Rejuvenation of Reserve Forest by Forest Interventions (Species and Different Plantations)

Eco-restoration is a technique for rejuvenation of degraded ecosystem to their near original state. It also helps to control soil erosion, develop microbial ecology, enhance biomass production and socio-economic development. The present study was focused on a new approach called Rejuvenation Technology for less forest area. India is bestowed with the rich diversity of flora and fauna due to diverse environment. Global warming and consequent impending danger of climate changes has necessitated to arrest deforestation. The species diversity has also helped in the selection of appropriate native species to enhance the ecological functions of urbanizing landscapes. Adoption of monoculture plantations though the region appears green, but fulfilling the vital ecosystem functions such as groundwater recharge, food and fodder to dependent biota, etc. Forest Rejuvenation Action Plan was prepared for each Reserve Forest Block with forestry activities like Reserve Forest boundary deep trench, fencing, Plantations of Gacchakaya on trench mounds along the periphery of the Reserve Forest boundary having interface with Revenue Land to protect the forest from biotic interference. Further Soil & Moisture Conservation works were proposed to improve moisture regime. Silvicultural operations like Cultural operations & removal of invasive species were proposed for better natural regeneration & growth of existing root stock. It was further supplemented with plantations like Block plantations, fruit bearing plantations, Yadadri Model plantations, Grassland development in 0.0 - 0.10 canopy density forest area. Further plantation activities like Gap planting, Medicinal herbs & Shurbs, plantation inside and on the mounds of SCT, Bamboo plantations along nalas/Streams were proposed to improve three tier canopy in the Reserve Forest in 0.1 - 0.40. These Forestry Interventions help to improve the forest cover, biodiversity, Carbon sequestration, Water Argumentation etc to meet the required results as per National & Global Commitments. To demonstrate this technology, plantation of seedlings of 5 different canopy density. Block plantation. Yadadri Model Plantations, Grass lands, Forest Fruit bearing Plantations was carried out in a village community degraded land located in Medhal district in Telangana State. This study developed spatial definitions of the Rejuvenation of reserve forest. Keywords: Rejuvenation, Reserve forest, Plantation models, canopy, Soil & Moisture Conservation

Full scale experiments to examine the role of deadwood on rockfall dynamics in forests

Forests are rockfall-protective ecological infrastructures, as a significant amount of kinetic energy is absorbed during consecutive rock-tree impacts. Although many recent works have considered rock impacts with standing trees, the effect of lying deadwood in forests has not yet been considered thoroughly, either experimentally or numerically. Here, we present a complete examination of induced rockfall experiments on a forested area in three different management stages. The trilogy is conducted in a spruce forest stand (i) in its original state, (ii) after a logging operation with fresh, lying deadwood and (iii) after the removal of the deadwood. The tests allow us to directly quantify the effect of fresh deadwood on overall rockfall risk for the same forest (slope, species) under three different conditions. The study yields quantitative results on the barrier efficiency of the deadwood logs as only 3.6 % of the rocks surpass the deadwood section. The mean runout distance is reduced by 42 %. Conversely, the runout distance increases by 17 % when the cleared stand is compared to the original forest. These results quantitatively confirm the benefits of nature-based mitigation measures integrated into forestry practice and we show how modern rockfall codes can be extended to incorporate such complex, but realistic forest boundary conditions.

Contrasting climate influences on Nothofagus pumilio establishment along elevational gradients

Predicted warmer temperatures and more frequent extreme climatic events in the southern Andes will affect the dynamics of the Patagonian forests. These environmental changes may differentially alter the probability of Nothofagus pumilio establishment across its altitudinal range of distribution. We monitored fruit rain, seedling emergence and survival at the lower and upper elevation boundaries of N. pumilio forests in Santa Cruz (49° 22'S − 72º 56' W), Argentina. From 2012 to 2018, recruitment and mortality were evaluated biannually in the field. Seedling establishment was tested in relation to drought, based on the SPEI (Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index), and changes in elevation. Fruit rain was consistently higher at low elevation and the abundance of fruits was not affected by drought intensity. Seedling emergence was ~ 11 to 19 times larger at the upper forest boundary, in particular during years characterized by warm-dry climatic conditions in spring-early summer. In contrast, seedling abundance was ~ 3 times larger at low elevations during relatively cold-wet growing seasons. Over the period 2012 to 2018, dominated by dry-warm spring and summers, survival probability curves for seedlings and juvenile trees were higher at upper than lower elevations. Our results show contrasting effects of climate on tree establishment at the elevation limits, with positive and negative drought effects at high and low elevations, respectively. Predicted increase of extreme drought events during the XXI century could be detrimental for N. pumilio establishment at dry, low-elevation forests.

Quantifying Slopes as a Driver of Forest to Marsh Conversion Using Geospatial Techniques: Application to Chesapeake Bay Coastal-Plain, United States

Coastal salt marshes, which provide valuable ecosystem services such as flood mitigation and carbon sequestration, are threatened by rising sea level. In response, these ecosystems migrate landward, converting available upland into salt marsh. In the coastal-plain surrounding Chesapeake Bay, United States, conversion of coastal forest to salt marsh is well-documented and may offset salt marsh loss due to sea level rise, sediment deficits, and wave erosion. Land slope at the marsh-forest boundary is an important factor determining migration likelihood, however, the standard method of using field measurements to assess slope across the marsh-forest boundary is impractical on the scale of an estuary. Therefore, we developed a general slope quantification method that uses high resolution elevation data and a repurposed shoreline analysis tool to determine slope along the marsh-forest boundary for the entire Chesapeake Bay coastal-plain and find that less than 3% of transects have a slope value less than 1%; these low slope environments offer more favorable conditions for forest to marsh conversion. Then, we combine the bay-wide slope and elevation data with inundation modeling from Hurricane Isabel to determine likelihood of coastal forest conversion to salt marsh. This method can be applied to local and estuary-scale research to support management decisions regarding which upland forested areas are more critical to preserve as available space for marsh migration.

High-Resolution Estimates of Fire Severity—An Evaluation of UAS Image and LiDAR Mapping Approaches on a Sedgeland Forest Boundary in Tasmania, Australia

With an increase in the frequency and severity of wildfires across the globe and resultant changes to long-established fire regimes, the mapping of fire severity is a vital part of monitoring ecosystem resilience and recovery. The emergence of unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) and compact sensors (RGB and LiDAR) provide new opportunities to map fire severity. This paper conducts a comparison of metrics derived from UAS Light Detecting and Ranging (LiDAR) point clouds and UAS image based products to classify fire severity. A workflow which derives novel metrics describing vegetation structure and fire severity from UAS remote sensing data is developed that fully utilises the vegetation information available in both data sources. UAS imagery and LiDAR data were captured pre- and post-fire over a 300 m by 300 m study area in Tasmania, Australia. The study area featured a vegetation gradient from sedgeland vegetation (e.g., button grass 0.2m) to forest (e.g., Eucalyptus obliqua and Eucalyptus globulus 50m). To classify the vegetation and fire severity, a comprehensive set of variables describing structural, textural and spectral characteristics were gathered using UAS images and UAS LiDAR datasets. A recursive feature elimination process was used to highlight the subsets of variables to be included in random forest classifiers. The classifier was then used to map vegetation and severity across the study area. The results indicate that UAS LiDAR provided similar overall accuracy to UAS image and combined (UAS LiDAR and UAS image predictor values) data streams to classify vegetation (UAS image: 80.6%; UAS LiDAR: 78.9%; and Combined: 83.1%) and severity in areas of forest (UAS image: 76.6%, UAS LiDAR: 74.5%; and Combined: 78.5%) and areas of sedgeland (UAS image: 72.4%; UAS LiDAR: 75.2%; and Combined: 76.6%). These results indicate that UAS SfM and LiDAR point clouds can be used to assess fire severity at very high spatial resolution.

Short communication: Savanna-forest boundary on Mount Rinjani, Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Sutomo, van Etten E, Iryadi R. 2021. Short communication: Savanna-forest boundary on Mount Rinjani, Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 726-731. Seasonally dry tropical forests tend to be bordered by or are mixed with savanna ecosystems. This research investigates the location and nature of forest-savanna boundary on Mt. Rinjani and hypothesizes on potential causes of such boundary formation. The field survey locations were based on MODIS burnt area data. We made 30 plots (50 x 50 m) established along transects to obtain vegetation and environment data across boundaries. For data analysis, we use community correspondence index (CCI), vegetation composition using Importance Value Index (IVI), and Analysis of Similarity (ANOSIM) to detect differences in floristic and environmental characteristics across boundaries. Species composition in the transition zone (based on highest IVI results) comprises Ficus septica, Macaranga tanarius, Lindera sp., Engelhardia spicata, Saurauria sp., Rytidosperma penicillatum, and Athyrium sp. The Non-Metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling (NMDS) based on environmental data showed clear separation between savanna and forest, although boundaries were floristically similar to forest. Micro- and macro-environmental factors, as well as, fire disturbances, are also important features of the forest-savanna boundary on Mt. Rinjani. We present evidence of boundary dynamics in the form of forest advance on the Mt. Rinjani south-west slope.

To the question of replacing low efficient ecosystems in the subarctic tundra with highly efficient (on the example of aboveground phytomass in Northern Yakutia – Егiорhorum роlуstасhiоn and Arctophila fulva)

This article covers the history of scientific research of the Nizhnekolymsk tundra, conducted over the period from 1970 to 1987 by the employees of the Institute of Biology of the Yakut Branch of the Academy of Sciences of USSR (Yakutsk). The subject of this research is the biochemical composition of plants from the family of sedge and grass – Егiорhorum роlуstасhiоn and Arctophila fulva) as the most common communities. It was conducted in tundra pastures in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River for rational economic management. One of the largest state owned farms of Yakutia “Nizhnekolymsky” specializes in reindeer herding – the traditional activity of indigenous peoples, was located in this area. In the past, this area was referred to as Hallerchinskaya tundra; it covered low left bank of the Kolyma River from delta to the forest boundary on the south and Konakovsky uplands in the west. Within the limits of Hallerchinskaya lowland in the rural locality of Pohodsk was located the “Nizhnekolymsky” geobotanical station. The method of models developed by staff members of the Institute of Biology was applied in monitoring the formation of aftergrass and determination of productivity reserve, as well as in selection of quadrats in the subarctic tundra. The main conclusions consists in the statement that the use of the such method for determining the phytomass reserve allowed conducting a prolonged observation over aftergrass formation in the same quadrats, and thereby discerning the natural development process towards reduction or increase of the studied species.