The important role of multifunctional forests in society: a methodology for stands delimitation

Forest planning and management must be conceived in accordance with the circumstances and needs of the moment. Nowadays, the forest does not have a single and exclusive productive use but responds to multiple demands. The stand management method, with a broad approach, is has been recently well adapted to this type of multipurpose management. This study proposes a methodology for delimiting stands which led to manage different uses in forests in protected areas. The methodology consists of six phases: (i) create permanents units (ii) initial identification of forest typologies, (iii) image analysis, (iv) identification of tree types within the forest typology, (v) detailed inventory and (vi) formation of stands. An example is presented for the “Monte Paris” forest, located a few kilometers from Madrid, which combines protective, livestock and recreational use. For the protection use, pruning and thinning will be carried out, for the livestock use, supplementation, meadow sowing and enclosures, and for the recreational use, the design of an environmental center and five ecological trails are proposed. The organization in time and space of the activities planned in the stands allows a correct and satisfactory management of the multiple uses that occur in this forest.

Attitudes toward Residential Trees and Awareness of Tree Services and Disservices in a Tropical City

Attitudes toward urban residential trees and awareness of their ecosystem services and disservices may play an important role in management decisions of private residential green spaces with important consequences to urban sustainability. In 2011, 397 household surveys were conducted in six locations of the Río Piedras Watershed (San Juan, Puerto Rico) to evaluate residents’ attitudes toward residential and neighborhood trees and their association with household socio-demographic factors, how awareness of services and disservices relate to the spatial proximity of trees (home versus neighborhood), and whether attitudes are associated with yard management (tree abundance). Most residents self-reported positive attitudes toward trees in general and these appeared to be more frequent than self-reported negative attitudes. Respondents recognized more tree services (emphasizing shade, lower temperature, food, and ornamental/aesthetics) and fewer disservices (emphasizing maintenance hardship, property damage, and power line obstruction). Not all tree services and disservices were equally recognized, and differences in the spatial context of trees and residents may contribute to the variation in residents’ awareness of tree ecosystem services or disservices. Variation in positive attitudes partially explained the current variation in yard tree abundance, along with residents’ age, housing tenure, yard size, and watershed location. Results have direct implications for urban forest planning and management in residential contexts.

Solving Multi-Objective Problems for Multifunctional and Sustainable Management in Maritime Pine Forest Landscapes

Forest management based on sustainability and multifunctionality requires reliable and user-friendly tools to address several objectives simultaneously. In this work we present FlorNExT Pro®, a multiple-criteria landscape-scale forest planning and management computer tool, and apply it in a region in the north of Portugal to find optimized management solutions according to objectives such as maximization of net present value (NPV), volume growth, and carbon storage, and minimization of losses due to fire. Comparisons made among single- and multi-objective solutions were made to explore the range of possible indicators provided by the tool such as carbon sequestered, volume growth, probability of fire occurrence, volume of wood extracted, and evenness of harvesting in the management period. Results show that FlorNExT Pro® is a reliable, flexible, and useful tool to incorporate multiple criteria and objectives into spatially explicit complex management problems and to prepare sustainable and multifunctional forest management plans at the landscape level. FlorNExT Pro® is also suited to guiding and adapting forest management for uncertainty scenarios for the assessment of ecosystem services and fire risk, therefore playing an important role in the maintenance of sustainable landscapes in the south of Europe.

Spectral characterization of forest plantations with Landsat 8/OLI images for forest planning and management

The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of Landsat 8/OLI images to differentiate the age and estimate the total volume of Pinus elliottii, in order to determine the applicability of these data in the planning and management of forest activity. Fifty-three sampling units were installed, and dendrometric variables of 9-and-10-year-old P. elliottii commercial stands were measured. The digital numbers of the image were converted into surface reflectance and, subsequently, vegetation indices were determined. Red and near-infrared reflectance values were used to differentiate the ages of the stands. Regression analysis of the spectral variables was used to estimate the total volume. Increase in age caused an addition in reflectance in the near-infrared band and a decrease in the red band. The general equation for estimating the total volume for P.elliottii had an R2adj of 0.67 with a Syx of 31.46 m3 ha-1. Therefore, the spectral data with medium spatial resolution from the Landsat 8/OLI satellite can be used to distinguish the growth stages of the stands and can, thus, be used in the planning and proper management of forest activity on a spatial and temporal scale.

Governance von Freizeit und Erholung im Wald am Beispiel von Mountainbike-Trails

Governance of forest recreation: analysing the case of mountain bike trails In the last years, leisure and recreation activities in forests have become more important. Sustainable forest management not only fulfils the functions of protection and use, but also promotes the welfare and recreation function of forests. For this, it is not only necessary to be aware of societal demands, but also to understand how forest planning and management decisions are taken. Such questions are analysed in governance research. In this article, we use the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework to analyse the governance structures and processes in the planning of four mountain bike trails in Swiss forests. The cases show that the following governance characteristics have been decisive for the realization of the mountain bike trails: 1) the inclusion of the local actors (e.g. forest owners, hunters, nature conservation organisations), 2) the clear lead of a specific institution in the planning process and 3) the funding of the trail.

The NEBIE plot network: Background and experimental design

The Intensive Management Science Partnership: NEBIE Plot Network is a stand-scale, multi-agency research project designed to compare the ecological effects of a range of silvicultural treatments in northern temperate and boreal forest regions of Ontario. The NEBIE plot network was established in 2001 with randomized complete block experiments installed at eight sites. The NEBIE acronym stands for Natural disturbance, and Extensive, Basic, Intensive, and Elite silviculture. Each NEBIE treatment was replicated at least three times at each site, using large experimental units (2-ha plots). The NEBIE plot network provides researchers with an opportunity to conduct long-term scientific studies at multiple scales and disciplines. The operational-scale treatment plots allow assessment of a variety of forest values in a context directly relevant to informing forest planning and management. In this paper, we document the experimental design and describe the sites and silviculture treatments. Information about sampling designs is provided, along with preliminary results, in a companion paper published in this edition of The Forestry Chronicle.

Criteria and Indicators for Strategic Urban Forest Planning and Management

The success of urban forest management is frequently predicated upon achieving absolute canopy cover targets. This two-dimensional view of the urban forest does not provide a comprehensive assessment of urban forest stewardship in a community and does not account for an area’s potential to support a forest canopy. A comprehensive set of performance-based criteria and indicators concerning the community’s vegetation resource, community framework and resource management approach is described. This set of broadly based measures provides a more useful tool for the evaluation of urban forest management success and strategic management planning.