Relating goat milk production according to the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and precipitations in the Chaco forest throughout the 2016-2018 period

This work aimed to quantify and relate goat milk production and the Normalized Difference of Vegetation Index of the semiarid Chaco forest and the monthly average precipitation along the 2016-2018 period. The work was carried out in El Polear, in Santiago del Estero, Argentina. Even though the NDVI of the forest and its lower strata biomass productivity were affected by drought, its milk production curve remained unaffected. This may be due to the forest stability resulting from the deep rooted trees that includes, to the strategic displacement of the phenophase in its lower strata (broadleaves, herbaceous) in drought seasons and the adaptation to the changes in the goat diet selectivity before forage fluctuations. Winter NDVI peaks should be considered for new lines of research on their contribution to the energetic reserves of the goat component at the beginning of winter. Significant straight relationships (p<0.05) were found between the average goat milk production and the average monthly precipitation (r=0.64) as well as the NDVI and the semiarid Chaco forest (r=0.59). The resulting linear models involving goat milk production with both precipitation and NDVI had moderate and significant (p<0.05) explaining power (R2=0.41) and (R2=0.35), respectively. These models make the seasonal goat milk production predictable and the planning and the making decision process of both producers and the agroindustry easier.

Climate-Smart Silviculture in Mountain Regions

Mountain forests in Europe have to face recently speeding-up phenomena related to climate change, reflected not only by the increases in the mean global temperature but also by frequent extreme events, that can cause a lot of various damages threatening forest stability. The crucial task of management is to adapt forests to environmental uncertainties using various strategies that should be undertaken to enhance forest resistance and resilience, as well as to maintain forest biodiversity and provision of ecosystem services at requested levels. Forests can play an important role in the mitigation of climate change. The stand features that increase forest climate smartness could be improved by applying appropriate silvicultural measures, which are powerful tools to modify forests. The chapter provides information on the importance of selected stand features in the face of climate change and silvicultural prescriptions on stand level focusing to achieve the required level of climate smartness. The selection of silvicultural prescriptions should be also supported by the application of simulation models. The sets of the various treatments and management alternatives should be an inherent part of adaptive forest management that is a leading approach in changing environmental conditions.

Canopy Gaps Improve Landscape Aesthetic Service by Promoting Autumn Color-Leaved Tree Species Diversity and Color-Leaved Patch Properties in Subalpine Forests of Southwestern China

Background and Objectives: The landscape aesthetic service (LAS) is a crucial ecosystem service in subalpine forests of the mountain and ravine regions of the Tibetan Plateau, especially in autumn; it can provide important ecological and economic value, improving the livelihood of the local people. Canopy gap acts as a key role in the maintenance of species diversity and forest stability and ecosystem services. However, the mechanisms and interactions of forest stability maintained by gap formations and LAS via gap dynamics are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of canopy gaps on autumn color-leaved tree species diversity (ACTSD), color-leaved patch structure attributes (CPSA), LAS, and their interactions during the autumn viewing period, and to provide a fundamental basis for the management and protection of subalpine autumn color-leaved forests (SACF). Materials and Methods: We used very high-resolution images to quantify gap characteristics and examined the effects of canopy gaps on ACTSD, CPSA, and LAS in 21 SACF plots in southwestern China. We then used path analysis to determine the relationships between these factors. Results: The number of gaps and total gap area were the key gap characteristics affecting LAS; particularly, medium canopy gaps (51–100 m2) played a more important role. The path model showed that increasing the total gap area along with the number of medium canopy gaps had direct positive effects on ACTSD, color-leaved patch diversity, and total color-leaved patch area, thus improving the LAS. Conclusions: Canopy gaps indirectly improve LAS in autumn by significantly affecting ACTSD and CPSA. Our results suggest that forest managers may be able to manipulate the numbers and proportion of medium canopy gaps to protect and preserve ACTSD and color-leaved landscapes, promoting the LAS of SACF, and in turn, ensuring the coordinated development of economic, social, and ecological benefits for the underdeveloped rural montane areas of southwestern China.

Canopy Gaps Improve Landscape Aesthetic Service by Promoting Autumn Colour-Leaved Tree Species Diversity and Colour-Leaved Patch Properties in Subalpine Forests of Southwestern China

BackgroundLandscape aesthetic service is a crucial ecosystem service in subalpine forests of the mountain and ravine regions of the Tibetan Plateau; it can provide important ecological and economic value, improving the livelihood of the local people. Canopy gap is recognized as the key mechanism in the maintenance of species diversity and forest stability and is known to further affect ecosystem service functioning. However, the mechanisms and interactions of forest stability maintained by gap formations and forest aesthetic service functioning via gap dynamics are not fully understood. We used very high-resolution images to quantify gap characteristics and examined the effects of canopy gaps on autumn colour-leaved tree species diversity, colour-leaved patch structure characteristics, and landscape aesthetic service in 21 subalpine autumn colour-leaved forest plots in southwestern China. We then used path analysis to determine the relationships between these factors.ResultsThe number of gaps and total gap area were the key gap characteristics affecting landscape aesthetic service; particularly, medium canopy gaps (51–100 m2) played a more important role. The path model showed that increasing the total gap area along with the number of medium canopy gaps had direct positive effects on autumn colour-leaved tree species diversity, colour-leaved patch diversity, and total colour-leaved patch area, thus improving the landscape aesthetic service.ConclusionCanopy gaps indirectly improve landscape aesthetic service by significantly affecting colour-leaved species diversity, colour-leaved patch diversity, and colour-leaved patch area. Our results suggest that forest managers may be able to manipulate the numbers and proportion of medium canopy gaps to protect and preserve autumn colour-leaved tree species diversity and colour-leaved landscapes, promoting the landscape aesthetic service of subalpine autumn colour-leaved forests and, in turn, ensuring the coordinated development of economic, social, and ecological benefits for the underdeveloped rural montane areas of southwestern China.

A Complex Method for Estimation of Multiple Abiotic Hazards in Forest Ecosystems

Forest ecosystems are faced with a variety of threats, including increasingly prolonged droughts and other abiotic stresses such as extreme high temperatures, very strong wind, invasive insect outbreaks, and the rapid spread of pathogens. The aim of the study was to define crucial abiotic stressors affecting Central Europe forest ecosystems and, with regard to their possible simultaneous effect, develop a universal method of multi-hazard evaluation. The method was then applied to the particular area of interest represented by part of the Czech Republic with forest land cover (12–19 ° E, 48–51 ° N). Based on National Threat Analysis, the most significant threats of natural origin with a close relationship to forest stability were identified as drought, high temperature, and wind gusts. Using suitable indicators, a level of their risk based on occurrence and consequences was estimated. The resulting combined level of risk, divided into five categories, was then spatially expressed on a grid map. The novelty of our paper lies in: (i) all relevant climatic data were combined and evaluated simultaneously with respect to the different level of risk, (ii) the developed methodological road map enables an application of the method for various conditions, and (iii) multiple hazards were estimated for the case study area.

Climate-driven risks to the climate mitigation potential of forests

Forests have considerable potential to help mitigate human-caused climate change and provide society with many cobenefits. However, climate-driven risks may fundamentally compromise forest carbon sinks in the 21st century. Here, we synthesize the current understanding of climate-driven risks to forest stability from fire, drought, biotic agents, and other disturbances. We review how efforts to use forests as natural climate solutions presently consider and could more fully embrace current scientific knowledge to account for these climate-driven risks. Recent advances in vegetation physiology, disturbance ecology, mechanistic vegetation modeling, large-scale ecological observation networks, and remote sensing are improving current estimates and forecasts of the risks to forest stability. A more holistic understanding and quantification of such risks will help policy-makers and other stakeholders effectively use forests as natural climate solutions.

Perkembangan Pertumbuhan Tegakan Setelah Penebangan di Areal IUPHHK-HA PT. Diamond Raya Timber

Peat swamp forest management which is less precise will cause diversity on peat swamp forest decreased, in particular endemic species that can only be grown on peat swamp forest. So the research about the condition of peat swamp forest after logging needs to be done. This research aims to analyze species diversity and the development of stand growth after logging as well as analyze stability of species diversity in logged forest IUPHHK-HA PT Diamond Raya Timber. The data collected by combination of path method and grid line method. This research located in biodiversity strip (Protected Area) and logged over area (LOA) 2013, logged over area (LOA) 2015 and logged over area (LOA) 2016. The results showed that condition of the forest in the studied area was already quite stable with index of evenness ranged at 0.56-0.94. There is decreasin stand potential compared with biodiversity strip areal. Stand potential in biodiversity was 254,06 m3/ha, LOA 2013 was 99,72 m3/ha, LOA 2015 was 53,57 m3/ha and LOA 2016 was 58,41 m3/ha. Keywords: peat swamp forest, stability, stand potential, LOA, diversity

Impact of cloud coverage on growth dynamics of Cedrela nebulosa from an Amazonian pre-montane forest in Central Ecuador

&lt;p&gt;The neotropical tree genus Cedrela (Meliaceae) had originated in dry forest under seasonal climates in North America, then spread to South America during the Oligocene/Early Miocene and finally adapted to deciduous forest in the Pliocene Epoch. At present, Cedrela comprises 17 species distributed in the Neotropics (24N-27S) and in Ecuador; the species Cedrela nebulosa (T.D.Penn. &amp; Daza) generally develops in the altitudinal range of 1100-2400 m a.s.l. The town of Mera, Pastaza in Central Ecuador was the first lowland Amazonian site from which paleoecological data were acquired. It brought about the hypothesis of a 4.5 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C temperature depression during glacial times recently supported by a paleolimnological record in the area. However, despite the dry events during glacial periods there was not a loss of forest structure owing to the importance of cloud cover formation enhanced by the lower temperatures (Montoya et al., 2018).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our research aims to study the role that cloud cover plays in the pre-montane forest of Mera, located at the Andean eastern flank (1&amp;#186;24'25 S, 78&amp;#186;03'10 W, 1200 m a.s.l) and its coupling with modern climate variations. It is expected that cloud cover will continue moving upwards and narrowing as temperature rises overriding its buffering effect against changes in precipitation, a scenario that threatens the forest stability achieved even during glacial periods. Dendroclimatological methods will be applied with trees of Cedrela nebulosa which receive moisture and constant temperature throughout the year. Interpretations of the phenomenon are expected to be drawn using oxygen isotopes in tree-ring cellulose (&amp;#948;&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;TR&lt;/sub&gt;) and precipitation (&amp;#948;&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;W&lt;/sub&gt;), as well as air temperature (T), for which monitoring has been established in the study area. The formation of annual rings in the species has been preliminary validated by radiocarbon dating (&lt;sup&gt;14&lt;/sup&gt;C) using the bomb peak.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The research was supported by the European Union and the State of Hungary, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund in the project of GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00009 &amp;#8216;ICER&amp;#8217;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reference: Montoya et al., 2018. Front. Plant Sci., 9, 196; doi: 10.3389/fpls.2018.00196&lt;/p&gt;

Holocene atmospheric dust deposition in NW Spain

Atmospheric dust plays an important role in terrestrial and marine ecosystems, particularly those that are nutrient limited. Despite that most dust originates from arid and semi-arid regions, recent research has shown that past dust events may have been involved in boosting productivity in nutrient-poor peatlands. We investigated dust deposition in a mid-latitude, raised bog, which is surrounded by a complex geology (paragneiss/schist, granite, quartzite and granodiorite). As proxies for dust fluxes, we used accumulation rates of trace (Ti, Zr, Rb, Sr and Y) as well as major (K and Ca) lithogenic elements. The oldest, largest dust deposition event occurred between ~8.6 and ~7.4 ka BP, peaking at ~8.1 ka BP (most probably the 8.2 ka BP event). The event had a large impact on the evolution of the mire, which subsequently transitioned from a fen into a raised bog in ~1500 years. From ~6.7 to ~4.0 ka BP, fluxes were very low, coeval with mid-Holocene forest stability and maximum extent. In the late Holocene, after ~4.0 ka BP, dust events became more prevalent with relatively major deposition at ~3.2–2.5, ~1.4 ka BP and ~0.35–0.05 ka BP, and minor peaks at ~4.0–3.7, ~1.7, ~1.10–0.95 ka BP and ~0.74–0.58 ka BP. Strontium fluxes display a similar pattern between ~11 and ~6.7 ka BP but then became decoupled from the other elements from the mid Holocene onwards. This seems to be a specific signal of the granodiorite batholith, which has an Sr anomaly. The reconstructed variations in dust fluxes bear a strong climatic imprint, probably related to storminess controlled by North Atlantic Oscillation conditions. Complex interactions also arise because of increased pressure from human activities.