scholarly journals Combining Landscape Fire Simulations with Stand-Level Growth Simulations to Assist Landowners in Building Wildfire-Resilient Landscapes

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1498
Author(s):  
Susana Barreiro ◽  
Akli Benali ◽  
João C. P. Rua ◽  
Margarida Tomé ◽  
José L. Santos ◽  
...  

The wildfire regime in Portugal has been responsible for millions of hectares of burnt area, and Alvares parish is no exception. In 2017, a severe wildfire burnt 60% of its area. Land abandonment has been increasing since the mid 20th century, and a large fraction of the forest area belongs to quasi-absent landowners. This has given rise to large, almost unbroken expanses of undermanaged forests that, in combination with rugged topography, originates a landscape prone to large, intense wildfires. Thus, a change in landscape composition and structure capable of reducing flammability and promoting fuel discontinuity is urgently needed. A fire spread simulator and a forest growth simulator were combined to show the impact of improving management at landscape level. It was assumed that the probability of large wildfires may be reduced by setting aside forest area for the implementation of a fuel break network (FBN) and increasing the area under sustainable forest management. Three levels of management intensity were simulated by restricting the area of Quasi-absent non-industrial owners to 34.5%, 20.1%, and 8.5% of the Alvares forest area, in favor of increasing the area of active and semi-active non-industrial owners (current, moderate, and high management scenarios). Different FBN extents, representing four levels of network implementation priority were combined with the management levels, resulting in 12 scenarios. To evaluate the impact of fire, simulations assuming no-fire, no-FBN, and current management intensity were performed, whereas the impact of operation costs was assessed assuming reduced costs for silvicultural operations. Per hectare simulations were then scaled up to the parish level and volume harvested and net present values were used to compare the management improvement scenarios. Results showed that fire has major repercussions on forest income, but these impacts can be minimized. Intensifying forest management and implementing the first priority FBN segments originated substantial improvements in financial outcome from timber production, close to those obtained for the full FBN implementation. Results also evidenced contrasting contributions from industrial and non-industrial owners with the later evidencing unbalanced cash-flows derailing the possibility for interesting forest incomes. The coupling of fire and forest growth simulations can be an interesting approach to assess the impact of different management and policy scenarios and inform policies.

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. eR002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe Bravo ◽  
Marek Fabrika ◽  
Christian Ammer ◽  
Susana Barreiro ◽  
Kamil Bielak ◽  
...  

Aim of study: Modelling of forest growth and dynamics has focused mainly on pure stands. Mixed-forest management lacks systematic procedures to forecast the impact of silvicultural actions. The main objective of the present work is to review current knowledge and forest model developments that can be applied to mixed forests.Material and methods: Primary research literature was reviewed to determine the state of the art for modelling tree species mixtures, focusing mainly on temperate forests.Main results: The essential principles for predicting stand growth in mixed forests were identified. Forest model applicability in mixtures was analysed. Input data, main model components, output and viewers were presented. Finally, model evaluation procedures and some of the main model platforms were described.Research highlights: Responses to environmental changes and management activities in mixed forests can differ from pure stands. For greater insight into mixed-forest dynamics and ecology, forest scientists and practitioners need new theoretical frameworks, different approaches and innovative solutions for sustainable forest management in the context of environmental and social changes.Keywords: dynamics, ecology, growth, yield, empirical, classification.


2000 ◽  
Vol 151 (12) ◽  
pp. 502-507
Author(s):  
Christian Küchli

Are there any common patterns in the transition processes from traditional and more or less sustainable forest management to exploitative use, which can regularly be observed both in central Europe and in the countries of the South (e.g. India or Indonesia)? Attempts were made with a time-space-model to typify those force fields, in which traditional sustainable forest management is undermined and is then transformed into a modern type of sustainable forest management. Although it is unlikely that the history of the North will become the future of the South, the glimpse into the northern past offers a useful starting point for the understanding of the current situation in the South, which in turn could stimulate the debate on development. For instance, the patterns which stand behind the conflicts on forest use in the Himalayas are very similar to the conflicts in the Alps. In the same way, the impact of socio-economic changes on the environment – key word ‹globalisation› – is often much the same. To recognize comparable patterns can be very valuable because it can act as a stimulant for the search of political, legal and technical solutions adapted to a specific situation. For the global community the realization of the way political-economic alliances work at the head of the ‹globalisationwave›can only signify to carry on trying to find a common language and understanding at the negotiation tables. On the lee side of the destructive breaker it is necessary to conserve and care for what survived. As it was the case in Switzerland these forest islands could once become the germination points for the genesis of a cultural landscape, where close-to-nature managed forests will constitute an essential element.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 79-91
Author(s):  
Syaifullah Yophi Ardiyanto ◽  
Tengku Arif Hidayat

Riau Province as one of the provinces in Indonesia with quite complex environmental problems, especially the problem of forest destruction and peat ecosystems, the impact of which is one of the largest contributors to the forest and land fire disaster that occurred in Indonesia. Forest and land fires continue every year, but law enforcement against perpetrators of forest and land fires. Law enforcement against perpetrators of forest and land burning is very important considering that one of the causes of forest and land destruction is the occurrence of fires or burning of forests and land before the use of the forest and land. This is important considering that one of the requirements for realizing Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) really depends on the conditions of policies, laws and institutions, all of which are included in Good Forestry Governance. The main cause of poor forest management is the failure of policies, laws and institutions. Weak forestry institutions cannot enforce laws and regulations related to forestry. Abstrak Provinsi Riau sebagai salah satu provinsi di Indonesia dengan persoalan lingkungan hidup yang cukup kompleks, khususnya persoalan kerusakan hutan dan ekosistem gambut yang dampaknya sebagai salah satu provinsi penyumbang terbesar bencana kebakaran hutan dan lahan yang terjadi di Indonesia. Kebakaran hutan dan lahan setiap tahun terus saja terjadi, namun penegakan hukum terhadap pelaku pembakaran hutan dan lahan. Penegakan hukum terhadap pelaku pembakaran hutan dan lahan menjadi hal yang sangat penting mengingat salah satu penyebab kerusakan hutan dan lahan adalah terjadinya kebakaran atau dibakarnya hutan dan lahan sebelum hutan dan lahan tersebut digunakan. Hal ini menjadi penting mengingat salah satu syarat mewujudkan Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) sangat tergantung pada kondisi kebijakan, hukum dan institusi, yang semuanya itu tercakup dalam Good Forestry Governance. Penyebab utama manajemen hutan yang buruk adalah tidak berjalannya kebijakan, hukum dan kelembagaan. Lembaga kehutanan yang lemah tidak bisa menegakkan hukum dan peraturan perundang-undangan terkait kehutanan.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-308
Author(s):  
P.W. Chirwa ◽  
J.M. Kamwi ◽  
G. Kabia ◽  
L. Makhubele ◽  
W. Sagona ◽  
...  

The objective of the study was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainable forest management in southern Africa. The study employed a targeted approach, also referred to as purposive sampling, to select respondents from the various sectors. The results show that COVID-19 had an 80% impact on forest management operations. The COVID-19 pandemic did not have a significant effect on the conversion of land from forest to other land uses. However, there was severe illegal logging and moderate to severe fires. The COVID-19 pandemic also had a severe impact on the agriculture, environment and ecotourism sectors, with nature reserves completely closed. From the forest production perspective, the impact of COVID-19 on production, supply, demand and the price of timber was generally low due to the commercial nature of the forestry sector in South Africa; the largest economy in SADC being classified as an essential sector.


Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roswin B. Valenzuela ◽  
Youn Yeo-Chang ◽  
Mi Sun Park ◽  
Jung-Nam Chun

Participatory forest management has been considered as a practical and effective strategy for sustainable forest management, especially in situations where land tenure is not securely settled. For effective forest restoration, local communities, as the cornerstone of participatory management, should be provided with incentives to facilitate their participation and active role. We postulate that participation in mangrove restoration projects can not only provide financial rewards but also yield intangible benefits for communities, i.e., social capital. The study was conducted in the province of Quezon, Philippines, using face-to-face interviews as the main method for data collection. Regression analyses were undertaken to assess the impact of local community participation in mangrove restoration projects on social capital and its potential benefits to people in terms of access to information and services, which are key components of livelihood. Results revealed that people’s participation in mangrove restoration projects contributes to increasing social capital, consequently improving their access to information and services. Local people’s participation is beneficial to communities, as it can improve their livelihoods.


2007 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
L A Venier ◽  
J L Pearce ◽  
B A Wintle ◽  
S A Bekessy

In this paper, we provide an overview of a project that we initiated to explore the utility of spatially-explicit metapopulation models linked to dynamic landscape models as a way of incorporating biological indicators into sustainable forest management. We developed models for three indicator species as case studies; brown creeper (Certhis americana), redbacked vole (Clethrionomys gapperi) and red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) in a northern Ontario landscape. Results from the project to date suggest that there are significant advantages to models that are spatially-explicit and dynamic in their treatment of both populations and landscapes. Dynamic landscape metapopulation (DLMP) models allow a manager to track population change through time in response to a changing landscape and a fluctuating environment. These DLMP models may be used to predict the impact of current and alternative forest management strategies on population sizes of a suite of species chosen to indicate the health of forest ecosystems. Key words: biological indicators, population viability analysis, population modeling, dynamic landscape modeling, sustainable forest management, brown creeper, red-backed salamander, red-backed vole


2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 1515-1526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen RJ Sheppard

There is an increasing demand for active public involvement in forestry decision making, but there are as yet few established models for achieving this in the new sustainable forest management (SFM) context. At the level of the working forest, the fields of forest sustainability assessment, public participation, decision support, and computer technology in spatial modelling and visualization need to be integrated. This paper presents the results of a literature review of public participation and decision-support methods, with emphasis on case study examples in participatory decision support. These suggest that emerging methods, such as public multicriteria analysis of alternative forest management scenarios and allied tools, may lend themselves to public processes addressing sustainability criteria and indicators. The paper develops a conceptual framework for participatory decision support to address the special needs of SFM in tactical planning at the landscape level. This framework consists of principles, process criteria, and preliminary guidelines for designing and evaluating SFM planning processes with community input. More well-documented studies are needed to develop comprehensive, engaging, open, and accountable processes that support informed decision making in forest management, and to strengthen guidance for managers.


2011 ◽  
Vol 162 (9) ◽  
pp. 300-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar Kaufmann

Potential of sustainable wood production in Swiss forests In the Swiss National Forest Inventory (NFI), the data collected in the three inventories (NFI1 1983–1985, NFI2 1993–1995, NFI3 2004–2006) provide the basis not only for analysing the present state of the forest and how it has developed up to now, but also for assessing, with the help of models, how it might develop in future. The scenario model «Massimo 3», developed at the Swiss Federal Institut for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, is an empirical and stochastic simulation model. It relies on data from the NFI and forecasts the development of the forest according to how it is managed. Six scenarios with different management regimes were defined according to the economic, silvicultural and ecological aspects considered. In three scenarios the growing stock is kept constant at the level of NFI3, but different management strategies are used (Scenario A: basis [business as usual], Scenario E: even-aged forests are transformed into uneven-aged forests, and Scenario F: near-natural percentages of conifers are promoted). In two scenarios forest management is partially abandoned for either ecological reasons (Scenario B: reservations, 10% of the forest area is left unmanaged) or for economic reasons (Scenario C: harvesting costs, 40% of the forest area is left unmanaged). Scenario D (rotation periods are shortened) was used to study the effects of augmenting the annual harvesting amount. A forecasting time period of 100 years was selected to assess the long-term effects of the scenarios. Scenarios A, D, and E show that the sustainable harvesting potential of merchantable wood lies in a relatively narrow range of 7.1 to 7.3 million m3/year, even though in Scenario D the growing stock is reduced from 360 m3/ha to 305 m3/ha. In Scenario F regeneration is systematically established with near-natural percentages of conifers, the long-term harvesting potential is slightly less: about 6.5 million m3/year of merchantable wood. If forest management is abandoned for economic reasons on as much as 40% of the forest area (Scenario C, harvesting costs), the impact on the wood reserves is very negative.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (11) ◽  
pp. 2248-2255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L. Klenk ◽  
Anna Dabros ◽  
Gordon M. Hickey

This research note presents the results of a bibliometric analysis that was conducted to better understand the impact that Sustainable Forest Management Network (SFMN) funded research had in the forest-related social and Aboriginal research communities. We applied two indicators of research impact: (i) research outputs and (ii) citations. Our results suggest that the SFMN’s research outputs were highest in the fields of economics, sociology, and political science and law. The number of research articles that acknowledged the SFMN was 30% of the total research output of the SFMN-funded Principal Investigators. These articles represented 3% of the social science articles published in the Forestry Chronicle (the journal most frequently used by SFMN-funded Principal Investigators). Research output related to Aboriginal forestry indicated that the SFMN had a significant influence on the development of the field. Our citation analysis indicated that the average number of citations per SFMN-acknowledged publication in the social sciences was approximately the same as the international impact standard in the field. These results suggest that the SFMN-funded research in the social sciences compared very well with the international research standards in forest-related social sciences.


1995 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Lust

Elements  of the modern day vision on sustainable forest management are discussed. Some  aspects of the concept are analysed, focusing on the natural definition in  comparison with the ecosystem definition. The significance of ecological  stability is emphasized. It is pointed out that perhaps the most important  aspect of forest stability and sustainability is the ability to retain soil  fertility. Attention is paid to the importance of species composition, the  role of organic matter, the impact of forest use and the problems of forest  engineering.     In order to reach sustainable forest management, a number of strategies can  be applied, based either on the market or the state. There is a need for  measurable criteria and indicators for the evaluation of sustainability.  Therefore new programmes of scientific sampling or even basic research are  still needed.     Forest sustainability provides still a dramatic lot of questions and  efforts, a.o. on the potentiality of sustainable forestry.


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