scholarly journals Tracking Rates of Forest Disturbance and Associated Carbon Loss in Areas of Illegal Amber Mining in Ukraine Using Landsat Time Series

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 2235
Author(s):  
Viktor Myroniuk ◽  
Andrii Bilous ◽  
Yevhenii Khan ◽  
Andrii Terentiev ◽  
Pavlo Kravets ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Quality Management System ◽  
Forest Disturbance ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Forest Stewardship Council ◽  
Carbon Loss ◽  
Disturbed Area ◽  
Disturbance And Recovery

Mapping forest disturbance is crucial for many applications related to decision-making for sustainable forest management. This study identified the effect of illegal amber mining on forest change and accumulated carbon stock across a study area of 8125.5 ha in northern Ukraine. Our method relies on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) implementation of the Landsat-based Detection of Trends in Disturbance and Recovery (LandTrendr) temporal segmentation algorithm of Landsat time-series (LTS) to derive yearly maps of forest disturbance and recovery in areas affected by amber extraction operations. We used virtual reality (VR) 360 interactive panoramic images taken from the sites to attribute four levels of forest disturbance associated with the delta normalized burn ratio (dNBR) and then calculated the carbon loss. We revealed that illegal amber extraction in Ukraine has been occurring since the middle of the 1990s, yielding 3260 ha of total disturbed area up to 2019. This study indicated that the area of forest disturbance increased dramatically during 2013–2014, and illegal amber operations persist. As a result, regrowth processes were mapped on only 375 ha of total disturbed area. The results were integrated into the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) quality management system in the region to categorize Forest Management Units (FMUs) conforming to different disturbance rates and taking actions related to their certification status. Moreover, carbon loss evaluation allows the responsible forest management systems to be streamlined and to endorse ecosystem service assessment.

scholarly journals Forest disturbances and the attribution derived from yearly Landsat time series over 1990–2020 in the Hengduan Mountains Region of Southwest China

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yating Li ◽  
Zhenzi Wu ◽  
Xiao Xu ◽  
Hui Fan ◽  
Xiaojia Tong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Forest Disturbance ◽  
Road Construction ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Forest Area ◽  
Hengduan Mountains ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Forest Disturbances

Abstract Background Natural forests in the Hengduan Mountains Region (HDMR) have pivotal ecological functions and provide diverse ecosystem services. Capturing long-term forest disturbance and drivers at a regional scale is crucial for sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation. Methods We used 30-m resolution Landsat time series images and the LandTrendr algorithm on the Google Earth Engine cloud platform to map forest disturbances at an annual time scale between 1990 and 2020 and attributed causal agents of forest disturbance, including fire, logging, road construction and insects, using disturbance properties and spectral and topographic variables in the random forest model. Results The conventional and area-adjusted overall accuracies (OAs) of the forest disturbance map were 92.3% and 97.70% ± 0.06%, respectively, and the OA of mapping disturbance agents was 85.80%. The estimated disturbed forest area totalled 3313.13 km2 (approximately 2.31% of the total forest area in 1990) from 1990 to 2020, with considerable interannual fluctuations and significant regional differences. The predominant disturbance agent was fire, which comprised approximately 83.33% of the forest area disturbance, followed by logging (12.2%), insects (2.4%) and road construction (2.0%). Massive forest disturbances occurred mainly before 2000, and the post-2000 annual disturbance area significantly dropped by 55% compared with the pre-2000 value. Conclusions This study provided spatially explicit and retrospective information on annual forest disturbance and associated agents in the HDMR. The findings suggest that China’s logging bans in natural forests combined with other forest sustainability programmes have effectively curbed forest disturbances in the HDMR, which has implications for enhancing future forest management and biodiversity conservation.

scholarly journals Effects of forest certification towards sustainable community forestry in Nepal

1970 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pem N Kandel
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Community Forestry ◽  
Forest Certification ◽  
Managed Forests ◽  
Forest Stewardship Council ◽  
Community Forests ◽  
Sustainable Community ◽  
Forest Stewardship ◽  
Forest Users

In early 2005, 10,045 ha Community Forests (CFs) were certified in Bajhang and Dolakha districts of Nepal by using the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification scheme. After two years of forest certification, subsequent questions are being asked such as: What benefits have certification brought for the Forest Users Groups (FUGs)? What tangible differences are there in forest management system because of forest certification? and What lessons have been learnt from the certified forests? In an attempt to answer these questions, a study was carried out in April 2007 in Dolakha district where 11 (2,182 ha) community managed forests were certified in 2005. On the basis of field study from two certified forests (Vitteripakha and Suspa) of the district, this paper analyzes the effects of forest certification and its implications for enhancing Sustainable Community Forestry (SCF) in Nepal. Key words: Sustainable forest management, forest certification, community forestry Banko Janakari: A journal of forestry information for Nepal Vol.17(1) 2007 pp.11-16

scholarly journals Conducting an Evaluation Framework of Importance-Performance Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management in a Rural Area

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1357
Author(s):  
Hsing-Chih Chen ◽  
Tien-Pai Tseng ◽  
Kun Cheng ◽  
Supasit Sriarkarin ◽  
Wanyun Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Performance Analysis ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Rural Area ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Forest Stewardship Council ◽  
Sustainable Rural Development ◽  
Forest Stewardship

We established an evaluation framework for sustainable forest management (SFM) development based on locals’ perspectives using the importance-performance analysis (IPA) method in a rural area of Taiwan. It identified the factors that affected local people’s participation in and awareness of SFM based on local demographics, development factors of SFM, and perceptions of SFM, through the logistic regression method (LRM). Both the levels of importance and performance (I-P) of the SFM indicators were rated by the local residents and the differences between importance–performance among indigenous and non-indigenous people were examined. The factors that affected differentiation of local people’s participation in the SFM program were: (1) forestry workers, (2) indigenous people, and (3) SFM development factors. The findings provide both theoretical constructs and policy implications for SFM mechanisms for the forest stewardship council (FSC) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) in a sustainable rural development.

scholarly journals Community forestry, Italian style: The Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme

1998 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter N. Duinker ◽  
Reino E. Pulkki
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Community Forestry ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Forest Stewardship Council ◽  
Community Forest ◽  
Community Forests ◽  
Wood Processing ◽  
History Of ◽  
Forest Stewardship

In June 1997, we visited the Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme (MCF), a community forest in the Alps of northern Italy. We have prepared this article to help broaden the perspectives of Forestry Chronicle readers on community forests and what they mean in various parts of the world. We first describe the area and its forests, and then give a brief history of the MCF. Then we review the forest-management strategies used in this Norway spruce forest, and summarize the logging and wood-processing activities of the enterprise. We continue with a comparison of this community forest with three community forests in Canada, concluding that generalization on what makes a community forest successful is dangerous — each situation is unique. Finally, given that the MCF recently won permission to use the eco-label of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), we discuss our perceptions of how the MCF operation does and does not meet the FSC's Principles and Criteria of Forest Stewardship. Despite several shortcomings, we believe that the MCF is in most respects a sound example of sustainable forest management.

scholarly journals The pertinent role of forest inventory in making choice of silvicultural operations in community forests of Nepal

2018 ◽  
pp. 65-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Baral ◽  
H. Vacik ◽  
B. B. K. Chhetri ◽  
K. Gauli
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Forest Inventory ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Forest Stand ◽  
Inventory Data ◽  
Community Forests ◽  
Management Objectives ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Stand Conditions

This paper explores the application of forest inventory to design silvicultural operations and its implementation to community forests. Four-time series forest inventory data (2005, 2010, 2013 and 2016) of Terai community forests were analysed, focusing on the type and size of tree removals from the forests. In addition, content analysis of the management plans of the forests was carried out and consultations were held with key informants. Though the forest inventory was prepared during the preparation of management plans, the results did not provide proper guidance on the selection of silvicultural operations, which were decided without a clear definition of the management objectives. They were very generic and largely ignored site-specific forest stand conditions. Most commonly practised silvicultural operations were cleaning and selective harvesting, which were similar for all forest blocks, though they varied in respect of forest stand conditions. The time series analysis of the inventory data showed that pole-sized trees were consistently removed in all four periods and emphasis was on extracting good quality trees without considering its effects on the stand. The study concludes that the current forest inventory is not very relevant in making a choice about silvicultural operations and the current practices might cause economic and ecological losses. Hence, we argued for identifying minimum forest management requirement necessary for the sustainable forest management that the silvicultural operations should be decided based on the management objectives and conditions of the forest, considering the ecological and economic value of the forest. Banko JanakariA Journal of Forestry Information for Nepal Special Issue No. 4, 2018, Page : 65-75

scholarly journals Ash Presence and Abundance Derived from Composite Landsat and Sentinel-2 Time Series and Lidar Surface Models in Minnesota, USA

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor K. Host ◽  
Matthew B. Russell ◽  
Marcella A. Windmuller-Campione ◽  
Robert A. Slesak ◽  
Joseph F. Knight
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Emerald Ash Borer ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Agrilus Planipennis ◽  
The State ◽  
Average Height ◽  
Position Information ◽  
Ash Trees

Ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) are a prominent species in Minnesota forests, with an estimated 1.1 billion trees in the state, totaling approximately 8% of all trees. Ash trees are threatened by the invasive emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), which typically results in close to 100% tree mortality within one to five years of infestation. A detailed, wall-to-wall map of ash presence is highly desirable for forest management and monitoring applications. We used Google Earth Engine to compile Landsat time series analysis, which provided unique information on phenologic patterns across the landscape to identify ash species. Topographic position information derived from lidar was added to improve spatial maps of ash abundance. These input data were combined to produce a classification map and identify the abundance of ash forests that exist in the state of Minnesota. Overall, 12,524 km2 of forestland was predicted to have greater than 10% probability of ash species present. The overall accuracy of the composite ash presence/absence map was 64% for all ash species and 72% for black ash, and classification accuracy increased with the length of the time series. Average height derived from lidar was the best model predictor for ash basal area (R2 = 0.40), which, on average, was estimated as 16.1 m2 ha−1. Information produced from this map will be useful for natural resource managers and planners in developing forest management strategies which account for the spatial distribution of ash on the landscape. The approach used in this analysis is easily transferable and broadly scalable to other regions threatened with forest health problems such as invasive insects.

Forest Disturbance Mapping with Sentinel-2 Time Series in Austria

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Löw ◽  
Tatjana Koukal
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Time Series Analysis ◽  
Bark Beetle ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Forest Disturbance ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Forest Disturbances ◽  
Sentinel 2

<p>Worldwide, forests provide natural resources and ecosystem services. However, forest ecosystems are threatened by increasing forest disturbance dynamics, caused by direct human activities or by altering environmental conditions. It is decisive to reconstruct and trace the intra- to transannual dynamics of forest ecosystems. Therefore, the monitoring of large and small scale vegetation changes such as those caused by natural events (e.g., pest infestation, higher mortality due to altering site conditions) or forest management practices (e.g., thinning or selective timber extraction) becomes more and more crucial. National to local forest authorities and other stakeholders request detailed area-wide maps that delineate forest disturbance dynamics at various spatial scales.</p><p>We developed a time series analysis (TSA) framework that comprises data download, data management, image preprocessing and an advanced but flexible TSA. We use dense Sentinel-2 time series and a dynamic Savitzky–Golay-filtering approach to model robust but sensitive phenology courses. Deviations from the phenology models are used to derive detailed spatiotemporal information on forest disturbances. In a first case study, we apply the TSA to map forest disturbances directly or indirectly linked to recurring bark beetle infestation in Northern Austria.</p><p>In addition to spatiotemporal disturbance maps, we produce zonal statistics on different spatial scales that provide aggregated information on the extent of forest disturbances between 2018 and 2019. The outcomes are (a) area-wide consistent data of individual phenology models and deduced phenology metrics for Austrian forests and (b) operational forest disturbance maps, useful to investigate and monitor forest disturbances, for example to facilitate sustainable forest management.</p><p>At a forest stand level, we reconstruct the origin date of forest disturbances (FDD – Forest Disturbance Date). Theses FDD outputs show the spatiotemporal patterns and the development of damages and indicate that most dynamics are caused by recurring and spreading bark beetle infestation. The validation results based on field data confirm a high detection rate and show that the derived temporal information is reliable. In total, 23400 hectares, i.e., on average 2.8% of the forest area in the study area, are found to be affected by forest disturbance. The zonal statistic maps point out hotspots of significant forest disturbances, where adequate forest management measures are highly needed. Furthermore, this study highlights the TSA’s potential to also depict and monitor minor human impacts on forests, such as thinning, selective timber extraction or other moderate forest management practices.</p><p><strong>Keywords:  </strong><em>forest disturbance; forest monitoring; bark beetle infestation; forest management; time series analysis; phenology modelling; remote sensing; satellite imagery; Sentinel-2</em></p>

scholarly journals Phenology Modelling and Forest Disturbance Mapping with Sentinel-2 Time Series in Austria

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 4191
Author(s):  
Markus Löw ◽  
Tatjana Koukal
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Forest Disturbance ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Forest Disturbances ◽  
Disturbance Dynamics ◽  
Spatiotemporal Information ◽  
First Case ◽  
Sentinel 2

Worldwide, forests provide natural resources and ecosystem services. However, forest ecosystems are threatened by increasing forest disturbance dynamics, caused by direct human activities or by altering environmental conditions. It is decisive to reconstruct and trace the intra- to transannual dynamics of forest ecosystems. National to local forest authorities and other stakeholders request detailed area-wide maps that delineate forest disturbance dynamics at various spatial scales. We developed a time series analysis (TSA) framework that comprises data download, data management, image preprocessing and an advanced but flexible TSA. We use dense Sentinel-2 time series and a dynamic Savitzky–Golay-filtering approach to model robust but sensitive phenology courses. Deviations from the phenology models are used to derive detailed spatiotemporal information on forest disturbances. In a first case study, we apply the TSA to map forest disturbances directly or indirectly linked to recurring bark beetle infestation in Northern Austria. In addition to spatially detailed maps, zonal statistics on different spatial scales provide aggregated information on the extent of forest disturbances between 2018 and 2019. The outcomes are (a) area-wide consistent data of individual phenology models and deduced phenology metrics for Austrian forests and (b) operational forest disturbance maps, useful to investigate and monitor forest disturbances to facilitate sustainable forest management.

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