each tree spatial distribution pattern using ALS-based metrics. After applying the proposed method in both natural and urban forest sites, our results show that ALS-based tree crown radii can capture 58%–77% (p < 0.001) variations of visual-based measurements depending on forest types and densities. The root mean squared errors (RMSEs) of ALS-based tree locations increase from 1.46 m to 2.51 m as the forest densities increasing. The Poisson, soft-core, and hybrid-Gibbs point processes are determined as the optimal models to approximate random, regular, and clustered tree spatial distribution patterns, respectively. This work provides a solid foundation for improving the simulation accuracy of forest canopy bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) and further obtain a better understanding of the processes of carbon and water cycles of forest ecosystems.

scholarly journals Ectomycorrhizal Fungi: Participation in Nutrient Turnover and Community Assembly Pattern in Forest Ecosystems

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 453
Author(s):  
Yanjiao Liu ◽  
Xiangzhen Li ◽  
Yongping Kou
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Nutrient Cycling ◽  
Ectomycorrhizal Fungi ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Fenton Chemistry ◽  
Soil P ◽  
Historical Factors

Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcMF) are involved in soil nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. These fungi can promote the uptake of nutrients (e.g., nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)) and water by host plants, as well as facilitate host plant growth and resistance to stresses and diseases, thereby maintaining the aboveground primary productivity of forest ecosystems. Moreover, EcMF can acquire the carbon (C) sources needed for their growth from the host plants. The nutrient regulation mechanisms of EcMF mainly include the decay of soil organic matter via enzymatic degradation, nonenzymatic mechanism (Fenton chemistry), and priming effects, which in turn promote C and N cycling. At the same time, EcMF can secrete organic acids and phosphatases to improve the availability of soil P, or increase mycelium inputs to facilitate plant acquisition of P. The spatiotemporal distribution of EcMF is influenced by a combination of historical factors and contemporary environmental factors. The community of EcMF is associated with various factors, such as climate change, soil conditions, and host distribution. Under global climate change, investigating the relationships between the nutrient cycling functions of EcMF communities and their distribution patterns under various spatiotemporal scales is conducive to more accurate assessments of the ecological effects of EcMF on the sustainable development of forest.

Responses of woody Cerrado species to rising atmospheric CO2 concentration and water stress: gains and losses

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 1183 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Paulo Souza ◽  
Nayara M. J. Melo ◽  
Eduardo G. Pereira ◽  
Alessandro D. Halfeld ◽  
Ingrid N. Gomes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Elevated Co2 ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Net Photosynthesis ◽  
Co2 Concentration ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
High Co2 ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 Concentration

The rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration ([CO2]) has been accompanied by changes in other environmental factors of global climate change, such as drought. Tracking the early growth of plants under changing conditions can determine their ecophysiological adjustments and the consequences for ecosystem functions. This study investigated long-term ecophysiological responses in three woody Cerrado species: Hymenaea stigonocarpa Mart. ex Hayne, Solanum lycocarpum A. St.-Hil. and Tabebuia aurea (Silva Manso) Benth. and Hook. f. ex S. Moore, grown under ambient and elevated [CO2]. Plants were grown for 515 days at ambient (430 mg dm–3) or elevated [CO2] (700 mg dm–3). Some plants were also subjected to water stress to investigate the synergy between atmospheric [CO2] and soil water availability, and its effect on plant growth. All three species showed an increase in maximum net photosynthesis (PN) and chlorophyll index under high [CO2]. Transpiration decreased in some species under high [CO2] despite daily watering and a corresponding increase in water use efficiency was observed. Plants grown under elevated [CO2] and watered daily had greater leaf area and total biomass production than plants under water stress and ambient [CO2]. The high chlorophyll and PN in cerrado plants grown under elevated [CO2] are an investment in light use and capture and higher Rubisco carboxylation rate, respectively. The elevated [CO2] had a positive influence on biomass accumulation in the cerrado species we studied, as predicted for plants under high [CO2]. So, even with water stress, Cerrado species under elevated [CO2] had better growth.

A novel ice storm manipulation experiment in a northern hardwood forest

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (10) ◽  
pp. 1810-1818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey E. Rustad ◽  
John L. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Canopy Openness ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Ice Storm ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Ice Storms

Ice storms are an important natural disturbance within forest ecosystems of the northeastern United States. Current models suggest that the frequency and severity of ice storms may increase in the coming decades in response to changes in climate. Because of the stochastic nature of ice storms and difficulties in predicting their occurrence, most past investigations of the ecological effects of ice storms across this region have been based on case studies following major storms. Here we report on a novel alternative approach where a glaze ice event was created experimentally under controlled conditions at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA. Water was sprayed over a northern hardwood forest canopy during February 2011, resulting in 7–12 mm radial ice thickness. Although this is below the minimum cutoff for ice storm warnings (13 mm of ice) issued by the US National Weather Service for the northeastern United States, this glaze ice treatment resulted in significant canopy damage, with 142 and 218 g C·m–2 of fine and coarse woody debris (respectively) deposited on the forest floor, a significant increase in leaf-on canopy openness, and increases in qualitative damage assessments following the treatment. This study demonstrates the feasibility of a relatively simple approach to simulating an ice storm and underscores the potency of this type of extreme event in shaping the future structure and function of northern hardwood forest ecosystems.

Comparative Analysis of Different Forest Ecosystems Response to Global Climate Change and Economic Activity

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana Dorzhievna Puntsukova ◽  
Bair Octyabrevich Gomboev ◽  
Margarita Ramilievna Akhmetzyanova ◽  
Tsogtbatar Jamsran ◽  
Tsendesuren Dagdan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Global Climate

Ancillary Benefits of Climate Policy / Sekundäre Nutzen der Klimapolitik

2004 ◽  
Vol 224 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anil Markandya ◽  
Dirk T.G. Rübbelke
Keyword(s):  
Climate Policy ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Climate Protection ◽  
Ancillary Benefits ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Ghg Reduction ◽  
Quantitative Results ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Reduction Cost

SummaryThe benefits of climate policy normally consist exclusively of the reduced impacts of climate change, i.e., the policy’s primary aim. Our analysis of benefits of climate policy suggests, however, that researchers and policymakers should also take account of ancillary benefits, e.g., in the shape of improved air quality induced by climate protection measures. A consideration of both, primary and ancillary benefits, has a positive influence on global climate protection efforts, e.g., because the regional impact of ancillary effects attenuates easy-riding motives of countries with respect to their provision of climate protection. In this article, we analyze the nature of ancillary benefits, present an overview of European assessment studies and explain possible methods to estimate ancillary benefits. Main differences between primary and ancillary benefits are pointed out. Furthermore, we stress the major influences of ancillary benefits on climate policy. Finally, we present one of the first models integrating primary and ancillary benefits. By this model quantitative results are calculated with respect to ancillary benefits in the UK considering different greenhouse gas (GHG) control levels. It is observed that the ancillary benefits could cover about 4 percent of the full GHG reduction cost.

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