Development of common indicators of sustainable forest management

The scope of sustainable forest management has been defined by a range of criteria and indicators, each applicable to certain local needs and situations. At the same time, public expectation of forest management have been evolving, and new indicators are constantly being proposed. It is possible to draw on the expertise represented by different criteria and indicator schemes to identify a set of indicators that are likely to be relevant to most situations. When this was done for British Columbia, Canada, it became apparent that there were many gaps in our understanding of indicators, and that there were also some areas that were poorly developed. Here we identify that socio-economic and cultural indicators of sustainable forest management are particularly weak and suggest the use of indices of social capital and the creation of a criterion dealing specifically with Aboriginal issues would help remedy these deficiencies.     

Ecological indicators: Imperative to sustainable forest management

Sustainable forest management (SFM) deals with ecologically sound practices that maintain the forest ecosystem integrity, productivity, resilience and biodiversity. Ecological sustainability ensures continuing function of ecosystems which are considered as ecological life support system. Several attempts have been made world over to develop criteria and indicators, which are specific to various forestry conditions and recognized as appropriate tools for assessing and monitoring progress towards sustainable forest management. In India, the process for measuring forest sustainability has started by evolving national level set of Criteria and indicators in the form of Bhopal–India process. The Bhopal–India process specifies 8 criteria and 43 indicators. The first 4 criteria pertain exclusively to ecology with 21 related indicators. Thus, nearly half of the criteria and indicators pertain to ecological dimensions that largely govern sustainability of forests. Rest of the criteria of the base set pertains to economic and social aspects with related indicators. This provides holistic approach of monitoring the forest resources.     

A forest typology for monitoring sustainable forest management: The case of European Forest Types

Abstract

Sustainable forest management (SFM) is presently widely accepted as the overriding objective for forest policy and practice. Regional processes are in progress all over the world to develop and implement criteria and indicators of SFM. In continental Europe, a set of 35 Pan-European indicators has been endorsed under the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE) to measure progress towards SFM in the 44 countries of the region. The formulation of seven indicators (forest area, growing stock, age structure/diameter distribution, deadwood, tree species composition, damaging agents, naturalness) requires national data to be reported by forest types. Within the vast European forest area the values taken by these indicators show a considerable range of variation, due to variable natural conditions and anthropogenic influences. Given this variability, it is very difficult to grasp the meaning of these indicators when taken out of their ecological background. The paper discusses the concepts behind, and the requirements of, a classification more soundly ecologically framed and suitable for MCPFE reporting than the three (un-informative) classes adopted so far: broadleaved forest, coniferous forest, mixed broadleaved and coniferous forest. We propose a European Forest Types scheme structured into a reasonably higher number of classes, that would improve the specificity of the indicators reported under the MCPFE process and its understanding.     

Fuzzy methods for assessing criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management

This paper describes the general concepts, meaning, and definitions of sustainability and proposes the use of soft methodologies, particularly fuzzy set theory, for its assessment. Criteria and indicators (C&I) are described as instruments to assess forest sustainability. Basic elements and concepts of fuzzy sets are described, including membership functions and their interpretations in the context of sustainable forest management. Moreover, fuzzy operators that can combine the operational concepts of sustainability, namely criteria and indicators are described. A simple illustrative example is described to demonstrate the application of these methodologies.     

Evaluating citizen science data for forecasting species responses to national forest management

The extensive spatial and temporal coverage of many citizen science datasets (CSD) makes them appealing for use in species distribution modeling and forecasting. However, a frequent limitation is the inability to validate results. Here, we aim to assess the reliability of CSD for forecasting species occurrence in response to national forest management projections (representing 160,366 km²) by comparison against forecasts from a model based on systematically collected colonization–extinction data. We fitted species distribution models using citizen science observations of an old‐forest indicator fungus Phellinus ferrugineofuscus. We applied five modeling approaches (generalized linear model, Poisson process model, Bayesian occupancy model, and two MaxEnt models). Models were used to forecast changes in occurrence in response to national forest management for 2020‐2110. Forecasts of species occurrence from models based on CSD were congruent with forecasts made using the colonization–extinction model based on systematically collected data, although different modeling methods indicated different levels of change. All models projected increased occurrence in set‐aside forest from 2020 to 2110: the projected increase varied between 125% and 195% among models based on CSD, in comparison with an increase of 129% according to the colonization–extinction model. All but one model based on CSD projected a decline in production forest, which varied between 11% and 49%, compared to a decline of 41% using the colonization–extinction model. All models thus highlighted the importance of protected old forest for P. ferrugineofuscus persistence. We conclude that models based on CSD can reproduce forecasts from models based on systematically collected colonization–extinction data and so lead to the same forest management conclusions. Our results show that the use of a suite of models allows CSD to be reliably applied to land management and conservation decision making, demonstrating that widely available CSD can be a valuable forecasting resource.     

Evaluating the terrestrial carbon dioxide removal potential of improved forest management and accelerated forest conversion in Norway

As a carbon dioxide removal measure, the Norwegian government is currently considering a policy of large‐scale planting of spruce (Picea abies (L) H. Karst) on lands in various states of natural transition to a forest dominated by deciduous broadleaved tree species. Given the aspiration to bring emissions on balance with removals in the latter half of the 21st century in effort to limit the global mean temperature rise to “well below” 2°C, the effectiveness of such a policy is unclear given relatively low spruce growth rates in the region. Further convoluting the picture is the magnitude and relevance of surface albedo changes linked to such projects, which typically counteract the benefits of an enhanced forest CO₂ sink in high‐latitude regions. Here, we carry out a rigorous empirically based assessment of the terrestrial carbon dioxide removal (tCDR) potential of large‐scale spruce planting in Norway, taking into account transient developments in both terrestrial carbon sinks and surface albedo over the 21st century and beyond. We find that surface albedo changes would likely play a negligible role in counteracting tCDR, yet given low forest growth rates in the region, notable tCDR benefits from such projects would not be realized until the second half of the 21st century, with maximum benefits occurring even later around 2150. We estimate Norway's total accumulated tCDR potential at 2100 and 2150 (including surface albedo changes) to be 447 (±240) and 852 (±295) Mt CO₂‐eq. at mean net present values of US$ 12 (±3) and US$ 13 (±2) per ton CDR, respectively. For perspective, the accumulated tCDR potential at 2100 represents around 8 years of Norway's total current annual production‐based (i.e., territorial) CO₂‐eq. emissions.     

可持续经营框架下阔叶红松林区生物多样性间接评价体系的研究

森林生物多样性的保护和持续利用是森林可持续经营的重要内容,如何快速有效地评价生物多样性是当前森林经营实践中面临的重要问题。本文以可持续发展为指导思想,针对阔叶红松林区森林可持续经营中的生物多样性保护问题,提出了一套生物多样性间接评价的体系和评价方法。生物多样性间接评价的基本原理是以物种与生境的关系、森林自然干扰状况、物种间的相互关系和对特殊生境及敏感物种的考虑等为基础的。依据阔叶红松林区的干扰状况、林分一般状况、立木层、灌木层、草本层、附生植物和藤本植物等的特点,采用重复累加的方法,制定了阔叶红松林区林分生物多样性间接评价的打分表。在一个森林经营单位(林业局或林场)进行生物多样性的保护时,首先应根据不同森林类型对干扰的适应和抵抗力大小确定对各类森林优先保护的次序,然后再在各类森林的不同小班中进行生物多样性间接评价打分表的填写,最后根据不同小班生物多样性得分的多少确定其保护的等级或先后次序。生物多样性间接评价调查可以结合森林经理调查来进行。     

Assessment of sustainable forest management criteria using indicators of the international programme ICP forests

This article gives an assessment of the international criteria for the sustainable management of forests on the basis of indicators according to the International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests). The given program allows us to assess Criterion 2: Maintenance of Forest Health and Vitality and Criterion 4: Conservation and Improvement of the Biological Diversity of the Forest Ecosystem. The informative indicators of Criterion 2 are the degrees of the tree crown defoliation and the composition parameters of atmospheric deposition, soils, and dominant tree plant photosynthetic organs. The assessment of Criterion 4 is carried out on the basis of biodiversity items, including forest distribution by age and species composition, sets of forest community major groups (groups of forest types) and their quantitative representation in the area, number of tree and shrub species found in the forests, and species richness and species saturation. An attempt has been made to show whether the network of the permanent observation posts reflects in full measure the forest typological and age structure in Karelia and Karelian Isthmus.     

Introduction: International conference on forest ecosystems: Ecology,conservation and sustainable management

Abstract

A pollen diagram from a small lake, Kutulahdenlampi, in northern Finland is interpreted in terms of the development of forest vegetation during the Holocene. The abundance of each of the forest taxa is considered independently by means of pollen accumulation rates (PARs), using as the reference material, long term average pollen deposition values monitored by a network of pollen traps. Particular attention is paid to the arrival of spruce and to the species in the original forests that this newcomer replaces. A model of pollen dispersal and deposition developed by Sugita is used to estimate the area around the lake that the pollen assemblage is most clearly reflecting. This relevant source area of pollen (RSAP), for the present day situations is c. 1,500 m. Pollen loadings calculated for a simulated landscape that mimics (i) that of the present day and (ii) for the situation at 8,000 BP (as deduced from the PARs) are compared with the pollen assemblages from the diagram at those points in time, and are seen to be compatible. The advantages of combining PAR and modelling to look at the spatial scale of vegetation reconstructions are discussed.     

中国天然林保护、生态恢复与可持续经营的理论与技术

全面总结了近年来中国在天然林保护与生态恢复的理论与技术实践方面所取得的研究进展。高度凝练出了天然林动态干扰与保育技术、典型退化天然林的生态恢复技术和天然林景观恢复与空间经营技术等三方面的创新成果,形成了天然林保护与生态恢复的理论与技术创新体系,对今后天然林保护、生态恢复与可持续经营进行了展望。     

An ecosystem approach to restoration and sustainable management of dry forest in southern Peru

The dry forest of the Peruvian south coast has undergone an almost total process of deforestation. Populations here have increased exponentially through immigration supplying labour to urban coastal development, and demonstrably unsustainable agro-industrial expansion for export markets. Society has become dislocated from local traditions of environmental and resource management whilst still retaining a wealth of Andean agricultural expertise. Indigenous communities still hold on to vestiges of traditional knowledge. Relicts of natural vegetation, traditional agriculture and agrobiodiversity continue to sustain ecosystem services. Moreover, offer livelihood options and resources for restoration. These aspects reflect a long cultural trajectory, including famous extinct cultures such as Nasca, that evolved within an ever-changing riparian and agricultural landscape influenced by external forces and which incorporated important processes of plant domestication and adaptation to climatic oscillation.     

A quantitative indicator framework for stand level evaluation and monitoring of environmentally sustainable forest management

An indicator framework was designed as an operational science-based tool for the evaluation of the environmental aspects of sustainable forest management at stand level in Flanders (Belgium). The framework aims to assess the effects of forest management on forest composition, structure and functioning. It consists of seven principles and 19 criteria, to which 157 potential indicators, selected from literature, were assigned; 40 of these were considered as suitable by an expert panel, based on 10 operational selection criteria. All indicators were quantitative variables measurable in the field.After elaboration of a measurement protocol, the indicator framework was validated in 115 forest stands, distributed over the three main forest types of Flanders. The new indicator framework exhibited greater sensitivity to forest management practices and demonstrated better discriminating power than the method that is currently used by the Flemish forest administration to estimate the naturalness and environmental quality of a forest stand. Following a detailed cost calculation of each indicator and based on the sensitivity of each indicator to forest management practices, the indicator framework was further reduced to a final set of 29 indicators. This framework can also be applied in other regions, provided that local threshold values are defined to convert indicator values to indicator scores.The selection procedure and the possible contribution of this set to the forest management in Flanders are discussed.     

Mapping indicator models: From intuitive problem structuring to quantified decision-making in sustainable forest management

Most commonly, sustainability indicator sets presented as lists do not take into account interactions among indicators in a systematic manner. Vice versa, existing environmental indicator systems do not provide a formalized approach for problem structuring and quantitative decision support. In this paper, techniques for considering indicator relationships are highlighted and a coupled approach between a qualitative and a quantitative method is analysed. Cognitive mapping (CM) is used for structuring indicators and three different causal maps are derived based on established sustainability concepts: (a) criteria and indicators (C&I hierarchy), (b) indicator network, and (c) Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) system. These maps are transferred to the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to allow their application in multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA).In an application example, Pan-European indicators for sustainable forest management (SFM) are utilized in an ANP-based assessment. The effects of the model structure on the overall evaluation result are demonstrated by means of three reporting periods on Austrian forestry.In a comparative analysis of CM and ANP it is tested whether their measures of indicator significance do correspond. Both centrality in CM and single limited priorities in ANP have been reported to identify key indicators that play an important role in networks. We found out that the correspondence between CM and ANP is the stronger the more rigidly cause-effect relationships are interpreted, which is the case for the DPSIR system of SFM indicators.It is demonstrated that using indicator sets without consideration of the indicator interactions will cause shortcomings for evaluation and assessment procedures in SFM. Given strict and consistent definition of causal indicator relationships, a coupled use of CM and ANP is recommendable for both enhancing the process of problem structuring as well as supporting preference-based evaluation of decision alternatives.     

Indicators for demonstrating sustainable forest management in British Columbia,Canada: An international review

Many organizations and individuals are developing sustainable forestry criteria and indicator (C&I) research and monitoring initiatives at various scales. In support of Canada's international commitments, the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers (CCFM) recently (2003) revised a set of national C&I, broadly based on the Montreal Process. Meanwhile, the Province of British Columbia, Canada, has implemented new, results-based, legislation, the Forest and Range Practices Act 2003, which sets objectives for 11 public ‘Values’ that require appropriate C&I for effectiveness evaluation. At the local-level, British Columbia's forest industry requires indicators to achieve third-party certification. Each of these parties seeks to assess and report on performance. There is, therefore, a recognized desire to define a collaborative approach to C&I research and monitoring frameworks in British Columbia. This paper discusses the results of a rigorous review of indicators related to sustainable forest management (SFM) in British Columbia. Based on the 6 CCFM indicators, 47 SFM questions were developed to guide the selection of potential indicators for British Columbia. A hierarchical framework of proposed SFM indicators was then proposed to provide trend information on resource condition at both the macro (landscape) and local (management unit) levels of forest management. However, a number of key challenges remain for British Columbia as it continues towards a scientifically sound, useful, and effective indicator framework that will demonstrate progress towards SFM at the provincial level. These include stakeholder consultation, practicality, data interpretation and long-term commitment.     

Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management: The road travelled and the way ahead

Criteria and indicators (C&I) have emerged as a powerful tool in implementing sustainable forest management. In a relatively short period, around 150 countries have adopted C&I. Some processes have used C&I in forest management and produced progress reports. Six of the seven thematic areas common to all processes are also being used as a basis for reporting progress towards sustainable forest management [e.g., the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in its Global Forest Resource Assessment 2005]. However, there are significant problems in the wider application of C&I. A number of countries are not using C&I at all, and in some countries where they are being used, it is not done in an effective manner. Areas that need improvement in order to promote the use of C&I include: (1) strengthening concepts and definitions; (2) rationalising criteria and indicators; (3) further research on indicators; and (4) utilising C&I in more effective ways. The future development of C&I must be based on an active link between research effort and operational needs in order to prevent a waste of resources and effort. Some of the research undertaken to date has led to the adoption of innovative approaches to optimise resource use and simplify application. This paper identifies areas needing more research and draws from ongoing work to show where progress is being made.     

森林资源可持续利用空间格局分析

森林资源的经营管理一直很少注重其空间格局分析,以大兴安岭林区塔源林场的森林资源为对象,采用ＧＩＳ技术对该地区森林资源现状结构进行了分析,生成森林资源保护作业区划图,同时绘制了分别与采伐、抚育和更新造林等信息相对应的多层专题图。将这些专题图与保护作业区划图进行叠加分析,显示１９９６－１９９８年该地区森林资源可持续利用的空间格局,为森林资源保护与管理提供科学依据。     

Testing indicators of sustainable forest management on understorey composition and diversity in southern Italy through variation partitioning

Tree species composition and stand structural complexity are valuable indicators of sustainable forest management. This article aims to investigate the relative influence of forest overstorey composition and structural attributes on understorey composition and diversity, taking into account also site characteristics and broad-scale environmental variables. We sampled vascular plant species composition and forest structure in 132 plots in the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park (southern Italy). Spearman’s non-parametric correlation coefficients were calculated between overstorey and understorey diversity indices, beech percentage, and altitude and environmental indices. A complete partitioning of the variation in understorey composition was then performed through canonical correspondence analysis considering four sets of variables: (1) overstorey composition, (2) structural attributes, (3) topography, and (4) landscape abiotic variables. Finally, we constructed a regression tree analysis of understorey species richness using the same explanatory variables. Understorey diversity indices were positively correlated with overstorey diversity indices and with environmental indices (i.e., light and soil heterogeneity). Overstorey and understorey diversity indices were negatively correlated with both altitude and the dominance of beech in the overstorey. Compositional variation was due primarily to overstorey composition and secondarily to structural attributes. Regression tree analysis revealed that altitude, overstorey species richness, and structural attributes play an important role in determining understorey species richness. According to our results, understorey composition and diversity are strongly related to overstorey composition and structural attributes. Indeed, the latter proved to be effective indicators of understorey characteristics in the study area.     

Huckleberry abundance, stand conditions, and use in western oregon: Evaluating the role of forest management

Huckleberries are major components of the understory vegetation in coniferous Pacific Northwest forests of the United States. Vaccinium species also have a long history of human use. However, little research has been done to ascertain how they respond to common forest management practices. We used data obtained from old-growth, young thinned, and young unthinned Douglas-fir stands in western Oregon to evaluate how forest management could potentially influence species abundance and product supply. Our analysis focused on three species: Vaccinium ovatum, V. parvifolium,and V. membranaceum. Results were variable, but indicate that overstory stand conditions and forest management can affect huckleberry species abundance. However, to assess fully the effects of forest management on these species, studies specifically designed to target areas where people harvest these products are needed. Measuring relevant product attributes such as commercial productivity is also critical.     

Evaluating ecosystem-based natural disaster management

Abstract

Not many rigorous researches have studied on how ecosystems have interacted with the occurrence of natural disaster. This article aims to evaluate the role of ecosystems in the field of natural disaster management with the ultimate goal of reducing its various impacts. Qualitative content analysis has been utilized as the principal methodology. Additionally, the ecosystem low-awareness approach has been compared with the ecosystem integration approach with respect to international institutions, national governments, business corporations, non-government organizations, and local communities. The most significant finding is that the field needs to transform its ecosystem low-awareness approach into the integration approach while addressing international networks, scientific research, holistic thinking, sustainability, and education. As a contribution, this article presents a more comprehensive evaluation of the issue of ecosystem regarding natural disaster management (as a common frame) than previous studies.