The forest resources input–output model: An application in China

Understanding the state of forest resource utilization in China and correctly evaluating the role and function of forest resources in national economic development are essential for realizing balanced development of forests, the environment, and the economy. This is especially true given the present situation of increasingly scarce forest resources. Using data from Chinese forest industry statistical yearbooks, forestry development reports, and other documents, this paper examines the current state of forest resource utilization in China from the angle of combining quantities and values based on input–output tables. We show that demand for and input use of forest resources varies greatly across industrial sectors; the paper products and furniture manufacturing industries have the greatest direct consumption coefficient for timber use. When considering direct and indirect demand, it is clear that forest resources restrict different industrial sectors in diverse ways. These results provide an important set of reference values regarding the utilization of forest resources and coordinated industrial development in China.     

Management of ecosystem services in mountain forests: Review of indicators and value functions for model based multi-criteria decision analysis

The main ecosystem services (ES) central European mountain forests provide are: protection against gravitational hazards, timber production, recreation, biodiversity conservation and carbon storage, which are all in high demand. These demands make managing mountain forests a challenging task, involving manifold synergies and conflicts between the different ES. There is therefore an urgent need for appropriate concepts and tools for support decisions in forest management and planning (FMP) to take into consideration all ES and to manage the wide variety of information types, parameters and uncertainties involved in assessing the sustainability of ES. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) provides a suitable set of methods for sustainability evaluations. In this study sustainability means the persistent fulfilment of the required ES. To address all the phases of the FMP process, MCDA and forest models should be applied together, with indicators providing the main interfaces to combine them. This paper aims to: i) review assessment approaches in order to select appropriate and widely accepted indicators for measuring and assessing the effects of different silvicultural management alternatives on forest ES, and ii) present additional standardisation approaches (value functions) for each indicator. Standardisations are necessary to make the different ES comparable and to study synergies and trade-offs between different management objectives in MCDA. The main ES in central European mountain regions are considered, with a clear focus on those indicators that are directly derivable from forest model outputs and that can refer to sustainable forest management practices. The scales considered are that of the single forest stand and of the larger forest management unit. A holistic indicator-based analysis framework for FMP in mountain forests can be built using the indicators and value functions described. The influence of different management alternatives on ES can then be evaluated, taking into consideration the instruments and information on forest management (forest models, inventory) available. All indicators are selected according to existing and approved approaches that only require data that is normally available in operational forest management. The framework can thus be an important element in developing a decision support system for FMP in mountain forests.     

Reassessment of the vocal repertoire of a nest-building gladiator frog,Boana pardalis (Anura,Hylidae, Cophomantinae): implications for its diagnosis within the B. faber species group

In this study, we re-describe the advertisement and territorial calls of Boana pardalis, carry out an acoustic comparison between the studied species and the other congeners of the B. faber group, and report for the first time the tympanic amplexus for the studied species. The advertisement call of B. pardalis can be used to supplement its diagnosis in the B. faber group based on temporal call traits, e.g. emission rate and emission pattern, as well as the call envelope.     

Avian life-history determinants of local extinction risk in a hyper-fragmented neotropical forest landscape

The fact that species vary in their vulnerability to extinction is well documented, but the reasons for these differences remain poorly understood. Why should some species/families/guilds decline rapidly with increasing anthropogenic disturbance, while others either tolerate or proliferate in disturbed habitats? We investigated the bird species composition in 31 primary forest patches of varying size in a region of the Amazonian 'Arc of Deforestation' and assessed which species life-history traits predisposed individual species to extinction. Medium-sized non-flocking canopy frugivores/ominvores of low primary forest dependence were least likely to go extinct in small patches, while small-bodied flock-following primary-forest-dependent terrestrial insectivores were most fragmentation sensitive. We found highly idiosyncratic relationships between the minimum size of forest patches occupied by different species and their territory size requirements estimated based on other Amazonian studies. This suggests that avian assemblages in forest fragments primarily comprise species that either have good dispersal abilities or are highly tolerant to the non-forest matrix, rather than those whose minimum spatial requirements can be met by the size of available forest fragments.     

Vascular plant species richness along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients: a contribution from New Zealand temperate rainforests

Vascular plant species richness is known to often decrease with both increasing latitude and increasing altitude. However, a number of studies have shown the reverse trend and the primary cause of these gradients remains unknown. In the present work, generalized linear models were used to assess the relative importance of latitude and altitude as well as of a number of other factors (mean annual precipita-tion, slope, substrate and forest type) on species richness in temperate rainforests of New Zealand. The effect of Southern beech ( Nothofagus spp.) as dominant canopy species on total species richness was shown to be much smaller than postulated in most previous studies. Within the region studied, altitude had by far the strongest effect on species richness. This effect was independent of latitude and was significant for woody but not for herbaceous vegetation.