Identifying practical indicators of biodiversity for stand-level management of plantation forests

Identification of valid indicators of biodiversity is a critical need for sustainable forest management. We developed compositional, structural and functional indicators of biodiversity for five taxonomic groups—bryophytes, vascular plants, spiders, hoverflies and birds—using data from 44 Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior) plantation forests in Ireland. The best structural biodiversity indicator was stand stage, defined using a multivariate classification of forest structure variables. However, biodiversity trends over the forest cycle and between tree species differ among the taxonomic groups studied. Canopy cover was the main structural indicator and affected other structural variables such as cover of lower vegetation layers. Other structural indicators included deadwood and distances to forest edge and to broadleaved woodland. Functional indicators included stand age, site environmental characteristics and management practices. Compositional indicators were limited to more easily identifiable plant and bird species. Our results suggest that the biodiversity of any one of the species groups we surveyed cannot act as a surrogate for all of the other species groups. However, certain subgroups, such as forest bryophytes and saproxylic hoverflies, may be able to act as surrogates for each other. The indicators we have identified should be used together to identify stands of potentially high biodiversity or to evaluate the biodiversity effects of silvicultural management practices. They are readily assessed by non-specialists, ecologically meaningful and applicable over a broad area with similar climate conditions and silvicultural systems. The approach we have used to develop biodiversity indicators, including stand structural types, is widely relevant and can enhance sustainable forest management of plantations.     

Crowdsourcing indicators for cultural ecosystem services: A geographically weighted approach for mountain landscapes

Integrating cultural dimensions into the ecosystem service framework is essential for appraising non-material benefits stemming from different human–environment interactions. This study investigates how the actual provision of cultural services is distributed across the landscape according to spatially varying relationships. The final aim was to analyse how landscape settings are associated to people's preferences and perceptions related to cultural ecosystem services in mountain landscapes. We demonstrated a spatially explicit method based on geo-tagged images from popular social media to assess revealed preferences. A spatially weighted regression showed that specific variables correspond to prominent drivers of cultural ecosystem services at the local scale. The results of this explanatory approach can be used to integrate the cultural service dimension into land planning by taking into account specific benefiting areas and by setting priorities on the ecosystems and landscape characteristics which affect the service supply. We finally concluded that the use of crowdsourced data allows identifying spatial patterns of cultural ecosystem service preferences and their association with landscape settings.     

Rehabilitation of degraded forests in Thailand: policy and practice

Thailand has suffered from severe deforestation during the last century. Forest cover has declined drastically both in terms of area and quality, mostly due to the expansion of human activities. Much of the deforested area has been used for agricultural purposes, but much has also been left in a degraded condition. In late 1980s, the forest declined to a point where the nation decided that the remaining forest should be kept for conservation rather than further exploitation. Consequently, forest policy has shifted its focus from exploitation to sustainable management and protection. Thailand has set a goal of increasing its forest area to 40% of the total land area, while at present, forests occupy around 28.9% of the land. With the intention to retain most of the remaining forest as protected areas and, at the same time, achieve the goal set, several reforestation and rehabilitation initiatives have been implemented, especially on those lands in a degraded condition. This paper focuses on the significant issues affecting both the policy and practice of forest rehabilitation. Given that the large number of people whose livelihood depends on the forests for subsistence and other purposes normally has been excluded from the decision-making process in forest management, most important among these issues are the integration of the socio-economic and environmental needs into rehabilitation initiatives together with the active participation of local communities in the rehabilitation program. Case studies of reforestation and rehabilitation initiatives are also discussed.     

Operationalizing ecosystem services for the mitigation of soil threats: A proposed framework

Despite numerous research efforts over the last decades, integrating the concept of ecosystem services into land management decision-making continues to pose considerable challenges. Researchers have developed many different frameworks to operationalize the concept, but these are often specific to a certain issue and each has their own definitions and understandings of particular terms. Based on a comprehensive review of the current scientific debate, the EU FP7 project RECARE proposes an adapted framework for soil-related ecosystem services that is suited for practical application in the prevention and remediation of soil degradation across Europe. We have adapted existing frameworks by integrating components from soil science while attempting to introduce a consistent terminology that is understandable to a variety of stakeholders. RECARE aims to assess how soil threats and prevention and remediation measures affect ecosystem services. Changes in the natural capital's properties influence soil processes, which support the provision of ecosystem services. The benefits produced by these ecosystem services are explicitly or implicitly valued by individuals and society. This can influence decision- and policymaking at different scales, potentially leading to a societal response, such as improved land management. The proposed ecosystem services framework will be applied by the RECARE project in a transdisciplinary process. It will assist in singling out the most beneficial land management measures and in identifying trade-offs and win–win situations resulting from and impacted by European policies. The framework thus reflects the specific contributions soils make to ecosystem services and helps reveal changes in ecosystem services caused by soil management and policies impacting on soil. At the same time, the framework is simple and robust enough for practical application in assessing soil threats and their management with stakeholders at various levels.     

Seeing the forest for its multiple ecosystem services: Indicators for cultural services in heterogeneous forests

The ecosystem service (ES) framework is gaining traction in ecosystem management as a means to recognize the multiple benefits that ecosystems provide. In forested ecosystems, many structural attributes (trees, understory plants and woody debris) create heterogeneous ecosystems that provide numerous ecosystem services, including many that are culturally important. However, application of the ES framework to forest management is challenged by difficulties measuring and comparing multiple ES across diverse and heterogeneous forest conditions. Indicators can help bring the ES approach to forest management by providing a means for accurate ES inventory and mapping. We measured 10 forest ES in contrasting forest types to investigate the effects of past forest harvesting in coastal temperate rainforest of Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Our objectives were to build a systematic set of ES indicators for coastal temperate forests based on forest structural features, including trees, coarse woody debris, and understory plants. To achieve this, we 1) analyzed field data to compare the effects of forest age (old-growth vs. second-growth) and ecological site conditions (riparian vs. upland forest) on the bundle of ES provided by different forest types; and 2) worked with a local indigenous wood carver to identify attributes of cedar trees (Thuja plicata) essential for traditional uses, including canoe carving. Forest age and forest type had significant and major effects on bundles of ES. Old-growth forests provided three times higher carbon storage, nine times higher wood volume, and eighteen times higher canopy habitat services than recovering forests. Within old-growth forests, the proportion of trees suitable for traditional indigenous wood carving was significantly higher in riparian stands. Yet of 456 trees measured, only 17 were cedar with potential traditional uses. Of those, trees for canoe carving were the least frequent (n = 3), which we identified as large (>110 cm DBH) trees of exceptional quality. In general, old-growth riparian forests were a hotspot of ES, providing for example nearly three times as much carbon storage as old-growth forests on upland sites and 12 times the amount of carbon storage as found in second-growth forests on upland sites. These results indicate that typical inventories of forest ES, which usually generalize across heterogeneity, may oversimplify dramatic variations in ES bundles in forested landscapes. Our novel set of stand-level ES indicators can improve the accuracy of ES assessments, incorporate important cultural ES, and help address the role of landscape heterogeneity in influencing ES.     

InraPorc: A model and decision support tool for the nutrition of growing pigs

Animal production is facing new challenges that call for a more integrative approach towards nutrition. Although considerable research progress has been made by the development of mathematical models of nutrient utilisation in farm animals, practical application of these models has been rather limited. The objective of the InraPorc^® project is to integrate the current state of knowledge in a nutritional model for growing pigs and sows, and make it available as a decision support tool to end-users. The objective for the growing pig (15–150 kg BW) model is to analyse nutrient utilisation for characterised pig types and to evaluate the effects of using different nutritional strategies in terms of nutrient utilisation, performance and carcass characteristics. As model parameters related to feed intake and growth potential are adjusted by the model user, growth (in an absolute sense) is not predicted. The model is based on the transformation of dietary nutrients to body protein and lipid, which are then used to predict body weight, lean body mass and backfat thickness. The representation of nutrient utilisation is mostly based on concepts used in net energy and ideal protein systems. Driving forces of the model include feed intake, the partitioning of energy between protein and lipid deposition, and availability of dietary protein and amino acids. Using literature data, the model appeared reasonably well capable of predicting the consequence of a nutrient intake restriction. The decision support tool is available at http://www.rennes.inra.fr/inraporc/. Through a user-friendly interface, the tool can be used to visualise different aspects of nutrient utilisation and excretion.     

Factors involved in the degradation of mangrove forests in Iran: A mixed study for the management of this ecosystem

In Iran, mangroves are located in the south of the country, where they fulfill essential ecosystem functions, but some parts of them have been destroyed for various reasons in recent years so that it seems necessary to have a management plan consistent with the conservation of this ecosystem. But, it needs knowledge of the trend of and reasons for the degradation of these forests. So, the primary idea of this research was to discover the factors involved in the degradation of these forests and how to manage them. So, the research first used the remote sensing technique to determine the rate of their degradation over the last 20 years. Then, using the Delphi technique, 45 factors were identified for the degradation of these forests and they were classified into five categories including climatic and environmental, anthropogenic, socioeconomic, psychological, and policymaking and legal. Finally, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to rank these factors within two management paradigms of remediability and preventability so that the ecosystem can be soundly managed by classifying these factors. Overall, the results can provide policymakers with new insights into forest management and the policies presented here can contribute to the sustainability of this ecosystem.     

The integration of crop rotation and tillage practices in the assessment of ecosystem services provision at the regional scale

The provision of ecosystem services at the landscape level can be significantly influenced by land management practices. Within an agriculturally dominated case study area in Saxony, Germany, a more detailed land use classification, which includes differentiated information on agricultural management practices, was utilized within the raster-based planning support tool GISCAME. “Management” refers to typical, regional crop rotations and soil tillage practices.The focus of this research was based on an indicator-based approach to assess ecosystem services and the development of land use change (LUC) and land management change (LMC) scenarios. The EuroMaps Land Cover data set was specifically developed for the case study and included remote sensing information for the general land use classification and terrestrial mapping information. Furthermore, statistical data on detailed regional agricultural land management were included. The raster-based planning support tool GISCAME was then used to simulate scenarios and visualize results. The LUC and LMC scenarios showed that the more detailed land use classification provided better output for the prioritization of planning alternatives. Further it enabled a refined assessment of the provisioning services (i) food and fodder provision, (ii) biomass provision, the regulation services, (iii) soil erosion protection, (iv) drought risk regulation, (v) flood regulation, (vi) returns from land-based production (i.e. the market value of biomass provision), and (vii) ecological integrity. The results of this study support the view that the application of improved management measures, such as conservation tillage, can significantly enhance the provision of ecosystem services (e.g. soil erosion protection and drought risk regulation) at the landscape level. The study also indicates that a combination of strategic LUC, such as afforestation and LMC, might be an effective way to enhance regulating services with acceptable trade-offs regarding provisioning services. Our approach presents a refined foundation for ecosystem services assessment, which is designed to better support regional planning and the provision of information to non-experts in the participatory processes. For transfer into other regions, standardized land use and land management classification will have to be defined.     

InraPorc: A model and decision support tool for the nutrition of sows

From results obtained over the last 20 years on energy and amino acid utilisation in reproductive sows, it has become possible to improve the determination of nutrient requirements (factorial approach) and the prediction of an animal's response to nutrient supplies (modelling). The objective of this project was to integrate the current state of knowledge in a nutritional model for growing pigs and for sows and make it available as a software tool to end-users, mainly nutritionists involved in the pig industry and students in animal nutrition. The aim of this paper is to describe the basis of the sow model. The sow is represented as different compartments that change over the reproductive cycle. Nutrient flows considered are those of energy and digestible amino acids. Nutrients are used with the highest priority for maintenance and uterine growth or milk production. Subsequently, deposition and/or mobilisation of body proteins and lipids are determined and used for estimating the changes in body weight and backfat thickness of the sow. A decision support tool was built from the set of equations given, with additional modules to describe animal's characteristics and adjust some model parameters to account for variations in genotypes and performance. This tool can be used to determine energy and amino acids requirements of sows according to production objectives, or to predict body composition changes according to a given feeding strategy. The use of the decision support tool is illustrated through some examples.     

Design of forest management planning DSS for wildfire risk reduction

Forest management planning is generally a complicated task. The amount of data, information and knowledge involved in the management process is often overwhelming. Decision support systems can help forest managers make well documented decisions concerning forest management planning. These systems include a wide variety of components, depending on the management goals of the forested land. Although an increased growth of decision support systems in specific domains of forest management planning exists, there is no special design model for the deployment of forest management planning. To this direction, this paper has the following objectives: Firstly, to propose a conceptual design model for developing goal-driven forest management planning decision support systems. Secondly, to apply the design model for a particular case of these systems, the wildfire risk reduction decision support systems. Thirdly, to present the deployment of a wildfire risk reduction decision support system as well as its results for a specific forest area.     

中国生态农业模式管理信息及决策支持系统的建立

根据全国生态农业试点县建设和典型生态农业模式研究的经验,利用Access数据库技术建立了全国首批生态农业县有关自然资源背景、农业生产水平、生态环境与工程技术等各种基础信息数据库和所推广应用的生态农业模式信息数据库,可快速方便地提供各生态农业县相关信息或知识的查询或编辑．在此基础上,采用了面向对象的推理方法建立了生态农业模式区域决策的知识库体系模型,并利用Visual C^++语言初步开发出生态农业模式的区域决策支持系统,基本上实现了区域生态农业模式的决策推荐．     

The use of ecological,fishing and environmental indicators in support of decision making in southern Benguela fisheries

Indicators have been recognised as a useful tool aiding the implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries in marine ecosystems. Studies, such as the IndiSeas project (www.indiseas.org), use a suite of indicators as a method of assessing the state and trends of several of the world's marine ecosystems. While it is well known that both fishing and climatic variability influence marine fisheries in the southern Benguela ecosystem there are currently few studies in support of fisheries management that make use of environmental indicators in order to include climatic impacts on marine fish populations. Trends in ecological, fishing and environmental indicators can be utilised in a way that allows an overall ecosystem trend to be determined, and can therefore be used to aid decision support within southern Benguela fisheries. In this study trends in indicators were determined using linear regressions across three time periods, Period 1: 1978–1993, Period 2: 1994–2003 and Period 3: 2004–2010. These time periods were selected based on the timing of regime shifts within the southern Benguela, including changes in upwelling, wind stress and temperature. Each ecological indicator received a score based on the direction and significance of the observed trend with respect to fishing. To account for the impacts of fishing and environmental drivers on ecological indicators, scores were adjusted by predetermined factors, depending on the extent and direction of trends in these indicators. Weightings were applied to correlated ecological indicators to account for their redundancy, and lessen their impact on overall ecosystem score. Mean weighted scores were then used to establish an overall ecosystem score for each time period. Ecosystem classification was determined as follows: 1–1.49 = improving, 1.5–2.49 = possibly improving, 2.5–3.49 = no improvement or deterioration, 3.5–4.49 = possible deterioration, 4.5–5 = deteriorating. The ecosystem was observed to neither deteriorate nor improve across Period 1 or 2 (mean weighted scores: 2.75 and 2.56 respectively), however, during Period 3 a possible improvement was observed (mean weighted score: 1.99). This study shows that the sequential analysis of suites of ecological, fishing and environmental indicators can be used in order to determine ecosystem trends, accounting for both the impacts of fishing and the environment on ecosystem components.     

森林生态系统服务价值非货币量核算:以京津冀城市群为例

森林生态系统具有重要的功能和服务价值,对其价值的准确核算是实现森林生态系统服务定价、保护森林生态系统和落实“绿水青山就是金山银山”等实际工作的关键前提之一.本研究首先综述了现有森林生态系统服务价值核算方法的优点和局限性,然后构建了基于能值的非货币量的森林生态系统服务价值核算方法,并选取京津冀森林生态系统进行案例研究来测试这一核算方法,又进一步基于归一化植被指数对生态系统服务价值核算结果进行修正,同时考虑到数据获取的不确定性,对核算结果进行了不确定性分析.结果表明: 京津冀不同地区森林生态系统服务价值依次为承德>北京>保定>张家口>石家庄>秦皇岛>天津>邯郸>唐山>邢台>廊坊>衡水>沧州;不同森林生态系统服务价值依次为落叶阔叶林>常绿针叶林>落叶针叶林;就不同生态系统服务子类而言,京津冀单位面积森林生态系统服务价值最大的类型为调节气候,约占单位面积总价值的60%,其次是增加净初级生产力(NPP)和固碳释氧,约占23%,其他子类占比较小;河北省森林生态系统服务价值对当地GDP贡献最大,北京次之,天津最小.本研究构建的森林生态系统服务价值非货币量核算方法,可克服现存研究中存在重复计算、未能真正从生态系统贡献者视角出发、能值转化率使用或替代不当的局限性,系统核算了森林生态系统服务价值,能为实现生态系统服务定价、建立生态补偿机制和加快生态文明体制改革等提供更有效的优化和决策依据.     

基于梯度分析的武汉市生态系统服务价值时空分异特征

以2000年和2010年覆盖武汉市域的6景Landsat TM/ETM+遥感影像为基础数据,运用最大似然分类法提取土地利用类型,结合计算的武汉市单位面积生态系统服务价值,得到栅格尺度的武汉市生态系统服务价值分布图,并引入梯度分析方法,以城市中心为原点设置梯次环及考虑城市发展轴线设置采样条带,选取生态系统服务价值变化量和变化率两项指标进行梯度分析。结果表明,2000—2010武汉市总的生态系统服务价值共减少了2.68亿元;梯次环分析发现,武汉距离城市中心12—30km的北3—5环,以及距离市中心12—24km的南3—4环生态系统服务价值下降最为显著,而北8环及南7环则上升最为明显;条带分析发现,在东西向条带上,生态系统服务价值变化率曲线图呈现出一个对称的"W"形,而在南北方向上,变化率曲线可以按照变化的幅度分成了4个部分,此外与梯次环变化率曲线规律一致的是,北部要比南部变化更为剧烈。     

Assessment of ecosystem services at the national level in Germany—Illustration of the concept and the development of indicators by way of the example wood provision

The EU Biodiversity Strategy stipulates in Target 2, Action 5 that the member states must map and assess the state of the ecosystems and their services and promote the integration into the reporting systems at the EU and national level by 2020. Therefore indicators for capturing and assessing ecosystem services (ES) are needed. In this paper we report for which ES class types currently ES indicators are being developed for Germany in the context of an ongoing research project. Additionally, we provide the indicator specifications, which are based on underlying framework concept. By way of the example of the provisioning service ‘raw wood production’ and the development of the main-indicator ‘annual wood accrual’ and six sub-indicators, we illustrate the concrete procedure, including discussion of results and target values. The indicators for the ES wood provision are not only suitable for an exemplary illustration of procedure, data selection and data basis in Germany. Furthermore, it shows that indicators for provisioning ES can eminently conflict with biodiversity and other ES.     

森林经营决策支持系统的设计与实现及在采伐中的应用

我国传统的森林经营方式比较落后,数字化水平不高,决策过程比较盲目.在地理信息系统平台中集成森林动态模型,建立森林经营决策支持系统,可以充分发挥地理信息系统的可视化、空间分析以及模型模拟预测功能,加强处理森林在较大时空尺度上的动态变化的能力.本文设计并实现了森林生长率模型、景观采伐模型和矩阵模型,开发了森林经营决策支持系统,回答森林采伐经营中“采多少,采哪里,怎么采”的三个主要问题,在长白山区的露水河林业局和三岔子林业局进行应用,为提高我国森林可持续经营管理的数字化水平提供了技术支持.     

保障粮食安全造成的生态价值损失评估模型及应用

粮食安全和生态安全是我国政府必须切实解决的关系到社会经济发展、人民生活质量提高和社会稳定的重大战略问题。借鉴前人的生态服务价值理论与评估模型的基础上,阐明了保障粮食安全造成的生态服务价值损失的内涵,并以理论分析为依据,分别构建了评估不同类型生态服务价值损失的模型,为了验证所构建模型的可操作性和实用性,以陕西省长武县为案例区,对其2008年保障粮食安全导致的生态价值损失进行了评估,在不同类型生态服务价值损失中,由于不同生态系统的合理转换引起的生态服务价值损失为22834.16×104元;如果将长武县所有粮食生产用地作为林地、草地、水体,与作为耕地相比,可为人们多提供的生态服务价值分别为:21963.30×104元、4095.04×104元、40678.82×104元;单位面积林地、草地、水体可以多提供的生态服务价值量,最高的是水体,为19682.34元/hm2,林地和草地分别为:10627.4元/hm2和1981.37元/hm2。     

城市化背景下广佛都市圈农林生态系统服务价值

从广佛都市圈1990、1995、2000、2005和2010年5期土地利用矢量数据中提取出耕地、林地、园地和水域4类农林业用地.基于Costanza等生态系统服务价值计算方法,在对谢高地等提出的“中国陆地生态系统单位面积生态服务价值”进行区域修正及功能性和经济性调整的基础上,估算了1990—2010年间广佛都市圈农林生态系统的生态服务价值.结果表明: 1990—2010年间,随着经济的不断发展以及人们生活水平的不断提高,居民对农林生态系统服务的支付意愿和支付能力逐年增强,使得广佛都市圈农林生态系统服务价值总体上呈波动上升趋势,1990、1995、2000、2005和2010年的服务价值分别为413.74×10⁸、612.83×10⁸、582.88×10⁸、773.44×10⁸和698.67×10⁸元,20年间提高了284.93×10⁸元,平均年增幅为2.7%.研究期间,总服务价值增加最多的为水域,达 166.74×10⁸元,其次为林地和园地,分别增加了103.01×10⁸和47.74×10⁸元.耕地的服务价值则降低了32.56×10⁸元,降幅达23.1%.在空间分布上,广佛都市圈各年的农林生态系统服务价值均表现为从东北和西南部向中部减少的趋势.各类型农林生态系统服务价值所占比例在年际间变化不大,总体表现为:涵养水源>废物处理>生物多样性保护>气候调节>土壤形成与保护>气体调节>娱乐休闲与文化>原材料提供>食物生产.     

结合生态系统服务供需和人类福祉的区域规划

生态系统服务与人类福祉的和谐关系是区域规划的基石。现有的区域规划较少同时考虑生态系统服务的供需和流域居民的福祉差异。以城市化流域——官厅水库流域为例,应用改进后的CASA模型、IPCC清单法、SolVES模型和问卷调查量化食物供给、碳固持和文化服务以及人类福祉,再结合服务的供需关系及人类福祉水平开展聚类分区,并针对各区情况提出规划建议。结果显示,官厅水库流域内食物供给和文化服务供大于求,而碳固持服务供不应求。流域福祉位于中等水平,分值为3.44(满分5分)。其中,居民的基本物质需求分值最高(3.64),收入分值(3.00)明显低于流域整体水平。除此之外,居民认为供水、医疗条件和收入这些福祉要素仍有待改善。流域可分为城市发展区、城郊休闲区、生态涵养区和文化建设区。在各区需采用因地制宜的方式,通过增大植被覆盖面、开展文旅产业和推动冰雪项目等形式,提高居民生活质量和维持区域可持续性。     

基于SolVES模型的关中-天水经济区生态系统文化服务评估

随着人类对于生态系统服务的需求持续增加,生态系统服务的评估逐渐成为研究热点。其中文化服务因其自身的无形性常在研究中被忽视且难以衡量。选取关中-天水经济区为研究区域,应用Sol VES模型并生成5种价值指数地图和价值总和地图来评估该区域生态系统的文化服务。结果表明:审美价值在秦岭山脉和城市公园等区域较高;娱乐价值在娱乐机会较多、交通便利的城市和秦岭北麓区域更高;文化与历史价值集中在历史文化底蕴深厚的城市地区;精神价值在与城市距离较近、有山川分布的森林公园更高。Sol VES模型在大范围区域的应用取得了较好的效果同时为政府进行生态建设和规划提供了科学依据。