Assessment of land use change in the Thuma forest reserve region of Malawi, Africa

A study was conducted in Thuma area in central Malawi to quantify contemporary land cover and to explore the degree of land use change in the Thuma forest reserve area of Malawi by analysing and comparing satellite-derived land cover maps from 1997, 2007 and 2017. The study was carried out using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS), focusing on analysis of Landsat 5 ETM and Landsat 8 ORI/TIRS satellite images. The classification was conducted for the following distinct classes; closed forest, open forest, shrubland, savanna grassland, agriculture fields, and water. The analysis revealed that closed forest diminished from 19% in 1997 to 10% in 2007 to 6% in 2017. Open forest reduced from 30% to 21% from 1997 to 2007 but increased to 22% in 2017. Agriculture area almost doubled from 37 % in 1997 to 64 % in 2017. Actual area from 1997 to 2017, shows that closed forest has reduced from 7,000 ha to 3,000 ha while open forest from 12,900 ha to 7800 ha. Savanna grassland has doubled from 5,900 ha to 13,000 ha. However, future studies should use modern satellites such as Sentinel and Landsat 9 for improved quantification of changes. The findings show that even the protected forest reserve (previously dominated by closed forest) is not fully protected from deforestation by local communities. Government and other stakeholders should devise measures to meet the needs of the surrounding communities and the ecological/biophysical needs of the reserves. Based on this study, issues of re-demarcation of the forest reserve and accessed area should also be explored. This study serves as a reference for the management of Thuma Forest Reserve as a refuge for natural tree species, rivers that harbour endemic fish species (Opsaridium microlepis and Opsaridium microcephalis) and the sustainable management of endangered elephants in the reserve.

Poems from closed forest. Draft about trees in Michał Książek’s works

Paper aims to explore forest clues in Michał Książek’s works. The main one is book of poetry called Północny wschód ,which contains poems about tree cut in Białowieża Forest. Poet was against that cut and took an active part in protest. Author of the paper contemplates bonds between humans and trees, also experiencing forest by all senses. She tries to examine temporality that is written into woods, too.

Climate Variability, Land Cover Changes and Livelihoods of Communities on the Fringes of Bobiri Forest Reserve, Ghana

Climate variability coupled with land use and land cover changes have resulted in significant changes in forest reserves in Ghana with major implications for rural livelihoods. Understanding the link between climate variability, land use and land cover changes and rural livelihoods is key for decision-making, especially regarding sustainable management of forest resources, monitoring of ecosystems and related livelihoods. The study determined the extent to which climate variability drives land cover changes in the Bobiri forest reserve, Ghana. Landsat images from 1986, 2003, 2010 and 2014 were used to evaluate land cover changes of the Bobiri forest reserve in Ghana. Participatory research approaches including household questionnaire surveys, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were conducted in four fringe communities of the Bobiri forest reserve. Findings showed that local people perceived changes in rainfall and temperature patterns over the past years. Historical rainfall and temperature data for the study area showed increased variability in rainfall and an increasing temperature trend, which are consistent with the perception of the study respondents. Analysis of land cover satellite images showed that there has been significant transformation of closed forest to open forest and non-forest land cover types over the 28-year period (1986–2014), with an overall kappa statistic of 0.77. Between 2003 and 2014, closed forest decreased by 15.6% but settlement/bare ground and crop land increased marginally by 1.5% and 0.9%, respectively. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews revealed that increased land cover changes in the Bobiri forest reserve could partly be attributed to erratic rainfall patterns. Other factors such as logging and population growth were reported to be factors driving land cover changes. The study concluded that the Bobiri forest reserve has witnessed significant land cover changes and recommended that alternative livelihood sources should be provided to reduce the direct dependency of fringe communities on the forest for livelihood and firewood.

Modeling paludification and fire impacts on the forest productivity of a managed landscape using valuable indicators: the example of the Clay Belt

In areas sensitive to forest management, paludification and successive disturbances in boreal forest can affect forest regeneration negatively, sometimes resulting in stand opening. As these negative effects on forest productivity are not fully considered in strategic management planning, a new landscape dynamics model integrating fire, paludification, forest harvesting, and regeneration failure was used to assess these impacts in a large forest management unit (10,828 km2) of northwestern Québec. Two reforestation scenarios, one based on the accessibility of the areas to be treated and the other aimed at restoring all burned and paludified areas to production were compared to one with no intervention. The success of the scenarios was evaluated using the predicted volume harvested, the proportion of closed or opened stands areas, an indicator of productivity; the cost of reforestation and the royalties associated with harvesting. Harvesting the paludified areas without reforesting would lead to a sharp increase in open stands areas (+17.3%). The strategy of reforesting accessible areas is the most promising for achieving sustainable forest management targets. The monitoring of maximum potential volume (MPV) and the closed forest area as indicators of landscape productivity provides the ability to anticipate problems earlier than with the conventional forest planning indicators.

Day-Night and Inter-Habitat Variations in Ant Assemblages in a Mosaic Agroforestry Landscape

Throughout the Mediterranean basin, the long-term interaction between human activities and natural processes has led to the formation of unique ecosystems whose biodiversity may be higher than that of the “original” systems. This is particularly true in the case of transformations of continuous stretches of closed forest into a complex mosaic of open and closed habitat over the course of centuries. In this study, we assessed the variation in diversity of ant assemblages in a typical patchy landscape, sampling ants in the three most important constituting habitats: olive plantation, harvested forest, and mature forest. In the study we used two different sampling methods—pitfall traps and observation at baits—which provided information on species presence at different temporal scales. The three habitats displayed different species assemblages, and considerable variation in species composition was observed at different times of the day, particularly in the harvested forest. Functional group analysis showed that the olive plantation, although the most artificial habitat, displayed the highest number of functional groups, suggesting a wider spectrum of available ecological niches for ant species within this habitat type. Overall, it was concluded that each of the three habitats contributes to enhance diversity at the landscape scale, which is greater than that expected from a more homogeneous habitat composition.

New insights into large tropical tree mass and structure from direct harvest and terrestrial lidar

A large portion of the terrestrial vegetation carbon stock is stored in the above-ground biomass (AGB) of tropical forests, but the exact amount remains uncertain, partly due to the difficulty of making direct, whole-tree measurements. We harvested four large tropical rainforest trees (stem diameter: 0.6–1.2 m, height: 30–46 m, AGB: 3960–18 584 kg) in a natural closed forest stand in East Amazonia, and measured above-ground green mass, moisture content and woody tissue density. We found approximately 40 % of green mass was water, and the majority of AGB was most often found in the crown, but varied from 42–62 %. Woody tissue density varied substantially intra-tree, with both height and radius, but variations were not systematic inter-tree. Terrestrial lidar data were collected pre-harvest, from which volume-derived AGB estimates were retrieved. These estimates were more accurate than traditional allometric counterparts (mean tree-scale relative error: 3 % vs. 15 %). Error in lidar-derived estimates remained constant across tree size, whilst error in allometric-derived estimates increased up to 4 −fold over the diameter range. Further, unlike allometric estimates, the error in lidar estimates decreased when up-scaling to the cumulative AGB of the four trees. Terrestrial lidar methods therefore can help reduce uncertainty in tree- and stand-scale AGB estimates, which would substantially advance our understanding of the role of tropical forests in the global carbon cycle.

DIVERSIDAD DE MURCIÉLAGOS Y USO DE HÁBITAT EN EL PARQUE NACIONAL VOLCÁN MASAYA, EN EL PACÍFICO DE NICARAGUA

ResumenDurante 2014 estudiamos la diversidad de murciélagos del Parque Nacional Volcán Masaya a través de capturas en diferentes tipos de cobertura arbórea; también caracterizamos la comunidad de murciélagos insectívoros que habita el tubo de lava llamado Tzinacanoste, determinando patrones de desplazamiento de una de las especies. El ensamble taxonómico de murciélagos en el parque se determinó y describió analizando su potencial de conservación y la importancia que representa (por sus servicios ambientales) para las zonas de producción sostenible alrededor del volcán Masaya. En total se identificaron 29 especies (26.3% del total de especies identificadas en Nicaragua) pertenecientes a 5 familias. En el bosque cerrado se encontró la mayor riqueza con 18 especies, de las cuales, un tercio de éstas fueron exclusivas de este tipo de bosque; a diferencia del área abierta de uso público, que presentó valores mínimos de riqueza con cuatro especies. Destacan cuatro especies con fines de conservación e investigación, tres de la familia Phyllostomidae (subfamilia Phyllostominae), Micronycteris microtis, Micronycteris schmidtorum y Lophostoma brasiliense y una especie de Mormoopidae, Mormoops megalophylla, cuya subespecie M. megalophylla megalophylla, presenta su límite sur de distribución mundial en este parque. También es importante considerar en los planes de conservación a las cuatro especies asociadas al bosque seco (Balantiopteryx plicata, Pteronotus davyi, Glossophaga leachii y Carollia subrufa), que en el país se distribuyen básicamente en la región Pacífica. Los resultados demuestran la importancia del Parque Nacional Volcán Masaya como un área importante para la conservación y la investigación de los murciélagos.Palabras clave: Bosque seco, conservación, especies, gremio trófico, servicio ambiental.AbstractDuring 2014 we studied the diversity of bats in the Masaya Volcano National Park through captures in different types of tree cover; we also characterize the community of insectivorous bats that inhabits the lava tube locally called Tzinacanoste, determining displacement patterns for one of the species. The taxonomic assembly of bats in the park was determined and described, analyzing its conservation potential and the importance it represents (for its environmental services) for the sustainable production areas around the Masaya volcano. In total 29 species were identified (26.3% of the total species identified in Nicaragua) belonging to 5 families. The closed forest presented the highest species richness with 18, and a third of these were exclusive to this type of forest; unlike the open area for public use, which presented minimum values with four species. Four species are of conservation and research interest, three of the family Phyllostomidae (subfamily Phyllostominae), Micronycteris microtis, Micronycteris schmidtorum and Lophostoma brasiliense, and a species of Mormoopidae: Mormoops megalophylla, whose subspecies M. megalophylla megalophylla, presents the southern limit of world distribution in this park. It is also important to consider in the conservation plans the four species associated with the dry forest, which in the country are basically distributed in the Pacific region: Balantiopteryx plicata, Pteronotus davyi, Glossophaga leachii and Carollia subrufa. The results demonstrate the importance of the Masaya Volcano National Park as an important area for the conservation and research of bats.Key words: Conservation, dry forest, environmental service, species, trophic guild.

Paleoenvironmental changes in the Hiwegi Formation (lower Miocene) of Rusinga Island, Lake Victoria, Kenya

The Early Miocene of Rusinga Island (Lake Victoria, Kenya) is best known for its vertebrate fossil assemblage—particularly of early hominoids and catarrhines—but the multiple stratigraphic intervals with well-preserved fossil leaves have received much less attention. The Hiwegi Formation has three fossil leaf-rich intervals: Kiahera Hill, R5, and R3. Here, we made new fossil collections from Kiahera Hill and R3 and compared these floras to previous work from R5 as well as modern African floras. The Kiahera Hill flora was most similar to a modern tropical rainforest or tropical seasonal forest and was a warm and wet, closed forest. This was followed by a relatively dry and open environment at R5, and R3, which was most similar to a modern tropical seasonal forest, was a warm and wet spatially heterogenous forest. Floral composition of these floras differed dramatically but Kiahera Hill and R3 were more similar to each other than either flora was to R5. The Kiahera Hill flora had few monocots or herbaceous taxa and was dominated by large leaves and had a higher species richness and greater evenness than the R3 flora. Our work, coupled with previous studies, suggests that R3 had a landscape of both closed forest and more open areas with seasonal ponding. The absence of morphotypes from the R5 flora that were present in the Kiahera Hill and R3 floras provides evidence for local expatriation during the R5 time interval. These results demonstrate that there was a considerable change in both climate and vegetation over an ~500 kyr interval of the Kiahera Hill, R5, and R3 floras. Thus, this work suggests that the Hiwegi Formation on Rusinga Island samples multiple environments in the Early Miocene and provides important context for the evolution and habitat preference of early apes.

KEANEKARAGAMAN JENIS ANGGREK ALAM EPIFIT PADA BERBAGAI TUTUPAN TAJUK HUTAN DI DESA BALAI SEBUT KABUPATEN SANGGAU

Epiphytic orchids can be found living naturally in the tropical rainforest. Destruction or degradation of forest area in Balai Sebut District Sanggau Regency due to caused degradation of canopy cover. This condition may affect microclimate which than impacts at the presence of species, one of which is epiphytic orchids that grow naturally in the forest. This study used a survey method with purposive double plot sampling for 1 month (28 Mei – 21 July 2019) in the field. Observation plots were made with a size of 20 x 50 m with a total of 12 plots. The results showed that there where 32 types of epiphytic orchids with a total of 431 individuals. At closed forest canopy cover and had been accomplished (>70%) can be 16 species of orchids with 220 individuals, at forest canopy (50-70%) can be 25 species of orchids with 159 individuals, can be at open forest canopy cover (50%) there were 10 species of orchids with 52 individuals. The dominant orchids species in the three canopy cover Flikingeria bicostata with Celogne peltastes.Keywords: closed forest canopy, epiphytic orchids, medium and open forest canopy, species diversity.