‘Sacred groves’- an insight into Dalmatian forest history

The French administration in Dalmatia (1805-1813) was short but is often praised by foresters as advanced in terms of woodland management because of their establishment of so-called sacred groves or sacri boschi. Based on archival sources and 19^th century maps, this research explores the establishment and demise of sacred groves and places them within the broader forest history of Dalmatia. It reveals that the literal translation of the term sacro bosco as sacred grove (sveti gaj) by the 19^th century foresters was not precise which caused misrepresentation and misunderstandings of what sacro bosco actually meant. The more appropriate translation would be forbidden groves (zabranjen gaj) as this also reflects the nature of these woodlands, which were in fact woodland sections where exploitation was prohibited. Establishment of forbidden groves was not a French invention since the practice was widely used before the French and during the Austrian Empire (1814-1918). In the second half of the 19^th century and with the change of official language, the Italian term sacro bosco was replaced with the Croatian term protected area (branjevina).

Women and estate management in the early eighteenth century: Barbara Savile at Rufford Abbey, Nottinghamshire (1700–34)

There is a rich and increasing body of research pointing to the significant role that elite women played in property management during the eighteenth century. In this article we examine the contribution of an elite widow, Barbara Savile, to the management of her son Sir George Savile’s extensive landholdings in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire from 1700 until her death in 1734. We establish that Barbara Savile had a deep understanding of estate business and was a shrewd judge of character, expertise on which both Sir George and his stewards relied. She scrutinised account books, commissioned surveys for rental reassessment, was instrumental in the negotiation of wood contracts and was closely involved in the practical management of many aspects of tree and woodland management.

Behavior-specific occurrence patterns of Pinyon Jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) in three Great Basin study areas and significance for pinyon-juniper woodland management

The Pinyon Jay is a highly social, year-round inhabitant of pinyon-juniper and other coniferous woodlands in the western United States. Range-wide, Pinyon Jays have declined ~ 3–4% per year for at least the last half-century. Occurrence patterns and habitat use of Pinyon Jays have not been well characterized across much of the species’ range, and obtaining this information is necessary for better understanding the causes of ongoing declines and determining useful conservation strategies. Additionally, it is important to better understand if and how targeted removal of pinyon-juniper woodland, a common and widespread vegetation management practice, affects Pinyon Jays. The goal of this study was to identify the characteristics of areas used by Pinyon Jays for several critical life history components in the Great Basin, which is home to nearly half of the species’ global population, and to thereby facilitate the inclusion of Pinyon Jay conservation measures in the design of vegetation management projects. To accomplish this, we studied Pinyon Jays in three widely separated study areas using radio telemetry and direct observation and measured key attributes of their locations and a separate set of randomly-selected control sites using the U. S. Forest Service’s Forest Inventory Analysis protocol. Data visualizations, principle components analysis, and logistic regressions of the resulting data indicated that Pinyon Jays used a distinct subset of available pinyon-juniper woodland habitat, and further suggested that Pinyon Jays used different but overlapping habitats for seed caching, foraging, and nesting. Caching was concentrated in low-elevation, relatively flat areas with low tree cover; foraging occurred at slightly higher elevations with generally moderate but variable tree cover; and nesting was concentrated in slightly higher areas with high tree and vegetation cover. All three of these Pinyon Jay behavior types were highly concentrated within the lower-elevation band of pinyon-juniper woodland close to the woodland-shrubland ecotone. Woodland removal projects in the Great Basin are often concentrated in these same areas, so it is potentially important to incorporate conservation measures informed by Pinyon Jay occurrence patterns into existing woodland management paradigms, protocols, and practices.

The Horka Litter Raking Incident: On Foresters and Peasants in Nineteenth-Century Moravia

Litter raking was a traditional forest use representing an interface between forestry and agriculture. In forest history, it has usually been presented as the harmful removal by peasants of biomass, which was gradually eliminated by foresters, leading to better forest preservation. Based on the example of an exceptionally well-documented case of illegal litter raking in Moravia in 1845, in this paper I argue that juxtaposing foresters and peasants in connection with litter raking masks a much more complicated reality. Neither foresters nor peasants can be interpreted as homogeneous groups because there were significant differences in the opinions and agendas of various representatives within these groups. In addition, opinions were not static on either side but could change in a discursive pattern. In a wider context, the environmental historical analysis of the Horka litter raking incident facilitates the understanding of larger societal processes that influenced past woodland management in Central Europe, and therefore current ecosystems too.

Faidon Moudopoulos Athanasiou, Woodland Values in Zagori, NW Greece (19th–21st Century): Between Heritage and History

The present article exposes a conflict regarding the management of natural and cultural values through time, using the example of woodland management in Zagori (NW Greece) from the late 19th century to the present day (2018). The central question is how a cultural landscape now interpreted as significant enough for potential World Heritage nomination (2014 tentative list), was managed through time by the Greek State in a top-down approach that led to a polarization between natural and cultural values. First, issues of commune woodland management and emic perceptions of values will be addressed, followed by an outline of state economic factors that shaped the national policies that replaced them. The local communities’ reactions during this transformation will be addressed. Finally, it is suggested that such case studies are valuable educational material for heritage professionals, since they offer insights into the processes of site valorization, revealing historical factors, economic stakes, and legislative biases, while also touching upon stakeholder issues.

Seeing the Wood for the Trees: Factors Limiting Woodland Management and Sustainable Local Wood Product Use in the South East of England

The South East of England has an abundance of woodland, which offers a potential sustainable timber and fuel resource in parallel with being a much-loved part of rural life and rich ecological wildlife habitat. An ever-increasing quantity of mature broadleaved trees is available for harvest forms, with appropriate management and a sustainable yield potential, set against the backdrop of only 10% of UK timber demand currently supplied from UK-grown resource. There has been little systematic research into the factors that limit the sector and initiatives to address the challenge have not had a significant impact on the amount of woodland under management. Through semi-structured interviews across the wood supply chain, this research provides an integrated analysis of the factors limiting woodland management in the South East of England. The findings indicate the sector is complex, multifaceted, slow to respond to change and driven by a strong set of human, economic, environmental, and structural motivations away from use of local wood product. A novel insight from the research was that although there was a positive affinity for forestry and a strong culture of woodland management across the spectrum of stakeholders, there was little evidence of effective collaboration or sector integration. These factors have been summarised in a ‘rich picture’ providing a visual and intuitive way of engaging with stakeholders. This research fills a significant gap in understanding the dynamics of forestry in the South East of England and provides new underpinning evidence for policy makers to design interventions aimed at delivering better sustainable utilisation of woodland resources in parallel with offering support to rural communities and economies.

Behavior-specific occupancy patterns of Pinyon Jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) in three Great Basin study areas and significance for pinyon-juniper woodland management

The Pinyon Jay is a highly-social, year-round inhabitant of pinyon-juniper woodlands in the western United States. Range-wide, Pinyon Jays have declined ~ 3 – 4% per year for at least the last half-century. At the same time, large acreages of pinyon-juniper woodland have been removed or thinned to improve habitat for Greater Sage-Grouse or other game species across much of the Great Basin, which is home to nearly half of the global population of Pinyon Jays. Occupancy patterns and habitat use of Pinyon Jays have not been well characterized across much of the species’ range, and obtaining this information is necessary for better understanding the causes of ongoing declines and determining useful conservation strategies. Our goal of this study was to identify the characteristics of areas used by Pinyon Jays for several critical life history components and to thereby facilitate the inclusion of Pinyon Jay conservation measures in the design of vegetation management projects. To accomplish this, we studied Pinyon Jays in three widely separated study areas using radio telemetry and direct observation, and measured key attributes of their locations and a separate set of randomly-selected control sites using the U. S. Forest Service’s Forest Inventory Analysis protocol. Data visualizations, non-metric dimension scaling ordinations, and logistic regressions of the resulting data indicated that Pinyon Jay occupancy was concentrated in a distinct subset of available pinyon-juniper woodland habitat, and further that Pinyon Jays used different habitats, arrayed along elevational and tree-cover gradients, for seed caching, foraging, and nesting. Caching was concentrated in low-elevation, relatively flat areas with low tree cover; foraging occurred at slightly higher elevations with moderate tree cover, and nesting was concentrated in somewhat higher areas with greater tree cover and higher stand density. All three of these Pinyon Jay behavior types were highly concentrated within the lower-elevation band of pinyon-juniper woodland close to the woodland-shrubland ecotone. Because woodland removal projects in the Great Basin are often concentrated in these same areas, it is critical to incorporate conservation measures informed by Pinyon Jay occupancy patterns into existing woodland management paradigms, protocols, and practices.