A study on the relationship between carbon budget and ecosystem service in urban areas according to urbanization

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Lee, S. J.; Lee, W. K.

2017-12-01

The study on the analysis of carbon storage capacity of urban green spaces with increasing urban forest. Modern cities have experienced rapid economic development since Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. The rapid economic growth caused an exponential concentration of population to the cities and decrease of green spaces due to the conversion of forest and agricultural lands to build-up areas with rapid urbanization. As green areas including forests, grasslands, and wetlands provide diverse economic, environmental, and cultural benefits, the decrease of green areas might be a huge loss. Also, the process of urbanization caused pressure on the urban environment more than its natural capacity, which accelerates global climate change. This study tries to see the relations between carbon budget and ecosystem services according to the urbanization. For calculating carbon dynamics, this study used VISIT(Vegetation Integrated Simulator for trace gases) model. And the value that ecosystem provides is explained with the concept of ecosystem service and calculated by InVEST model. Study sites are urban and peri-urban areas in Northeast Asia. From the result of the study, the effect of the urbanization can be understood in regard to carbon storage and ecosystem services.

Uncertainties in mapping forest carbon in urban ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Gang; Ozelkan, Emre; Singh, Kunwar K; Zhou, Jun; Brown, Marilyn R; Meentemeyer, Ross K

2017-02-01

Spatially explicit urban forest carbon estimation provides a baseline map for understanding the variation in forest vertical structure, informing sustainable forest management and urban planning. While high-resolution remote sensing has proven promising for carbon mapping in highly fragmented urban landscapes, data cost and availability are the major obstacle prohibiting accurate, consistent, and repeated measurement of forest carbon pools in cities. This study aims to evaluate the uncertainties of forest carbon estimation in response to the combined impacts of remote sensing data resolution and neighborhood spatial patterns in Charlotte, North Carolina. The remote sensing data for carbon mapping were resampled to a range of resolutions, i.e., LiDAR point cloud density - 5.8, 4.6, 2.3, and 1.2 pt s/m 2 , aerial optical NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) imagery - 1, 5, 10, and 20 m. Urban spatial patterns were extracted to represent area, shape complexity, dispersion/interspersion, diversity, and connectivity of landscape patches across the residential neighborhoods with built-up densities from low, medium-low, medium-high, to high. Through statistical analyses, we found that changing remote sensing data resolution introduced noticeable uncertainties (variation) in forest carbon estimation at the neighborhood level. Higher uncertainties were caused by the change of LiDAR point density (causing 8.7-11.0% of variation) than changing NAIP image resolution (causing 6.2-8.6% of variation). For both LiDAR and NAIP, urban neighborhoods with a higher degree of anthropogenic disturbance unveiled a higher level of uncertainty in carbon mapping. However, LiDAR-based results were more likely to be affected by landscape patch connectivity, and the NAIP-based estimation was found to be significantly influenced by the complexity of patch shape. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Basic theory and research method of urban forest ecology].

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He, Xingyuan; Jin, Yingshan; Zhu, Wenquan; Xu, Wenduo; Chen, Wei

2002-12-01

With the development of world economy and the increment of urban population, the urban environment problem hinders the urban sustainable development. Now, more and more people realized the importance of urban forests in improving the quality of urban ecology. Therefore, a new subject, urban forest ecology, and correlative new concept frame in the field formed. The theoretic foundation of urban forest ecology derived from the mutual combination of theory relating to forest ecology, landscape ecology, landscape architecture ecology and anthrop-ecology. People survey the development of city from the view of ecosystem, and regard the environment, a colony of human, animals and plants, as main factors of the system. The paper introduces systematically the urban forest ecology as follows: 1) the basic concept of urban forest ecology; 2) the meaning of urban forest ecology; 3) the basic principle and theoretic base of urban forest ecology; 4) the research method of urban forest ecology; 5) the developmental expectation of urban forest ecology.

Science in the city: Urban trees, forests, and people

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Kathleen L. Wolf

2016-01-01

The article, intended for professional and manager audiences, is an overview of current research in urban forestry. Topics include tree science, forest risks, forest management and assessment, ecosystem services, and urban socio-ecological systems (including governance and stewardship).

Assessing the Effects of the Urban Forest Restoration Effort of MillionTreesNYC on the Structure and Functioning of New York City Ecosystems

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P. Timon McPhearson

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Current forest restoration practices for New York City’s (NYC MillionTreesNYC Initiative on public parkland include site preparation with extensive invasive species removal and tree and shrub planting with the goal of creating new multi-layered forests. We have launched a long-term investigation of these sites in order to understand the primary physical, chemical, and biological responses of urban ecosystems to MillionTreesNYC forest restoration practices. This research will examine high and low diversity tree and understory planting combinations in permanent experimental forest restoration plots across NYC. The study assesses how the interactions between soil heterogeneity, plant population dynamics, and forest restoration management strategies drive urban forest ecosystem structure and functioning. Working in collaboration with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation (NYC Parks and the MillionTreesNYC tree planting campaign, we are examining different restoration strategies to assess how restoration practices affect the ecological development trajectories of newly established forests in NYC.

The role of a peri-urban forest on air quality improvement in the Mexico City megalopolis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baumgardner, Darrel; Varela, Sebastian; Escobedo, Francisco J.; Chacalo, Alicia; Ochoa, Carlos

2012-01-01

Air quality improvement by a forested, peri-urban national park was quantified by combining the Urban Forest Effects (UFORE) and the Weather Research and Forecasting coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) models. We estimated the ecosystem-level annual pollution removal function of the park’s trees, shrub and grasses using pollution concentration data for carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O 3 ), and particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter (PM 10 ), modeled meteorological and pollution variables, and measured forest structure data. Ecosystem-level O 3 and CO removal and formation were also analyzed for a representative month. Total annual air quality improvement of the park’s vegetation was approximately 0.02% for CO, 1% for O 3, and 2% for PM 10 , of the annual concentrations for these three pollutants. Results can be used to understand the air quality regulation ecosystem services of peri-urban forests and regional dynamics of air pollution emissions from major urban areas. - Highlights: ► Air quality regulation functions and ecosystem structure of a peri-urban forest in Mexico were quantified. ► Air pollution removal-formation dynamics were estimated using the UFORE and WRF-Chem models. ► Peri-urban forests positively contributed to air qualtiy improvement in Mexico City. ► Results can be used to quantify the ecosystem services of peri-urban forests. - Coupled models estimated air quality improvement and pollution removal-formation by peri-urban forest ecosystems in the Mexico City airshed.

Mapping forest structure, species gradients and growth in an urban area using lidar and hyperspectral imagery

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Gu, Huan

Urban forests play an important role in the urban ecosystem by providing a range of ecosystem services. Characterization of forest structure, species variation and growth in urban forests is critical for understanding the status, function and process of urban ecosystems, and helping maximize the benefits of urban ecosystems through management. The development of methods and applications to quantify urban forests using remote sensing data has lagged the study of natural forests due to the heterogeneity and complexity of urban ecosystems. In this dissertation, I quantify and map forest structure, species gradients and forest growth in an urban area using discrete-return lidar, airborne imaging spectroscopy and thermal infrared data. Specific objectives are: (1) to demonstrate the utility of leaf-off lidar originally collected for topographic mapping to characterize and map forest structure and associated uncertainties, including aboveground biomass, basal area, diameter, height and crown size; (2) to map species gradients using forest structural variables estimated from lidar and foliar functional traits, vegetation indices derived from AVIRIS hyperspectral imagery in conjunction with field-measured species data; and (3) to identify factors related to relative growth rates in aboveground biomass in the urban forests, and assess forest growth patterns across areas with varying degree of human interactions. The findings from this dissertation are: (1) leaf-off lidar originally acquired for topographic mapping provides a robust, potentially low-cost approach to quantify spatial patterns of forest structure and carbon stock in urban areas; (2) foliar functional traits and vegetation indices from hyperspectral data capture gradients of species distributions in the heterogeneous urban landscape; (3) species gradients, stand structure, foliar functional traits and temperature are strongly related to forest growth in the urban forests; and (4) high uncertainties in our

Study on the planning principles of urban forest

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Dai Xing'an; Zhang Qingfei

2006-01-01

The urban forest is the main body for the urban forestry management. There are not unified rules and standards for the planning of the urban forest yet in China. This paper discusses the planning principles of the urban forest: the priority of the ecological function, the adaptation to local conditions, the optimization in the whole system, the mutual dependence of forest and city, the culture continuance and recreation satisfaction, sustainable development and operability, etc. This paper takes Changsha as an example to elaborate the planning principles of the urban forest.Firstly, Changsha urban forest ecosphere is composed of the eco-garden, the round-the-city forest belt, the ecological isolation belt, the green channel, the landscape of the rivers and streams, the forest park, the biodiversity reserve and the eco-forest in suburb area. It aims to make every kind of ecological essential factors organically merge into the complex city ecosystem to build an eco-city, to strengthen the connection of wide-open space with various habitats spots, to protnote resident's accessibility, to perfect landscape ecology, and to make full use of the ecological function of urban forest. When we construct the urban forest, we must optimize the comprehensive benefit and make the urban forest structure and the layout in the best condition in order to build the harmonious green city for both man and nature to realize the whole optimization of the city system by the complex functions of the urban forest in ecology, environmental protection, landscape, recreation, etc.

Chicago's urban forest ecosystem: results of the Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory E. McPherson; David J. Nowak; Rowan A. Rowntree

1994-01-01

Results of the 3-year Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project indicate that there are an estimated 50.8 million trees in the Chicago area of Cook and DuPage Counties; 66 percent of these trees rated in good or excellent condition. During 1991, trees in the Chicago area removed an estimated 6,145 tons of air pollutants, providing air cleansing valued at $9.2 million...

Temporal changes in potential regulating ecosystem services driven by urbanization

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Carla; Amorim, Inês; Pires, Evanilton; Kalantari, Zahra; Walsh, Rory; Ferreira, António

2017-04-01

Ecosystem services (ES) are understood to be the capacity of the landscape of a particular area to provide goods and services to society. In terms of human benefits, four categories of ES are usually considered: provisioning (e.g. seafood), regulating (e.g. climate regulation, air quality, water purification and natural hazard protection), supporting (e.g. maintenance of biodiversity), and cultural (e.g. recreation). The potential supply of ecosystem services has receive increasing interest as a tool for natural resource management. Nevertheless, the capacity to supply ES depends on biophysical conditions, as well as climate and land-use changes, induced by human activities. This study aims to investigate the potential for regulating ecosystem service supply of a Portuguese peri-urban catchment, and attempts to understand the temporal changes in ES over the last decades driven by urbanization. The study was developed in Ribeira dos Covões catchment (6.2 km2), in Portugal. Due to its proximity to Coimbra, a major city in the central region of Portugal, the catchment has undergone major land-use changes over the last half-century. Since 1958, the agricultural area, comprising mainly olives and arable land, has declined from 48% to 4%, due to increases in urban land (from 8% to 40%) and forest (from 44% to 53%), as well as a temporary creation of open spaces (from 0% to 3%). The nature of forest cover also changed, from native species, such as oaks (Quercus sp.), to commercial timber plantations, mostly of Pinus pinaster L. and Eucaliptus globulus L.. Urbanization became more pronounced after 1973, exhibiting a discontinuous pattern until 1995, and then later more continuous urban areas through the infilling of areas between the earlier urban cores. Quantification of regulating ES in the study catchment was achieved using GIS techniques, in order to gain a spatial dimension of ES distribution (Burkhard et al., 2009). Mapping ecosystem service capacities at a 5×5m

[Urban ecosystem services: A review].

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Qi-zheng; Huang, Gan-lin; Wu, Jian-guo

2015-04-01

Maintaining and improving ecosystem services in urban areas and human well-being are essential for sustainable development and therefore constitute an important topic in urban ecology. Here we reviewed studies on ecosystem services in urban areas. Based on the concept and classification of urban ecosystem services, we summarized characteristics of urban ecosystem services, including the human domination, high demand of ecosystem services in urban areas, spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics of ecosystem services supply and demand in urban areas, multi-services of urban green infrastructures, the socio-economic dimension of ecosystem services supply and ecosystem disservices in urban areas. Among different urban ecosystem services, the regulating service and cultural service are particularly indispensable to benefit human health. We pointed out that tradeoffs among different types of ecosystem services mostly occur between supportive service and cultural service, as well as regulating service and cultural service. In particular, we emphasized the relationship between landscape design (i.e. green infrastructure) and ecosystem services supply. Finally, we discussed current gaps to link urban ecosystem services studies to landscape design and management and pointed out several directions for future research in urban ecosystem services.

Greener cities: U.S. Forest Service software package helps cities manage their urban treescape

Science.gov (United States)

Jim Kling; Greg Featured: McPherson

2008-01-01

Urban forests don't get the recognition that natural forests do. They don't encompass sweeping vistas and magnificent views and they don't provide critical habitat to endangered species. Nevertheless, they are vital. More than 90 percent of all Californians live, work, and play in urban forests. Trees in the urban landscape provide vital ecosystem...

Ecological Structure of a Tropical Urban Forest in the Bang Kachao Peninsula, Bangkok

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Montathip Sommeechai

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Rapid urbanization has changed the structure and function of natural ecosystems, especially floodplain ecosystems in SE Asia. The ecological structure of vegetation stands and the usefulness of satellite images was investigated to characterize a disturbed tropical urban forest located in the Chao Phraya River lower floodplain, Thailand. Nine sample plots were established on the Bang Kachao Peninsula (BKP within 4 tropical forest types in an urban area: rehabilitation forest, home-garden agroforestry, mangrove and park. The tree habitats were beach forest, swamp forest, moist evergreen forest, dry evergreen forest, mangrove forest and abandoned orchard or home-garden. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI values obtained from Landsat 7 satellite images were correlated with plant structure from field surveys. NDVI had the highest relationship with stand factors for number of families, number of species, Shannon-Weiner index and total basal area. Linear regression predicted well the correlation between NDVI and stand factors for families and basal area. NDVI trends reflected urban tropical forest typing and biodiversity, being high in rehabilitation and mangrove forests, moderate in home-gardens and low in parks. We suggest that the application of NDVI for assessments can be useful for future planning, monitoring and management of the BKP and hence may contribute for increasing biodiversity and complexity of these urban forests.

Assessing the Recreation Value of Urban Woodland Using the Ecosystem Service Approach in Two Forests in the Munich Metropolitan Region

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Gerd Lupp

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Recreation is considered an important ecosystem services (ES in urban woodlands and puts pressure on other ES. Visitor management strategies can be tools to safeguard biodiversity and ES. On-site data are necessary to evaluate the demand for outdoor recreation opportunities in urban woodlands, but also for providing more reliable values for monetization as a basis for multifunctional forest management, and for raising awareness for the importance of urban proximate forests. Such information can also be used for the assessment and monetization of socio-cultural ES, and hence, contribute to developing market-based mechanisms or to promoting these ES. In our paper, we demonstrate methods to describe recreational demand by collecting data from interviews and using camera traps in two forests in the north of Munich for visitor counting. Visitor numbers in the forests were much greater than rough estimations; visitors also had quite long travelling distances to the forests. Jogging or Nordic walking were proven to be important recreational activities. In some of the monitored locations, almost half of the recreationists carried out these sports. Depending on the method chosen, the calculative monetary value of recreation reached up to 15,440 Euro per hectare per year.

Atlanta households’ willingness to increase urban forests to mitigate cimate change

Science.gov (United States)

Y. Tran; J. P.  Siry; J. M.  Bowker; N. C.  Poudyal

2017-01-01

Investments in urban forests have been increasing in many US cities. Urban forests have been shownto provide countless ecosystem benefits with many addressing climate change issues, such as seques-tering carbon, reducing air pollution, and decreasing the heat island effect. Individual groups within theAmerican public may not respond to the issue of climate change in...

Parent tree distance-dependent recruitment limitation of native and exotic invasive seedlings in urban forests

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martínez-García, L.B.; Pietrangelo, O.; Antunes, P.M.

2016-01-01

Urban forests are more vulnerable to exotic species invasions than natural forests and are often a pathway for exotic invasions into natural areas. Investigating the mechanisms responsible for species coexistence in urban ecosystems is important to prevent forest invasions and conserve native

Urban Forests

Science.gov (United States)

David Nowak

2016-01-01

Urban forests (and trees) constitute the second forest resource considered in this report. We specifically emphasize the fact that agricultural and urban forests exist on a continuum defined by their relationship (and interrelationship) with a given landscape. These two forest types generally serve different purposes, however. Whereas agricultural forests are...

Sustaining Urban Forests

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John F. Dwyer; David J. Nowak

2003-01-01

The significance of the urban forest resource and the powerful forces for change in the urban environment make sustainability a critical issue in urban forest management. The diversity, connectedness, and dynamics of the urban forest establish the context for management that will determine the sustainability of forest structure, health, functions, and benefits. A...

Growing the urban forest: tree performance in response to biotic and abiotic land management

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Emily E. Oldfield; Alexander J. Felson; D. S. Novem Auyeung; Thomas W. Crowther; Nancy F. Sonti; Yoshiki Harada; Daniel S. Maynard; Noah W. Sokol; Mark S. Ashton; Robert J. Warren; Richard A. Hallett; Mark A. Bradford

2015-01-01

Forests are vital components of the urban landscape because they provide ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, storm-water mitigation, and air-quality improvement. To enhance these services, cities are investing in programs to create urban forests. A major unknown, however, is whether planted trees will grow into the mature, closed-canopied forest on which...

Urban forests for sustainable urban development

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Sundara, Denny M.; Hartono, Djoko M.; Suganda, Emirhadi; Haeruman, S. Herman J.

2017-11-01

This paper explores the development of the urban forest in East Jakarta. By 2030 Jakarta area has a target of 30% green area covering 19,845 hectares, including urban forest covering an area of 4,631 hectares. In 2015, the city forest is only 646 hectares, while the city requires 3,985 hectares of new land Urban forest growth from year to year showed a marked decrease with increasing land area awoke to commercial functions, environmental conditions encourage the development of the city to become unsustainable. This research aims to support sustainable urban development and ecological balance through the revitalization of green areas and urban development. Analytical methods for urban forest area is calculated based on the amount of CO2 that comes from people, vehicles, and industrial. Urban spatial analysis based on satellite image data, using a GIS program is an analysis tool to determine the distribution and growth patterns of green areas. This paper uses a dynamic system model to simulate the conditions of the region against intervention to be performed on potential areas for development of urban forests. The result is a model urban forest area is integrated with a social and economic function to encourage the development of sustainable cities.

Soil nitrogen levels are linked to decomposition enzyme activities along an urban-remote tropical forest gradient

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D. F. Cusack

2013-01-01

Urban areas in tropical regions are expanding rapidly, with significant potential to affect local ecosystem dynamics. In particular, nitrogen (N) availability may increase in urban-proximate forests because of atmospheric N deposition. Unlike temperate forests, many tropical forests on highly weathered soils have high background N availability, so plant growth is...

Ecosystem services: Urban parks under a magnifying glass.

Science.gov (United States)

Mexia, Teresa; Vieira, Joana; Príncipe, Adriana; Anjos, Andreia; Silva, Patrícia; Lopes, Nuno; Freitas, Catarina; Santos-Reis, Margarida; Correia, Otília; Branquinho, Cristina; Pinho, Pedro

2018-01-01

Urban areas' population has grown during the last century and it is expected that over 60% of the world population will live in cities by 2050. Urban parks provide several ecosystem services that are valuable to the well-being of city-dwellers and they are also considered a nature-based solution to tackle multiple environmental problems in cities. However, the type and amount of ecosystem services provided will vary with each park vegetation type, even within same the park. Our main goal was to quantify the trade-offs in ecosystem services associated to different vegetation types, using a spatially detailed approach. Rather than relying solely on general vegetation typologies, we took a more ecologically oriented approach, by explicitly considering different units of vegetation structure and composition. This was demonstrated in a large park (44ha) located in the city of Almada (Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal), where six vegetation units were mapped in detail and six ecosystem services were evaluated: carbon sequestration, seed dispersal, erosion prevention, water purification, air purification and habitat quality. The results showed that, when looking at the park in detail, some ecosystem services varied greatly with vegetation type. Carbon sequestration was positively influenced by tree density, independently of species composition. Seed dispersal potential was higher in lawns, and mixed forest provided the highest amount of habitat quality. Air purification service was slightly higher in mixed forest, but was high in all vegetation types, probably due to low background pollution, and both water purification and erosion prevention were high in all vegetation types. Knowing the type, location, and amount of ecosystem services provided by each vegetation type can help to improve management options based on ecosystem services trade-offs and looking for win-win situations. The trade-offs are, for example, very clear for carbon: tree planting will boost carbon

Environmental research programme. Ecological research. Annual report 1994. Urban-industrial landscapes, forests, agricultural landscapes, river and lake landscapes, terrestrial ecosystem research, environmental pollution and health

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

In the annual report 1994 of the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology, the points of emphasis of the ecological research programme and their financing are discussed. The individual projects in the following subject areas are described in detail: urban-industrial landscapes, forests, agricultural landscapes, river and lake landscapes, other ecosystems and landscapes, terrestrial ecosystem research, environmental pollution and human health and cross-sectional activities in ecological research. (vhe) [de

The structure, function and value of urban forests in California communities

Science.gov (United States)

E. Gregory McPherson; Qingfu Xiao; Natalie S. van Doorn; John de Goede; Jacquelyn Bjorkman; Allan Hollander; Ryan M. Boynton; James F. Quinn; James H. Thorne

2017-01-01

This study used tree data from field plots in urban areas to describe forest structure in urban areas throughout California. The plot data were used with numerical models to calculate several ecosystem services produced by trees. A series of transfer functions were calculated to scale-up results from the plots to the landscape using urban tree canopy (UTC) mapped at 1-...

Carbon stocks in urban forest remnants: Atlanta and Baltimore as case studies. Chapter 5.

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Ian D. Yesilonis; Richard V. Pouyat

2012-01-01

Urban environments influence carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles of forest ecosystems by altering plant biomass, litter mass and chemistry, passive and active pools of C and N, and the occurrence and activity of decomposer organisms. It is difficult to determine the net effect of C storage due to the number of environmental factors exerting stress on urban forests....

Impacts of air pollution and climate change on forest ecosystems - emerging research needs

Science.gov (United States)

Elena Paoletti; Bytnerowicz; Chris Andersen; Algirdas Augustaitis; Marco Ferretti; Nancy Grulke; Madeleine S. Gunthardt-goerg; John Innes; Dale Johnson; Dave Karnosky; Jessada Luangjame; Rainer Matyssek; Steven McNulty; Gerhard Muller-Starck; Robert Musselman; Kevin Percy

2007-01-01

Outcomes from the 22nd meeting for Specialists in Air Pollution Effects on Forest Ecosystems "Forests under Anthropogenic Pressure – Effects of Air Pollution, Climate Change and Urban Development", September 10–16, 2006, Riverside, CA, are summarized. Tropospheric or ground-level ozone (O3) is still the phytotoxic...

Interpreting Sustainability for Urban Forests

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Camilo Ordóñez

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Incisive interpretations of urban-forest sustainability are important in furthering our understanding of how to sustain the myriad values associated with urban forests. Our analysis of earlier interpretations reveals conceptual gaps. These interpretations are attached to restrictive definitions of a sustainable urban forest and limited to a rather mechanical view of maintaining the biophysical structure of trees. The probing of three conceptual domains (urban forest concepts, sustainable development, and sustainable forest management leads to a broader interpretation of urban-forest sustainability as the process of sustaining urban forest values through time and across space. We propose that values—and not services, benefits, functions or goods—is a superior concept to refer to what is to be sustained in and by an urban forest.

Atmospheric pollutants in peri-urban forests of Quercus ilex: evidence of pollution abatement and threats for vegetation.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Gómez, Héctor; Aguillaume, Laura; Izquieta-Rojano, Sheila; Valiño, Fernando; Àvila, Anna; Elustondo, David; Santamaría, Jesús M; Alastuey, Andrés; Calvete-Sogo, Héctor; González-Fernández, Ignacio; Alonso, Rocío

2016-04-01

Peri-urban vegetation is generally accepted as a significant remover of atmospheric pollutants, but it could also be threatened by these compounds, with origin in both urban and non-urban areas. To characterize the seasonal and geographical variation of pollutant concentrations and to improve the empirical understanding of the influence of Mediterranean broadleaf evergreen forests on air quality, four forests of Quercus ilex (three peri-urban and one remote) were monitored in different areas in Spain. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ammonia (NH3), nitric acid (HNO3) and ozone (O3) were measured during 2 years in open areas and inside the forests and aerosols (PM10) were monitored in open areas during 1 year. Ozone was the only air pollutant expected to have direct phytotoxic effects on vegetation according to current thresholds for the protection of vegetation. The concentrations of N compounds were not high enough to directly affect vegetation but could be contributing through atmospheric N deposition to the eutrophization of these ecosystems. Peri-urban forests of Q. ilex showed a significant below-canopy reduction of gaseous concentrations (particularly NH3, with a mean reduction of 29-38%), which indicated the feasibility of these forests to provide an ecosystem service of air quality improvement. Well-designed monitoring programs are needed to further investigate air quality improvement by peri-urban ecosystems while assessing the threat that air pollution can pose to vegetation.

Urbanization in the US: land use trends, impacts on forest area, projections, and policy considerations

Science.gov (United States)

Ralph Alig

2010-01-01

Since World War II, socio-economic drivers of US urbanization such as population totals and personal income levels have increased substantially. Human land use is the primary force driving changes in forest ecosystem attributes including forest area, which is the focus of this paper. The percentage of the US population residing in urban areas is higher than that in...

Mapping urban forest structure and function using hyperspectral imagery and lidar data

Science.gov (United States)

Michael Alonzo; Joseph P. McFadden; David J. Nowak; Dar A. Roberts

2016-01-01

Cities measure the structure and function of their urban forest resource to optimize forest managementand the provision of ecosystem services. Measurements made using plot sampling methods yield useful results including citywide or land-use level estimates of species counts, leaf area, biomass, and air pollution reduction. However, these quantities are statistical...

Emerald ash borer impacts on visual preferences for urban forest recreation settings

Science.gov (United States)

Arne Arnberger; Ingrid E. Schneider; Martin Ebenberger; Renate Eder; Robert C. Venette; Stephanie A. Snyder; Paul H. Gobster; Ami Choi; Stuart Cottrell

2017-01-01

Extensive outbreaks of the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis; EAB), an invasive forest insect, are having serious impacts on the cultural ecosystem services of urban forests in the United States and other countries. Limited experience with how such outbreaks might affect recreational opportunities prompted this investigation of visitors to a...

Estimating Stand Volume and Above-Ground Biomass of Urban Forests Using LiDAR

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Vincenzo Giannico

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Assessing forest stand conditions in urban and peri-urban areas is essential to support ecosystem service planning and management, as most of the ecosystem services provided are a consequence of forest stand characteristics. However, collecting data for assessing forest stand conditions is time consuming and labor intensive. A plausible approach for addressing this issue is to establish a relationship between in situ measurements of stand characteristics and data from airborne laser scanning (LiDAR. In this study we assessed forest stand volume and above-ground biomass (AGB in a broadleaved urban forest, using a combination of LiDAR-derived metrics, which takes the form of a forest allometric model. We tested various methods for extracting proxies of basal area (BA and mean stand height (H from the LiDAR point-cloud distribution and evaluated the performance of different models in estimating forest stand volume and AGB. The best predictors for both models were the scale parameters of the Weibull distribution of all returns (except the first (proxy of BA and the 95th percentile of the distribution of all first returns (proxy of H. The R2 were 0.81 (p < 0.01 for the stand volume model and 0.77 (p < 0.01 for the AGB model with a RMSE of 23.66 m3·ha−1 (23.3% and 19.59 Mg·ha−1 (23.9%, respectively. We found that a combination of two LiDAR-derived variables (i.e., proxy of BA and proxy of H, which take the form of a forest allometric model, can be used to estimate stand volume and above-ground biomass in broadleaved urban forest areas. Our results can be compared to other studies conducted using LiDAR in broadleaved forests with similar methods.

Interannual Variations in Ecosystem Oxidative Ratio in Croplands, Deciduous Forest, Coniferous Forest, and Early Successional Forest Ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Masiello, C. A.; Hockaday, W. C.; Gallagher, M. E.; Calligan, L.

2009-12-01

Ecosystem net primary productivity (NPP) can vary significantly with annual variations in precipitation and temperature. These climate variations can also drive changes in plant carbon allocation patterns. Shifting allocation patterns can lead to variation in net ecosystem biochemical stocks (e.g. kg cellulose, lignin, protein, and lipid/ha), which can in turn lead to shifts in ecosystem oxidative ratio (OR). OR is the molar ratio of O2 released : CO2 fixed during biosynthesis. Major plant biochemicals vary substantially in oxidative ratio, ranging from average organic acid OR values of 0.75 to average lipid OR values of 1.37 (Masiello et al., 2008). OR is a basic property of ecosystem biochemistry, and is also an essential variable needed to constrain the size of the terrestrial biospheric carbon sink (Keeling et al., 1996). OR is commonly assumed to be 1.10 (e.g. Prentice et al., 2001), but small variations in net ecosystem OR can drive large errors in estimates of the size of the terrestrial carbon sink (Randerson et al., 2006). We hypothesized that interannual changes in climate may drive interannual variation in ecosystem OR values. Working at Kellogg Biological Station NSF LTER, we measured the annual average OR of coniferous and deciduous forests, an early successional forest, and croplands under both corn and soy. There are clear distinctions between individual ecosystems (e.g., the soy crops have a higher OR than the corn crops, and the coniferous forests have a higher OR than the deciduous forests), but the ecosystems themselves retained remarkably constant annual OR values between 1998 and 2008.

Forest restoration, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Globally, forests cover nearly one third of the land area and they contain over 80% of terrestrial biodiversity. Both the extent and quality of forest habitat continue to decrease and the associated loss of biodiversity jeopardizes forest ecosystem functioning and the ability of forests to provide ecosystem services. In the light of the increasing population pressure, it is of major importance not only to conserve, but also to restore forest ecosystems. Ecological restoration has recently started to adopt insights from the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) perspective. Central is the focus on restoring the relation between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Here we provide an overview of important considerations related to forest restoration that can be inferred from this BEF-perspective. Restoring multiple forest functions requires multiple species. It is highly unlikely that species-poor plantations, which may be optimal for above-ground biomass production, will outperform species diverse assemblages for a combination of functions, including overall carbon storage and control over water and nutrient flows. Restoring stable forest functions also requires multiple species. In particular in the light of global climatic change scenarios, which predict more frequent extreme disturbances and climatic events, it is important to incorporate insights from the relation between biodiversity and stability of ecosystem functioning into forest restoration projects. Rather than focussing on species per se, focussing on functional diversity of tree species assemblages seems appropriate when selecting tree species for restoration. Finally, also plant genetic diversity and above - below-ground linkages should be considered during the restoration process, as these likely have prominent but until now poorly understood effects at the level of the ecosystem. The BEF-approach provides a useful framework to evaluate forest restoration in an ecosystem functioning context, but

Exploratory analysis of atmospheric pollution in a coastal forest ecosystem in central Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rita Aromolo

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Exploratory analysis of atmospheric pollution in a coastal forest ecosystem in central Italy - The study of spatial and temporal distribution of heavy metals in the atmosphere through the continuous assessment of deposition is of great interest for the analysis of anthropogenic pressure on the environment and the potential toxicity to humans and other living organisms. Information based on reliable estimates of heavy metals is therefore crucial for the evaluation of environmental quality. Trends in heavy metal concentration in atmospheric depositions on a coastal forest ecosystem (Castelporziano, Rome are analyzed in the present study based on a three-year monitoring field survey over three sites representative of different woodland characteristics in the area. Our results highlight both the influence of transportation processes in the short and medium distance based on the human pressure reflecting urban expansion and infrastructure development on the fringe of Castelporziano pristine forest. Further studies investigating the latent correlation with meteorological variables at various temporal scales are needed to provide a comprehensive picture of environmental conditions in a forest ecosystem subjected to increasing human pressure. Analysis of runoff water quality and the determination of other heavy metals, such as arsenic, may identify additional sources of pollution impacting soil and forest ecosystem.

Urban transitions: on urban resilience and human-dominated ecosystems.

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Ernstson, Henrik; van der Leeuw, Sander E; Redman, Charles L; Meffert, Douglas J; Davis, George; Alfsen, Christine; Elmqvist, Thomas

2010-12-01

Urbanization is a global multidimensional process paired with increasing uncertainty due to climate change, migration of people, and changes in the capacity to sustain ecosystem services. This article lays a foundation for discussing transitions in urban governance, which enable cities to navigate change, build capacity to withstand shocks, and use experimentation and innovation in face of uncertainty. Using the three concrete case cities--New Orleans, Cape Town, and Phoenix--the article analyzes thresholds and cross-scale interactions, and expands the scale at which urban resilience has been discussed by integrating the idea from geography that cities form part of "system of cities" (i.e., they cannot be seen as single entities). Based on this, the article argues that urban governance need to harness social networks of urban innovation to sustain ecosystem services, while nurturing discourses that situate the city as part of regional ecosystems. The article broadens the discussion on urban resilience while challenging resilience theory when addressing human-dominated ecosystems. Practical examples of harnessing urban innovation are presented, paired with an agenda for research and policy.

Global topics and novel approaches in the study of air pollution, climate change and forest ecosystems.

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Sicard, Pierre; Augustaitis, Algirdas; Belyazid, Salim; Calfapietra, Carlo; de Marco, Alessandra; Fenn, Mark; Bytnerowicz, Andrzej; Grulke, Nancy; He, Shang; Matyssek, Rainer; Serengil, Yusuf; Wieser, Gerhard; Paoletti, Elena

2016-06-01

Research directions from the 27th conference for Specialists in Air Pollution and Climate Change Effects on Forest Ecosystems (2015) reflect knowledge advancements about (i) Mechanistic bases of tree responses to multiple climate and pollution stressors, in particular the interaction of ozone (O3) with nitrogen (N) deposition and drought; (ii) Linking genetic control with physiological whole-tree activity; (iii) Epigenetic responses to climate change and air pollution; (iv) Embedding individual tree performance into the multi-factorial stand-level interaction network; (v) Interactions of biogenic and anthropogenic volatile compounds (molecular, functional and ecological bases); (vi) Estimating the potential for carbon/pollution mitigation and cost effectiveness of urban and peri-urban forests; (vii) Selection of trees adapted to the urban environment; (viii) Trophic, competitive and host/parasite relationships under changing pollution and climate; (ix) Atmosphere-biosphere-pedosphere interactions as affected by anthropospheric changes; (x) Statistical analyses for epidemiological investigations; (xi) Use of monitoring for the validation of models; (xii) Holistic view for linking the climate, carbon, N and O3 modelling; (xiii) Inclusion of multiple environmental stresses (biotic and abiotic) in critical load determinations; (xiv) Ecological impacts of N deposition in the under-investigated areas; (xv) Empirical models for mechanistic effects at the local scale; (xvi) Broad-scale N and sulphur deposition input and their effects on forest ecosystem services; (xvii) Measurements of dry deposition of N; (xviii) Assessment of evapotranspiration; (xix) Remote sensing assessment of hydrological parameters; and (xx) Forest management for maximizing water provision and overall forest ecosystem services. Ground-level O3 is still the phytotoxic air pollutant of major concern to forest health. Specific issues about O3 are: (xxi) Developing dose-response relationships and

Nesting tree characteristics of heronry birds of urban ecosystems in peninsular India: implications for habitat management.

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Roshnath, Ramesh; Sinu, Palatty Allesh

2017-12-01

Wetland ecosystems, particularly the mangrove forest, are the primary wild habitat of heronry birds. However, urban ecosystems have become a favorite breeding habitat of these birds. To provide inputs into the habitat management for conservation of these birds, we investigated the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of nesting trees of heronry birds in the urban environment of the North Kerala region of peninsular India. Census on nesting trees was done in 3 major microhabitats of the urban ecosystem: avenues of national highways and towns, nonresidential plots, and residential areas apart from the mangrove islets in the peri-urban locality. The study found that 174 trees of 22 species hosted 1,928 heronry bird nests in the urban habitats; mangrove forests, although plentiful in the study area, hosted only about 20% of the total nests encountered in the study. Rain trees Samanea saman (43.7%) were the most available nesting tree. The greatest number of nests and nesting trees were encountered on the roads of urban areas, followed by nonresidential areas and residential areas. The differences in the observed frequencies of nesting trees in 3 microhabitats and in 3 types of roads (national highways > state highways > small pocket road) were significant. Canopy spread, girth size, and quality of the trees predicted the tree selection of the heronry birds in urban environments. Therefore, we recommend proper management and notification of the identified nesting trees as protected sites for the conservation of herorny birds.

Forest Ecosystem services: Water resources

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Thomas P. Holmes; James Vose; Travis Warziniack; Bill Holman

2017-01-01

Since the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005), awareness has steadily grown regarding the importance of maintaining natural capital. Forest vegetation is a valuable source of natural capital, and the regulation of water quantity and quality is among the most important forest ecosystem services in many regions around the world. Changes in...

Novel urban ecosystems, biodiversity, and conservation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kowarik, Ingo

2011-01-01

With increasing urbanization the importance of cities for biodiversity conservation grows. This paper reviews the ways in which biodiversity is affected by urbanization and discusses the consequences of different conservation approaches. Cities can be richer in plant species, including in native species, than rural areas. Alien species can lead to both homogenization and differentiation among urban regions. Urban habitats can harbor self-sustaining populations of rare and endangered native species, but cannot replace the complete functionality of (semi-)natural remnants. While many conservation approaches tend to focus on such relict habitats and native species in urban settings, this paper argues for a paradigm shift towards considering the whole range of urban ecosystems. Although conservation attitudes may be challenged by the novelty of some urban ecosystems, which are often linked to high numbers of nonnative species, it is promising to consider their associated ecosystem services, social benefits, and possible contribution to biodiversity conservation. - Highlights: → This paper reviews biotic responses to urbanization and urban conservation approaches. → Cities may be rich in both native and nonnative species. → Urban habitats cannot replace the functionality of natural remnants. → However, even novel urban habitats may harbour rare and endangered species. → Conservation approaches should consider the perspective of novel urban ecosystems. - This paper reviews the ways in which biodiversity is affected by urbanization and argues for expanding urban conservation approaches.

Novel urban ecosystems, biodiversity, and conservation

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Kowarik, Ingo, E-mail: kowarik@tu-berlin.de [Department of Ecology, Technische Universitaet Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, D 12165 Berlin (Germany)

2011-08-15

With increasing urbanization the importance of cities for biodiversity conservation grows. This paper reviews the ways in which biodiversity is affected by urbanization and discusses the consequences of different conservation approaches. Cities can be richer in plant species, including in native species, than rural areas. Alien species can lead to both homogenization and differentiation among urban regions. Urban habitats can harbor self-sustaining populations of rare and endangered native species, but cannot replace the complete functionality of (semi-)natural remnants. While many conservation approaches tend to focus on such relict habitats and native species in urban settings, this paper argues for a paradigm shift towards considering the whole range of urban ecosystems. Although conservation attitudes may be challenged by the novelty of some urban ecosystems, which are often linked to high numbers of nonnative species, it is promising to consider their associated ecosystem services, social benefits, and possible contribution to biodiversity conservation. - Highlights: > This paper reviews biotic responses to urbanization and urban conservation approaches. > Cities may be rich in both native and nonnative species. > Urban habitats cannot replace the functionality of natural remnants. > However, even novel urban habitats may harbour rare and endangered species. > Conservation approaches should consider the perspective of novel urban ecosystems. - This paper reviews the ways in which biodiversity is affected by urbanization and argues for expanding urban conservation approaches.

Carbon allocation in forest ecosystems

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Creighton M. Litton; James W. Raich; Michael G. Ryan

2007-01-01

Carbon allocation plays a critical role in forest ecosystem carbon cycling. We reviewed existing literature and compiled annual carbon budgets for forest ecosystems to test a series of hypotheses addressing the patterns, plasticity, and limits of three components of allocation: biomass, the amount of material present; flux, the flow of carbon to a component per unit...

FOREST ECOSYSTEMS AND GLOBAL CHANGE: THE CASE STUDY OF INSUBRIA

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M. Pautasso

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Forest ecosystems face multiple challenges due to climate change, invasive species, urbanization, land use change and the interactions between these global change drivers. This review provides an overview of such challenges for the case study of Insubria. Insubria is a region on the Southern side of the European Alps, famous for its stunning lakes (e.g., Como, Garda, Lugano, Maggiore, blessed by a relatively mild and humid climate, and shaped by the geologic fault line between the African and European plates. Global change impacts in Insubria pose a threat to its biodiversity and chestnut woodlands, particularly through modified winter forest fire regimes. Insubric biodiversity conservation, in turn, is essential to counteract the effects of climate change. Sustainable management of Insubric forests is made more difficult by rural abandonment, air pollution and invasive exotic species. There is a need to develop reliable long-term bio-indicators and to predict the shift of Insubric species, ecosystems and tree-lines due to rapid climate changes. Insubric studies on forests and global change call for enhanced international collaboration in forest management and research. Interdisciplinary approaches are needed to move from studies of single global change drivers to experiments, scenarios and models taking into account their combination and our responses to global change.

Improving urban ecosystems resilience at a city level

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Ferreira, António J. D.; Ferrreira, Carla S. S.; Malta, Miguel; Soares, Daniel D. J.; Pardal, João; Vilhena, José

2013-04-01

The sustainability of urban communities is at risk in a global change context, where environmental problems and the constraints posed by a limited access to key raw materials, energy and sanitation will cause profound changes on the way we interact with the natural environment. Major changes are expected on processes magnitude and connectivity at various scales, with profound impacts on the environmental and well-being problems posed by the packing of high density of people in restricted areas, that have to be dealt with. The conventional approach is to find technological solutions that are often expensive and inefficient, especially in what concerns the use of energy and raw materials, limiting long term sustainability and urban ecosystems' resilience, and consequent impacts on the quality of life and health of urban populations. To improve city resilience in face of global change threats (climatic change, growing world population, land use change, lower energy availability, reduced mobility as a result of fossil fuels stringency and costs), we need to develop a nested approach binding together various greening actions and management of green infrastructures at various scales (i.e. household, neighbourhood, city and urban/wildland interface). This paper presents the conceptual strategy being developed at the Coimbra City (Centre of Portugal) to increase the resilience of urban ecosystems, using them to reduce natural risk occurrence (such as flash floods), the promotion of human health and increasing city resilience towards an improve food self sufficiency. We present a discussion and evaluation of the different solutions designed and implemented to improve the overall urban sustainability at different scales of intervention, from the household solutions to more structural solutions such as the recover of riparian forests or the preservation and improvement of green corridors. Of paramount importance to improve urban ecosystem resilience is the development of new

Effects of rapid urban sprawl on urban forest carbon stocks: integrating remotely sensed, GIS and forest inventory data.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Yin; Yan, Jing; Wei, Xiaohua; Wang, Yajun; Yang, Yusheng; Hua, Lizhong; Xiong, Yongzhu; Niu, Xiang; Song, Xiaodong

2012-12-30

Research on the effects of urban sprawl on carbon stocks within urban forests can help support policy for sustainable urban design. This is particularly important given climate change and environmental deterioration as a result of rapid urbanization. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of urban sprawl on dynamics of forest carbon stock and density in Xiamen, a typical city experiencing rapid urbanization in China. Forest resource inventory data collected from 32,898 patches in 4 years (1972, 1988, 1996 and 2006), together with remotely sensed data (from 1988, 1996 and 2006), were used to investigate vegetation carbon densities and stocks in Xiamen, China. We classified the forests into four groups: (1) forest patches connected to construction land; (2) forest patches connected to farmland; (3) forest patches connected to both construction land and farmland and (4) close forest patches. Carbon stocks and densities of four different types of forest patches during different urbanization periods in three zones (urban core, suburb and exurb) were compared to assess the impact of human disturbance on forest carbon. In the urban core, the carbon stock and carbon density in all four forest patch types declined over the study period. In the suburbs, different urbanization processes influenced forest carbon density and carbon stock in all four forest patch types. Urban sprawl negatively affected the surrounding forests. In the exurbs, the carbon stock and carbon density in all four forest patch types tended to increase over the study period. The results revealed that human disturbance played the dominant role in influencing the carbon stock and density of forest patches close to the locations of human activities. In forest patches far away from the locations of human activities, natural forest regrowth was the dominant factor affecting carbon stock and density. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of industrial pollution on behaviour of radionuclides in forest ecosystems; Forests ecosystems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Outola, I. (STUK-Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Helsinki (Finland))

2009-06-15

To investigate how and to what extent industrial pollution affects the behaviour of radionuclides in forest ecosystems, studies were conducted in the vicinity of two Cu-Ni smelters: one in a pine forest at Harjavalta, Finland, and the other in a spruce forest at Monchegorsk, Russia. Industrial pollution had significant effects on the distribution of radionuclides in soil horizons. With the increase in pollution towards the smelter, radionuclides were accumulated more in the litter layer because the conversion of litter into organic material was diminished due to inhibited microbial activity. As a result, the organic layer contained less radionuclides towards the smelter. The effect of industrial pollution on soil-to-plant transfer was complex. The effect varied with radionuclide, plant species and also on forest type. For 137Cs, soil-to-plant transfer decreased significantly as industrial pollution increased in pine forest, whereas the decrease was less pronounced in spruce forest. Root uptake of 239,240Pu by plants is extremely small, and plant contamination by resuspended soil is an important factor in considering the soil-to-plant transfer of this radionuclide. In spruce forest, more plutonium was transferred into plants when pollution load increased due to resuspension of litter particles, which contained higher concentrations of plutonium in the vicinity of the smelter. Soil-to-plant transfer of plutonium was much less affected in pine forests contaminated with industrial pollution. This research clearly indicates the sensitivity of the northern forest ecosystem to inorganic pollutants. Prediction of the soil-to-plant transfer of radionuclides in industrially polluted forest ecosystems requires detailed information on the total deposition, vertical distribution of radionuclides in soil, soil microbiological factors, other soil parameters as well as the rooting depths of the plants. (LN)

Gainesville's urban forest structure and composition

Science.gov (United States)

Francisco Francisco Escobedo; Jennifer A. Seitz; Wayne Zipperer

2009-01-01

The urban forest provides a community numerous benefits. The urban forest is composed of a mix of native and non-native species introduced by people managing this forest and by residents. Because they usually contain non-native species, many urban forests often have greater species diversity than forests in the surrounding natural...

Forest ecosystem services: Provisioning of non-timber forest products

Science.gov (United States)

James L. Chamberlain; Gregory E. Frey; C. Denise Ingram; Michael G. Jacobson; Cara Meghan Starbuck Downes

2017-01-01

The purpose of this chapter is to describe approaches to calculate a conservative and defensible estimate of the marginal value of forests for non-timber forest products (NTFPs). 'Provisioning" is one of four categories of benefits, or services that ecosystems provide to humans and was described by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as 'products...

Monitoring the Urban Tree Cover for Urban Ecosystem Services - The Case of Leipzig, Germany

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Banzhaf, E.; Kollai, H.

2015-04-01

Urban dynamics such as (extreme) growth and shrinkage bring about fundamental challenges for urban land use and related changes. In order to achieve a sustainable urban development, it is crucial to monitor urban green infrastructure at microscale level as it provides various urban ecosystem services in neighbourhoods, supporting quality of life and environmental health. We monitor urban trees by means of a multiple data set to get a detailed knowledge on its distribution and change over a decade for the entire city. We have digital orthophotos, a digital elevation model and a digital surface model. The refined knowledge on the absolute height above ground helps to differentiate tree tops. Grounded on an object-based image analysis scheme a detailed mapping of trees in an urbanized environment is processed. Results show high accuracy of tree detection and avoidance of misclassification due to shadows. The study area is the City of Leipzig, Germany. One of the leading German cities, it is home to contiguous community allotments that characterize the configuration of the city. Leipzig has one of the most well-preserved floodplain forests in Europe.

The urban forest and ecosystem services: impact on urban water, heat, and pollution cycles at the tree, street, and city scale

Science.gov (United States)

S. J. Livesley; E. G. McPherson; C. Calfapietra

2016-01-01

Many environmental challenges are exacerbated within the urban landscape, such as stormwater runoff and flood risk, chemical and particulate pollution of urban air, soil and water, the urban heat island, and summer heat waves. Urban trees, and the urban forest as a whole, can be managed to have an impact on the urban water, heat, carbon and pollution cycles. However,...

Land use context and natural soil controls on plant community and soil nitrogen and carbon dynamics in urban and rural forests

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Peter M. Groffman; Richard V. Pouyat; Mary L. Cadenasso; Wayne C. Zipperer; Katalin Szlavecz; Ian D. Yesilonis; Lawrence E. Band; Grace S. Brush

2006-01-01

Forests embedded in an urban matrix are a useful venue for investigating the effects of multiple factors such as climate change, altered disturbance regimes and species invasions on forest ecosystems. Urban forests also represent a significant land area, with potentially important effects on landscape and regional scale nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) storage and flux. We...

Setting Priorities for Urban Forest Planning. A Comprehensive Response to Ecological and Social Needs for the Metropolitan Area of Rome (Italy

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Giulia Capotorti

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Urban forests represent key elements of green infrastructure and provide essential ecosystem services in both the ecological and social spheres. Therefore, forestation planning plays a decisive role in the sustainable development strategies of metropolitan areas and addresses the challenge of maintaining biodiversity while improving human health and well-being. The aim of this work is to present a methodological approach that can be used to identify priorities in urban forest planning and can provide comprehensive responses to ecological and social needs in any metropolitan context. The approach, which is based on interdisciplinary principles of landscape ecology, ecosystem geography and dynamic plant sociology, has been adopted in the Municipality of Rome (Italy. The first step entails defining an ecological framework for forestation plans by means of the ecological land classification and assessment of landscape conservation status. The second step entails setting forestation priorities according to both ecological and social criteria. The application of the method proved to effectively select limited areas requiring intervention within an extensive metropolitan area. Furthermore, it provided responses to sustainability issues such as long-term maintenance of restored habitats, landscape perspective of planning, greening of urban agriculture, improvement in urban resilience, and cost-effective improvement in ecosystem services provision.

Tree Productivity Enhanced with Conversion from Forest to Urban Land Covers.

Science.gov (United States)

Briber, Brittain M; Hutyra, Lucy R; Reinmann, Andrew B; Raciti, Steve M; Dearborn, Victoria K; Holden, Christopher E; Dunn, Allison L

2015-01-01

Urban areas are expanding, changing the structure and productivity of landscapes. While some urban areas have been shown to hold substantial biomass, the productivity of these systems is largely unknown. We assessed how conversion from forest to urban land uses affected both biomass structure and productivity across eastern Massachusetts. We found that urban land uses held less than half the biomass of adjacent forest expanses with a plot level mean biomass density of 33.5 ± 8.0 Mg C ha(-1). As the intensity of urban development increased, the canopy cover, stem density, and biomass decreased. Analysis of Quercus rubra tree cores showed that tree-level basal area increment nearly doubled following development, increasing from 17.1 ± 3.0 to 35.8 ± 4.7 cm(2) yr(-1). Scaling the observed stem densities and growth rates within developed areas suggests an aboveground biomass growth rate of 1.8 ± 0.4 Mg C ha(-1) yr(-1), a growth rate comparable to nearby, intact forests. The contrasting high growth rates and lower biomass pools within urban areas suggest a highly dynamic ecosystem with rapid turnover. As global urban extent continues to grow, cities consider climate mitigation options, and as the verification of net greenhouse gas emissions emerges as critical for policy, quantifying the role of urban vegetation in regional-to-global carbon budgets will become ever more important.

Towards a network of Urban Forest Eddy Covariance stations: a unique case study in Naples

Science.gov (United States)

Guidolotti, Gabriele; Pallozzi, Emanuele; Esposito, Raffaela; Mattioni, Michele; Calfapietra, Carlo

2015-04-01

Urban forests are by definition integrated in highly human-made areas, and interact with different components of our cities. Thanks to those interactions, urban forests provide to people and to the urban environment a number of ecosystem services, including the absorption of CO2 and air pollutants thus influencing the local air quality. Moreover, in urban areas a relevant role is played by the photochemical pollution which is strongly influenced by the interactions between volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). In several cities, a high percentage of VOC is of biogenic origin mainly emitted from the urban trees. Despite their importance, experimental sites monitoring fluxes of trace gases fluxes in urban forest ecosystems are still scarce. Here we show the preliminary results of an innovative experimental site located in the Royal Park of Capodimonte within the city of Naples (40°51'N-14°15'E, 130 m above sea level). The site is mainly characterised by Quercus ilex with some patches of Pinus pinea and equipped with an eddy-covariance tower measuring the exchange of CO2, H2O, N2O, CH4, O3, PM, VOCs and NOx using state-of-the art instrumentations; it is running since the end of 2014 and it is part of the large infrastructural I-AMICA project. We suggest that the experience gained with research networks such as Fluxnet and ICOS should be duplicated for urban forests. This is crucial for carbon as there is now the ambition to include urban forests in the carbon stocks accounting system. This is even more important to understand the difficult interactions between anthropogenic and biogenic sources that often have negative implications for urban air quality. Urban environment can thus become an extraordinary case study and a network of such kind of stations might represent an important strategy both from the scientific and the applicative point of view.

Forest ecosystems: Vegetation, disturbance, and economics: Chapter 5

Science.gov (United States)

Littell, Jeremy S.; Hicke, Jeffrey A.; Shafer, Sarah L.; Capalbo, Susan M.; Houston, Laurie L.; Glick, Patty

2013-01-01

Forests cover about 47% of the Northwest (NW–Washington, Oregon, and Idaho) (Smith et al. 2009, fig. 5.1, table 5.1). The impacts of current and future climate change on NW forest ecosystems are a product of the sensitivities of ecosystem processes to climate and the degree to which humans depend on and interact with those systems. Forest ecosystem structure and function, particularly in relatively unmanaged forests where timber harvest and other land use have smaller effects, is sensitive to climate change because climate has a strong influence on ecosystem processes. Climate can affect forest structure directly through its control of plan physiology and life history (establishment, individual growth, productivity, and morality) or indirectly through its control of disturbance (fire, insects, disease). As climate changes, many forest processes will be affected, altering ecosystem services such as timber production and recreation. These changes have socioeconomic implications (e.g. for timber economies) and will require changes to current management of forests. Climate and management will interact to determine the forests of the future, and the scientific basis for adaptation to climate change in forests thus depends significantly on how forests will be affected.

The Urban Forest Effects (UFORE) model: quantifying urban forest structure and functions

Science.gov (United States)

David J. Nowak; Daniel E. Crane

2000-01-01

The Urban Forest Effects (UFORE) computer model was developed to help managers and researchers quantify urban forest structure and functions. The model quantifies species composition and diversity, diameter distribution, tree density and health, leaf area, leaf biomass, and other structural characteristics; hourly volatile organic compound emissions (emissions that...

[Evaluation of economic forest ecosystem services in China].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Bing; Lu, Shao-Wei

2009-02-01

This paper quantitatively evaluated the economic forest ecosystem services in the provinces of China in 2003, based on the long-term and continuous observations of economic forest ecosystems in this country, the sixth China national forest resources inventory data, and the price parameter data from the authorities in the world, and by applying the law of market value, the method of substitution of the expenses, and the law of the shadow project. The results showed that in 2003, the total value of economic forest ecosystem services in China was 11763.39 x 10(8) yuan, and the total value of the products from economic forests occupied 19.3% of the total ecosystem services value, which indicated that the economic forests not only provided society direct products, but also exhibited enormous eco-economic value. The service value of the functions of economic forests was in the order of water storage > C fixation and O2 release > biodiversity conservation > erosion control > air quality purification > nutrient cycle. The spatial pattern of economic forest ecosystem services in the provinces of China had the same trend with the spatial distribution of water and heat resources and biodiversity. To understand the differences of economic forest ecosystem services in the provinces of China was of significance in alternating the irrational arrangement of our present forestry production, diminishing the abuses of forest management, and establishing high grade, high efficient, and modernized economic forests.

Modeling the Ecosystem Services Provided by Trees in Urban Ecosystems: Using Biome-BGC to Improve i-Tree Eco

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Molly E.; McGroddy, Megan; Spence, Caitlin; Flake, Leah; Sarfraz, Amna; Nowak, David J.; Milesi, Cristina

2012-01-01

As the world becomes increasingly urban, the need to quantify the effect of trees in urban environments on energy usage, air pollution, local climate and nutrient run-off has increased. By identifying, quantifying and valuing the ecological activity that provides services in urban areas, stronger policies and improved quality of life for urban residents can be obtained. Here we focus on two radically different models that can be used to characterize urban forests. The i-Tree Eco model (formerly UFORE model) quantifies ecosystem services (e.g., air pollution removal, carbon storage) and values derived from urban trees based on field measurements of trees and local ancillary data sets. Biome-BGC (Biome BioGeoChemistry) is used to simulate the fluxes and storage of carbon, water, and nitrogen in natural environments. This paper compares i-Tree Eco's methods to those of Biome-BGC, which estimates the fluxes and storage of energy, carbon, water and nitrogen for vegetation and soil components of the ecosystem. We describe the two models and their differences in the way they calculate similar properties, with a focus on carbon and nitrogen. Finally, we discuss the implications of further integration of these two communities for land managers such as those in Maryland.

Breeding Dispersal by Birds in a Dynamic Urban Ecosystem.

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Marzluff, John M; DeLap, Jack H; Oleyar, M David; Whittaker, Kara A; Gardner, Beth

2016-01-01

Changes in land cover during urbanization profoundly affect the diversity of bird communities, but the demographic mechanisms affecting diversity are poorly known. We advance such understanding by documenting how urbanization influences breeding dispersal-the annual movement of territorial adults-of six songbird species in the Seattle, WA, USA metropolitan area. We color-banded adults and mapped the centers of their annual breeding activities from 2000-2010 to obtain 504 consecutive movements by 337 adults. By comparing movements, annual reproduction, and mate fidelity among 10 developed, 5 reserved, and 11 changing (areas cleared and developed during our study) landscapes, we determined that adaptive breeding dispersal of sensitive forest species (Swainson's Thrush and Pacific wren), which involves shifting territory and mate after reproductive failure, was constrained by development. In changing lands, sensitive forest specialists dispersed from active development to nearby forested areas, but in so doing suffered low annual reproduction. Species tolerant of suburban lands (song sparrow, spotted towhee, dark-eyed junco, and Bewick's wren) dispersed adaptively in changing landscapes. Site fidelity ranged from 0% (Pacific wren in changing landscape) to 83% (Bewick's wren in forest reserve). Mate fidelity ranged from 25% (dark-eyed junco) to 100% (Bewick's wren). Variation in fidelity to mate and territory was consistent with theories positing an influence of territory quality, asynchronous return from migration, prior productivity, and reproductive benefits of retaining a familiar territory. Costly breeding dispersal, as well as reduced reproductive success and lowered survival cause some birds to decline in the face of urbanization. In contrast, the ability of species that utilize edges and early successional habitats to breed successfully, disperse to improve reproductive success after failure, and survive throughout the urban ecosystem enables them to maintain

Breeding Dispersal by Birds in a Dynamic Urban Ecosystem.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John M Marzluff

Full Text Available Changes in land cover during urbanization profoundly affect the diversity of bird communities, but the demographic mechanisms affecting diversity are poorly known. We advance such understanding by documenting how urbanization influences breeding dispersal-the annual movement of territorial adults-of six songbird species in the Seattle, WA, USA metropolitan area. We color-banded adults and mapped the centers of their annual breeding activities from 2000-2010 to obtain 504 consecutive movements by 337 adults. By comparing movements, annual reproduction, and mate fidelity among 10 developed, 5 reserved, and 11 changing (areas cleared and developed during our study landscapes, we determined that adaptive breeding dispersal of sensitive forest species (Swainson's Thrush and Pacific wren, which involves shifting territory and mate after reproductive failure, was constrained by development. In changing lands, sensitive forest specialists dispersed from active development to nearby forested areas, but in so doing suffered low annual reproduction. Species tolerant of suburban lands (song sparrow, spotted towhee, dark-eyed junco, and Bewick's wren dispersed adaptively in changing landscapes. Site fidelity ranged from 0% (Pacific wren in changing landscape to 83% (Bewick's wren in forest reserve. Mate fidelity ranged from 25% (dark-eyed junco to 100% (Bewick's wren. Variation in fidelity to mate and territory was consistent with theories positing an influence of territory quality, asynchronous return from migration, prior productivity, and reproductive benefits of retaining a familiar territory. Costly breeding dispersal, as well as reduced reproductive success and lowered survival cause some birds to decline in the face of urbanization. In contrast, the ability of species that utilize edges and early successional habitats to breed successfully, disperse to improve reproductive success after failure, and survive throughout the urban ecosystem enables them

A tool for assessing ecological status of forest ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman Kassim, Abd; Afizzul Misman, Muhammad; Azahari Faidi, Mohd; Omar, Hamdan

2016-06-01

Managers and policy makers are beginning to appreciate the value of ecological monitoring of artificially regenerated forest especially in urban areas. With the advent of more advance technology in precision forestry, high resolution remotely sensed data e.g. hyperspectral and LiDAR are becoming available for rapid and precise assessment of the forest condition. An assessment of ecological status of forest ecosystem was developed and tested using FRIM campus forest stand. The forest consisted of three major blocks; the old growth artificially regenerated native species forests, naturally regenerated forest and recent planted forest for commercial timber and other forest products. Our aim is to assess the ecological status and its proximity to the mature old growth artificially regenerated stand. We used airborne LiDAR, orthophoto and thirty field sampling quadrats of 20x20m for ground verification. The parameter assessments were grouped into four broad categories: a. forest community level-composition, structures, function; landscape structures-road network and forest edges. A metric of parameters and rating criteria was introduced as indicators of the forest ecological status. We applied multi-criteria assessment to categorize the ecological status of the forest stand. The paper demonstrates the application of the assessment approach using FRIM campus forest as its first case study. Its potential application to both artificially and naturally regenerated forest in the variety of Malaysian landscape is discussed

Paying for Forest Ecosystem Services: Voluntary Versus Mandatory Payments

Science.gov (United States)

Roesch-McNally, Gabrielle E.; Rabotyagov, Sergey S.

2016-03-01

The emergence of new markets for forest ecosystem services can be a compelling opportunity for market diversification for private forest landowners, while increasing the provision of public goods from private lands. However, there is limited information available on the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for specific forest ecosystem services, particularly across different ecosystem market mechanisms. We utilize survey data from Oregon and Washington households to compare marginal WTP for forest ecosystem services and the total WTP for cost-effective bundles of forest ecosystem services obtained from a typical Pacific Northwest forest across two value elicitation formats representing two different ecosystem market mechanisms: an incentive-compatible choice experiment involving mandatory tax payments and a hypothetical private provision scenario modeled as eliciting contributions to the preferred forest management alternative via a provision point mechanism with a refund. A representative household's total WTP for the average forest management program was estimated at 217.59 per household/year under a mandatory tax mechanism and 160.44 per household/per year under a voluntary, crowdfunding-style, contribution mechanism; however, these estimates are not statistically different. Marginal WTP estimates were assessed for particular forest ecosystem service attributes including water quality, carbon storage, mature forest habitat, and public recreational access. This study finds that survey respondents place significant economic value on forest ecosystem services in both elicitation formats and that the distributions of the marginal WTP are not statistically significantly different.

Paying for Forest Ecosystem Services: Voluntary Versus Mandatory Payments.

Science.gov (United States)

Roesch-McNally, Gabrielle E; Rabotyagov, Sergey S

2016-03-01

The emergence of new markets for forest ecosystem services can be a compelling opportunity for market diversification for private forest landowners, while increasing the provision of public goods from private lands. However, there is limited information available on the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for specific forest ecosystem services, particularly across different ecosystem market mechanisms. We utilize survey data from Oregon and Washington households to compare marginal WTP for forest ecosystem services and the total WTP for cost-effective bundles of forest ecosystem services obtained from a typical Pacific Northwest forest across two value elicitation formats representing two different ecosystem market mechanisms: an incentive-compatible choice experiment involving mandatory tax payments and a hypothetical private provision scenario modeled as eliciting contributions to the preferred forest management alternative via a provision point mechanism with a refund. A representative household's total WTP for the average forest management program was estimated at $217.59 per household/year under a mandatory tax mechanism and $160.44 per household/per year under a voluntary, crowdfunding-style, contribution mechanism; however, these estimates are not statistically different. Marginal WTP estimates were assessed for particular forest ecosystem service attributes including water quality, carbon storage, mature forest habitat, and public recreational access. This study finds that survey respondents place significant economic value on forest ecosystem services in both elicitation formats and that the distributions of the marginal WTP are not statistically significantly different.

Effects of different thinning systems on the economic value of ecosystem services: A case-study in a black pine peri-urban forest in Central Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandro Paletto

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Sustainable Forest Management (SFM should be able to produce an optimal level of bundle of Ecosystem Services (ES, thus ensuring more resilient forest ecosystems also creating benefits for local population and human well-being. Yet, choosing between alternative forest management practices is not straightforward as it necessarily involves ES trade-offs. Forest management decisions have to reconcile the socio-economic and ecological contributions of forest ecosystems by fostering a synergistic relation between multiple ES while lowering ES trade-offs. The aim of the study is to analyze different forest management practices (selective and traditional thinning in black pine peri-urban forest in Central Italy, by investigating their contribution in terms of provisioning (wood production, cultural (recreational benefits, regulating (climate change mitigation ES. For each management option was performed: (1 the biophysical assessment of selected ES by using primary data and calculating indicators for wood production with special regard to biomass for energy use (living trees and deadwood volume harvested, recreational benefits (tourists’ preferences for each forest management practice, climate change mitigation (carbon sequestration in above-ground and below-ground biomass, and (2 the economic valuation of wood production, recreational benefits and climate change mitigation ES using direct and indirect methods (environmental evaluation techniques. The results show that the effects of the selective thinning on ES is higher that the effects of the traditional thinning. The economic value of the three ES provided by traditional and selective thinning are respectively: bioenergy production 154.2 € ha-1 yr-1 and 223.3 € ha-1 yr-1; recreational benefits 193.2 € ha-1 yr-1 and 231.9 € ha-1 yr-1; carbon sequestration 29.0 € ha-1 yr-1and 36.2 € ha-1 yr-1. The integrated (biophysical and economic assessment of ES in addition to the trade

Discerning fragmentation dynamics of tropical forest and wetland during reforestation, urban sprawl, and policy shifts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiong Gao

Full Text Available Despite the overall trend of worldwide deforestation over recent decades, reforestation has also been found and is expected in developing countries undergoing fast urbanization and agriculture abandonment. The consequences of reforestation on landscape patterns are seldom addressed in the literature, despite their importance in evaluating biodiversity and ecosystem functions. By analyzing long-term land cover changes in Puerto Rico, a rapidly reforested (6 to 42% during 1940-2000 and urbanized tropical island, we detected significantly different patterns of fragmentation and underlying mechanisms among forests, urban areas, and wetlands. Forest fragmentation is often associated with deforestation. However, we also found significant fragmentation during reforestation. Urban sprawl and suburb development have a dominant impact on forest fragmentation. Reforestation mostly occurs along forest edges, while significant deforestation occurs in forest interiors. The deforestation process has a much stronger impact on forest fragmentation than the reforestation process due to their different spatial configurations. In contrast, despite the strong interference of coastal urbanization, wetland aggregation has occurred due to the effective implementation of laws/regulations for wetland protection. The peak forest fragmentation shifted toward rural areas, indicating progressively more fragmentation in forest interiors. This shift is synchronous with the accelerated urban sprawl as indicated by the accelerated shift of the peak fragmentation index of urban cover toward rural areas, i.e., 1.37% yr-1 in 1977-1991 versus 2.17% yr-1 in 1991-2000. Based on the expected global urbanization and the regional forest transition from deforested to reforested, the fragmented forests and aggregated wetlands in this study highlight possible forest fragmentation processes during reforestation in an assessment of biodiversity and functions and suggest effective laws

Discerning fragmentation dynamics of tropical forest and wetland during reforestation, urban sprawl, and policy shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Qiong; Yu, Mei

2014-01-01

Despite the overall trend of worldwide deforestation over recent decades, reforestation has also been found and is expected in developing countries undergoing fast urbanization and agriculture abandonment. The consequences of reforestation on landscape patterns are seldom addressed in the literature, despite their importance in evaluating biodiversity and ecosystem functions. By analyzing long-term land cover changes in Puerto Rico, a rapidly reforested (6 to 42% during 1940-2000) and urbanized tropical island, we detected significantly different patterns of fragmentation and underlying mechanisms among forests, urban areas, and wetlands. Forest fragmentation is often associated with deforestation. However, we also found significant fragmentation during reforestation. Urban sprawl and suburb development have a dominant impact on forest fragmentation. Reforestation mostly occurs along forest edges, while significant deforestation occurs in forest interiors. The deforestation process has a much stronger impact on forest fragmentation than the reforestation process due to their different spatial configurations. In contrast, despite the strong interference of coastal urbanization, wetland aggregation has occurred due to the effective implementation of laws/regulations for wetland protection. The peak forest fragmentation shifted toward rural areas, indicating progressively more fragmentation in forest interiors. This shift is synchronous with the accelerated urban sprawl as indicated by the accelerated shift of the peak fragmentation index of urban cover toward rural areas, i.e., 1.37% yr-1 in 1977-1991 versus 2.17% yr-1 in 1991-2000. Based on the expected global urbanization and the regional forest transition from deforested to reforested, the fragmented forests and aggregated wetlands in this study highlight possible forest fragmentation processes during reforestation in an assessment of biodiversity and functions and suggest effective laws/regulations in land

Tree Productivity Enhanced with Conversion from Forest to Urban Land Covers.

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Brittain M Briber

Full Text Available Urban areas are expanding, changing the structure and productivity of landscapes. While some urban areas have been shown to hold substantial biomass, the productivity of these systems is largely unknown. We assessed how conversion from forest to urban land uses affected both biomass structure and productivity across eastern Massachusetts. We found that urban land uses held less than half the biomass of adjacent forest expanses with a plot level mean biomass density of 33.5 ± 8.0 Mg C ha(-1. As the intensity of urban development increased, the canopy cover, stem density, and biomass decreased. Analysis of Quercus rubra tree cores showed that tree-level basal area increment nearly doubled following development, increasing from 17.1 ± 3.0 to 35.8 ± 4.7 cm(2 yr(-1. Scaling the observed stem densities and growth rates within developed areas suggests an aboveground biomass growth rate of 1.8 ± 0.4 Mg C ha(-1 yr(-1, a growth rate comparable to nearby, intact forests. The contrasting high growth rates and lower biomass pools within urban areas suggest a highly dynamic ecosystem with rapid turnover. As global urban extent continues to grow, cities consider climate mitigation options, and as the verification of net greenhouse gas emissions emerges as critical for policy, quantifying the role of urban vegetation in regional-to-global carbon budgets will become ever more important.

[Forest ecosystem service and its evaluation in China].

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Jin; Lu, Shaowei; Yu, Xinxiao; Rao, Liangyi; Niu, Jianzhi; Xie, Yuanyuan; Zhag, Zhenming

2005-08-01

Facing the relative lag of forest ecosystem service and estimation in China, this paper proposed to quickly carry out the research on the evaluation of forest ecosystem service. On the basis of the classification of forest ecosystem types in China, the service of artificial and semi-artificial forest ecosystems was investigated, which was divided into eight types, i.e., timber and other products, recreation and eco-tourism, water storage, C fixation and O2 release, nutrient cycling, air quality purifying, erosion control, and habitat provision. According to the assessment index system for global ecosystem service proposed by Costanza et al., a series of assessment index system suitable for Chinese forest ecosystem service was set up, by which, the total value of forest ecosystem service in China was estimated to be 30 601.20 x 10(8) yuan x yr(-1), including direct and indirect economic value about 1 920.23 x 10(8) and 28 680.97 x 10(8) yuan x yr(-1), respectively. The indirect value was as 14.94 times as the direct one. The research aimed to bring natural resources and environment factors into the account system of national economy quickly, and to realize the green GDP at last, which would be helpful to realize sustainable development and environment protection.

The Urban Forest and Ecosystem Services: Impacts on Urban Water, Heat, and Pollution Cycles at the Tree, Street, and City Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Livesley, S J; McPherson, G M; Calfapietra, C

2016-01-01

Many environmental challenges are exacerbated within the urban landscape, such as stormwater runoff and flood risk, chemical and particulate pollution of urban air, soil and water, the urban heat island, and summer heat waves. Urban trees, and the urban forest as a whole, can be managed to have an impact on the urban water, heat, carbon and pollution cycles. However, there is an increasing need for empirical evidence as to the magnitude of the impacts, both beneficial and adverse, that urban trees can provide and the role that climatic region and built landscape circumstance play in modifying those impacts. This special section presents new research that advances our knowledge of the ecological and environmental services provided by the urban forest. The 14 studies included provide a global perspective on the role of trees in towns and cities from five continents. Some studies provide evidence for the cooling benefit of the local microclimate in urban green space with and without trees. Other studies focus solely on the cooling benefit of urban tree transpiration at a mesoscale or on cooling from canopy shade at a street and pedestrian scale. Other studies are concerned with tree species differences in canopy interception of rainfall, water uptake from biofilter systems, and water quality improvements through nutrient uptake from stormwater runoff. Research reported here also considers both the positive and the negative impacts of trees on air quality, through the role of trees in removing air pollutants such as ozone as well as in releasing potentially harmful volatile organic compounds and allergenic particulates. A transdisciplinary framework to support future urban forest research is proposed to better understand and communicate the role of urban trees in urban biogeochemical cycles that are highly disturbed, highly managed, and of paramount importance to human health and well-being. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of

Proceedings of the 6. Canadian Urban Forest Conference : fires, storms, and pests : crisis in our urban forests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-01

There is an increasing awareness in Canada of the benefits and values of urban forests in environmental, social and economic terms. However, the mountain pine beetle (MPB) infestation in British Columbia (BC) has infected vast tracts of the province's forest lands over the last several years, and there is evidence that the beetle plague is now causing major devastation in urban areas. Fires are increasing in size and moving from surrounding forest lands into towns and cities in the province and have taken a toll on people and properties in urban areas. Storms and hurricanes have imposed damage on trees in urban areas in the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario. This conference presented strategies for urban forest managers faced with a variety of disturbances. Issues concerning emergency preparedness and the role of utilities in urban forestry matters were examined and tools for valuing and marketing the urban forest were reviewed. Landscaping for the mitigation of fires was discussed along with tree hazard assessment techniques. The positive financial impact made to communities by their urban forests was emphasized and guidelines and support tools to help municipalities maintain and enhance their urban forests were outlined. The establishment of research priorities for urban forestry was recommended, as well as the identification of unique and threatened habitats both in, and near, large and small municipalities. Twenty-four presentations were given at this conference, of which 3 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs.

Ecosystem services capacity across heterogeneous forest types: understanding the interactions and suggesting pathways for sustaining multiple ecosystem services.

Science.gov (United States)

Alamgir, Mohammed; Turton, Stephen M; Macgregor, Colin J; Pert, Petina L

2016-10-01

As ecosystem services supply from tropical forests is declining due to deforestation and forest degradation, much effort is essential to sustain ecosystem services supply from tropical forested landscapes, because tropical forests provide the largest flow of multiple ecosystem services among the terrestrial ecosystems. In order to sustain multiple ecosystem services, understanding ecosystem services capacity across heterogeneous forest types and identifying certain ecosystem services that could be managed to leverage positive effects across the wider bundle of ecosystem services are required. We sampled three forest types, tropical rainforests, sclerophyll forests, and rehabilitated plantation forests, over an area of 32,000m(2) from Wet Tropics bioregion, Australia, aiming to compare supply and evaluate interactions and patterns of eight ecosystem services (global climate regulation, air quality regulation, erosion regulation, nutrient regulation, cyclone protection, habitat provision, energy provision, and timber provision). On average, multiple ecosystem services were highest in the rainforests, lowest in sclerophyll forests, and intermediate in rehabilitated plantation forests. However, a wide variation was apparent among the plots across the three forest types. Global climate regulation service had a synergistic impact on the supply of multiple ecosystem services, while nutrient regulation service was found to have a trade-off impact. Considering multiple ecosystem services, most of the rehabilitated plantation forest plots shared the same ordination space with rainforest plots in the ordination analysis, indicating that rehabilitated plantation forests may supply certain ecosystem services nearly equivalent to rainforests. Two synergy groups and one trade-off group were identified. Apart from conserving rainforests and sclerophyll forests, our findings suggest two additional integrated pathways to sustain the supply of multiple ecosystem services from a

The urban forest cultivating green infrastructure for people and the environment

CERN Document Server

Calfapietra, Carlo; Samson, Roeland; O'Brien, Liz; Ostoić, Silvija; Sanesi, Giovanni; Amo, Rocío

2017-01-01

This book focuses on urban "green infrastructure" – the interconnected web of vegetated spaces like street trees, parks and peri-urban forests that provide essential ecosystem services in cities. The green infrastructure approach embodies the idea that these services, such as storm-water runoff control, pollutant filtration and amenities for outdoor recreation, are just as vital for a modern city as those provided by any other type of infrastructure. Ensuring that these ecosystem services are indeed delivered in an equitable and sustainable way requires knowledge of the physical attributes of trees and urban green spaces, tools for coping with the complex social and cultural dynamics, and an understanding of how these factors can be integrated in better governance practices. By conveying the findings and recommendations of COST Action FP1204 GreenInUrbs, this volume summarizes the collaborative efforts of researchers and practitioners from across Europe to address these challenges. .

Forest operations for ecosystem management

Science.gov (United States)

Robert B. Rummer; John Baumgras; Joe McNeel

1997-01-01

The evolution of modern forest resource management is focusing on ecologically sensitive forest operations. This shift in management strategies is producing a new set of functional requirements for forest operations. Systems to implement ecosystem management prescriptions may need to be economically viable over a wider range of piece sizes, for example. Increasing...

Biological invasions in forest ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Andrew M. Liebhold; Eckehard G. Brockerhoff; Susan Kalisz; Martin A. Nuñez; David A. Wardle; Michael J. Wingfield

2017-01-01

Forests play critical roles in global ecosystem processes and provide numerous services to society. But forests are increasingly affected by a variety of human influences, especially those resulting from biological invasions. Species invading forests include woody and herbaceous plants, many animal species including mammals and invertebrates, as well as a variety of...

Supplementing forest ecosystem health projects on the ground

Science.gov (United States)

Cathy Barbouletos; Lynette Z. Morelan

1995-01-01

Understanding the functions and processes of ecosystems is critical before implementing forest ecosystem health projects on the landscape. Silvicultural treatments such as thinning, prescribed fire, and reforestation can simulate disturbance regimes and landscape patterns that have regulated forest ecosystems for centuries. As land managers we need to understand these...

Biomass estimation in forest ecosystems - a review | Wakawa ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Forest ecosystems plays an important role in global warming serving as both sink and source of one of the prominent green house gases, carbon dioxide (CO2). Biomass estimation in forest ecosystems is an important aspect of forest management processes aimed at ensuring sustainability. The choice of appropriate ...

ASPECTS REGARDING LEGAL PROTECTION OF FOREST ECOSYSTEMS

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Cristian Popescu

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The first legislative concerns for the protection and exploitation of forests are occurring since the eighteenth century. Forest of the country has always been a priority for environmental policy. The institutional framework for forestry organization in Romania is represented mainly by the Ministry of Environment and National Administration of Forests – Romsilva. First Romanian Forest Code was adopted on 19 June 1881. In present, the main law governing the forest is given by Law No. 46 of March 19, 2008 (Forest Code. Forests are resources of interest economic, social, recreational, ecological and biological. Biodiversity conservation of forest ecosystems involves the sustainable management by applying intensive treatments that promote natural regeneration of species of fundamental natural forest type and forest conservation and quasi virgin. The main way to conserve forest ecosystems is represented by the establishment of protected areas of national interest.

Spatio-Temporal Changes in Structure for a Mediterranean Urban Forest: Santiago, Chile 2002 to 2014

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Francisco J. Escobedo

2016-06-01

Full Text Available There is little information on how urban forest ecosystems in South America and Mediterranean climates change across both space and time. This study statistically and spatially analyzed the spatio-temporal dynamics of Santiago, Chile’s urban forest using tree and plot-level data from permanent plots from 2002 to 2014. We found mortality, ingrowth, and tree cover remained stable over the analysis period and similar patterns were observed for basal area (BA and biomass. However, tree cover increased, and was greater in the highest socioeconomic stratum neighborhoods while it dropped in the medium and low strata. Growth rates for the five most common tree species averaged from 0.12 to 0.36 cm·year−1. Spatially, tree biomass and BA were greater in the affluent, northeastern sections of the city and in southwest peri-urban areas. Conversely, less affluent central, northwest, and southern areas showed temporal losses in BA and biomass. Overall, we found that Santiago’s urban forest follows similar patterns as in other parts of the world; affluent areas tend to have more and better managed urban forests than poorer areas, and changes are primarily influenced by social and ecological drivers. Nonetheless, care is warranted when comparing urban forest structural metrics measured with similar sampling-monitoring approaches across ecologically disparate regions and biomes.

Species composition of forested natural communities near freshwater hydrological features in an urbanizing watershed of west-central Florida

Science.gov (United States)

Melissa H Friedman; Michael G.  Andreu; Wayne Zipperer; Rob J.  Northrop; Amr  Abd-Elrahman

2015-01-01

Natural communities near freshwater hydrological features provide important ecosystem functions and services. As human populations increase, forested landscapes become increasingly fragmented and deforested, which may result in a loss of the functions and services they provide. To investigate the current state of forested natural communities in the rapidly urbanizing...

Mapping regional patterns of large forest fires in Wildland-Urban Interface areas in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Modugno, Sirio; Balzter, Heiko; Cole, Beth; Borrelli, Pasquale

2016-05-01

Over recent decades, Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC) trends in many regions of Europe have reconfigured the landscape structures around many urban areas. In these areas, the proximity to landscape elements with high forest fuels has increased the fire risk to people and property. These Wildland-Urban Interface areas (WUI) can be defined as landscapes where anthropogenic urban land use and forest fuel mass come into contact. Mapping their extent is needed to prioritize fire risk control and inform local forest fire risk management strategies. This study proposes a method to map the extent and spatial patterns of the European WUI areas at continental scale. Using the European map of WUI areas, the hypothesis is tested that the distance from the nearest WUI area is related to the forest fire probability. Statistical relationships between the distance from the nearest WUI area, and large forest fire incidents from satellite remote sensing were subsequently modelled by logistic regression analysis. The first European scale map of the WUI extent and locations is presented. Country-specific positive and negative relationships of large fires and the proximity to the nearest WUI area are found. A regional-scale analysis shows a strong influence of the WUI zones on large fires in parts of the Mediterranean regions. Results indicate that the probability of large burned surfaces increases with diminishing WUI distance in touristic regions like Sardinia, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, or in regions with a strong peri-urban component as Catalunya, Comunidad de Madrid, Comunidad Valenciana. For the above regions, probability curves of large burned surfaces show statistical relationships (ROC value > 0.5) inside a 5000 m buffer of the nearest WUI. Wise land management can provide a valuable ecosystem service of fire risk reduction that is currently not explicitly included in ecosystem service valuations. The results re-emphasise the importance of including this ecosystem service

Characterizing Ecosystem and Watershed Response to Atmospheric Loading at the Urban Fringe

Science.gov (United States)

Curto, V.; Lopez, S.; Hogue, T.; Rademacher, L.

2006-12-01

The southern California region, although highly urbanized and densely populated, is also characterized by steep mountain ranges with extensive forests and diverse ecosystems. Growing population pressure in the region has forced continuing development at the urban fringe. The large mountain systems situated on the windward side of the Los Angeles basin experience high atmospheric nitrogen deposition rates from various urban pollutants. Arroyo Seco, a watershed located on the eastern edge of the Los Angeles basin, is no exception to this trend. The present study uses hydrologic and geochemical data to assess current watershed dynamics and ecosystem responses to the impacts of regional urbanization. The Arroyo Seco stream runs through a deeply incised canyon originating in the San Gabriel Mountains and draining into the Los Angeles River. The current riparian habitat, which comprises only 15 percent of the total land cover within the watershed, contains over 705 species of plants and animals. We focused our studies on the upper reaches of the basin (~18 square miles), which remains undeveloped and consists primarily of chaparral and evergreen forests. This portion of the watershed has an average watershed slope of approximately 6 percent and relatively porous soils. However, estimated runoff ratio from the existing USGS gage and local precipitation gages indicates fairly high runoff (discharge/precipitation ratio of 0.29). Weekly stream samples have been collected over a several year period and analyzed for standard geochemical constituents and stable isotopes to assess deposition impacts on ecosystem function and overall watershed behavior. Stable isotopes of water measured in the weekly Arroyo Seco stream samples deviate from the global meteoric water line (GMWL), particularly during summer months. High evaporative rates in the summer may be responsible for the distinct summer pattern and overall deviation from the GMWL of stream isotope values. An

Radionuclides in forest ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strebl, F.; Bossew, P.; Kienzl, K.; Hiesel, E.

2000-01-01

Some regions within Austria were highly contaminated (> 50 kBq m -2 ) with radiocaesium by the deposition event following the Chernobyl reactor accident in 1986. Monitoring carried out by several Austrian institutions showed that in contrast to agricultural products radiocaesium levels in wild berries, mushrooms and game meat from forest ecosystems remained considerably higher over the years. To find reasons for this contrasting radioecological behavior and for the derivation of model input parameters, an extended study about the distribution of 137 Cs within three Austrian forest stands was carried out between 1987 and 1997. Results of this and subsequent studies are summarized and include the following ecosystem compartments: forest soils, litter, trees, bilberry, mushrooms, mosses, ferns, lichen, other vegetation, insects, small mammals, game animals and surface water. Besides the investigation of radioecological behavior an estimation of pool sizes and transfer rates as well as radioecological residence half times for 137 Cs in different forest species was used to compile a radiocaesium balance for the years 1988 and 1996. Soil proved to be an effective sink for radiocaesium contamination, but in long-term perspective it can act as a source for the contamination of vegetation and higher levels of the food-chain as well. Due to the high standing biomass trees represent the largest 'living' radiocaesium pool within the investigated forest stand. Dose estimations based on average consume habits gave no significant increase (less than 0.4 %) of the annual average population radiation dose due to the ingestion of forest products from the investigated forest stands. (author)

Symptoms of main Callistephus chinensis L. Nees. diseases under Ukrainian urban ecosystem conditions of the forest-steppe zone

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Marchenko Alla

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Phytopathological monitoring of C. chinensis (L. Nees. has proven withering and root rot to be the dominating diseases in agrobiocenoses under Ukrainian urban ecosystem conditions of the forest-steppe zone. Their spread was 5,1 and 4 times more than one of spotting. The complex of plant pathogenic overground and underground microflora consists of 24 causative agents. B. cinerea, F. oxysporum, V. albo-atrum have been found on all the vegetative and reproductive parts of Callistephus chinensis (L. Nees., , Ph. cactorum – on plant overground and underground parts, Rh. solani – on underground parts and seeds, A. zinniae – on overground parts and seeds. The main C. chinensis (L. Nees. disease symptoms have been diagnosed (leaf spots, powdery mildew, verticillium wilt, rust, ramularia spot, septoria spots, botrytis blight, grey mold rot, late blight, fusarium blight, black stem.

Woody vegetation and soil characteristics of residential forest patches and open spaces along an urban-to-rural gradient

Science.gov (United States)

Benjamin L. Reichert; Sharon R. Jean-Philippe; Christopher Oswalt; Jennifer Franklin; Mark Radosevich

2015-01-01

As the process of urbanization advances across the country, so does the importance of urban forests, which include both trees and the soils in which they grow. Soil microbial biomass, which plays a critical role in nutrient transformation in urban ecosystems, is affected by factors such as soil type and the availability of water, carbon, and nitrogen. The aim of this...

Historical and contemporary cultural ecosystem service values in the rapidly urbanizing city state of Singapore.

Science.gov (United States)

Thiagarajah, Jharyathri; Wong, Shermaine K M; Richards, Daniel R; Friess, Daniel A

2015-11-01

Cultural ecosystem services are a function of people and place, so may change as a location transitions from rural to urban. Singapore has undergone rapid urbanization after its independence in 1965, with a concomitant decline in natural habitat extent and accessibility. Using coastal mangrove forests as a case study habitat, changing cultural values were explored with a novel array of techniques, including qualitative archival analysis (photographs, oral histories), current sources (publically uploaded social media photographs), and surveys of (a) the general public and (b) visitors to publically accessible mangroves. Cultural value changed through time, with a significant transition from intrinsic, intrapersonal values (spiritual, cultural heritage) to instrumental, interpersonal values (recreation, education). Additionally, cultural value varied between different mangroves depending on their public accessibility, and the evolving degree of human interaction with the ecosystem as urban development occured. Cultural values change as development transitions, though mangroves still play an important cultural role in a heavily urbanized environment.

Air contaminants and litter fall decomposition in urban forest areas: The case of São Paulo - SP, Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamano Ferreira, Maurício; Portella Ribeiro, Andreza; Rodrigues Albuquerque, Caroline; Ferreira, Ana Paula do Nascimento Lamano; Figueira, Rubens César Lopes; Lafortezza, Raffaele

2017-05-01

Urban forests are usually affected by several types of atmospheric contaminants and by abnormal variations in weather conditions, thus facilitating the biotic homogenization and modification of ecosystem processes, such as nutrient cycling. Peri-urban forests and even natural forests that surround metropolitan areas are also subject to anthropogenic effects generated by cities, which may compromise the dynamics of these ecosystems. Hence, this study advances the hypothesis that the forests located at the margins of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (MRSP), Brazil, have high concentrations of atmospheric contaminants leading to adverse effects on litter fall stock. The production, stock and decomposition of litter fall in two forests were quantified. The first, known as Guarapiranga forest, lies closer to the urban area and is located within the MRSP, approximately 20km from the city center. The second, Curucutu forest, is located 70km from the urban center. This forest is situated exactly on the border of the largest continuum of vegetation of the Atlantic Forest. To verify the reach of atmospheric pollutants from the urban area, levels of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu) adsorbed on the litter fall deposited on the soil surface of the forests were also quantified. The stock of litter fall and the levels of heavy metals were generally higher in the Guarapiranga forest in the samples collected during the lower rainfall season (dry season). Non-metric multidimensional scaling multivariate analysis showed a clear distinction of the sample units related to the concentrations of heavy metals in each forest. A subtle difference between the units related to the dry and rainy seasons in the Curucutu forest was also noted. Multivariate Analysis of Variance revealed that both site and season of the year (dry or rainy) were important to differentiate the quantity of heavy metals in litter fall stock, although the analysis did not show the interaction between these two

Forest Ecosystem Services and Eco-Compensation Mechanisms in China

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Hongbing; Zheng, Peng; Liu, Tianxing; Liu, Xin

2011-12-01

Forests are a major terrestrial ecosystem providing multiple ecosystem services. However, the importance of forests is frequently underestimated from an economic perspective because of the externalities and public good properties of these services. Forest eco-compensation is a transfer mechanism that serves to internalize the externalities of forest ecosystem services by compensating individuals or companies for the losses or costs resulting from the provision of these services. China's current forest eco-compensation system is centered mainly on noncommercial forest. The primary measures associated with ecosystem services are (1) a charge on destructive activities, such as indiscriminate logging, and (2) compensation for individual or local activities and investments in forest conservation. The Compensation Fund System for Forest Ecological Benefits was first listed in the Forest Law of the People's Republic of China in 1998. In 2004, the Central Government Financial Compensation Fund, an important source for the Compensation Fund for Forest Ecological Benefits, was formally established. To improve the forest eco-compensation system, it is crucial to design and establish compensation criteria for noncommercial forests. These criteria should take both theoretical and practical concerns into account, and they should be based on the quantitative valuation of ecosystem services. Although some initial headway has been made on this task, the implementation of an effective forest eco-compensation system in China still has deficiencies and still faces problems. Implementing classification-based and dynamic management for key noncommercial forests and establishing an eco-compensation mechanism with multiple funding sources in the market economy are the key measures needed to conquer these problems and improve the forest eco-compensation system and China's forestry development in sequence.

Forest ecosystem services and eco-compensation mechanisms in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Hongbing; Zheng, Peng; Liu, Tianxing; Liu, Xin

2011-12-01

Forests are a major terrestrial ecosystem providing multiple ecosystem services. However, the importance of forests is frequently underestimated from an economic perspective because of the externalities and public good properties of these services. Forest eco-compensation is a transfer mechanism that serves to internalize the externalities of forest ecosystem services by compensating individuals or companies for the losses or costs resulting from the provision of these services. China's current forest eco-compensation system is centered mainly on noncommercial forest. The primary measures associated with ecosystem services are (1) a charge on destructive activities, such as indiscriminate logging, and (2) compensation for individual or local activities and investments in forest conservation. The Compensation Fund System for Forest Ecological Benefits was first listed in the Forest Law of the People's Republic of China in 1998. In 2004, the Central Government Financial Compensation Fund, an important source for the Compensation Fund for Forest Ecological Benefits, was formally established. To improve the forest eco-compensation system, it is crucial to design and establish compensation criteria for noncommercial forests. These criteria should take both theoretical and practical concerns into account, and they should be based on the quantitative valuation of ecosystem services. Although some initial headway has been made on this task, the implementation of an effective forest eco-compensation system in China still has deficiencies and still faces problems. Implementing classification-based and dynamic management for key noncommercial forests and establishing an eco-compensation mechanism with multiple funding sources in the market economy are the key measures needed to conquer these problems and improve the forest eco-compensation system and China's forestry development in sequence.

Dynamics of radionuclides in forest ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steiner, M.

2004-01-01

The unique physiology and the layered structure of forest ecosystems result in dynamic transport and transfer processes which greatly differ from those in agricultural ecosystems. Radionuclides are retained in the upper organic horizons of forest soil for several decades and remain highly available for uptake by fungi and green plants. Contamination levels of mushrooms and game may therefore by far exceed those of agricultural produce. The efficient cycling of nutrients and radionuclides, which is characteristic for ecosystems poor in nutrients, can largely be attributed to forest soil with its complex and multi-layered structure and fungal activity. Fungi directly affect dynamic processes, playing a key role in the mobilization, uptake and translocation of nutrients and radionuclides. Fungal fruit bodies may be highly contaminated foodstuff and fodder. They are most likely the cause of the surprising trend of increasing contamination of wild boar which has been observed in the last few years in Germany. This paper is intended to give a qualitative survey of dynamic transport processes in forests and their relevance for radiation exposure to man. (orig.)

Quantifying Tree and Soil Carbon Stocks in a Temperate Urban Forest in Northeast China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hailiang Lv

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Society has placed greater focus on the ecological service of urban forests; however, more information is required on the variation of carbon (C in trees and soils in different functional forest types, administrative districts, and urban-rural gradients. To address this issue, we measured various tree and soil parameters by sampling 219 plots in the urban forest of the Harbin city region. Averaged tree and soil C stock density (C stocks per unit tree cover for Harbin city were 7.71 (±7.69 kg C·m−2 and 5.48 (±2.86 kg C·m−2, respectively. They were higher than those of other Chinese cities (Shenyang and Changchun, but were much lower than local natural forests. The tree C stock densities varied 2.3- to 3.2-fold among forest types, administrative districts, and ring road-based urban-rural gradients. In comparison, soil organic C (SOC densities varied by much less (1.4–1.5-fold. We found these to be urbanization-dependent processes, which were closely related to the urban-rural gradient data based on ring-roads and settlement history patterns. We estimated that SOC accumulation during the 100-year urbanization of Harbin was very large (5 to 14 thousand tons, accounting for over one quarter of the stored C in trees. Our results provide new insights into the dynamics of above- and below-ground C (especially in soil during the urbanization process, and that a city’s ability to provide C-related ecosystem services increases as it ages. Our findings highlight that urbanization effects should be incorporated into calculations of soil C budgets in regions subject to rapid urban expansion, such as China.

Assessment of Urban Ecosystem Health Based on Entropy Weight Extension Decision Model in Urban Agglomeration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qian Yang

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Urban ecosystem health evaluation can assist in sustainable ecological management at a regional level. This study examined urban agglomeration ecosystem health in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River with entropy weight and extension theories. The model overcomes information omissions and subjectivity problems in the evaluation process of urban ecosystem health. Results showed that human capital and education, economic development level as well as urban infrastructure have a significant effect on the health states of urban agglomerations. The health status of the urban agglomeration’s ecosystem was not optimistic in 2013. The majority of the cities were unhealthy or verging on unhealthy, accounting for 64.52% of the total number of cities in the urban agglomeration. The regional differences of the 31 cities’ ecosystem health are significant. The cause originated from an imbalance in economic development and the policy guidance of city development. It is necessary to speed up the integration process to promote coordinated regional development. The present study will aid us in understanding and advancing the health situation of the urban ecosystem in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and will provide an efficient urban ecosystem health evaluation method that can be used in other areas.

Aquatic biodiversity in forests: A weak link in ecosystem services resilience

Science.gov (United States)

Penaluna, Brooke E.; Olson, Deanna H.; Flitcroft, Rebecca L; Weber, Matthew A.; Bellmore, J. Ryan; Wondzell, Steven M.; Dunham, Jason B.; Johnson, Sherri L.; Reeves, Gordon H.

2017-01-01

The diversity of aquatic ecosystems is being quickly reduced on many continents, warranting a closer examination of the consequences for ecological integrity and ecosystem services. Here we describe intermediate and final ecosystem services derived from aquatic biodiversity in forests. We include a summary of the factors framing the assembly of aquatic biodiversity in forests in natural systems and how they change with a variety of natural disturbances and human-derived stressors. We consider forested aquatic ecosystems as a multi-state portfolio, with diverse assemblages and life-history strategies occurring at local scales as a consequence of a mosaic of habitat conditions and past disturbances and stressors. Maintaining this multi-state portfolio of assemblages requires a broad perspective of ecosystem structure, various functions, services, and management implications relative to contemporary stressors. Because aquatic biodiversity provides multiple ecosystem services to forests, activities that compromise aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity could be an issue for maintaining forest ecosystem integrity. We illustrate these concepts with examples of aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services in forests of northwestern North America, also known as Northeast Pacific Rim. Encouraging management planning at broad as well as local spatial scales to recognize multi-state ecosystem management goals has promise for maintaining valuable ecosystem services. Ultimately, integration of information from socio-ecological ecosystems will be needed to maintain ecosystem services derived directly and indirectly from forest aquatic biota.

An ecosystem carbon database for Canadian forests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaw, C.H.; Bhatti, J.S.; Sabourin, K.J.

2005-07-01

The forest ecosystem carbon database (FECD) is a compilation of data from more than 700 plots from different forest ecosystems in Canada. It includes more than 60 variables for site, stand and soil characteristics. It is intended for large-scale modelers and analysts working with the carbon budget and dynamics of forest ecosystems, particularly those interested in the response of forest carbon stocks and fluxes to changes in climate and site characteristics. The database includes totals for organic and mineral soil horizons for each plot along with total soil carbon content, tree biomass carbon content by component and total ecosystem carbon content. It is complete for site description information, soil chemistry, stand-level estimates of live tree biomass and carbon components and their totals. Soil carbon content by horizon was also included. The compilation targeted data collected at single points in space, where above ground and below ground carbon levels were measured simultaneously. It was noted that one of the important information gaps lies in the fact that no data was available for the natural disturbance or management histories of the stands where the plots were located. Estimates did not include detrital carbon or root biomass, which can influence the estimates for total ecosystem carbon in some forest types. The preliminary analysis reveals that ecozones can be grouped according to low and high average total biomass carbon content. The groups correlate to ecozones with low and high average total ecosystem carbon. Mineral soil carbon within each group contributes the highest proportion of carbon to the average total ecosystem carbon. It is correlated with a gradient in ecozone climate from cold and dry to warm and wet. 42 refs., 13 tabs., 16 figs.

Biomimetic Urban Design: Ecosystem Service Provision of Water and Energy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maibritt Pedersen Zari

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an ecosystem biomimicry methodology for urban design called ecosystem service analysis. Ecosystem services analysis can provide quantifiable goals for urban ecological regeneration that are determined by site specific ecology and climate of an urban area. This is important given the large negative environmental impact that most cities currently have on ecosystems. If cities can provide some of their own ecosystem services, pressure may be decreased on the surrounding ecosystems. This is crucial because healthier ecosystems enable humans to better adapt to the impacts that climate change is currently having on urban built environments and will continue to have in the future. A case study analyzing two ecosystem services (provision of energy and provision of water for an existing urban environment (Wellington, New Zealand is presented to demonstrate how the ecosystem services analysis concept can be applied to an existing urban context. The provision of energy in Wellington was found to be an example of an ecosystem service where humans could surpass the performance of pre-development ecosystem conditions. When analyzing the provision of water it was found that although total rainfall in the urban area is almost 200% higher than the water used in the city, if rainwater harvested from existing rooftops were to meet just the demands of domestic users, water use would need to be reduced by 20%. The paper concludes that although achieving ecological performance goals derived from ecosystem services analysis in urban areas is likely to be difficult, determining site and climate specific goals enable urban design professionals to know what a specific city should be aiming for if it is to move towards better sustainability outcomes.

Assessing urban forest effects and values, Scranton's urban forest

Science.gov (United States)

David J. Nowak; Robert E. III Hoehn; Daniel E. Crane; Jack C. Stevens; Vincent. Cotrone

2010-01-01

An analysis of trees in the urbanized portion of Scranton, PA, reveals that this area has about 1.2 million trees with canopies that cover 22.0 percent of the area. The most common tree species are red maple, gray birch, black cherry, northern red oak, and quaking aspen. Scranton's urban forest currently store about 93,300 tons of carbon valued at $1.9 million. In...

Developing micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for sustainability assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dizdaroglu, Didem

2015-01-01

Sustainability assessment is increasingly being viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainable urban ecosystems. An urban ecosystem is a dynamic system and requires regular monitoring and assessment through a set of relevant indicators. An indicator is a parameter which provides information about the state of the environment by producing a quantitative value. Indicator-based sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all spatial scales to provide efficient information of urban ecosystem sustainability. The detailed data is necessary to assess environmental change in urban ecosystems at local scale and easily transfer this information to the national and global scales. This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. The proposed indicator framework measures the sustainability performance of urban ecosystem in 3 main categories including: natural environment, built environment, and socio-economic environment which are made up of 9 sub-categories, consisting of 23 indicators. This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature [tr

Developing micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for sustainability assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dizdaroglu, Didem, E-mail: dizdaroglu@bilkent.edu.tr

2015-09-15

Sustainability assessment is increasingly being viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainable urban ecosystems. An urban ecosystem is a dynamic system and requires regular monitoring and assessment through a set of relevant indicators. An indicator is a parameter which provides information about the state of the environment by producing a quantitative value. Indicator-based sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all spatial scales to provide efficient information of urban ecosystem sustainability. The detailed data is necessary to assess environmental change in urban ecosystems at local scale and easily transfer this information to the national and global scales. This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. The proposed indicator framework measures the sustainability performance of urban ecosystem in 3 main categories including: natural environment, built environment, and socio-economic environment which are made up of 9 sub-categories, consisting of 23 indicators. This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature [Turkish] Highlights: • As the impacts of environmental problems have multi-scale characteristics, sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all scales. • The detailed data is necessary to assess local environmental change in urban ecosystems to provide insights into the national and global scales. • This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. • This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature.

Managing forests as ecosystems: A success story or a challenge ahead?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dale, V.H. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Div.

1997-10-01

To manage forests as ecosystems, the many values they hold for different users must be recognized, and they must be used so that those assets are not destroyed. Important ecosystem features of forests include nutrient cycling, habitat, succession, and water quality. Over time, the ways in which humans value forests have changed as forest uses have altered and as forests have declined in size and quality. Both ecosystem science and forest ecology have developed approaches that are useful to manage forests to retain their value. A historical perspective shows how changes in ecology, legislation, and technology have resulted in modern forest-management practices. However, current forest practices are still a decade or so behind current ecosystem science. Ecologists have done a good job of transferring their theories and approaches to the forest manager classroom but have done a poor job of translating these concepts into practice. Thus, the future for ecosystem management requires a closer linkage between ecologists and other disciplines. For example, the changing ways in which humans value forests are the primary determinant of forest-management policies. Therefore, if ecologists are to understand how ecosystem science can influence these policies, they must work closely with social scientists trained to assess human values.

Urban ecosystem modeling and global change: Potential for rational urban management and emissions mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Shaoqing; Chen, Bin; Fath, Brian D.

2014-01-01

Urbanization is a strong and extensive driver that causes environmental pollution and climate change from local to global scale. Modeling cities as ecosystems has been initiated by a wide range of scientists as a key to addressing challenging problems concomitant with urbanization. In this paper, ‘urban ecosystem modeling (UEM)’ is defined in an inter-disciplinary context to acquire a broad perception of urban ecological properties and their interactions with global change. Furthermore, state-of-the-art models of urban ecosystems are reviewed, categorized as top-down models (including materials/energy-oriented models and structure-oriented models), bottom-up models (including land use-oriented models and infrastructure-oriented models), or hybrid models thereof. Based on the review of UEM studies, a future framework for explicit UEM is proposed based the integration of UEM approaches of different scales, guiding more rational urban management and efficient emissions mitigation. - Highlights: • Urban ecosystems modeling (UEM) is defined in an interdisciplinary context. • State-of-the-art models for UEM are critically reviewed and compared. • An integrated framework for explicit UEM is proposed under global change. - State-of-the-art models of urban ecosystem modeling (UEM) are reviewed for rational urban management and emissions mitigation

Microbial Communities in the Vertical Atmosphere: Effects of Urbanization and the Natural Environment in Four North American Ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Docherty, K. M.; Lemmer, K. M.; Domingue, K. D.; Spring, A.; Kerber, T. V.; Mooney, M. M.

2017-12-01

Airborne transport of microbial communities is a key component of the global ecosystem because it serves as a mechanism for dispersing microbial life between all surface habitats on the planet. However, most of our understanding of airborne microbial distribution is derived from samples collected near the ground. Little is understood about how the vertical layers of the air may act as a habitat filter or how local terrestrial ecosystems contribute to a vast airborne microbial seedbank. Specifically, urbanization may fundamentally alter the terrestrial sources of airborne microbial biodiversity. To address this question, we conducted airborne sampling at minimally disturbed natural sites and paired urban sites in 4 different North American ecosystems: shortgrass steppe, desert scrub, eastern deciduous forest, and northern mesic forest. All natural area sites were co-located with NEON/Ameriflux tower sites collecting atmospheric data. We developed an airborne sampling platform that uses tethered helikites at 3 replicate locations within each ecosystem to launch remote-controlled sampler payloads. We designed sampler payloads to collect airborne bacteria and fungi from 150, 30 and 2 m above the ground. Payload requirements included: ability to be disinfected and remain contaminant-free during transport, remote open/close functionality, payload weight under 6 lbs and automated collection of weather data. After sampling for 6 hours at each location, we extracted DNA collected by the samplers. We also extracted DNA from soil and plant samples collected from each location, and characterized ground vegetation. We conducted bacterial 16S amplicon-based sequencing using Mi-Seq and sequence analysis using QIIME. We used ArcGIS to determine percent land use coverage. Our results demonstrate that terrestrial ecosystem type is the most important factor contributing to differences in airborne bacterial community composition, and that communities differed by ecosystem. The

Disturbance dynamics and ecosystem-based forest management

Science.gov (United States)

Kalev Jogiste; W. Keith Moser; Malle. Mandre

2005-01-01

Ecosystem-based management is intended to balance ecological, social and economic values of sustainable resource management. The desired future state of forest ecosystem is usually defined through productivity, biodiversity, stability or other terms. However, ecosystem-based management may produce an unbalanced emphasis on different components. Although ecosystem-based...

Modelling natural disturbances in forest ecosystems: a review

OpenAIRE

Seidl, Rupert; Fernandes, Paulo M.; Fonseca, Teresa F.; Gillet, François; Jönsson, Anna Maria; Merganičová, Katarína; Netherer, Sigrid; Arpaci, Alexander; Bontemps, Jean-Daniel; Bugmann, Harald

2011-01-01

Natural disturbances play a key role in ecosystem dynamics and are important factors for sustainable forest ecosystem management. Quantitative models are frequently employed to tackle the complexities associated with disturbance processes. Here we review the wide variety of approaches to modelling natural disturbances in forest ecosystems, addressing the full spectrum of disturbance modelling from single events to integrated disturbance regimes. We applied a general, process-based framework f...

How to restore dry forest ecosystems

OpenAIRE

Nalvarte, Jaime

2012-01-01

AIDER is a Peruvian non-governmental organization working since 1992 on forest management activities, watershed management and urban forest management on tropical humid and dry forest at a national level. AIDER and the José Ignacio Távara Pasapera rural community have been working on dry forest management and recovery since 1992. This paper summarizes the activity of AIDER in the dry forests for the purpose of recovering degraded forest areas and conserve existing forests by developing sustai...

[Estimation of Shenyang urban forest green biomass].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chang-fu; He, Xing-yuan; Chen, Wei; Zhao, Gui-ling; Xu, Wen-duo

2007-06-01

Based on ARC/GIS and by using the method of "planar biomass estimation", the green biomass (GB) of Shenyang urban forests was measured. The results demonstrated that the GB per unit area was the highest (3.86 m2.m(-2)) in landscape and relaxation forest, and the lowest (2.27 m2.m(-2)) in ecological and public welfare forest. The GB per unit area in urban forest distribution area was 2.99 m2.m(-2), and that of the whole Shenyang urban area was 0.25 m2.m(-2). The total GB of Shenyang urban forests was about 1.13 x 10(8) m2, among which, subordinated forest, ecological and public welfare forest, landscape and relaxation forest, road forest, and production and management forest accounted for 36.64% , 23.99% , 19.38% , 16.20% and 3.79%, with their GB being 4. 15 x 10(7), 2.72 x 10(7), 2.20 x 10(7), 1.84 x 10(7) and 0.43 x 10(7) m2, respectively. The precision of the method "planar biomass estimation" was 91.81% (alpha = 0.05) by credit test.

Modelling radiocesium fluxes in forest ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaw, G.; Kliashtorin, A.; Mamikhin, S.; Shcheglov, A.; Rafferty, B.; Dvornik, A.; Zhuchenko, T.; Kuchma, N.

1996-01-01

Monitoring of radiocesium inventories and fluxes has been carried out in forest ecosystems in Ukraine, Belarus and Ireland to determine distributions and rates of migration. This information has been used to construct and calibrate mathematical models which are being used to predict the likely longevity of contamination of forests and forest products such as timber following the Chernobyl accident

Managing Forests for Water in the Anthropocene—The Best Kept Secret Services of Forest Ecosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irena F. Creed

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Water and forests are inextricably linked. Pressures on forests from population growth and climate change are increasing risks to forests and their aquatic ecosystem services (AES. There is a need to incorporate AES in forest management but there is considerable uncertainty about how to do so. Approaches that manage forest ecosystem services such as fiber, water and carbon sequestration independently ignore the inherent complexities of ecosystem services and their responses to management actions, with the potential for unintended consequences that are difficult to predict. The ISO 31000 Risk Management Standard is a standardized framework to assess risks to forest AES and to prioritize management strategies to manage risks within tolerable ranges. The framework consists of five steps: establishing the management context, identifying, analyzing, evaluating and treating the risks. Challenges to implementing the framework include the need for novel models and indicators to assess forest change and resilience, quantification of linkages between forest practice and AES, and the need for an integrated systems approach to assess cumulative effects and stressors on forest ecosystems and AES. In the face of recent international agreements to protect forests, there are emerging opportunities for international leadership to address these challenges in order to protect both forests and AES.

Key insights for the future of urban ecosystem services research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peleg Kremer

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Understanding the dynamics of urban ecosystem services is a necessary requirement for adequate planning, management, and governance of urban green infrastructure. Through the three-year Urban Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (URBES research project, we conducted case study and comparative research on urban biodiversity and ecosystem services across seven cities in Europe and the United States. Reviewing > 50 peer-reviewed publications from the project, we present and discuss seven key insights that reflect cumulative findings from the project as well as the state-of-the-art knowledge in urban ecosystem services research. The insights from our review indicate that cross-sectoral, multiscale, interdisciplinary research is beginning to provide a solid scientific foundation for applying the ecosystem services framework in urban areas and land management. Our review offers a foundation for seeking novel, nature-based solutions to emerging urban challenges such as wicked environmental change issues.

Valuation of Non-Market Ecosystem Services of Forests

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taye, Fitalew Agimass

Forests provide a multitude of ecosystem services to society. However, not all such services are being reflected in market prices and that leads to underestimation of their economic values and suboptimal management schemes. Therefore, non-market valuation is required to provide complementary...... information for better forest management that underpins the concept of total economic values. In this thesis, the non-market ecosystem services of forests are evaluated with a focus on showing the impact of forest management. The thesis consists of four papers that address three main research questions: 1......) Which forest structural characteristics and features affect recreational preferences? 2) Does childhood forest experience determine forest visiting habit in adulthood? And 3) How does environmental attitude influence individuals’ willingness to pay for forest management initiatives designed to enhance...

Valuing Ecosystem Services and Disservices across Heterogeneous Green Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christie Klimas

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This study investigates small-scale variability in ecosystem services and disservices that is important for sustainable planning in urban areas (including suburbs surrounding the urban core. We quantified and valued natural capital (tree and soil carbon stocks ecosystem services (annual tree carbon sequestration and pollutant uptake, and stormwater runoff reduction and disservices (greenhouse gas emissions and soil soluble reactive phosphorus within a 30-hectare heterogeneous green space that included approximately 13% wetland, 13% prairie, 16% forest, and 55% subdivision. We found similar soil organic carbon across green space types, but spatial heterogeneity in other ecosystem services and disservices. The value of forest tree carbon stock was estimated at approximately $10,000 per hectare. Tree carbon sequestration, and pollutant uptake added benefits of $1000+ per hectare per year. Annual per hectare benefits from tree carbon stock and ecosystem services in the subdivision were each 63% of forest values. Total annual greenhouse gas emissions had significant spatial and temporal variation. Soil soluble reactive phosphorus was significantly higher in the wetland than in forest and prairie. Our results have implications for urban planning. Adding or improving ecosystem service provision on small (private or public urban or suburban lots may benefit from careful consideration of small-scale variability.

Governing Forest Ecosystem Services for Sustainable Environmental Governance: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shankar Adhikari

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Governing forest ecosystem services as a forest socio-ecological system is an evolving concept in the face of different environmental and social challenges. Therefore, different modes of ecosystem governance such as hierarchical, scientific–technical, and adaptive–collaborative governance have been developed. Although each form of governance offers important features, no one form on its own is sufficient to attain sustainable environmental governance (SEG. Thus, the blending of important features of each mode of governance could contribute to SEG, through a combination of both hierarchical and collaborative governance systems supported by scientifically and technically aided knowledge. This should be further reinforced by the broad engagement of stakeholders to ensure the improved well-being of both ecosystems and humans. Some form of governance and forest management measures, including sustainable forest management, forest certification, and payment for ecosystem services mechanisms, are also contributing to that end. While issues around commodification and putting a price on nature are still contested due to the complex relationship between different services, if these limitations are taken into account, the governance of forest ecosystem services will serve as a means of effective environmental governance and the sustainable management of forest resources. Therefore, forest ecosystem services governance has a promising future for SEG, provided limitations are tackled with due care in future governance endeavors.

Different cesium-137 transfers to forest and stream ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakai, Masaru; Gomi, Takashi; Negishi, Junjiro N.; Iwamoto, Aimu; Okada, Kengo

2016-01-01

Understanding the mechanisms of "1"3"7Cs movement across different ecosystems is crucial for projecting the environmental impact and management of nuclear contamination events. Here, we report differential movement of "1"3"7Cs in adjacent forest and stream ecosystems. The food webs of the forest and stream ecosystems in our study were similar, in that they were both dominated by detrital-based food webs and the basal energy source was terrestrial litter. However, the concentration of "1"3"7Cs in stream litter was significantly lower than in forest litter, the result of "1"3"7Cs leaching from litter in stream water. The difference in "1"3"7Cs concentrations between the two types of litter was reflected in the "1"3"7Cs concentrations in the animal community. While the importance of "1"3"7Cs fallout and the associated transfer to food webs has been well studied, research has been primarily limited to cases in a single ecosystem. Our results indicate that there are differences in the flow of "1"3"7Cs through terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and that "1"3"7Cs concentrations are reduced in both basal food resources and higher trophic animals in aquatic systems, where primary production is subsidized by a neighboring terrestrial ecosystem. - Highlights: • Detrital-based food web structure was observed in both forest and stream ecosystems. • The "1"3"7Cs concentration in litter was 4 times lower in stream than in forest. • The difference of "1"3"7Cs concentration in litter reflected in animal contamination. • "1"3"7Cs leaching from litter decreases contamination level of stream food web. - Leaching from litter in stream decreases "1"3"7Cs concentration in litter, and the contamination level of food web in stream ecosystem is lower than that in adjacent forest ecosystem.

Environmental research programme. Ecological research. Annual report 1995. Urban-industrial landscapes, forests, agricultural landscapes, river and lake landscapes, terrestrial ecosystem research, environmental pollution and health

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

In promoting ecology research, the federal ministry of science and technology (BMBF) pursues the aim to enhance understanding of the natural resources indispensable to the life of man, animals and plant societies and their interrelations, and to point out existing scope for action to preserve or replenish them. Consequently, ecology research makes an essential contribution towards effective nature conservancy and environmental protection. The interactions between climate and ecosystems also form an important part of this. With regard to topical environmental issues concerning agricultural landscapes, rivers and lakes, forests and urban-industrial agglomerations, system interrelations in representative ecosystems are investigated. The results are to be embodied in directives for the protection or appropriate use of these ecosystems in order to contribute towards a sustainable development of these types of landscapes. The book also evaluates and assesses which types of nuisances, interventions and modes of use represent hazards for the respective systems. (orig./VHE) [de

Assessing ecosystem carbon stocks of Indonesia's threatened wetland forests

Science.gov (United States)

Warren, M.; Kauffman, B.; Murdiyarso, D.; Kurnianto, S.

2011-12-01

Over millennia, atmospheric carbon dioxide has been sequestered and stored in Indonesia's tropical wetland forests. Waterlogged conditions impede decomposition, allowing the formation of deep organic soils. These globally significant C pools are highly vulnerable to deforestation, degradation and climate change which can potentially switch their function as C sinks to long term sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Also at risk are critical ecosystem services which sustain millions of people and the conservation of unique biological communities. The multiple benefits derived from wetland forest conservation makes them attractive for international C offset programs such as the proposed Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) mechanism. Yet, ecosystem C pools and fluxes in wetland forests remain poorly quantified. Significant knowledge gaps exist regarding how land use changes impact C dynamics in tropical wetlands, and very few studies have simultaneously assessed above- and belowground ecosystem C pools in Indonesia's freshwater peat swamps and mangroves. In addition, most of what is known about Indonesia's tropical wetland forests is derived from few geographic locations where long-standing research has focused, despite their broad spatial distribution. Here we present results from an extensive survey of ecosystem C stocks across several Indonesian wetland forests. Ecosystem C stocks were measured in freshwater peat swamp forests in West Papua, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, and Sumatra. Carbon storage was also measured for mangrove forests in W. Papua, W. Kalimantan, and Sumatra. One overarching goal of this research is to support the development of REDD+ for tropical wetlands by informing technical issues related to carbon measuring, monitoring, and verification (MRV) and providing baseline data about the variation of ecosystem C storage across and within several Indonesian wetland forests.

Ecological Values of Mangrove Forest Ecosystem

OpenAIRE

Kusmana, Cecep

1996-01-01

Research on quantification of ecological values of mangrove forest ecosystem are urgently needed, due to its importance as the basics for utilization and management of resources. From the ecological point of vlew, the main prohlem of mangrove ecosystem is rarity and inconsistency of data and limited accurate methods inquantifying ecological values of that ecosystem. Results show that mangrove has the significant ecological values on coastal ecosystem. However, there must be further research t...

Sustaining America's urban trees and forests: a Forests on the Edge report

Science.gov (United States)

David J. Nowak; Paula B. Randler; Eric J. Greenfield; Sara J. Comas; Mary A. Carr; Ralph J. Alig

2010-01-01

Close to 80 percent of the U.S. population lives in urban areas and depends on the essential ecological, economic, and social benefits provided by urban trees and forests. However, the distribution of urban tree cover and the benefits of urban forests vary across the United States, as do the challenges of sustaining this important resource. As urban areas expand...

Advances of Air Pollution Science: From Forest Decline to Multiple-Stress Effects on Forest Ecosystem Services

Science.gov (United States)

E. Paoletti; M. Schaub; R. Matyssek; G. Wieser; A. Augustaitis; A. M. Bastrup-Birk; A. Bytnerowicz; M. S. Gunthardt-Goerg; G. Muller-Starck; Y. Serengil

2010-01-01

Over the past 20 years, the focus of forest science on air pollution has moved from forest decline to a holistic framework of forest health, and from the effects on forest production to the ecosystem services provided by forest ecosystems. Hence, future research should focus on the interacting factorial impacts and resulting antagonistic and synergistic responses of...

Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

George A. Garrison; Ardell J. Bjugstad; Don A. Duncan; Mont E. Lewis; Dixie R. Smith

1977-01-01

This publication describes the 34 ecosystems into which all the land of the 48 contiguous states has been classified in the Forest-Range Environmental Study (FRES) of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. The description of each ecosystem discusses physiography, climate, vegetation, fauna, soils, and land use. For a number of the ecosystems, the...

Balancing trade-offs between ecosystem services in Germany’s forests under climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Gutsch, Martin; Lasch-Born, Petra; Kollas, Chris; Suckow, Felicitas; Reyer, Christopher P. O.

2018-04-01

Germany’s forests provide a variety of ecosystem services. Sustainable forest management aims to optimize the provision of these services at regional level. However, climate change will impact forest ecosystems and subsequently ecosystem services. The objective of this study is to quantify the effects of two alternative management scenarios and climate impacts on forest variables indicative of ecosystem services related to timber, habitat, water, and carbon. The ecosystem services are represented through nine model output variables (timber harvest, above and belowground biomass, net ecosystem production, soil carbon, percolation, nitrogen leaching, deadwood, tree dimension, broadleaf tree proportion) from the process-based forest model 4C. We simulated forest growth, carbon and water cycling until 2045 with 4C set-up for the whole German forest area based on National Forest Inventory data and driven by three management strategies (nature protection, biomass production and a baseline management) and an ensemble of regional climate scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP 4.5, RCP 8.5). We provide results as relative changes compared to the baseline management and observed climate. Forest management measures have the strongest effects on ecosystem services inducing positive or negative changes of up to 40% depending on the ecosystem service in question, whereas climate change only slightly alters ecosystem services averaged over the whole forest area. The ecosystem services ‘carbon’ and ‘timber’ benefit from climate change, while ‘water’ and ‘habitat’ lose. We detect clear trade-offs between ‘timber’ and all other ecosystem services, as well as synergies between ‘habitat’ and ‘carbon’. When evaluating all ecosystem services simultaneously, our results reveal certain interrelations between climate and management scenarios. North-eastern and western forest regions are more suitable to provide timber (while minimizing the negative impacts on remaining

Monitoring of radioactive pollution of forest ecosystems after accident on Chernobyl NPP. Rehabilitation with mushrooms harvesting in forest ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zarubina, Nataliia

2016-01-01

The project main objective was to forecast the behavior and redistribution of 137 Cs in the contaminated areas, using mathematical and statistical analysis of the data and the model. This forecast can help to develop recommendations for the use of different parts of forest ecosystems. Data on content of 137 Cs in the fruit bodies of mushrooms of different species and weight of different species of mushrooms per 1 sq. km is to be obtained in different forest ecosystems of Fukushima Prefecture. These data enable us to determine species of mushrooms-concentrators of this radionuclide in the forests of Japan and to forecast the expediency of remediation of forest soils in Japan with the help of mushrooms. Advantages of mycoextraction (harvesting of fungi fruit bodies) are as follows. (1) Minimum influence on the forest ecosystem. (2) High specific activity of the fungi fruit bodies allows extracting considerable amount of 137 Cs from contaminated territories. (3) During rich years, 0.5 -2 % and more of the total 137 Cs content in soil could be extracted using the fungi fruit bodies at contaminated territories and so on. But disadvantages of mycoextraction are somewhat. (N.T.)

Differential Impact of Passive versus Active Irrigation on Urban Forests in Semiarid Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Luketich, A. M.; Papuga, S. A.; Crimmins, M.

2017-12-01

The network of trees within a city provides a variety of ecosystem services such as flood mitigation and reduced heat island effects. To maintain these `urban forests' in semiarid cities, the use of scarce water resources for irrigation is often necessary. Rainwater harvesting has been widely adopted in Tucson, AZ as a sustainable water source for trees, but the effects of passive water harvesting versus active irrigation on tree canopy productivity and microclimate is largely unquantified. We hypothesize that regardless of whether trees are passively or actively irrigated, deep soil moisture will be elevated compared to natural conditions; however, we expect that increased deep soil moisture conditions will be more frequent using active irrigation. Additionally, we hypothesize that similar to natural settings, urban trees will need access deep soil moisture for transpiration. Therefore, we expect that actively irrigated trees will have more periods of transpiration than passively irrigated trees and that this will result in elevated and sustained phenological activity. We also expect that this difference will translate to more ecosystem services for a longer portion of the year in actively irrigated urban forests. Here, we compare key ecohydrological indicators of passive and active irrigation systems at two sites in Tucson, AZ. Our measurements include soil moisture, transpiration, air temperature, soil temperature, below- and within- canopy temperatures, and canopy phenology. Our first year of results suggest there are differences in transpiration, canopy greening and microclimate between the two irrigation techniques and that the magnitude of these differences are highly seasonal. This research can help to improve understanding of the practices and function of green infrastructure in semiarid cities and inform models that attempt to aggregate the influence of these urban forests for understanding watershed management strategies.

Global warming considerations in northern Boreal forest ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slaughter, C.W.

1993-01-01

The northern boreal forests of circumpolar lands are of special significance to questions of global climate change. Throughout its range, these forests are characterized by a relatively few tree species, although they may exhibit great spatial heterogeneity. Their ecosystems are simpler than temperate systems, and ecosystem processes are strongly affected by interactions between water, the landscape, and the biota. Northern boreal forest vegetation patterns are strongly influenced by forest fires, and distribution of forest generally coincides with occurrence of permafrost. Boreal forest landscapes are extremely sensitive to thermal disruption; global warming may result in lasting thermal and physical degradation of soils, altered rates and patterns of vegetation succession, and damage to engineered structures. A change in fire severity and frequency is also a significant concern. The total carbon pool of boreal forests and their associated peatlands is significant on a global scale; this carbon may amount to 10-20% of the global carbon pool. A change in latitudinal or elevational treeline has been suggested as a probable consequence of global warming. More subtle aspects of boreal forest ecosystems which may be affected by global warming include the depth of the active soil layer, the hydrologic cycle, and biological attributes of boreal stream systems. 48 refs., 2 figs

Observing urban forests in Australia

Science.gov (United States)

E.G. McPherson

2009-01-01

From February 13 to 28, 2009 I had the good fortune of visiting Australia, and touring urban forests in Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, and Melbourne. My visits were only a day or two in each city, so in no case did I get an in-depth view of the urban forest resource or its management. The following observations are based on rather superficial field assessments and brief...

Impact of cloudiness on net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide in different types of forest ecosystems in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Zhang

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Clouds can significantly affect carbon exchange process between forest ecosystems and the atmosphere by influencing the quantity and quality of solar radiation received by ecosystem's surface and other environmental factors. In this study, we analyzed the effects of cloudiness on net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide (NEE in a temperate broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest at Changbaishan (CBS and a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest at Dinghushan (DHS, based on the flux data obtained during June–August from 2003 to 2006. The results showed that the response of NEE of forest ecosystems to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR differed under clear skies and cloudy skies. Compared with clear skies, the light-saturated maximum photosynthetic rate (P_ec,max at CBS under cloudy skies during mid-growing season (from June to August increased by 34%, 25%, 4% and 11% in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively. In contrast, P_ec,max of the forest ecosystem at DHS was higher under clear skies than under cloudy skies from 2004 to 2006. When the clearness index (k_t ranged between 0.4 and 0.6, the NEE reached its maximum at both CBS and DHS. However, the NEE decreased more dramatically at CBS than at DHS when k_t exceeded 0.6. The results indicate that cloudy sky conditions are beneficial to net carbon uptake in the temperate forest ecosystem and the subtropical forest ecosystem. Under clear skies, vapor pressure deficit (VPD and air temperature increased due to strong light. These environmental conditions led to greater decrease in gross ecosystem photosynthesis (GEP and greater increase in ecosystem respiration (R_e at CBS than at DHS. As a result, clear sky conditions caused more reduction of NEE in the temperate forest ecosystem than in the subtropical forest ecosystem. The response of NEE of different forest ecosystems to the changes in

Dynamics of Ecosystem Services during Forest Transitions in Reventazón, Costa Rica.

Science.gov (United States)

Vallet, Améline; Locatelli, Bruno; Levrel, Harold; Brenes Pérez, Christian; Imbach, Pablo; Estrada Carmona, Natalia; Manlay, Raphaël; Oszwald, Johan

2016-01-01

The forest transition framework describes the temporal changes of forest areas with economic development. A first phase of forest contraction is followed by a second phase of expansion once a turning point is reached. This framework does not differentiate forest types or ecosystem services, and describes forests regardless of their contribution to human well-being. For several decades, deforestation in many tropical regions has degraded ecosystem services, such as watershed regulation, while increasing provisioning services from agriculture, for example, food. Forest transitions and expansion have been observed in some countries, but their consequences for ecosystem services are often unclear. We analyzed the implications of forest cover change on ecosystem services in Costa Rica, where a forest transition has been suggested. A review of literature and secondary data on forest and ecosystem services in Costa Rica indicated that forest transition might have led to an ecosystem services transition. We modeled and mapped the changes of selected ecosystem services in the upper part of the Reventazón watershed and analyzed how supply changed over time in order to identify possible transitions in ecosystem services. The modeled changes of ecosystem services is similar to the second phase of a forest transition but no turning point was identified, probably because of the limited temporal scope of the analysis. Trends of provisioning and regulating services and their tradeoffs were opposite in different spatial subunits of our study area, which highlights the importance of scale in the analysis of ecosystem services and forest transitions. The ecosystem services transition framework proposed in this study is useful for analyzing the temporal changes of ecosystem services and linking socio-economic drivers to ecosystem services demand at different scales.

Modeling carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry in forest ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Changsheng Li; Carl Trettin; Ge Sun; Steve McNulty; Klaus Butterbach-Bahl

2005-01-01

A forest biogeochemical model, Forest-DNDC, was developed to quantify carbon sequestration in and trace gas emissions from forest ecosystems. Forest-DNDC was constructed by integrating two existing moels, PnET and DNDC, with several new features including nitrification, forest litter layer, soil freezing and thawing etc, PnET is a forest physiological model predicting...

Impacts of Air Pollution and Climate Change on Forest Ecosystems — Emerging Research Needs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Paoletti

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Outcomes from the 22nd meeting for Specialists in Air Pollution Effects on Forest Ecosystems “Forests under Anthropogenic Pressure Effects of Air Pollution, Climate Change and Urban Development”, September 1016, 2006, Riverside, CA, are summarized. Tropospheric or ground-level ozone (O3 is still the phytotoxic air pollutant of major interest. Challenging issues are how to make O3 standards or critical levels more biologically based and at the same time practical for wide use; quantification of plant detoxification processes in flux modeling; inclusion of multiple environmental stresses in critical load determinations; new concept development for nitrogen saturation; interactions between air pollution, climate, and forest pests; effects of forest fire on air quality; the capacity of forests to sequester carbon under changing climatic conditions and coexposure to elevated levels of air pollutants; enhanced linkage between molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, and morphological traits.

Tree diversity in southern California’s urban forest: the interacting roles of social and environmental variables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meghan eAvolio

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Socio-economic and environmental drivers are important determinants urban plant richness patterns. The scale at which these patterns are observed in different regions, however, has not been explored. In arid regions, where forests are not native, the majority of the urban forest is planted, and trees are presumably chosen for specific attributes. Here, we investigate the role of spatial scales and the relative importance of environmental versus socio-economic drivers in determining the community structure of southern California’s urban forest. Second, we assess the usefulness of ecosystem service-based traits for understanding patterns of urban biodiversity, compared with species composition data. Third, we test whether resident preferences for specific tree attributes are important for understanding patterns of species composition and diversity. We studied tree communities in 37 neighborhoods in three southern California counties (Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside. The urban forest in southern California is very diverse with 114 species. Using multiple regression analyses we found socio-economic drivers were generally more important than environmental and the strength of the relationship between urban forest community structure and socio-economic drivers depended on whether we were analyzing within or across counties. There was greater tree richness in wealthier neighborhoods compared with less affluent neighborhoods across all counties and Orange County, but not in Los Angeles or Riverside counties alone. We also found a greater proportion of residential shade trees in hotter neighborhoods than in cooler neighborhoods, which corresponds with survey results of residents’ preferences for tree attributes. Ultimately our study demonstrates that the species richness and functional traits of urban tree communities are influenced by managers’ and residents’ preferences and perceptions of urban tree traits.

Monitoring the Impacts of Wildfires on Forest Ecosystems and Public Health in the Exo-Urban Environment Using High-Resolution Satellite Aerosol Products from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).

Science.gov (United States)

Huff, Amy K; Kondragunta, Shobha; Zhang, Hai; Hoff, Raymond M

2015-01-01

Increasing development of exo-urban environments and the spread of urbanization into forested areas is making humans and forest ecosystems more susceptible to the risks associated with wildfires. Larger and more damaging wildfires are having a negative impact on forest ecosystem services, and smoke from wildfires adversely affects the public health of people living in exo-urban environments. Satellite aerosol measurements are valuable tools that can track the evolution of wildfires and monitor the transport of smoke plumes. Operational users, such as air quality forecasters and fire management officials, can use satellite observations to complement ground-based and aircraft measurements of wildfire activity. To date, wildfire applications of satellite aerosol products, such as aerosol optical depth (AOD), have been limited by the relatively coarse resolution of available AOD data. However, the new Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite has high-resolution AOD that is ideally suited to monitoring wildfire impacts on the exo-urban scale. Two AOD products are available from VIIRS: the 750-m × 750-m nadir resolution Intermediate Product (IP) and the 6-km × 6-km resolution Environmental Data Record product, which is aggregated from IP measurements. True color (red, green, and blue [RGB]) imagery and a smoke mask at 750-m × 750-m resolution are also available from VIIRS as decision aids for wildfire applications; they serve as counterparts to AOD measurements by providing visible information about areas of smoke in the atmosphere. To meet the needs of operational users, who do not have time to process raw data files and need access to VIIRS products in near-real time (NRT), VIIRS AOD and RGB NRT imagery are available from the Infusing satellite Data into Environmental Applications (IDEA) web site. A key feature of IDEA is an interactive visualization tool that allows users to

Implications of agricultural transitions and urbanization for ecosystem services.

Science.gov (United States)

Cumming, Graeme S; Buerkert, Andreas; Hoffmann, Ellen M; Schlecht, Eva; von Cramon-Taubadel, Stephan; Tscharntke, Teja

2014-11-06

Historically, farmers and hunter-gatherers relied directly on ecosystem services, which they both exploited and enjoyed. Urban populations still rely on ecosystems, but prioritize non-ecosystem services (socioeconomic). Population growth and densification increase the scale and change the nature of both ecosystem- and non-ecosystem-service supply and demand, weakening direct feedbacks between ecosystems and societies and potentially pushing social-ecological systems into traps that can lead to collapse. The interacting and mutually reinforcing processes of technological change, population growth and urbanization contribute to over-exploitation of ecosystems through complex feedbacks that have important implications for sustainable resource use.

Open Spaces and Urban Ecosystem Services. Cooling Effect towards Urban Planning in South American Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Inostroza

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Open space (OS is a key element in the provision of ecosystem services (ES in urban environments. Under a land cover-land use perspective, cities are incorporating into the expansion process to different types of surfaces: sealed, paved surfaces and OS. The first corresponds to a land cover change while the second, which includes bare soil, grass, forest or any other type of non-sealed surface, corresponds to a land use change, without physical transformations. As a land use change OS is able to keep fundamental pre-existing ecological properties. However, besides specific ecological characteristics, the overall capacity to provide ES depends also on the size, number and spatial distribution of OSs within the urban fabric. Those aspects which can determine the very ecological performance of urban ecosystem services (UES are not yet included in the current urban planning in Latin America. OS is still understood mainly as green infrastructure and related mostly with aesthetic and cultural benefits. On the contrary, under an ecological point of view, OS is capable to provide fundamental UES, which can be spatially assessed and analyzed. In this paper the provision of cooling services (CS is assessed in 2 South American cities: Lima and Santiago de Chile. The provision of CS is measured by means of a Remote Sensing-GIS-based method. Two aspects of CS are explored: (1 the current amount of existing OS; and (2 the trend of increasing/reducing CS within the urban tissue, in a dynamic assessment of spatial distribution and rates of OS incorporation to the continuous urban tissue. The aim is to analyze the CS generated by OS in those two cities. The analysis discusses the role of OS in the provision of CS, considering the current urban development trends and planning practice in these specific Latin American cities, highlighting the need to keep unsealed surfaces and increase in trees coverage, to retain the CS provision in certain levels.

Monitoring of radioactive pollution of forest ecosystems after accident on Chernobyl NPP. Rehabilitation with mushrooms harvesting in forest ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zarubina, Nataliia

2016-01-01

The project main objective was to forecast the behavior and redistribution of "1"3"7Cs in the contaminated areas, using mathematical and statistical analysis of the data and the model. This forecast can help to develop recommendations for the use of different parts of forest ecosystems. Data on content of "1"3"7Cs in the fruit bodies of mushrooms of different species and weight of different species of mushrooms per 1 sq. km is to be obtained in different forest ecosystems of Fukushima Prefecture. These data enable us to determine species of mushrooms-concentrators of this radionuclide in the forests of Japan and to forecast the expediency of remediation of forest soils in Japan with the help of mushrooms. Advantages of mycoextraction (harvesting of fungi fruit bodies) are as follows. (1) Minimum influence on the forest ecosystem. (2) High specific activity of the fungi fruit bodies allows extracting considerable amount of "1"3"7Cs from contaminated territories. (3) During rich years, 0.5 -2% and more of the total "1"3"7Cs content in soil could be extracted using the fungi fruit bodies at contaminated territories and so on. But disadvantages of mycoextraction are somewhat. (N.T.)

Transport and Breakdown of Organic Matter in Urban and Forested Streams: The Effects of Altered Hydrology and Landscape Position

Science.gov (United States)

Belt, K. T.; Swan, C. M.; Pouyat, R. V.; Kaushal, S.; Groffman, P. M.; Stack, W. P.; Fisher, G. T.

2006-05-01

A better understanding of how urbanization and trees interact to alter organic matter transport and cycling is needed to assess retention in catchments and streams, as well as to estimate the magnitude of carbon fluxes to the atmosphere and to downstream aquatic ecosystems. The influx of particulate and dissolved organic matter (POM/DOC) to headwater streams normally originates within or near riparian areas, and is important to aquatic food webs in stream ecosystems. Urban catchments, however, have huge effective drainage densities (due to storm drainage infrastructure), which facilitate a POM/DOC "gutter subsidy" to streams that dwarfs riparian inputs and alters benthic litter quality (and represents a major short-circuit in the carbon vegetation-soil cycle.) We measured in-situ leaf litter breakdown rates, flows, DOC, BOD and nutrients in forested, suburban and urban streams of the BES LTER and Baltimore City DPW sampling networks, which encompassed a variety of urban and rural landscapes. Sycamore and Planetree leaf litter in-situ experiments revealed faster breakdown rates for suburban and urban landscape litter than for riparian litter, with rates being much faster than literature values for forested catchments. DOC, BOD and nutrient data (storm and dry weather) from BES/DPW stream sites showed much higher concentrations and loads in the more urbanized catchments and indicate the streams are likely heterotrophic and experience transient but high dissolved oxygen demands. High nutrient concentrations, faster litter breakdown rates, and substantially higher upland urban fluxes of organic matter (particulate and dissolved) in urban streams suggest that export rates are likely substantially higher than in forested systems and that carbon loads to both downstream aquatic systems and to the atmosphere (as CO2) are substantial.

Carbon-nitrogen interactions in forest ecosystems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gundersen, Per; Berg, Bjørn; Currie, W.S.

This report is a summary of the main results from the EU project “Carbon – Nitrogen Interactions in Forest Ecosystems” (CNTER). Since carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) are bound together in organic matter we studied both the effect of N deposition on C cycling in forest ecosystems, and the effect of C ...

The consequences of radioactive contamination of forest ecosystems due to Chernobyl accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tikhomirov, F.A.; Shcheglova, A.I.

1997-01-01

The effect of forests on the radionuclide primary distribution in different components of the contaminated ecosystems is considered by the example of Chernobyl accident. A basic mathematical model is developed describing 137 Cs biogeochemical cycling under conditions of quasi-steady state radionuclide redistribution in the ecosystem. Forest ecosystems are proved to diminish radionuclide migration in the environment, and forest should be regarded as an important sanitary factor. The contribution of contaminated forests and forest products to the total irradiation dose to local population is estimated. Special countermeasures are elaborated in order to diminish unfavorable consequences of forest radioactive contamination. A long-term dynamics of radioactive situation in the forest ecosystems in forecasted and further studies on the subject are drafted

Advances of air pollution science: from forest decline to multiple-stress effects on forest ecosystem services.

Science.gov (United States)

Paoletti, E; Schaub, M; Matyssek, R; Wieser, G; Augustaitis, A; Bastrup-Birk, A M; Bytnerowicz, A; Günthardt-Goerg, M S; Müller-Starck, G; Serengil, Y

2010-06-01

Over the past 20 years, the focus of forest science on air pollution has moved from forest decline to a holistic framework of forest health, and from the effects on forest production to the ecosystem services provided by forest ecosystems. Hence, future research should focus on the interacting factorial impacts and resulting antagonistic and synergistic responses of forest trees and ecosystems. The synergistic effects of air pollution and climatic changes, in particular elevated ozone, altered nitrogen, carbon and water availability, must be key issues for research. Present evidence suggests air pollution will become increasingly harmful to forests under climate change, which requires integration amongst various stressors (abiotic and biotic factors, including competition, parasites and fire), effects on forest services (production, biodiversity protection, soil protection, sustained water balance, socio-economical relevance) and assessment approaches (research, monitoring, modeling) to be fostered. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bioecological principles of maintaining stability in mountain forest ecosystems of the Ukrainian Carpathians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. V. Parpan

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The forest cover of the Carpathians has been deeply transformed by productive activities over the past centuries. The forest cover, age and species structure of its ecosystems have been changed. Beech and fir forests were replaced by spruce monocultures. Consequently, nitrogen and mineral elements cycles changed, the genetic and population structures altered and the eco-stabilizing function of forests decreased. These negative trends make it desirable to process the bioecological principles of maintenance the stability of mountain forest ecosystems. The proposed bioecological principles of support and recovery of stability of forest ecosystems are part of the paradigm of mountain dendrology and silviculture. The strategy is based on maintaining bio-ecological and population-genetical features of the main forest forming species, evolutionary typological classification of the forests, landscape and environmental specifics of the mountain part of the Ukrainian Carpathians, features of virgin, old growth and anthropogenically disturbed forest structures, as well as performing the functional role of forest ecosystems. Support for landscape ecosystem stability involves the conservation, selective, health and gradual cutting, formation of forest stands which are close to natural conditions and focusing on natural regeneration (a basis for stable mountain forest ecosystems.

Tree agency and urban forest governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Konijnendijk, Cecil Cornelis

2016-01-01

governance also involving businesses and civic society. However, governance theory usually does not consider the role of non-human agency, which can be considered problematic due to, for example, the important role of urban trees in place making. The purpose of this paper is to provide further insight...... into the importance of considering tree agency in governance. Design/methodology/approach – Taking an environmental governance and actor network theory perspective, the paper presents a critical view of current urban forest governance, extending the perspective to include not only a wide range of human actors......, but also trees as important non-human actors. Findings – Urban forest governance has become more complex and involves a greater range of actors and actor networks. However, the agency of trees in urban forest governance is seldom well developed. Trees, in close association with local residents, create...

Benefits of riparian forest for the aquatic ecosystem assessed at a large geographic scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Van Looy K.

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Claimed benefits of riparian forest cover for the aquatic ecosystem include purification, thermal control, organic matter input and habitat provision, which may improve physicochemical and biotic quality. However, these beneficial effects might be flawed by multiple stressor conditions of intensive agriculture and urbanization in upstream catchments. We examined the relationship between riparian forest cover and physicochemical quality and biotic integrity indices in extensive large scale datasets. Measurements of hydromorphological conditions and riparian forest cover across different buffer widths for 59 × 103 river stretches covering 230 × 103 km of the French river network were coupled with data for physicochemical and biotic variables taken from the national monitoring network. General linear and quantile regression techniques were used to determine responses of physicochemical variables and biological integrity indices for macroinvertebrates and fish to riparian forest cover in selections of intermediate stress for 2nd to 4th order streams. Significant responses to forest cover were found for the nutrient variables and biological indices. According to these responses a 60% riparian forest cover in the 10 m buffer corresponds to good status boundaries for physicochemical and biotic elements. For the 30 m buffer, the observed response suggests that riparian forest coverage of at least 45% corresponds with good ecological status in the aquatic ecosystem. The observed consistent responses indicate significant potential for improving the quality of the aquatic environment by restoring riparian forest. The effects are more substantial in single-stressor environments but remain significant in multi-stressor environments.

Impacts of elevated atmospheric CO2 on forest trees and forest ecosystems: knowledge gaps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karnosky, D.F.

2003-06-01

Atmospheric CO 2 is rising rapidly, and options for slowing the CO 2 rise are politically charged as they largely require reductions in industrial CO 2 emissions for most developed countries. As forests cover some 43% of the Earth's surface, account for some 70% of terrestrial net primary production (NPP), and are being bartered for carbon mitigation, it is critically important that we continue to reduce the uncertainties about the impacts of elevated atmospheric CO 2 on forest tree growth, productivity, and forest ecosystem function. In this paper, 1 review knowledge gaps and research needs on the effects of elevated atmospheric CO 2 on forest above- and below-ground growth and productivity, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, water relations, wood quality, phonology, community dynamics and biodiversity, antioxidants and stress tolerance, interactions with air pollutants, heterotrophic interactions, and ecosystem functioning. Finally, 1 discuss research needs regarding modelling of the impacts of elevated atmospheric CO 2 on forests. Even though there has been a tremendous amount of research done with elevated CO 2 and forest trees, it remains difficult to predict future forest growth and productivity under elevated atmospheric CO 2 . Likewise, it is not easy to predict how forest ecosystem processes will respond to enriched CO 2 . The more we study the impacts of increasing CO 2 , the more we realize that tree and forest responses are yet largely uncertain due to differences in responsiveness by species, genotype, and functional group, and the complex interactions of elevated atmospheric CO 2 with soil fertility, drought, pests, and co-occurring atmospheric pollutants such as nitrogen deposition and O 3 . Furthermore, it is impossible to predict ecosystem-level responses based on short-term studies of young trees grown without interacting stresses and in small spaces without the element of competition. Long-term studies using free-air CO 2 enrichment (FACE

Model of plutonium dynamics in a deciduous forest ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garten, C.T. Jr.; Gardner, R.H.; Dahlman, R.C.

1980-01-01

A linear compartment model with donor-controlled flows between compartments was designed to describe and simulate the behavior of plutonium ( 239 240 Pu) in a contaminated forest ecosystem at Oak Ridge, TN. At steady states predicted by the model, less than 0.25% of the plutonium in the ecosystem resides in biota. Soil is the major repository of plutonium in the forest, and exchanges of plutonium between soil and litter or soil and tree roots were dominant transfers affecting the ecosystem distribution of plutonium. Variation in predicted steady-state amounts of plutonium in the forest, given variability in the model parameters, indicates that our ability to develop models of plutonium transport in ecosystems should improve with greater precision in data from natural environments and a better understanding of sources of variation in plutonium data

Quality of urban forest carbon credits

Science.gov (United States)

Neelam C. Poudyala; Jacek P. Siry; J.M. Bowker

2011-01-01

While the urban forest is considered an eligible source of carbon offset credits, little is known about its market potential and the quality aspects of the credits. As credit suppliers increase in number and credit buyers become more interested in purchasing carbon credits, it is unclear whether and how urban forest carbon credits can perform relative to the other...

Cycling of radiocesium in forest ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myttenaere, C.; Sombre, L.; Thiry, Y.; De brouwer, S.; Ronneau, C.

1993-01-01

The behaviour of 137 Cs in forest ecosystems following an atmospheric contamination presents certain peculiarities which make these ecosystems an important compartment to consider in the framework of the protection of man and populations. Among these properties, the very high filtering capacity of the forest cover and the increased deposition velocities justify a higher contamination level of the forest green surfaces after an atmospheric release. In these conditions the forest management thus requires a good understanding of the cycle of the deposited radiocesium. To a certain extent comparing the behaviour of K that may be analogous to Cs may help the radioecologist in its understanding of the 137 Cs behaviour. Such a conclusion may also be drawn for other radionuclides and we surely have to regret that the mineral nutrition principles are often ignored in radioecology. The results of the observations in field and controlled conditions which are described in this paper are in favor of a good analogy between these two elements as soon as they are cycling in the plant

Adaptive governance to promote ecosystem services in urban ...

Science.gov (United States)

Managing urban green space as part of an ongoing social-ecological transformationposes novel governance issues, particularly in post-industrial settings. Urban green spaces operate as small-scale nodes in larger networks of ecological reserves that provide and maintain key ecosystem services such as pollination, water retention and infiltration, and sustainable food production. In an urban mosaic, a myriad of social and ecological components factor into aggregating and managing land to maintain or increase the flow of ecosystem services associated with green spaces. Vacant lots (a form of urban green space) are being repurposed for multiple functions, such as habitat for biodiversity, including arthropods that provide pollination services to other green areas; to capture urban runoff that eases the burden on ageing wastewater systems and other civic infrastructure; and to reduce urban heat island effects. Urban green spaces provide vital ecosystem services at varying degrees, depending on the size, function, and management of these spaces. Governance of linked social-ecological systems to maximize those services poses unique challenges given the uncertainty of ecological responses and the social political complexity of managing ecological resources in an urban context where fiscal and human resources are strained. In North America, many cities are facing fiscal austerity because of shrinkage in manufacturing and industrial sectors and the foreclosure crisis. As

Forest Fragmentation and Selective Logging Have Inconsistent Effects on Multiple Animal-Mediated Ecosystem Processes in a Tropical Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Schleuning, Matthias; Farwig, Nina; Peters, Marcell K.; Bergsdorf, Thomas; Bleher, Bärbel; Brandl, Roland; Dalitz, Helmut; Fischer, Georg; Freund, Wolfram; Gikungu, Mary W.; Hagen, Melanie; Garcia, Francisco Hita; Kagezi, Godfrey H.; Kaib, Manfred; Kraemer, Manfred; Lung, Tobias; Schaab, Gertrud; Templin, Mathias; Uster, Dana; Wägele, J. Wolfgang; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin

2011-01-01

Forest fragmentation and selective logging are two main drivers of global environmental change and modify biodiversity and environmental conditions in many tropical forests. The consequences of these changes for the functioning of tropical forest ecosystems have rarely been explored in a comprehensive approach. In a Kenyan rainforest, we studied six animal-mediated ecosystem processes and recorded species richness and community composition of all animal taxa involved in these processes. We used linear models and a formal meta-analysis to test whether forest fragmentation and selective logging affected ecosystem processes and biodiversity and used structural equation models to disentangle direct from biodiversity-related indirect effects of human disturbance on multiple ecosystem processes. Fragmentation increased decomposition and reduced antbird predation, while selective logging consistently increased pollination, seed dispersal and army-ant raiding. Fragmentation modified species richness or community composition of five taxa, whereas selective logging did not affect any component of biodiversity. Changes in the abundance of functionally important species were related to lower predation by antbirds and higher decomposition rates in small forest fragments. The positive effects of selective logging on bee pollination, bird seed dispersal and army-ant raiding were direct, i.e. not related to changes in biodiversity, and were probably due to behavioural changes of these highly mobile animal taxa. We conclude that animal-mediated ecosystem processes respond in distinct ways to different types of human disturbance in Kakamega Forest. Our findings suggest that forest fragmentation affects ecosystem processes indirectly by changes in biodiversity, whereas selective logging influences processes directly by modifying local environmental conditions and resource distributions. The positive to neutral effects of selective logging on ecosystem processes show that the

Modeling the Effects of Drought Events on Forest Ecosystem Functioning Historically and Under Scenarios of Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, J.; Hanan, E. J.; Kolden, C.; Abatzoglou, J. T.; Tague, C.; Liu, M.; Adam, J. C.

2017-12-01

Drought events have been increasing across the western United States in recent years. Many studies have shown that, in the context of climate change, droughts will continue to be stronger, more frequent, and prolonged in the future. However, the response of forest ecosystems to droughts, particularly multi-year droughts, is not well understood. The objectives of this study are to examine how drought events of varying characteristics (e.g. intensity, duration, frequency, etc.) have affected the functioning of forest ecosystems historically, and how changing drought characteristics (including multi-year droughts) may affect forest functioning in a future climate. We utilize the Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys) to simulate impacts of both historical droughts and scenarios of future droughts on forest ecosystems. RHESSys is a spatially-distributed and process-based model that captures the interactions between coupled biogeochemical and hydrologic cycles at catchment scales. Here our case study is the Trail Creek catchment of the Big Wood River basin in Idaho, the Northwestern USA. For historical simulations, we use the gridded meteorological data of 1979 to 2016; for future climate scenarios, we utilize downscaled data from GCMs that have been demonstrated to capture drought events in the Northwest of the USA. From these climate projections, we identify various types of drought in intensity and duration, including multi-year drought events. We evaluate the following responses of ecosystems to these events: 1) evapotranspiration and streamflow; 2) gross primary productivity; 3) the post-drought recovery of plant biomass; and 4) the forest functioning and recovery after multi-year droughts. This research is part of an integration project to examine the roles of drought, insect outbreak, and forest management activities on wildfire activity and its impacts. This project will provide improved information for forest managers and communities in the wild

Exotic grasses and nitrate enrichment alter soil carbon cycling along an urban-rural tropical forest gradient.

Science.gov (United States)

Cusack, Daniela F; Lee, Joseph K; McCleery, Taylor L; LeCroy, Chase S

2015-12-01

Urban areas are expanding rapidly in tropical regions, with potential to alter ecosystem dynamics. In particular, exotic grasses and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition simultaneously affect tropical urbanized landscapes, with unknown effects on properties like soil carbon (C) storage. We hypothesized that (H1) soil nitrate (NO3 (-) ) is elevated nearer to the urban core, reflecting N deposition gradients. (H2) Exotic grasslands have elevated soil NO3 (-) and decreased soil C relative to secondary forests, with higher N promoting decomposer activity. (H3) Exotic grasslands have greater seasonality in soil NO3 (-) vs. secondary forests, due to higher sensitivity of grassland soil moisture to rainfall. We predicted that NO3 (-) would be positively related to dissolved organic C (DOC) production via changes in decomposer activity. We measured six paired grassland/secondary forest sites along a tropical urban-to-rural gradient during the three dominant seasons (hurricane, dry, and early wet). We found that (1) soil NO3 (-) was generally elevated nearer to the urban core, with particularly clear spatial trends for grasslands. (2) Exotic grasslands had lower soil C than secondary forests, which was related to elevated decomposer enzyme activities and soil respiration. Unexpectedly, soil NO3 (-) was negatively related to enzyme activities, and was lower in grasslands than forests. (3) Grasslands had greater soil NO3 (-) seasonality vs. forests, but this was not strongly linked to shifts in soil moisture or DOC. Our results suggest that exotic grasses in tropical regions are likely to drastically reduce soil C storage, but that N deposition may have an opposite effect via suppression of enzyme activities. However, soil NO3 (-) accumulation here was higher in urban forests than grasslands, potentially related to of aboveground N interception. Net urban effects on C storage across tropical landscapes will likely vary depending on the mosaic of grass cover, rates of N

The Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment: a framework for studying responses to forest management

Science.gov (United States)

Robert K. Swihart; Michael R. Saunders; Rebecca A. Kalb; G. Scott Haulton; Charles H., eds. Michler

2013-01-01

Conditions in forested ecosystems of southern Indiana are described before initiation of silvicultural treatments for the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment (HEE). The HEE is a 100-year study begun in 2006 in Morgan-Monroe and Yellowwood State Forests to improve the sustainability of forest resources and quality of life of Indiana residents by understanding ecosystem and...

Evaluation of radionuclide migration in forest ecosystems in TEMAS project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Claver, F.; Vazquez, C.

1998-01-01

The applicability study of the best countermeasures for the restoration of environments contaminated by the accidental liberation of radionuclides, requires the assessment of the space and the temporal flow of radionuclides. The objective of the multinational project TEMAS (Techniques and Management Strategies for environmental restoration and their ecological consequences), that is carried out under EU-CIEMAT contract n. TI4-CT95-0021, is the development of management tool that provides the necessary support in the selection of the best strategies of environmental restoration after a nuclear accident, considering all the possible affected environments (urban, agricultural, semi natural and forest). In the forest environment,CIEMAT is working with the University of Lund (Sweden) and the Physical Science Faculty of the University of Seville in the prognosis of the distribution of Cesium and Strontium in forest ecosystems and through the associated production systems. This paper summarizes the study of the response of two different models, FORM and FORESTPATH to predict the radionuclides flow in the event of an accidental contamination of a forest. The comparison of results has been carried out over a period of 100 years after deposition on a coniferous forest. Although the approaches are different, the results obtained (using generic parameters) indicate that either model could to be selected for the analysis of the intervention in TEMAS. (Author) 14 refs

Reverting urban exotic pine forests to Macchia and indigenous ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Reverting urban exotic pine forests to Macchia and indigenous forest ... Harvesting operations were planned to make the transition from high open ... Key words: Strip-cutting, Cable yarding, Participatory planning, Shelterwood, Urban forests ...

Using urban forest assessment tools to model bird habitat potential

Science.gov (United States)

Susannah B. Lerman; Keith H. Nislow; David J. Nowak; Stephen DeStefano; David I. King; D. Todd. Jones-Farrand

2014-01-01

The alteration of forest cover and the replacement of native vegetation with buildings, roads, exotic vegetation, and other urban features pose one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. As more land becomes slated for urban development, identifying effective urban forest wildlife management tools becomes paramount to ensure the urban forest provides habitat...

Eight energy and material flow characteristics of urban ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Xuemei

2016-11-01

Recent decades have seen an expanding literature exploring urban energy and material flows, loosely branded as urban metabolism analysis. However, this has occurred largely in parallel to the mainstream studies of cities as ecosystems. This paper aims to conceptually bridge these two distinctive fields of research, by (a) identifying the common aspects between them; (b) identifying key characteristics of urban ecosystems that can be derived from energy and material flow analysis, namely energy and material budget and pathways; flow intensity; energy and material efficiency; rate of resource depletion, accumulation and transformation; self-sufficiency or external dependency; intra-system heterogeneity; intersystem and temporal variation; and regulating mechanism and governing capacity. I argue that significant ecological insight can be, or has the potential to be, drawn from the rich and rapidly growing empirical findings of urban metabolism studies to understand the behaviour of cities as human-dominated, complex systems. A closer intellectual linkage and cross pollination between urban metabolism and urban ecosystem studies will advance our scientific understanding and better inform urban policy and management practices.

Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Communities in Urban Parks Are Similar to Those in Natural Forests but Shaped by Vegetation and Park Age.

Science.gov (United States)

Hui, Nan; Liu, Xinxin; Kotze, D Johan; Jumpponen, Ari; Francini, Gaia; Setälä, Heikki

2017-12-01

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are important mutualists for the growth and health of most boreal trees. Forest age and its host species composition can impact the composition of ECM fungal communities. Although plentiful empirical data exist for forested environments, the effects of established vegetation and its successional trajectories on ECM fungi in urban greenspaces remain poorly understood. We analyzed ECM fungi in 5 control forests and 41 urban parks of two plant functional groups (conifer and broadleaf trees) and in three age categories (10, ∼50, and >100 years old) in southern Finland. Our results show that although ECM fungal richness was marginally greater in forests than in urban parks, urban parks still hosted rich and diverse ECM fungal communities. ECM fungal community composition differed between the two habitats but was driven by taxon rank order reordering, as key ECM fungal taxa remained largely the same. In parks, the ECM communities differed between conifer and broadleaf trees. The successional trajectories of ECM fungi, as inferred in relation to the time since park construction, differed among the conifers and broadleaf trees: the ECM fungal communities changed over time under the conifers, whereas communities under broadleaf trees provided no evidence for such age-related effects. Our data show that plant-ECM fungus interactions in urban parks, in spite of being constructed environments, are surprisingly similar in richness to those in natural forests. This suggests that the presence of host trees, rather than soil characteristics or even disturbance regime of the system, determine ECM fungal community structure and diversity. IMPORTANCE In urban environments, soil and trees improve environmental quality and provide essential ecosystem services. ECM fungi enhance plant growth and performance, increasing plant nutrient acquisition and protecting plants against toxic compounds. Recent evidence indicates that soil-inhabiting fungal communities

Using urban forest assessment tools to model bird habitat potential

Science.gov (United States)

Lerman, Susannah B.; Nislow, Keith H.; Nowak, David J.; DeStefano, Stephen; King, David I.; Jones-Farrand, D. Todd

2014-01-01

The alteration of forest cover and the replacement of native vegetation with buildings, roads, exotic vegetation, and other urban features pose one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. As more land becomes slated for urban development, identifying effective urban forest wildlife management tools becomes paramount to ensure the urban forest provides habitat to sustain bird and other wildlife populations. The primary goal of this study was to integrate wildlife suitability indices to an existing national urban forest assessment tool, i-Tree. We quantified available habitat characteristics of urban forests for ten northeastern U.S. cities, and summarized bird habitat relationships from the literature in terms of variables that were represented in the i-Tree datasets. With these data, we generated habitat suitability equations for nine bird species representing a range of life history traits and conservation status that predicts the habitat suitability based on i-Tree data. We applied these equations to the urban forest datasets to calculate the overall habitat suitability for each city and the habitat suitability for different types of land-use (e.g., residential, commercial, parkland) for each bird species. The proposed habitat models will help guide wildlife managers, urban planners, and landscape designers who require specific information such as desirable habitat conditions within an urban management project to help improve the suitability of urban forests for birds.

Are soils in urban ecosystems compacted? A citywide analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Edmondson, Jill L; Davies, Zoe G; McCormack, Sarah A; Gaston, Kevin J; Leake, Jonathan R

2011-10-23

Soil compaction adversely influences most terrestrial ecosystem services on which humans depend. This global problem, affecting over 68 million ha of agricultural land alone, is a major driver of soil erosion, increases flood frequency and reduces groundwater recharge. Agricultural soil compaction has been intensively studied, but there are no systematic studies investigating the extent of compaction in urban ecosystems, despite the repercussions for ecosystem function. Urban areas are the fastest growing land-use type globally, and are often assumed to have highly compacted soils with compromised functionality. Here, we use bulk density (BD) measurements, taken to 14 cm depth at a citywide scale, to compare the extent of surface soil compaction between different urban greenspace classes and agricultural soils. Urban soils had a wider BD range than agricultural soils, but were significantly less compacted, with 12 per cent lower mean BD to 7 cm depth. Urban soil BD was lowest under trees and shrubs and highest under herbaceous vegetation (e.g. lawns). BD values were similar to many semi-natural habitats, particularly those underlying woody vegetation. These results establish that, across a typical UK city, urban soils were in better physical condition than agricultural soils and can contribute to ecosystem service provision.

Tree diversity does not always improve resistance of forest ecosystems to drought.

Science.gov (United States)

Grossiord, Charlotte; Granier, André; Ratcliffe, Sophia; Bouriaud, Olivier; Bruelheide, Helge; Chećko, Ewa; Forrester, David Ian; Dawud, Seid Muhie; Finér, Leena; Pollastrini, Martina; Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael; Valladares, Fernando; Bonal, Damien; Gessler, Arthur

2014-10-14

Climate models predict an increase in the intensity and frequency of drought episodes in the Northern Hemisphere. Among terrestrial ecosystems, forests will be profoundly impacted by drier climatic conditions, with drastic consequences for the functions and services they supply. Simultaneously, biodiversity is known to support a wide range of forest ecosystem functions and services. However, whether biodiversity also improves the resistance of these ecosystems to drought remains unclear. We compared soil drought exposure levels in a total of 160 forest stands within five major forest types across Europe along a gradient of tree species diversity. We assessed soil drought exposure in each forest stand by calculating the stand-level increase in carbon isotope composition of late wood from a wet to a dry year (Δδ(13)CS). Δδ(13)CS exhibited a negative linear relationship with tree species diversity in two forest types, suggesting that species interactions in these forests diminished the drought exposure of the ecosystem. However, the other three forest types were unaffected by tree species diversity. We conclude that higher diversity enhances resistance to drought events only in drought-prone environments. Managing forest ecosystems for high tree species diversity does not necessarily assure improved adaptability to the more severe and frequent drought events predicted for the future.

Forests planted for ecosystem restoration or conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Constance A. Harrington

1999-01-01

Although the phrase, "planting for ecosystem restoration," is of recent origin, many of the earliest large-scale tree plantings were made for what we now refer to as "'restoration" or "conservation" goals. Forest restoration activities may be needed when ecosystems are disturbed by either natural or anthropogenic forces. Disturbances...

The role of urban forest to reduce rain acid in urban industrial areas

Science.gov (United States)

Slamet, B.; Agustiarni, Y.; Hidayati; Basyuni, M.

2018-03-01

Urban forest has many functions mainly on improving the quality of the urban environment. One of the functions is to increase pH and reduce dangerous chemical content. The aim of the research is to find out the role of vegetation density of urban forest around the industrial area in reducing the acid rain. The condition of land cover was classified into four classes which are dense, medium, sparse and open area. The water of the throughfall and stemflow was taken from each type of land cover except in the open area. Parameters measured in this study are water acidity (pH), anion content (SO4 2- and NO3 -), cation content (Ca2+, Mg2+, and NH4 +) and electrical conductivity (EC). The results indicated that urban forest vegetation was able to increase the pH of rain water from 5.42 which is in an open area without vegetation to be 7.13 and 7.32 in dense and moderate vegetation cover by throughfall mechanism, respectively. Rain water acidity also decreased through stemflow mechanism with a pH ranged from 5.92 - 6.43. Urban forest vegetation decreased sulfate content (SO42-) from 528.67 mg/l in open area to 44 - 118 mg/l by throughfall mechanism and ranged from 90 to 366.67 mg/l through stemflow mechanism. Urban forest vegetation significantly decreased the rainwater nitrate content from 27 mg/l to 0.03 - 0.70 mg/l through the mechanism of throughfall and between 1.53 - 8.82 mg/l through the stemflow mechanism. Urban forest vegetation also increased the concentration of cations (NH4+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+) compared with open areas. Urban forest vegetation showed increased the electrical conductivity (EC) from 208.12 μmhos/cm to 344.67 - 902.17 μmhos/cm through the through fall mechanism and 937.67 - 1058.70 μmhos/cm through the stemflow mechanism. The study suggested that urban forests play a significant role in reducing rainwater acidity and improving the quality of rainwater that reached the soil surface.

Global sensitivity analysis of DRAINMOD-FOREST, an integrated forest ecosystem model

Science.gov (United States)

Shiying Tian; Mohamed A. Youssef; Devendra M. Amatya; Eric D. Vance

2014-01-01

Global sensitivity analysis is a useful tool to understand process-based ecosystem models by identifying key parameters and processes controlling model predictions. This study reported a comprehensive global sensitivity analysis for DRAINMOD-FOREST, an integrated model for simulating water, carbon (C), and nitrogen (N) cycles and plant growth in lowland forests. The...

Forest disturbance by an ecosystem engineer: beaver in boreal forest landscapes

OpenAIRE

Nummi, Petri; Kuuluvainen, Timo

2013-01-01

Natural disturbances are important for forest ecosystem dynamics and maintenance of biodiversity. In the boreal forest, large-scale disturbances such as wildfires and windstorms have been emphasized, while disturbance agents acting at smaller scales have received less attention. Especially in Europe beavers have long been neglected as forest disturbance agents because they were extirpated from most of their range centuries ago. However, now they are returning to many parts of their former dis...

A compartment model of plutonium dynamics in a deciduous forest ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garten, C.T. Jr.; Gardner, R.H.; Dahlman, R.C.

1978-01-01

A linear compartment donor-controlled model was designed to describe and simulate the behaviour of plutonium ( 239 , 240 Pu) in a contaminated deciduous forest ecosystem at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. At steady states predicted by the model, less than 0.25% of the Pu in the ecosystem resides in forest biota. Soil is the major repository of Pu in the forest, and reciprocal exchanges of Pu between soil and litter or soil and tree roots were dominant transfers affecting the ecosystem distribution of Pu. Variation in predicted steady state amounts of Pu in the forest, given variability in the model parameters, indicated that ones ability to develop reliable models of Pu transport in ecosystems will improve with greater precision in data from natural environments and a better understanding of sources of variation in Pu data. (author)

Comparative behavior of three long-lived radionuclides in forest ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Auerbach, S.I.

1986-01-01

This paper deals with studies in three forest ecosystems in eastern Tennessee, an area of rich temperate deciduous forests, sometimes referred to as mixed mesophytic forests. Two of these forest ecosystems were contaminated as a result of waste disposal operations. The third was experimentally tagged with millicurie quantities of 137 Cs. One of these ecosystems is a floodplain forest that is typical of this region. This forest has been growing on alluvial soils since 1944. Prior to that time the area was a temporary holding pond within White Oak Creek which received radioactive effluents from ORNL. Radiocesium was deposited in the pond sediments as were 90 Sr, 239 Pu, 241 Am, and other radionuclides. The dam which created the pond failed in late 1944, and the area was allowed to revert to natural conditions. The result was the development of a floodplain forest consisting of three different forest communities. The soils are fertile alluvials representative of bottomlands. The overstory tree species are principally ash, sycamore, boxelder, willow, and sweetgum (Fraxinus americana L., Plantanus occidentalis L., Acer negundo L., Salix nigra Marsh, and Liquidambar styraciflua L., respectively)

The Kings River Sustainable Forest Ecosystems Project: inception, objectives, and progress

Science.gov (United States)

Jared Verner; Mark T. Smith

2002-01-01

The Kings River Sustainable Forest Ecosystems Project, a formal administrative study involving extensive and intensive collaboration between Forest Service managers and researchers, is a response to changes in the agency’s orientation in favor of ecosystem approaches and to recent concern over issues associated with maintenance of late successional forest attributes...

Studies on Interpretive Structural Model for Forest Ecosystem Management Decision-Making

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Suqing; Gao, Xiumei; Zen, Qunying; Zhou, Yuanman; Huang, Yuequn; Han, Weidong; Li, Linfeng; Li, Jiping; Pu, Yingshan

Characterized by their openness, complexity and large scale, forest ecosystems interweave themselves with social system, economic system and other natural ecosystems, thus complicating both their researches and management decision-making. According to the theories of sustainable development, hierarchy-competence levels, cybernetics and feedback, 25 factors have been chosen from human society, economy and nature that affect forest ecosystem management so that they are systematically analyzed via developing an interpretive structural model (ISM) to reveal their relationships and positions in the forest ecosystem management. The ISM consists of 7 layers with the 3 objectives for ecosystem management being the top layer (the seventh layer). The ratio between agricultural production value and industrial production value as the bases of management decision-making in forest ecosystems becomes the first layer at the bottom because it has great impacts on the values of society and the development trends of forestry, while the factors of climatic environments, intensive management extent, management measures, input-output ratio as well as landscape and productivity are arranged from the second to sixth layers respectively.

Barrier island forest ecosystem: role of meteorologic nutrient inputs.

Science.gov (United States)

Art, H W; Bormann, F H; Voigt, G K; Woodwell, G M

1974-04-05

The Sunken Forest, located on Fire Island, a barrier island in the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island, New York, is an ecosystem in which most of the basic cation input is in the form of salt spray. This meteorologic input is sufficient to compensate for the lack of certain nutrients in the highly weathered sandy soils. In other ecosystems these nutrients are generally supplied by weathering of soil particles. The compensatory effect of meteorologic input allows for primary production rates in the Sunken Forest similar to those of inland temperate forests.

STABILITY OF ORGANIC MATER OF HAPLIC CHERNOZEM AND HAPLIC LUVISOL OF DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ERIKA TOBIAŠOVÁ

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In this study, the changes in soil organic matter (SOM and the possibilities of their monitoring in a shorter period of time by means of carbon parameters were followed. The experiment includes four ecosystems (forest, meadow, urban, and agro-ecosystem on Haplic Chernozem (Močenok, Horná Kráľová, Trnava and Haplic Luvisol (Ludanice, Veľké Zálužie, Lovce of different localities. The objectives of this study were assessment of the differences in the stability of soil organic matter in different ecosystems and in soil types using labile forms of carbon and nitrogen, and also with dependence on particle size distribution. The highest contents of total organic carbon (TOC and labile carbon (CL were in a forest ecosystem, but in case of other ecosystems, the differences were determined only in the contents of CL. After forest ecosystem, the highest content of CL was in agro-ecosystem > meadow ecosystem > urban ecosystem. Based on parameter of lability of carbon (LC, the most labile carbon can be evaluated also in the forest ecosystem (0.209 > agro-ecosystem (0.178 > meadow ecosystem (0.119 and urban ecosystem (0.116. In the case of nitrogen, the differences were observed between the soils. Higher contents of NT and NL were recorded in Haplic Chernozen than in Haplic Luvisol. Contents of TOC (P < 0.05; r = -0.480, CNL (P < 0.05; r = -0.480, and NL (P < 0.01; r = -0.545 were in a negative correlation with the content of sand fraction. The values of studied parameters in meadow and urban ecosystems were relatively balanced, because in both cases, the vegetation cover were grass, pointing to a significant influence of vegetation on the parameters of SOM.

Urban Forest Health Monitoring in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

David J. Nowak; Daniel Twardus; Robert Hoehn; Manfred Mielke; Jeffery T. Walton; Daniel E. Crane; Anne Cumming; Jack C. Stevens

2006-01-01

To better understand the urban forest resource and its numerous values, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service has initiated a pilot program to sample the urban tree population in Indiana, Wisconsin, and New Jersey and statewide urban street tree populations in Maryland, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts. Results from the pilot study in Indiana revealed that...

Ecosystem degradation in India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinha, B.N.

1990-01-01

Environmental and ecosystem studies have assumed greater relevance in the last decade of the twentieth century than even before. The urban settlements are becoming over-crowded and industries are increasingly polluting the air, water and sound in our larger metropolises. Degradation of different types of ecosystem are discussed in this book, Ecosystem Degradation in India. The book has been divided into seven chapters: Introduction, Coastal and Delta Ecosystem, River Basin Ecosystem, Mountain Ecosystem, Forest Ecosystem, Urban Ecosystem and the last chapter deals with the Environmental Problems and Planning. In the introduction the environmental and ecosystem degradation problems in India is highlighted as a whole while in other chapters mostly case studies by experts who know their respective terrain very intimately are included. The case study papers cover most part of India and deal with local problems, stretching from east coast to west coast and from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. (author)

Parameterisation of Biome BGC to assess forest ecosystems in Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Gautam, Sishir; Pietsch, Stephan A.

2010-05-01

African forest ecosystems are an important environmental and economic resource. Several studies show that tropical forests are critical to society as economic, environmental and societal resources. Tropical forests are carbon dense and thus play a key role in climate change mitigation. Unfortunately, the response of tropical forests to environmental change is largely unknown owing to insufficient spatially extensive observations. Developing regions like Africa where records of forest management for long periods are unavailable the process-based ecosystem simulation model - BIOME BGC could be a suitable tool to explain forest ecosystem dynamics. This ecosystem simulation model uses descriptive input parameters to establish the physiology, biochemistry, structure, and allocation patterns within vegetation functional types, or biomes. Undocumented parameters for larger-resolution simulations are currently the major limitations to regional modelling in African forest ecosystems. This study was conducted to document input parameters for BIOME-BGC for major natural tropical forests in the Congo basin. Based on available literature and field measurements updated values for turnover and mortality, allometry, carbon to nitrogen ratios, allocation of plant material to labile, cellulose, and lignin pools, tree morphology and other relevant factors were assigned. Daily climate input data for the model applications were generated using the statistical weather generator MarkSim. The forest was inventoried at various sites and soil samples of corresponding stands across Gabon were collected. Carbon and nitrogen in the collected soil samples were determined from soil analysis. The observed tree volume, soil carbon and soil nitrogen were then compared with the simulated model outputs to evaluate the model performance. Furthermore, the simulation using Congo Basin specific parameters and generalised BIOME BGC parameters for tropical evergreen broadleaved tree species were also

Modelling of radionuclide migration in forest ecosystems. A literature review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Avila, R.; Moberg, L.; Hubbard, L.

1998-03-01

The Chernobyl accident has clearly shown the long-term effects of a radioactive contamination of forest ecosystems. This report is based on a literature review of models which describe the migration of radionuclides, radioactive caesium in particular, in forest ecosystems. The report describes the particularities of the forest ecosystem, the time dynamics of the contamination, the transfer processes and factors influencing caesium migration. This provides a basis for a discussion of different approaches for modelling caesium migration in the forest. It is concluded that the studied dynamic models include the most relevant transfer processes both for the acute and the long-term phase after a radioactive deposition. However, most models are site specific and do not consider some of the factors responsible for the differences in radionuclide behaviour and distribution in different types of forests. Although model improvements are constrained by the availability of experimental data and by the lack of knowledge of the migration mechanisms some possible improvements are discussed. This report is part of the LANDSCAPE project. -An integrated approach to radionuclide flow in the semi-natural ecosystems underlying exposure pathways to man. 42 refs, 3 tabs, 9 figs.

Modelling of radionuclide migration in forest ecosystems. A literature review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avila, R.; Moberg, L.; Hubbard, L.

1998-03-01

The Chernobyl accident has clearly shown the long-term effects of a radioactive contamination of forest ecosystems. This report is based on a literature review of models which describe the migration of radionuclides, radioactive caesium in particular, in forest ecosystems. The report describes the particularities of the forest ecosystem, the time dynamics of the contamination, the transfer processes and factors influencing caesium migration. This provides a basis for a discussion of different approaches for modelling caesium migration in the forest. It is concluded that the studied dynamic models include the most relevant transfer processes both for the acute and the long-term phase after a radioactive deposition. However, most models are site specific and do not consider some of the factors responsible for the differences in radionuclide behaviour and distribution in different types of forests. Although model improvements are constrained by the availability of experimental data and by the lack of knowledge of the migration mechanisms some possible improvements are discussed. This report is part of the LANDSCAPE project. -An integrated approach to radionuclide flow in the semi-natural ecosystems underlying exposure pathways to man

Vulnerability of tropical forest ecosystems and forest dependent communities to droughts.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogt, D J; Vogt, K A; Gmur, S J; Scullion, J J; Suntana, A S; Daryanto, S; Sigurðardóttir, R

2016-01-01

Energy captured by and flowing through a forest ecosystem can be indexed by its total Net Primary Productivity (NPP). This forest NPP can also be a reflection of its sensitivity to, and its ability to adapt to, any climate change while also being harvested by humans. However detecting and identifying the vulnerability of forest and human ecosystems to climate change requires information on whether these coupled social and ecological systems are able to maintain functionality while responding to environmental variability. To better understand what parameters might be representative of environmental variability, we compiled a metadata analysis of 96 tropical forest sites. We found that three soil textural classes (i.e., sand, sandy loam and clay) had significant but different relationships between NPP and precipitation levels. Therefore, assessing the vulnerability of forests and forest dependent communities to drought was carried out using data from those sites that had one of those three soil textural classes. For example, forests growing on soil textures of sand and clay had NPP levels decreasing as precipitation levels increased, in contrast to those forest sites that had sandy loam soils where NPP levels increased. Also, forests growing on sandy loam soil textures appeared better adapted to grow at lower precipitation levels compared to the sand and clay textured soils. In fact in our tropical database the lowest precipitation level found for the sandy loam soils was 821 mm yr(-1) compared to sand at 1739 mm yr(-1) and clay at 1771 mm yr(-1). Soil texture also determined the level of NPP reached by a forest, i.e., forest growing on sandy loam and clay reached low-medium NPP levels while higher NPP levels (i.e., medium, high) were found on sand-textured soils. Intermediate precipitation levels (>1800-3000 mm yr(-1)) were needed to grow forests at the medium and high NPP levels. Low thresholds of NPP were identified at both low (∼750 mm) and high precipitation

A framework for adapting urban forests to climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Leslie Brandt; Abigail Derby Lewis; Robert Fahey; Lydia Scott; Lindsay Darling; Chris Swanston

2016-01-01

Planting urban trees and expanding urban forest canopy cover are often considered key strategies for reducing climate change impacts in urban areas. However, urban trees and forests can also be vulnerable to climate change through shifts in tree habitat suitability, changes in pests and diseases, and changes in extreme weather events. We developed a three-step...

Non-market forest ecosystem services and decision support in Nordic countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Filyushkina, Anna; Strange, Niels; Löf, Magnus

2016-01-01

The need to integrate non-market ecosystem services into decision-making is widely acknowledged. Despite the exponentially growing body of literature, trade-offs between services are still poorly understood. We conducted a systematic review of published literature in the Nordic countries (Denmark......, Norway, Sweden and Finland) on the integration of non-market forest ecosystem services into decision-making. The aim of the review was two-fold: (1) to provide an overview of coverage of biophysical and socio-economic assessments of non-market ecosystem services in relation to forest management; (2......) to determine the extent of the integration of biophysical and socio-economic models of these services into decision support models. Our findings reveal the need for wider coverage of non-market ecosystem services and evidence-based modelling of how forest management regimes affect ecosystem services...

Modelling natural disturbances in forest ecosystems: a review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Seidl, R.; Fernandes, P.M.; Fonseca, T.F.; Gillet, F.; Jöhnsson, A.M.; Merganičová, K.; Netherer, S.; Arpaci, A.; Bontemps, J.D.; Bugmann, H.; González-Olabarria, J.R.; Lasch, P.; Meredieu, C.; Moreira, F.; Schelhaas, M.; Mohren, G.M.J.

2011-01-01

Natural disturbances play a key role in ecosystem dynamics and are important factors for sustainable forest ecosystem management. Quantitative models are frequently employed to tackle the complexities associated with disturbance processes. Here we review the wide variety of approaches to modelling

Urban transitions: On urban resilience and human-dominated ecosystems

OpenAIRE

Ernstson H.; Leeuw S.E.V.D.; Redman C.L.; Meffert D.J.; Davis G.; Alfsen C.; Elmqvist T.

2010-01-01

Urbanization is a global multidimensional process paired with increasing uncertainty due to climate change, migration of people, and changes in the capacity to sustain ecosystem services. This article lays a foundation for discussing transitions in urban governance, which enable cities to navigate change, build capacity to withstand shocks, and use experimentation and innovation in face of uncertainty. Using the three concrete case cities—New Orleans, Cape Town, and Phoenix—the article analyz...

Calcium constrains plant control over forest ecosystem nitrogen cycling.

Science.gov (United States)

Groffman, Peter M; Fisk, Melany C

2011-11-01

Forest ecosystem nitrogen (N) cycling is a critical controller of the ability of forests to prevent the movement of reactive N to receiving waters and the atmosphere and to sequester elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Here we show that calcium (Ca) constrains the ability of northern hardwood forest trees to control the availability and loss of nitrogen. We evaluated soil N-cycling response to Ca additions in the presence and absence of plants and observed that when plants were present, Ca additions "tightened" the ecosystem N cycle, with decreases in inorganic N levels, potential net N mineralization rates, microbial biomass N content, and denitrification potential. In the absence of plants, Ca additions induced marked increases in nitrification (the key process controlling ecosystem N losses) and inorganic N levels. The observed "tightening" of the N cycle when Ca was added in the presence of plants suggests that the capacity of forests to absorb elevated levels of atmospheric N and CO2 is fundamentally constrained by base cations, which have been depleted in many areas of the globe by acid rain and forest harvesting.

Urban ecosystem services and decision making for a green Philadelphia

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, Dianna M.; Shapiro, Carl D.; Karp, David N.; Wachter, Susan M.

2014-01-01

Traditional approaches to urban development often do not account for, or recognize, the role of ecosystem services and the benefits these services provide to the health and well-being of city residents. Without such accounting, urban ecosystem services are likely to be degraded over time, with negative consequences for the sustainability of cities and the well-being of their residents (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005; Hirsch, 2008). On May 23, 2013, the Spatial Integration Laboratory for Urban Systems (SILUS), a collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Science and Decisions Center and the Wharton GIS Lab, convened a one-day symposium—Urban Ecosystem Services and Decision Making: A Green Philadelphia—at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to examine the role of green infrastructure in the environmental, economic, and social well-being of cities. Cosponsored by the USGS and the Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR), the symposium brought together policymakers, practitioners, and researchers from a range of disciplines to advance a research agenda on the use of science in public decision making to inform investment in green infrastructure and ecosystem services in urban areas. The city of Philadelphia has recently implemented a program designed to sustain urban ecosystem services and advance the use of green infrastructure. In 2009, the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Sustainability launched its Greenworks plan, establishing a citywide sustainability strategy. Major contributions towards its goals are being implemented in coordination with the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD). The Green City, Clean Waters initiative, the city’s nationally recognized stormwater management plan, was signed into action with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April 2012. The plan outlines a 25-year strategy to use green infrastructure to protect and improve the city’s watershed. Widespread support for the

Spatial complementarity of forests and farms: accounting for ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Subhrendu K. Pattanayak; David T. Butry

2006-01-01

Our article considers the economic contributions of forest ecosystem services, using a case study from Flores, Indonesia, in which forest protection in upstream watersheds stabilize soil and hydrological flows in downstream farms. We focus on the demand for a weak complement to the ecosystem services--farm labor-- and account for spatial dependence due to economic...

Biodiversity as a solution to mitigate climate change impacts on the functioning of forest ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Hisano, Masumi; Searle, Eric B; Chen, Han Y H

2018-02-01

Forest ecosystems are critical to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration. However, climate change has affected forest ecosystem functioning in both negative and positive ways, and has led to shifts in species/functional diversity and losses in plant species diversity which may impair the positive effects of diversity on ecosystem functioning. Biodiversity may mitigate climate change impacts on (I) biodiversity itself, as more-diverse systems could be more resilient to climate change impacts, and (II) ecosystem functioning through the positive relationship between diversity and ecosystem functioning. By surveying the literature, we examined how climate change has affected forest ecosystem functioning and plant diversity. Based on the biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning (B→EF), we specifically address the potential for biodiversity to mitigate climate change impacts on forest ecosystem functioning. For this purpose, we formulate a concept whereby biodiversity may reduce the negative impacts or enhance the positive impacts of climate change on ecosystem functioning. Further B→EF studies on climate change in natural forests are encouraged to elucidate how biodiversity might influence ecosystem functioning. This may be achieved through the detailed scrutiny of large spatial/long temporal scale data sets, such as long-term forest inventories. Forest management strategies based on B→EF have strong potential for augmenting the effectiveness of the roles of forests in the mitigation of climate change impacts on ecosystem functioning. © 2017 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Learning in Virtual Forest: A Forest Ecosystem in the Web-Based Learning Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Jussila, Terttu; Virtanen, Viivi

2014-01-01

Virtual Forest is a web-based, open-access learning environment about forests designed for primary-school pupils between the ages of 10 and 13 years. It is pedagogically designed to develop an understanding of ecology, to enhance conceptual development and to give a holistic view of forest ecosystems. Various learning tools, such as concept maps,…

Spatial and temporal patterns of carbon storage in forest ecosystems on Hainan island, southern China.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Hai; Li, Linjun; Liu, Qiang; Wang, Xu; Li, Yide; Hui, Dafeng; Jian, Shuguang; Wang, Jun; Yang, Huai; Lu, Hongfang; Zhou, Guoyi; Tang, Xuli; Zhang, Qianmei; Wang, Dong; Yuan, Lianlian; Chen, Xubing

2014-01-01

Spatial and temporal patterns of carbon (C) storage in forest ecosystems significantly affect the terrestrial C budget, but such patterns are unclear in the forests in Hainan Province, the largest tropical island in China. Here, we estimated the spatial and temporal patterns of C storage from 1993-2008 in Hainan's forest ecosystems by combining our measured data with four consecutive national forest inventories data. Forest coverage increased from 20.7% in the 1950s to 56.4% in the 2010s. The average C density of 163.7 Mg C/ha in Hainan's forest ecosystems in this study was slightly higher than that of China's mainland forests, but was remarkably lower than that in the tropical forests worldwide. Total forest ecosystem C storage in Hainan increased from 109.51 Tg in 1993 to 279.17 Tg in 2008. Soil C accounted for more than 70% of total forest ecosystem C. The spatial distribution of forest C storage in Hainan was uneven, reflecting differences in land use change and forest management. The potential carbon sequestration of forest ecosystems was 77.3 Tg C if all forested lands were restored to natural tropical forests. To increase the C sequestration potential on Hainan Island, future forest management should focus on the conservation of natural forests, selection of tree species, planting of understory species, and implementation of sustainable practices.

Assessing urban forest effects and values: Toronto's urban forest

Science.gov (United States)

David J. Nowak; Robert E. III Hoehn; Allison R. Bodine; Eric J. Greenfield; Alexis Ellis; Theodore A. Endreny; Yang Yang; Tian Zhou; Ruthanne. Henry

2013-01-01

An analysis of trees in Toronto, Ontario, reveals that this city has about 10.2 million trees with a tree and shrub canopy that covers approximately 26.6 percent of the city. The most common tree species are eastern white-cedar, sugar maple, and Norway maple. The urban forest currently stores an estimated 1.1 million metric tons of carbon valued at CAD$25.0 million. In...

Spatial heterogeneity and air pollution removal by an urban forest

Science.gov (United States)

Francisco J. Escobedo; David J. Nowak

2009-01-01

Estimates of air pollution removal by the urban forest have mostly been based on mean values of forest structure variables for an entire city. However, the urban forest is not uniformly distributed across a city because of biophysical and social factors. Consequently, air pollution removal function by urban vegetation should vary because of this spatial heterogeneity....

Forest-land conversion, ecosystem services, and economic issues for policy: a review

Science.gov (United States)

Robert A. Smail; David J. Lewis

2009-01-01

The continued conversion and development of forest land pose a serious threat to the ecosystem services derived from forested landscapes. We argue that developing an understanding of the full range of consequences from forest conversion requires understanding the effects of such conversion on both components of ecosystem services: products and processes....

Geospatial technology perspectives for mining vis-a-vis sustainable forest ecosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goparaju Laxmi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Forests, the backbone of biogeochemical cycles and life supporting systems, are under severe pressure due to varied anthropogenic activities. Mining activities are one among the major reasons for forest destruction questioning the survivability and sustainability of flora and fauna existing in that area. Thus, monitoring and managing the impact of mining activities on natural resources at regular intervals is necessary to check the status of their depleted conditions, and to take up restoration and conservative measurements. Geospatial technology provides means to identify the impact of different mining operations on forest ecosystems and helps in proposing initiatives for safeguarding the forest environment. In this context, the present study highlights the problems related to mining in forest ecosystems and elucidates how geospatial technology can be employed at various stages of mining activities to achieve a sustainable forest ecosystem. The study collates information from various sources and highlights the role of geospatial technology in mining industries and reclamation process.

Forest ecosystem services and livelihood of communities around ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A study on the potential of forest ecosystem services to the livelihood of communities around Shume-Magamba Forest Reserve in Lushoto District, Tanzania was conducted. Questionnaire survey, focus group discussion and participant's observation were used. Qualitatively and quantitatively data were analysed using the ...

The role of composition, invasives, and maintenance emissions on urban forest carbon stocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, Josh; Escobedo, Francisco J; Hinkle, Ross; Hostetler, Mark; Timilsina, Nilesh

2015-02-01

There are few field-based, empirical studies quantifying the effect of invasive trees and palms and maintenance-related carbon emissions on changes in urban forest carbon stocks. We estimated carbon (C) stock changes and tree maintenance-related C emissions in a subtropical urban forest by re-measuring a subsample of residential permanent plots during 2009 and 2011, using regional allometric biomass equations, and surveying residential homeowners near Orlando, FL, USA. The effect of native, non-native, invasive tree species and palms on C stocks and sequestration was also quantified. Findings show 17.8 tC/ha in stocks and 1.2 tC/ha/year of net sequestration. The most important species both by frequency of C stocks and sequestration were Quercus laurifolia Michx. and Quercus virginiana Mill., accounting for 20% of all the trees measured; 60% of carbon stocks and over 75% of net C sequestration. Palms contributed to less than 1% of the total C stocks. Natives comprised two-thirds of the tree population and sequestered 90% of all C, while invasive trees and palms accounted for 5 % of net C sequestration. Overall, invasive and exotic trees had a limited contribution to total C stocks and sequestration. Annual tree-related maintenance C emissions were 0.1% of total gross C sequestration. Plot-level tree, palm, and litter cover were correlated to C stocks and net sequestration. Findings can be used to complement existing urban forest C offset accounting and monitoring protocols and to better understand the role of invasive woody plants on urban ecosystem service provision.

[Carbon sequestration status of forest ecosystems in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region].

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Yang; Jin, Jing-Wei; Cheng, Ji-Min; Su, Ji-Shuai; Zhu, Ren-Bin; Ma, Zheng-Rui; Liu, Wei

2014-03-01

Based on the data of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region forest resources inventory, field investigation and laboratory analysis, this paper studied the carbon sequestration status of forest ecosystems in Ningxia region, estimated the carbon density and storage of forest ecosystems, and analyzed their spatial distribution characteristics. The results showed that the biomass of each forest vegetation component was in the order of arbor layer (46.64 Mg x hm(-2)) > litterfall layer (7.34 Mg x hm(-2)) > fine root layer (6.67 Mg x hm(-2)) > shrub-grass layer (0.73 Mg x hm(-2)). Spruce (115.43 Mg x hm(-2)) and Pinus tabuliformis (94.55 Mg x hm(-2)) had higher vegetation biomasses per unit area than other tree species. Over-mature forest had the highest arbor carbon density among the forests with different ages. However, the young forest had the highest arbor carbon storage (1.90 Tg C) due to its widest planted area. Overall, the average carbon density of forest ecosystems in Ningxia region was 265.74 Mg C x hm(-2), and the carbon storage was 43.54 Tg C. Carbon density and storage of vegetation were 27.24 Mg C x hm(-2) and 4.46 Tg C, respectively. Carbon storage in the soil was 8.76 times of that in the vegetation. In the southern part of Ningxia region, the forest carbon storage was higher than in the northern part, where the low C storage was mainly related to the small forest area and young forest age structure. With the improvement of forest age structure and the further implementation of forestry ecoengineering, the forest ecosystems in Ningxia region would achieve a huge carbon sequestration potential.

A mixed-methods analysis of social-ecological feedbacks between urbanization and forest persistence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Todd BenDor

2014-09-01

Full Text Available We examined how social-ecological factors in the land-change decision-making process influenced neighboring decisions and trajectories of alternative landscape ecologies. We decomposed individual landowner decisions to conserve or develop forests in the rapidly growing Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. region, exposing and quantifying the effects of forest quality, and social and cultural dynamics. We tested the hypothesis that the intrinsic value of forest resources, e.g., cultural attachment to land, influence woodland owners' propensity to sell. Data were collected from a sample of urban, nonindustrial private forest (U-NIPF owners using an individualized survey design that spatially matched land-owner responses to the ecological and timber values of their forest stands. Cluster analysis (n = 126 revealed four woodland owner typologies with widely ranging views on the ecosystem, cultural, and historical values of their forests. Classification tree analysis revealed woodland owners' willingness to sell was characterized by nonlinear, interactive factors, including sense of place values regarding the retention of native vegetation, the size of forest holdings, their connectedness to nature, 'pressure' from surrounding development, and behavioral patterns, such as how often landowners visit their land. Several ecological values and economic factors were not found to figure in the decision to retain forests. Our study design is unique in that we address metropolitan forest persistence across urban-rural and population gradients using a unique individualized survey design that richly contextualizes survey responses. Understanding the interplay between policies and landowner behavior can also help resource managers to better manage and promote forest persistence. Given the region's paucity of policy tools to manage the type and amount of development, the mosaic of land cover the region currently enjoys is far from stable.

Chicago's urban forest ecosystem: Results of the Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project. (Includes executive summary). Forest Service general technical report (Final)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McPherson, E.G.; Nowak, D.J.; Rowntree, R.A.

1994-06-01

Results of the 3-year Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project indicate that there are an estimated 50.8 million trees in the Chicago area of Cook and DuPage Counties; 66 percent of these trees rated in good or excellent condition. During 1991, trees in the Chicago area removed an estimated 6,145 tons of air pollutants, providing air cleansing valued at $9.2 million dollars. These trees also sequester approximately 155,000 tons of carbon per year, and provide residential heating and cooling energy savings that, in turn, reduce carbon emissions from power plants by about 12,600 tons annually. Shade, lower summer air temperatures, and a reduction in windspeed associated with increasing tree cover by 10 percent can lower total heating and cooling energy use by 5 to 10 percent annually ($50 to $90 per dwelling unit). The projected net present value of investment in planting and care of 95,000 trees in Chicago is $38 million ($402 per planted tree), indicating that the long-term benefits of trees are more than twice their costs

Restoring Forests and Associated Ecosystem Services on Appalachian Coal Surface Mines

Science.gov (United States)

Zipper, Carl E.; Burger, James A.; Skousen, Jeffrey G.; Angel, Patrick N.; Barton, Christopher D.; Davis, Victor; Franklin, Jennifer A.

2011-05-01

Surface coal mining in Appalachia has caused extensive replacement of forest with non-forested land cover, much of which is unmanaged and unproductive. Although forested ecosystems are valued by society for both marketable products and ecosystem services, forests have not been restored on most Appalachian mined lands because traditional reclamation practices, encouraged by regulatory policies, created conditions poorly suited for reforestation. Reclamation scientists have studied productive forests growing on older mine sites, established forest vegetation experimentally on recent mines, and identified mine reclamation practices that encourage forest vegetation re-establishment. Based on these findings, they developed a Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) that can be employed by coal mining firms to restore forest vegetation. Scientists and mine regulators, working collaboratively, have communicated the FRA to the coal industry and to regulatory enforcement personnel. Today, the FRA is used routinely by many coal mining firms, and thousands of mined hectares have been reclaimed to restore productive mine soils and planted with native forest trees. Reclamation of coal mines using the FRA is expected to restore these lands' capabilities to provide forest-based ecosystem services, such as wood production, atmospheric carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and water quality protection to a greater extent than conventional reclamation practices.

Detecting forest cover and ecosystem service change using ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Natural forests in Uganda have experienced both spatial and temporal modifications from different drivers which need to be monitored to assess the impacts of such changes on ecosystems and prevent related risks of reduction in ecosystem service benefits. Ground investigations may be complex because of dual ...

Temporal scaling behavior of forest and urban fires

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, J.; Song, W.; Zheng, H.; Telesca, L.

2009-04-01

It has been found that many natural systems are characterized by scaling behavior. In such systems natural factors dominate the event dynamics. Forest fires in different countries have been found to exhibit frequency-size power law over many orders of magnitude and with similar value of parameters. But in countries with high population density such as China and Japan, more than 95% of the forest fire disasters are caused by human activities. Furthermore, with the development of society, the wildland-urban interface (WUI) area is becoming more and more populated, and the forest fire is much connected with urban fire. Therefore exploring the scaling behavior of fires dominated by human-related factors is very challenging. The present paper explores the temporal scaling behavior of forest fires and urban fires in Japan with mathematical methods. Two factors, Allan factor (AF) and Fano factor (FF) are used to investigate time-scaling of fire systems. It is found that the FF for both forest fires and urban fires increases linearly in log-log scales, and this indicates that it behaves as a power-law for all the investigated timescales. From the AF plot a 7 days cycle is found, which indicates a weekly cycle. This may be caused by human activities which has a weekly periodicity because on weekends people usually have more outdoor activities, which may cause more hidden trouble of fire disasters. Our findings point out that although the human factors are the main cause, both the forest fires and urban fires exhibit time-scaling behavior. At the same time, the scaling exponents for urban fires are larger than forest fires, signifying a more intense clustering. The reason may be that fires are affected not only by weather condition, but also by human activities, which play a more important role for urban fires than forest fires and have a power law distribution and scaling behavior. Then some work is done to the relative humidity. Similar distribution law characterizes the

Epiphytic lichens as sentinels for heavy metal pollution at forest ecosystems (central Italy)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loppi, Stefano; Pirintsos, S.A.

2003-01-01

Epiphytic lichens were useful as an early warning system for changes in forest ecosystems. - The results of a study using epiphytic lichens (Parmelia caperata) as sentinels for heavy metal deposition at six selected forest ecosystems of central Italy are reported. The woods investigated are characterized by holm oak (Quercus ilex), turkey oak (Quercus cerris) and beech (Fagus sylvatica) and represent the typical forest ecosystems of central Italy at low, medium and high elevations, respectively. The results showed that levels of heavy metals in lichens were relatively low and consequently no risk of heavy metal air pollution is expected for the six forest ecosystems investigated. However, for two of them there are indications of a potential risk: the beech forest of Vallombrosa showed signs of contamination by Pb as a consequence of vehicle traffic due to the rather high touristic pressure in the area, and the holm oak forest of Cala Violina showed transboundary pollution by Mn, Cr and Ni originating from the steel industry in Piombino. Epiphytic lichens proved to be very effective as an early warning system to detect signs of a changing environment at forest ecosystems

Considerations on forest ecosystems evolution in the Republic of Moldova

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petru COCÎRȚĂ

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Certain statistical data on forest ecosystems evolution in Republic of Moldova’s territory in 200 years period are analyzed in the article.  The history of forest fund and ecosystems’ development on the territory between Prut andNistru Rivers and of data presentation methods during different periods of territories’social economical development is summarized. Forest ecosystems development issues instudy and specifically those of forests’ continuity and conservation are extremely important for Republic of Moldova, which is a country with high population density, oldtraditions in agricultural branch and with a major negative attitude towards biological diversity maintaining and forest ecosystems’ viable development. Goals and objectives of the present work are to analyze forest evolution and to identifyhigher priority issues in order to rectify the situation in forest sector in Republic of Moldova. Basic characteristics of forest ecosystems are presented and causes of differences in datainterpretation were described on the basis of statistical data study and analysis during different periods and from different sources, as well as maps dated 1910 and 2004. Certainbasic elements of ecological management in forestry that exist in Republic of Moldova in present are described, such as legal normative base, infrastructure and others. The final part of work contains conclusions and some suggestions on forest ecosystems’viable development in Republic of Moldova according to European and internationalrequirements.

A large-scale forest fragmentation experiment: the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems Project

Science.gov (United States)

Ewers, Robert M.; Didham, Raphael K.; Fahrig, Lenore; Ferraz, Gonçalo; Hector, Andy; Holt, Robert D.; Kapos, Valerie; Reynolds, Glen; Sinun, Waidi; Snaddon, Jake L.; Turner, Edgar C.

2011-01-01

Opportunities to conduct large-scale field experiments are rare, but provide a unique opportunity to reveal the complex processes that operate within natural ecosystems. Here, we review the design of existing, large-scale forest fragmentation experiments. Based on this review, we develop a design for the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) Project, a new forest fragmentation experiment to be located in the lowland tropical forests of Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia). The SAFE Project represents an advance on existing experiments in that it: (i) allows discrimination of the effects of landscape-level forest cover from patch-level processes; (ii) is designed to facilitate the unification of a wide range of data types on ecological patterns and processes that operate over a wide range of spatial scales; (iii) has greater replication than existing experiments; (iv) incorporates an experimental manipulation of riparian corridors; and (v) embeds the experimentally fragmented landscape within a wider gradient of land-use intensity than do existing projects. The SAFE Project represents an opportunity for ecologists across disciplines to participate in a large initiative designed to generate a broad understanding of the ecological impacts of tropical forest modification. PMID:22006969

A large-scale forest fragmentation experiment: the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Ewers, Robert M; Didham, Raphael K; Fahrig, Lenore; Ferraz, Gonçalo; Hector, Andy; Holt, Robert D; Kapos, Valerie; Reynolds, Glen; Sinun, Waidi; Snaddon, Jake L; Turner, Edgar C

2011-11-27

Opportunities to conduct large-scale field experiments are rare, but provide a unique opportunity to reveal the complex processes that operate within natural ecosystems. Here, we review the design of existing, large-scale forest fragmentation experiments. Based on this review, we develop a design for the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) Project, a new forest fragmentation experiment to be located in the lowland tropical forests of Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia). The SAFE Project represents an advance on existing experiments in that it: (i) allows discrimination of the effects of landscape-level forest cover from patch-level processes; (ii) is designed to facilitate the unification of a wide range of data types on ecological patterns and processes that operate over a wide range of spatial scales; (iii) has greater replication than existing experiments; (iv) incorporates an experimental manipulation of riparian corridors; and (v) embeds the experimentally fragmented landscape within a wider gradient of land-use intensity than do existing projects. The SAFE Project represents an opportunity for ecologists across disciplines to participate in a large initiative designed to generate a broad understanding of the ecological impacts of tropical forest modification.

Biodiversity, ecosystem function and forest management. Part I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Tacon, F.; Selosse, M-A.; Gosselin, F.

2000-01-01

In part one, the authors dealt first with the foundations of biodiversity and its role in forest ecosystems. They then go on to the problems relating to its level of expression and the measurements and indicators for assessing it. Following a section on ethical considerations, the authors explore the possible impact of factors involving human activities other than forest management on biodiversity - fragmentation and structuring of space, forest occupancy, picking, disappearance of carnivorous species, depositions and pollution, global warming and forest fires. (authors)

Geospatial methods provide timely and comprehensive urban forest information

Science.gov (United States)

Kathleen T. Ward; Gary R. Johnson

2007-01-01

Urban forests are unique and highly valued resources. However, trees in urban forests are often under greater stress than those in rural or undeveloped areas due to soil compaction, restricted growing spaces, high temperatures, and exposure to air and water pollution. In addition, conditions change more quickly in urban as opposed to rural and undeveloped settings....

Environmental effects of ash application in forest ecosystems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Mette

of ashes being produced and the export of nutrients from the forests. This PhD project aims at investigating how ash application in forest ecosystems affects soil and soil solution properties and whether ash application can be used in a Danish context without environmental harm but with positive effects...

Integrating forest products with ecosystem services: a global perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Robert L. Deal; Rachel. White

2012-01-01

Around the world forests provide a broad range of vital ecosystem services. Sustainable forest management and forest products play an important role in global carbon management, but one of the major forestry concerns worldwide is reducing the loss of forestland from development. Currently, deforestation accounts for approximately 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions....

Cryptic Methane Emissions from Upland Forest Ecosystems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Megonigal, Patrick [Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (United States); Pitz, Scott [Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States); Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (United States)

2016-04-19

This exploratory research on Cryptic Methane Emissions from Upland Forest Ecosystems was motivated by evidence that upland ecosystems emit 36% as much methane to the atmosphere as global wetlands, yet we knew almost nothing about this source. The long-term objective was to refine Earth system models by quantifying methane emissions from upland forests, and elucidate the biogeochemical processes that govern upland methane emissions. The immediate objectives of the grant were to: (i) test the emerging paradigm that upland trees unexpectedly transpire methane, (ii) test the basic biogeochemical assumptions of an existing global model of upland methane emissions, and (iii) develop the suite of biogeochemical approaches that will be needed to advance research on upland methane emissions. We instrumented a temperate forest system in order to explore the processes that govern upland methane emissions. We demonstrated that methane is emitted from the stems of dominant tree species in temperate upland forests. Tree emissions occurred throughout the growing season, while soils adjacent to the trees consumed methane simultaneously, challenging the concept that forests are uniform sinks of methane. High frequency measurements revealed diurnal cycling in the rate of methane emissions, pointing to soils as the methane source and transpiration as the most likely pathway for methane transport. We propose the forests are smaller methane sinks than previously estimated due to stem emissions. Stem emissions may be particularly important in upland tropical forests characterized by high rainfall and transpiration, resolving differences between models and measurements. The methods we used can be effectively implemented in order to determine if the phenomenon is widespread.

Ecosystem Approach to Urban Household Waste Management in ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Ecosystem Approach to Urban Household Waste Management in the context of ... in Ecohealth (COPEH) supported by IDRC's Ecosystem Approaches to Human ... Call for new OWSD Fellowships for Early Career Women Scientists now open ... International Water Resources Association, in close collaboration with IDRC, ...

Environmental controls on the carbon isotope composition of ecosystem-respired CO{sub 2} in contrasting forest ecosystems in Canada and the USA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alstad, K.P. [Lethbridge Univ., Lethbridge, AB (Canada). Dept. of Biological Sciences; Toledo Univ., Toledo, OH (United States). Dept. of Environmental Sciences; Flanagan, L.B. [Lethbridge Univ., Lethbridge, AB (Canada). Dept. of Biological Sciences; Lai, C.T. [Utah Univ., Salt Lake City, UT (United States); San Diego State Univ., San Diego, CA (United States); Ehleringer, J.R. [Utah Univ., Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

2007-10-15

Eleven forest ecosystems in Canada and the United States were compared in order to test for differences among forest {delta}{sup 13} carbon (C) responses to seasonal variations in environmental conditions from May to October 2004. Carbon isotope composition of ecosystem-respired carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) was considered as a proxy for short-term changes in photosynthetic discrimination. The study compared coniferous and deciduous forests, as well as forests in boreal and coastal environments. It was hypothesized that the carbon isotope composition of ecosystem-respired CO{sub 2} varied in a manner consistent with results obtained in leaf-level studies. Results of the study showed that higher R{sup 2} values were obtained for coastal ecosystems. The relationships between {delta}{sup 13}C{sub R} and environmental conditions were consistent with results obtained from leaf-level studies. Vapour pressure deficits and soil temperatures were significant determinants of variations in {delta}{sup 13}C{sub R} in the boreal forest ecosystem. Variations in {delta}{sup 13}C{sub R} in the coastal forest ecosystem correlated with changes in photosynthetic photon flux (PPF). It was concluded that {delta}{sup 13}C{sub R} measurements can be used to assess yearly variations in ecosystem physiological responses to changing environmental conditions. 59 refs., 7 tabs., 6 figs.

[Assessment of shallow groundwater nitrate concentrations in typical terrestrial ecosystems of Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) during 2004-2009].

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Zhi-Wei; Zhang, Xin-Yu; Sun, Xiao-Min; Yuan, Guo-Fu; Wang, Sheng-Zhong; Liu, Wen-Hua

2011-10-01

The nitrate-N (NO3(-) -N) concentrations of 38 shallow groundwater wells from 31 of the typical terrestrial ecosystems on Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) were assessed using the monitoring data from 2004 to 2009. The results showed that the average values of NO3(-) -N concentrations were significantly higher in the agricultural (4.85 mg x L(-1) +/- 0.42 mg x L(-1)), desert (oasis) (3.72 mg x L(-1) +/- 0.42 mg x L(-1)) and urban ecosystems (3.77 mg x L(-1) 0.51 mg x L(-1)) than in the grass (1.59 mg x L(-1) +/- 0.35 mg L(-1)) and forest ecosystems (0.39 mg x L(-1) +/- 0.03 mg x L(-1)). Nitrate was the major form of nitrogen, with between 56% to 88% of nitrogen in the nitrate-N form in the shallow groundwater of desert (oasis), urban and agricultural ecosystems. Nitrate-N concentrations for some agricultural ecosystems (Ansai, Yanting, Yucheng) and desert (oasis) ecosystems (Cele, Linze, Akesu) analysis exceeded the 10 mg x L(-1) World Health Organization drinking water standards between 14.3% and 84.6%. Significant seasonality was found in Ansai, Fengqiu, Yanting agricultural ecosystems and the Beijing urban ecosystem using the relatively high frequency monitoring data, with the higher nitrate concentrations usually found during summer and winter months. The monitoring results indicated that the shallow groundwater of agricultural ecosystems was contaminated by agricultural management practices, i.e. fertilization, while the shallow groundwater of forest ecosystems was under natural condition with no contamination from human activities.

Ecosystem carbon density and allocation across a chronosequence of longleaf pine forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Samuelson, Lisa J; Stokes, Thomas A; Butnor, John R; Johnsen, Kurt H; Gonzalez-Benecke, Carlos A; Martin, Timothy A; Cropper, Wendell P; Anderson, Pete H; Ramirez, Michael R; Lewis, John C

2017-01-01

Forests can partially offset greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to climate change mitigation, mainly through increases in live biomass. We quantified carbon (C) density in 20 managed longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests ranging in age from 5 to 118 years located across the southeastern United States and estimated above- and belowground C trajectories. Ecosystem C stock (all pools including soil C) and aboveground live tree C increased nonlinearly with stand age and the modeled asymptotic maxima were 168 Mg C/ha and 80 Mg C/ha, respectively. Accumulation of ecosystem C with stand age was driven mainly by increases in aboveground live tree C, which ranged from ecosystem C. Live root C (sum of below-stump C, ground penetrating radar measurement of lateral root C, and live fine root C) increased with stand age and represented 4-22% of ecosystem C. Soil C was related to site index, but not to stand age, and made up 39-92% of ecosystem C. Live understory C, forest floor C, downed dead wood C, and standing dead wood C were small fractions of ecosystem C in these frequently burned stands. Stand age and site index accounted for 76% of the variation in ecosystem C among stands. The mean root-to-shoot ratio calculated as the average across all stands (excluding the grass-stage stand) was 0.54 (standard deviation of 0.19) and higher than reports for other conifers. Long-term accumulation of live tree C, combined with the larger role of belowground accumulation of lateral root C than in other forest types, indicates a role of longleaf pine forests in providing disturbance-resistant C storage that can balance the more rapid C accumulation and C removal associated with more intensively managed forests. Although other managed southern pine systems sequester more C over the short-term, we suggest that longleaf pine forests can play a meaningful role in regional forest C management. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

Policy Research Using Agent-Based Modeling to Assess Future Impacts of Urban Expansion into Farmlands and Forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael R. Guzy

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The expansion of urban land uses into farmlands and forests requires an assessment of future ecological impacts. Spatially explicit agent-based models can represent the changes in resilience and ecological services that result from different land-use policies. When modeling complex adaptive systems, both the methods used to interpret results and the standards of rigor used to judge adequacy are complicated and require additional research. Recent studies suggest that it would be appropriate to use these models as an extension of exploratory analysis. This type of analysis generates ensembles of alternate plausible representations of future system conditions. User expertise steers interactive, stepwise system exploration toward inductive reasoning about potential changes to the system. In this study, we develop understanding of the potential alternative futures for a social-ecological system by way of successive simulations that test variations in the types and numbers of policies. The model addresses the agricultural-urban interface and the preservation of ecosystem services. The landscape analyzed is at the junction of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers adjacent to the cities of Eugene and Springfield in Lane County, Oregon. Our exploration of alternative future scenarios suggests that policies that constrain urban growth and create incentives for farming and forest enterprises to preserve and enhance habitat can protect ecosystem resilience and services.

Trace metal concentrations in forest and lawn soils of Paris region (France) along a gradient of urban pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Ludovic, Foti

2017-04-01

Urban soils differ greatly from natural ones as they are located in areas of intense anthropogenic activity (e.g. pollution, physical disturbance, surface transformation). Urban soils are a crucial component of urban ecosystems, especially in public green spaces, and contribute to many ecosystem services from the mitigation of urban heat island to recreational services. In the last decade, the study of urban soils has emerged as an important frontier in environmental research, at least because of their impact on the quality of life of urban populations, because of the services they deliver and because they are more and more recognized as a valuable resource. One of the key issues is the pollution of urban soils because they receive a variety of deposits from local (vehicle emissions, industrial discharges, domestic heating, waste incineration and other anthropogenic activities) and from remote sources (through atmospheric transport). Typical contaminants include persistent toxic substances, such as trace metals (TMs) that have drawn wide attention due to their long persistence in the environment, their tendency to bioaccumulate in the food chain and their toxicity for humans and other organisms. Concentrations, spatial distributions, dynamics, impacts and sources of TMs (e.g. industry or fossil fuels combustion) have attracted a global interest in urban soils and are the subject of ongoing research (e.g. ecotoxicological urban ecology). Some studies have already documented soil pollution with TMs at both the town and regional scales. So far, several monitoring programs (e.g. National Network for the long term Monitoring of Forest Ecosystem, Regional Monitoring Quality of Soil in France) and studies have been carried out on a national scale to measure the ranges of TM concentrations and natural background values in French soils. These studies have focused on French agricultural and forest soils and have not tackled urban soils. No study has described TM

Carrion Beetles Visiting Pig Carcasses during Early Spring in Urban, Forest and Agricultural Biotopes of Western Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Dekeirsschieter, Jessica; Verheggen, François J.; Haubruge, Eric; Brostaux, Yves

2011-01-01

Carrion beetles are important in terrestrial ecosystems, consuming dead mammals and promoting the recycling of organic matter into ecosystems. Most forensic studies are focused on succession of Diptera while neglecting Coleoptera. So far, little information is available on carrion beetles postmortem colonization and decomposition process in temperate biogeoclimatic countries. These beetles are however part of the entomofaunal colonization of a dead body. Forensic entomologists need databases concerning the distribution, ecology and phenology of necrophagous insects, including silphids. Forensic entomology uses pig carcasses to surrogate human decomposition and to investigate entomofaunal succession. However, few studies have been conducted in Europe on large carcasses. The work reported here monitored the presence of the carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) on decaying pig carcasses in three selected biotopes (forest, crop field, urban site) at the beginning of spring. Seven species of Silphidae were recorded: Nicrophorus humator (Gleditsch), Nicrophorus vespillo (L.), Nicrophorus vespilloides (Herbst), Necrodes littoralis L., Oiceoptoma thoracica L., Thanatophilus sinuatus (Fabricius), Thanatophilus rugosus (L.). All of these species were caught in the forest biotope, and all but O. thoracica were caught in the agricultural biotope. No silphids were caught in the urban site. PMID:21867439

Urban ecosystem services for resilience planning and management in New York City.

Science.gov (United States)

McPhearson, Timon; Hamstead, Zoé A; Kremer, Peleg

2014-05-01

We review the current state of knowledge about urban ecosystem services in New York City (NYC) and how these services are regulated, planned for, and managed. Focusing on ecosystem services that have presented challenges in NYC-including stormwater quality enhancement and flood control, drinking water quality, food provisioning and recreation-we find that mismatches between the scale of production and scale of management occur where service provision is insufficient. Adequate production of locally produced services and services which are more accessible when produced locally is challenging in the context of dense urban development that is characteristic of NYC. Management approaches are needed to address scale mismatches in the production and consumption of ecosystem services. By coordinating along multiple scales of management and promoting best management practices, urban leaders have an opportunity to ensure that nature and ecosystem processes are protected in cities to support the delivery of fundamental urban ecosystem services.

Nature as a nuisance? Ecosystem services and disservices to urban lifestyle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lyytimäki, Jari; Petersen, Lars Kjerulf; Normander, Bo

2008-01-01

- such as safety issues in dark parks or pollen causing health problems - have gained only sporadic attention in environmental studies focused on urban ecosystems. We review and discuss different urban ecosystem disservices from a Northern European perspective. We conclude by addressing the key limitations......  The lifestyle of people living in urban areas has profound direct and indirect impacts on biodiversity. However, the role of urban lifestyle as a driving force of biodiversity change is not very well understood. This is partly because there is a gap between a social science approach focusing...... on lifestyle and a natural science approach focusing on biodiversity. We propose that the concept of ecological services and disservices is useful in connecting these approaches. Ecosystem services produced by urban green areas are the focus of a wide range of environmental studies, but disservices...

EnviroAtlas Connects Urban Ecosystem Services and Human ...

Science.gov (United States)

Ecosystem services in urban areas can improve public health and well-being by mitigating natural and anthropogenic pollution, and by promoting healthy lifestyles that include engagement with nature and enhanced opportunities for physical activity and social interaction. EPA’s EnviroAtlas online mapping tool identifies urban environmental features linked in the scientific and medical literature to specific aspects of public health and well-being. EnviroAtlas researchers have synthesized newly-generated one-meter resolution landcover data, downscaled census population data, and other existing datasets such as roads and parks. Resulting geospatial metrics represent health-related indicators of urban ecosystem services supply and demand by census block-group and finer scales. EnviroAtlas maps include percent of the population with limited window views of trees, tree cover along walkable roads, overall neighborhood green space, and proximity to parks. Demographic data can be overlaid to perform analyses of disproportionate distribution of urban ecosystem services across population groups. Together with the Eco-Health Relationship Browser, EnviroAtlas data can be linked to numerous aspects of public health and well-being including school performance, physical fitness, social capital, and longevity. EnviroAtlas maps have been developed using consistent methods to allow for comparisons between neighborhoods and across multiple U.S. communities. To feature eco-heal

Modelling of 137Cs behaviour in forest ecosystems and prediction of its accumulation in forest products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spiridonov, S.I.; Fesenko, S.V.; Gontarenko, I.A.; Avila, R.

2001-01-01

A mathematical model of 137 Cs migration in forest ecosystem contaminated due to the Chernobyl accident presented, which describes the behaviour of this radionuclide in the forest litter-soil system, tress, and forest animals. The model's parameters for different types of forest ecosystems are estimated and model's adequacy is tested through the use of independent experimental data. The sensitivity of the model's output variables is analyzed to variations in the most significant parameters. The differences in the seasonal and mean annual dynamics of 137 Cs concentration in muscles of roe deers and mooses are shown to be defined by specific features of the diets of these animals and variations in 137 Cs content in the main diet components [ru

Long-term avifaunal survey in an urban ecosystem from southeastern Brazil, with comments on range extensions, new and disappearing species

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Urban avifaunal surveys in Brazil have been increasing in recent years, despite none of them consisting of long-term studies indicating events of regional colonization and/or missing species. Here, we present an avifaunal survey of an urbanized ecosystem in southeastern Brazil, carried out along 30 years, on the campus of the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, municipality of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state. Inside the campus there is a forest reserve adjacent to a small lake. The inventory was mainly based on opportunistic records from the years 1982-2013. We recorded 134 bird species along the past 30 years. However, the present avifauna is composed of 123 species. A total of 97 species was recorded in the reserve, including the forest fragment and the adjacent lake, of which 44 were exclusive to this area. Nevertheless, the majority of the current species found in the study area is forest independent (N = 51 or semi-dependent (N = 46. There is a predominance of insectivorous (N = 43 and omnivorous (N = 29 species. The current avifauna is represented by 15 migratory species, which can be found both in the urbanized area and in the forest remnant. However, the majority of the species (N = 75 is resident in the area, including three invasive species, whereas few others (N = 28 are occasional visitors. The remaining species were probably introduced in the area. There were 11 cases of disappearing species, which include typical forest birds, and also species typical of wetlands and rural environments. We also comment on recent colonization and on the possible effects of isolation on birds. Probably, the majority of forest-dependents are on the brink of extinction in the forest fragment. Thus, the species' list provided here can be useful as a database for monitoring long-term effects of urbanization on this bird community.

AVIRIS data and neural networks applied to an urban ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Ridd, Merrill K.; Ritter, Niles D.; Bryant, Nevin A.; Green, Robert O.

1992-01-01

Urbanization is expanding on every continent. Although urban/industrial areas occupy a small percentage of the total landscape of the earth, their influence extends far beyond their borders, affecting terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric systems globally. Yet little has been done to characterize urban ecosystems of their linkages to other systems horizontally or vertically. With remote sensing we now have the tools to characterize, monitor, and model urban landscapes world-wide. However, the remote sensing performed on cities so far has concentrated on land-use patterns as distinct from land-cover or composition. The popular Anderson system is entirely land-use oriented in urban areas. This paper begins with the premise that characterizing the biophysical composition of urban environments is fundamental to understanding urban/industrial ecosystems, and, in turn, supports the modeling of other systems interfacing with urban systems. Further, it is contended that remote sensing is a tool poised to provide the biophysical composition data to characterize urban landscapes.

The prospects for ecosystem services provision in fragile states’ urban areas

OpenAIRE

Bogadi, Antonija

2018-01-01

In fragile states context of climate change vulnerability, poverty and lack of infrastructure, the ability of ecosystem services to provide for numerous human needs is indispensable. The focus of this paper is describing the prospects for ecosystem services provision in fragile states’ urban areas. This paper presents a distinct approach by analyzing actors with capacity to provide ecosystem services in urban areas: government, international partners and citizens. Using infrastructure investm...

Urbanization impacts on mammals across urban-forest edges and a predictive model of edge effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Villaseñor, Nélida R; Driscoll, Don A; Escobar, Martín A H; Gibbons, Philip; Lindenmayer, David B

2014-01-01

With accelerating rates of urbanization worldwide, a better understanding of ecological processes at the wildland-urban interface is critical to conserve biodiversity. We explored the effects of high and low-density housing developments on forest-dwelling mammals. Based on habitat characteristics, we expected a gradual decline in species abundance across forest-urban edges and an increased decline rate in higher contrast edges. We surveyed arboreal mammals in sites of high and low housing density along 600 m transects that spanned urban areas and areas turn on adjacent native forest. We also surveyed forest controls to test whether edge effects extended beyond our edge transects. We fitted models describing richness, total abundance and individual species abundance. Low-density housing developments provided suitable habitat for most arboreal mammals. In contrast, high-density housing developments had lower species richness, total abundance and individual species abundance, but supported the highest abundances of an urban adapter (Trichosurus vulpecula). We did not find the predicted gradual decline in species abundance. Of four species analysed, three exhibited no response to the proximity of urban boundaries, but spilled over into adjacent urban habitat to differing extents. One species (Petaurus australis) had an extended negative response to urban boundaries, suggesting that urban development has impacts beyond 300 m into adjacent forest. Our empirical work demonstrates that high-density housing developments have negative effects on both community and species level responses, except for one urban adapter. We developed a new predictive model of edge effects based on our results and the literature. To predict animal responses across edges, our framework integrates for first time: (1) habitat quality/preference, (2) species response with the proximity to the adjacent habitat, and (3) spillover extent/sensitivity to adjacent habitat boundaries. This framework will

Perception of the Local Population toward Urban Forests in Municipality of Aerodrom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aneta Blazevska

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Background and Purpose: With the development of both society and economy, environmental issues have become a more popular topic. In recent decades both the role and perception of urban forests have changed regarding recreational and environmental aspects on both a local and global level. This coupled with urbanization places great importance on how people see and value the forests in an urban and peri-urban setting. Visitors are not a homogeneous category and hence have different needs and perceptions of urban and peri-urban green spaces. The study aims to understand the visitors` perception from municipality Aerodrom towards urban forests and their recreational use, benefits, preferences and perception regarding management activities of urban forests. Material and Methods: The method used for the research is qualitative with semi-structured questionnaire which was conducted face to face. Gathered data were analyzed by Excel and after that were presented in tables and graphs for better review of the results. The study area was municipality of Aerodrom which has the biggest space under urban forests per capita in Skopje. Results and Conclusion: Results have shown that all respondents have permanent residence in the municipality of Aerodrom, located in different settlements and with the length of stay mainly between 5 to 40 years. There is a dominance of female population and respondent’s age over 40 in the research. Results also showed that the average number of visit in urban forests by respondents during the week is three times. Regarding the meaning and association of term urban forests, results showed that majority of respondents have a clear and concise perception, and mainly this term for them is association on park and greenery, a nice decorated environment and place for walk. When it comes to the way how current situation with urban forest can be improved almost all of the respondents highlighted it can be through the following things

Reconnecting cities to the biosphere: stewardship of green infrastructure and urban ecosystem services.

Science.gov (United States)

Andersson, Erik; Barthel, Stephan; Borgström, Sara; Colding, Johan; Elmqvist, Thomas; Folke, Carl; Gren, Åsa

2014-05-01

Within-city green infrastructure can offer opportunities and new contexts for people to become stewards of ecosystem services. We analyze cities as social-ecological systems, synthesize the literature, and provide examples from more than 15 years of research in the Stockholm urban region, Sweden. The social-ecological approach spans from investigating ecosystem properties to the social frameworks and personal values that drive and shape human interactions with nature. Key findings demonstrate that urban ecosystem services are generated by social-ecological systems and that local stewards are critically important. However, land-use planning and management seldom account for their role in the generation of urban ecosystem services. While the small scale patchwork of land uses in cities stimulates intense interactions across borders much focus is still on individual patches. The results highlight the importance and complexity of stewardship of urban biodiversity and ecosystem services and of the planning and governance of urban green infrastructure.

Forest and Chernobyl: forest ecosystems after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident: 1986-1994

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ipatyev, V.; Bulavik, I.; Baginsky, V.; Goncharenko, G.; Dvornik, A.

1999-01-01

This paper reports basic features of radionuclide migration and the prediction of the radionuclide redistribution and accumulation by forest phytocoenoses after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP) accident. The current ecological condition of forest ecosystems is evaluated and scientific aspects of forest management in the conditions of the large-scale radioactive contamination are discussed. (Copyright (c) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)

Temporal-Spatial Pattern of Carbon Stocks in Forest Ecosystems in Shaanxi, Northwest China.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gaoyang Cui

Full Text Available The precise and accurate quantitative evaluation of the temporal and spatial pattern of carbon (C storage in forest ecosystems is critical for understanding the role of forests in the global terrestrial C cycle and is essential for formulating forest management policies to combat climate change. In this study, we examined the C dynamics of forest ecosystems in Shaanxi, northwest China, based on four forest inventories (1989-1993, 1994-1998, 1999-2003, and 2004-2008 and field-sampling measurements (2012. The results indicate that the total C storage of forest ecosystems in Shaanxi increased by approximately 29.3%, from 611.72 Tg in 1993 to 790.75 Tg in 2008, partially as a result of ecological restoration projects. The spatial pattern of C storage in forest ecosystems mainly exhibited a latitude-zonal distribution across the province, increasing from north (high latitude to south (low latitude generally, which signifies the effect of environmental conditions, chiefly water and heat related factors, on forest growth and C sequestration. In addition, different data sources and estimation methods had a significant effect on the results obtained, with the C stocks in 2008 being considerably overestimated (864.55 Tg and slightly underestimated (778.07 Tg when measured using the mean C density method and integrated method, respectively. Overall, our results demonstrated that the forest ecosystem in Shaanxi acted as a C sink over the last few decades. However, further studies should be carried out with a focus on adaption of plants to environmental factors along with forest management for vegetation restoration to maximize the C sequestration potential and to better cope with climate change.

Net ecosystem CO2 exchange over a larch forest in Hokkaido, Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huimin Wang; Saigusa, Nobuko; Yamamoto, Susumu; Kondo, Hiroaki; Hirano, Takashi; Toriyama, Atsushi; Fujinuma, Yasumi

2004-01-01

Larch forests are distributed extensively in the east Eurasian continent and are expected to play a significant role in the terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling process. In view of the fact that studies on carbon exchange for this important biome have been very limited, we have initiated a long-term flux observation in a larch forest ecosystem in Hokkaido in northern Japan since 2000. The net ecosystem CO 2 exchange (NEE) showed large seasonal and diurnal variation. Generally, the larch forest ecosystem released CO 2 in nighttime and assimilated CO 2 in daytime during the growing season from May to October. The ecosystem started to become a net carbon sink in May, reaching a maximum carbon uptake as high as 186 g C m -2 month -1 in June. With the yellowing, senescing and leaf fall, the ecosystem turned into a carbon source in November. During the non-growing season, the larch forest ecosystem became a net source of CO 2 , releasing an average of 16.7 g C m -2 month -1 . Overall, the ecosystem sequestered 141-240 g C m -2 yr -1 in 2001. The NEE was significantly influenced by environmental factors. Respiration of the ecosystem, for example, was exponentially dependent on air temperature, while photosynthesis was related to the incident PAR in a manner consistent with the Michaelis-Menten model. Although the vapor pressure deficit (VPD) was scarcely higher than 15 hPa, the CO 2 uptake rate was also depressed when VPD surpassed 10 hPa (Author)

Human impacts on genetic diversity in forest ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

F. Thomas Ledig

1992-01-01

Humans have converted forest to agricultural and urban uses, exploited species, fragmented wildlands. changed the demographic structure of forests, altered habitat, degraded the environment with atmospheric and soil pollutants, introduced exotic pests and competitors, and domesticated favored species. None of they activities is new; perhaps with the exception of...

Remote sensing assessment of carbon storage by urban forest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanniah, K D; Kang, C S; Muhamad, N

2014-01-01

Urban forests play a crucial role in mitigating global warming by absorbing excessive CO 2 emissions due to transportation, industry and house hold activities in the urban environment. In this study we have assessed the role of trees in an urban forest, (Mutiara Rini) located within the Iskandar Development region in south Johor, Malaysia. We first estimated the above ground biomass/carbon stock of the trees using allometric equations and biometric data (diameter at breast height of trees) collected in the field. We used remotely sensed vegetation indices (VI) to develop an empirical relationship between VI and carbon stock. We used five different VIs derived from a very high resolution World View-2 satellite data. Results show that model by [1] and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index are correlated well (R 2 = 0.72) via a power model. We applied the model to the entire study area to obtain carbon stock of urban forest. The average carbon stock in the urban forest (mostly consisting of Dipterocarp species) is ∼70 t C ha −1 . Results of this study can be used by the Iskandar Regional Development Authority to better manage vegetation in the urban environment to establish a low carbon city in this region

Plant hydraulic diversity buffers forest ecosystem responses to drought

Science.gov (United States)

Anderegg, W.; Konings, A. G.; Trugman, A. T.; Pacala, S. W.; Yu, K.; Sulman, B. N.; Sperry, J.; Bowling, D. R.

2017-12-01

Drought impacts carbon, water, and energy cycles in forests and may pose a fundamental threat to forests in future climates. Plant hydraulic transport of water is central to tree drought responses, including curtailing of water loss and the risk of mortality during drought. The effect of biodiversity on ecosystem function has typically been examined in grasslands, yet the diversity of plant hydraulic strategies may influence forests' response to drought. In a combined analysis of eddy covariance measurements, remote-sensing data of plant water content variation, model simulations, and plant hydraulic trait data, we test the degree to which plant water stress schemes influence the carbon cycle and how hydraulic diversity within and across ecosystems affects large-scale drought responses. We find that current plant functional types are not well-suited to capture hydraulic variation and that higher hydraulic diversity buffers ecosystem variation during drought. Our results demonstrate that tree functional diversity, particularly hydraulic diversity, may be critical to simulate in plant functional types in current land surface model projections of future vegetation's response to climate extremes.

Soil microbial community successional patterns during forest ecosystem restoration.

Science.gov (United States)

Banning, Natasha C; Gleeson, Deirdre B; Grigg, Andrew H; Grant, Carl D; Andersen, Gary L; Brodie, Eoin L; Murphy, D V

2011-09-01

Soil microbial community characterization is increasingly being used to determine the responses of soils to stress and disturbances and to assess ecosystem sustainability. However, there is little experimental evidence to indicate that predictable patterns in microbial community structure or composition occur during secondary succession or ecosystem restoration. This study utilized a chronosequence of developing jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest ecosystems, rehabilitated after bauxite mining (up to 18 years old), to examine changes in soil bacterial and fungal community structures (by automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis [ARISA]) and changes in specific soil bacterial phyla by 16S rRNA gene microarray analysis. This study demonstrated that mining in these ecosystems significantly altered soil bacterial and fungal community structures. The hypothesis that the soil microbial community structures would become more similar to those of the surrounding nonmined forest with rehabilitation age was broadly supported by shifts in the bacterial but not the fungal community. Microarray analysis enabled the identification of clear successional trends in the bacterial community at the phylum level and supported the finding of an increase in similarity to nonmined forest soil with rehabilitation age. Changes in soil microbial community structure were significantly related to the size of the microbial biomass as well as numerous edaphic variables (including pH and C, N, and P nutrient concentrations). These findings suggest that soil bacterial community dynamics follow a pattern in developing ecosystems that may be predictable and can be conceptualized as providing an integrated assessment of numerous edaphic variables.

Dominance and Diversity of Bird Community in Floodplain Forest Ecosystem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karel Poprach

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The paper is aimed to assessment of diversity and structure of bird community in floodplain forest ecosystem. Authors present results of analyses data on bird communities obtained at two transects in the Litovelské Pomoraví Protected Landscape Area (Czech Republic in the period 1998–2012. Research of bird communities was carried out using the point-count method. The article deals with qualitative and quantitative representation of breeding bird species, including their relation to habitat type (closed floodplain forest, ecotone. Altogether 63 breeding species were recorded at the Vrapač transect and 67 at the Litovelské luhy transect, respectively. To be able to detect all recorded species, 11 out of 14 years of monitoring were needed at the Vrapač transect and all 8 years of monitoring at the Litovelské luhy transect, respectively. Authors show that the values in dominant bird species change significantly among the particular census dates within one season, mainly with respect to their activity and detectability. Results are discussed in the frame of sustainable forest management in floodplain forest ecosystems. The presented article can promote to discussion aimed to management strategy for floodplain forest ecosystems, which ranks among natural habitat types of Community interest protected under the Natura 2000 European network.

Assessing exergy of forest ecosystem using airborne and satellite data

Science.gov (United States)

Brovkina, Olga; Fabianek, Tomas; Lukes, Petr; Zemek, Frantisek

2017-04-01

Interactions of the energy flows of forest ecosystem with environment are formed by a suite of forest structure, functions and pathways of self-control. According to recent thermodynamic theory for open systems, concept of exergy of solar radiation has been applied to estimate energy consumptions on evapotranspiration and biomass production in forest ecosystem or to indicate forest decline and human land use impact on ecosystem stability. However, most of the methods for exergy estimation in forest ecosystem is not stable and its physical meaning remains on the surface. This study was aimed to contribute to understanding the exergy of forest ecosystem using combination of remote sensing (RS) and eddy covariance technologies, specifically: 1/to explore exergy of solar radiation depending on structure of solar spectrum (number of spectral bands of RS data), and 2/to explore the relationship between exergy and flux tower eddy covariance measurements. Two study forest sites were located in Western Beskids in the Czech Republic. The first site was dominated by young Norway spruce, the second site was dominated by mature European beech. Airborne hyperspectral data in VNIR, SWIR and TIR spectral regions were acquired 9 times for study sites during a vegetation periods in 2015-2016. Radiometric, geometric and atmospheric corrections of airborne data were performed. Satellite multispectral Landsat-8 cloud-free 21 scenes were downloaded and atmospherically corrected for the period from April to November 2015-2016. Evapotranspiration and latent heat fluxes were collected from operating flux towers located on study sites according to date and time of remote sensing data acquisition. Exergy was calculated for each satellite and airborne scene using various combinations of spectral bands as: Ex=E^out (K+ln E^out/E^in )+R, where Ein is the incoming solar energy, Eout is the reflected solar energy, R = Ein-Eout is absorbed energy, Eout/Ein is albedo and K is the Kullback increment

Effects of urban development on ant communities: implications for ecosystem services and management

Science.gov (United States)

M.P. Sanford; Patricia N. Manley; Dennis D. Murphy

2009-01-01

Research that connects the effects of urbanization on biodiversity and ecosystem services is lacking. Ants perform multifarious ecological functions that stabilize ecosystems and contribute to a number of ecosystem services. We studied responses of ant communities to urbanization in the Lake Tahoe basin by sampling sites along a gradient...

Enhancing Resilience Of Urban Ecosystems through Green Infrastructure (EnRoute): Progress report

OpenAIRE

ZULIAN GRAZIA; THIJSSEN MARTIJN; GUENTHER SUSANN; MAES JOACHIM

2017-01-01

EnRoute stands for Enhancing Resilience of urban ecosystems through green infrastructure. EnRoute is a project of the European Commission in the framework of the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the Green Infrastructure Strategy. EnRoute provides scientific knowledge of how urban ecosystems can support urban planning at different stages of policy and for various spatial scales and how to help policy-making for sustainable cities. It aims to promote the application of urban green infrastructur...

The dynamics of radionuclides in forest ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steiner, M.

2003-01-01

Foodstuff from forests, notably mushrooms and game, is still much higher contaminated than agricultural products. The dynamic transport and transfer processes relevant to radiocesium in forest ecosystems will be discussed. Fungi, notably their mycelia, and migration processes in forest soil play a key role. In the first phase after deposition, radiocesium is very mobile and infiltrates forest soil after direct deposition or weathering from the canopy, where it is quickly immobilized. Subsequently, it moves to deeper soil layers due to decomposition and mineralization of organic matter. This downward migration of radiocesium is almost completely compensated by an upward transport in fungal mycelia. Whereas the specific activities in the uppermost organic horizons decrease comparatively fast, the radiocesium content in deeper horizons may remain almost constant or even increase at the beginning. Fungi which specific to their species take up nutrients from different soil layers, reflect the different trends with time in their fruit bodies. Fungal mycelia play an important role not only in the vertical migration, but also in the horizontal transport of radiocesium in forest soil and the uptake by green plants. Most green plants of the forest ecosystem poor in nutrients take up nutrients and radiocesium through symbiotic fungi. The fruit bodies of Deer Truffle which grow below ground can exhibit activity levels one order of magnitude higher than those of edible mushrooms. At present there is a debate, whether highly contaminated Deer Truffle eaten by wild boar as a delicacy, can explain the trend of increasing contamination of wild boar which has been observed in the last few years in different regions of Germany. (orig.)

Current and historical land use influence soil-based ecosystem services in an urban landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Ziter, Carly; Turner, Monica G

2018-04-01

Urban landscapes are increasingly recognized as providing important ecosystem services (ES) to their occupants. Yet, urban ES assessments often ignore the complex spatial heterogeneity and land-use history of cities. Soil-based services may be particularly susceptible to land-use legacy effects. We studied indicators of three soil-based ES, carbon storage, water quality regulation, and runoff regulation, in a historically agricultural urban landscape and asked (1) How do ES indicators vary with contemporary land cover and time since development? (2) Do ES indicators vary primarily among land-cover classes, within land-cover classes, or within sites? (3) What is the relative contribution of urban land-cover classes to potential citywide ES provision? We measured biophysical indicators (soil carbon [C], available phosphorus [P], and saturated hydraulic conductivity [K s ]) in 100 sites across five land-cover classes, spanning an ~125-year gradient of time since development within each land-cover class. Potential for ES provision was substantial in urban green spaces, including developed land. Runoff regulation services (high K s ) were highest in forests; water quality regulation (low P) was highest in open spaces and grasslands; and open spaces and developed land (e.g., residential yards) had the highest C storage. In developed land covers, both C and P increased with time since development, indicating effects of historical land-use on contemporary ES and trade-offs between two important ES. Among-site differences accounted for a high proportion of variance in soil properties in forests, grasslands, and open space, while residential areas had high within-site variability, underscoring the leverage city residents have to improve urban ES provision. Developed land covers contributed most ES supply at the citywide scale, even after accounting for potential impacts of impervious surfaces. Considering the full mosaic of urban green space and its history is needed to

The world’s urban forests history, composition, design, function and management

CERN Document Server

McBride, Joe R

2017-01-01

The purpose of this book is to examine urban forests in cities around the world. It will ask questions about the history, composition, structure, and management of trees in urban areas. Data for this book was collected in 33 cities across broad geographical areas known as biomes. Constraints and opportunities imposed on urban forest composition, design, and management by the ecological characteristics of these biomes will be examined. The book will also address the cultural and historical factors that influenced the characteristics of urban forests around the world.

Proceedings of a symposium on the reclamation and restoration of boreal peatland and forest ecosystems : towards a sustainable future

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bhatti, J. [Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Foote, L.; Moran, S. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada); Nadeau, L. [Northern Alberta Inst. of Technology, Edmonton, AB (Canada); Rochefort, L. [Laval Univ., Quebec City, PQ (Canada); Short, P. [Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association, St. Albert, AB (Canada); Vitt, D.H. [Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale, IL (United States); Wieder, K. [Villanova Univ., Villanova, PA (United States)] (comps.)

2010-07-01

Disturbances in Canada's boreal forest occur in both upland forests and in peatlands. These disturbances originate from both anthropogenic and natural causes, particularly fire. Techniques for the restoration, as well as the reclamation of peatlands and forests impacted by agriculture, urban development, or oil and gas activities, have made significant advancement over the last decade and these techniques need to be incorporated into the regulation and management of peatland and forest ecosystems. This symposium addressed the issue of how this research is affected by climate change. The sessions were entitled: (1) reclaiming forest and forest soils impacted by oil and gas production, (2) influence of oil sands development on forest communities, (3) understanding the importance of peatland and forest carbon in the twenty-first century, (4) reclaiming wetlands on mined oil sands tailing, (5) disturbance in peatlands and its relevance to minimizing disturbance footprints and informing reclamation efforts, and (6) restoration and management of harvested peatlands. The symposium featured 37 presentations, of which 6 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs.

Whose urban forest? The political ecology of foraging urban nontimber forest products

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick T. Hurley; Marla R. Emery; Rebecca McLain; Melissa Poe; Brian Grabbatin; Cari L. Goetcheus

2015-01-01

Drawing on case studies of foraging in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, we point to foraging landscapes and practices within diverse urban forest spaces. We examine these spaces in relation to U.S. conservation and development processes and the effects of management and governance on species valued by foragers. These case studies reveal the...

Mapping Urban Ecosystem Services Using High Resolution Aerial Photography

Science.gov (United States)

Pilant, A. N.; Neale, A.; Wilhelm, D.

2010-12-01

Ecosystem services (ES) are the many life-sustaining benefits we receive from nature: e.g., clean air and water, food and fiber, cultural-aesthetic-recreational benefits, pollination and flood control. The ES concept is emerging as a means of integrating complex environmental and economic information to support informed environmental decision making. The US EPA is developing a web-based National Atlas of Ecosystem Services, with a component for urban ecosystems. Currently, the only wall-to-wall, national scale land cover data suitable for this analysis is the National Land Cover Data (NLCD) at 30 m spatial resolution with 5 and 10 year updates. However, aerial photography is acquired at higher spatial resolution (0.5-3 m) and more frequently (1-5 years, typically) for most urban areas. Land cover was mapped in Raleigh, NC using freely available USDA National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) with 1 m ground sample distance to test the suitability of aerial photography for urban ES analysis. Automated feature extraction techniques were used to extract five land cover classes, and an accuracy assessment was performed using standard techniques. Results will be presented that demonstrate applications to mapping ES in urban environments: greenways, corridors, fragmentation, habitat, impervious surfaces, dark and light pavement (urban heat island). Automated feature extraction results mapped over NAIP color aerial photograph. At this scale, we can look at land cover and related ecosystem services at the 2-10 m scale. Small features such as individual trees and sidewalks are visible and mappable. Classified aerial photo of Downtown Raleigh NC Red: impervious surface Dark Green: trees Light Green: grass Tan: soil

Urbanization Impacts on Mammals across Urban-Forest Edges and a Predictive Model of Edge Effects

OpenAIRE

Villaseñor, Nélida R.; Driscoll, Don A.; Escobar, Martín A. H.; Gibbons, Philip; Lindenmayer, David B.

2014-01-01

With accelerating rates of urbanization worldwide, a better understanding of ecological processes at the wildland-urban interface is critical to conserve biodiversity. We explored the effects of high and low-density housing developments on forest-dwelling mammals. Based on habitat characteristics, we expected a gradual decline in species abundance across forest-urban edges and an increased decline rate in higher contrast edges. We surveyed arboreal mammals in sites of high and low housing den...

Forest ecosystems functioning of and conducting of forestry in the zones of absolute alienation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yirklyienko, S.P.; Buzun, V.O.; Dmitrenko, O.G.; Turchak, F.M.

2001-01-01

The main regularities of forest ecosystems functioning in the zone of absolute alienation were shown. The radio contamination mozaicity of forest ecosystems was underlined. Regularities of 137 Cs accumulation in the wood of the main arboreous species were analyzed. The detailed measures of forestry conducting and forests rehabilitation were proposed

Urban forests and social inequality in the Pacific Northwest

Science.gov (United States)

John R. Mills; Pat Cunningham; Geoffrey H. Donovan

2016-01-01

Research has shown there is a positive relationship between urban greenness and the well-being of cityresidents. But greenness is often unevenly distributed across a city, raising environmental justice issues.In 2011 and 2012 the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program installed ground plotsin the urbanized areas of Oregon and Washington. We analyze...

A Practical Decision-Analysis Process for Forest Ecosystem Management

Science.gov (United States)

H. Michael Rauscher; F. Thomas Lloyd; David L. Loftis; Mark J. Twery

2000-01-01

Many authors have pointed out the need to firm up the 'fuzzy' ecosystem management paradigm and develop operationally practical processes to allow forest managers to accommodate more effectively the continuing rapid change in societal perspectives and goals. There are three spatial scales where clear, precise, practical ecosystem management processes are...

Urbanization impacts on mammals across urban-forest edges and a predictive model of edge effects.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nélida R Villaseñor

Full Text Available With accelerating rates of urbanization worldwide, a better understanding of ecological processes at the wildland-urban interface is critical to conserve biodiversity. We explored the effects of high and low-density housing developments on forest-dwelling mammals. Based on habitat characteristics, we expected a gradual decline in species abundance across forest-urban edges and an increased decline rate in higher contrast edges. We surveyed arboreal mammals in sites of high and low housing density along 600 m transects that spanned urban areas and areas turn on adjacent native forest. We also surveyed forest controls to test whether edge effects extended beyond our edge transects. We fitted models describing richness, total abundance and individual species abundance. Low-density housing developments provided suitable habitat for most arboreal mammals. In contrast, high-density housing developments had lower species richness, total abundance and individual species abundance, but supported the highest abundances of an urban adapter (Trichosurus vulpecula. We did not find the predicted gradual decline in species abundance. Of four species analysed, three exhibited no response to the proximity of urban boundaries, but spilled over into adjacent urban habitat to differing extents. One species (Petaurus australis had an extended negative response to urban boundaries, suggesting that urban development has impacts beyond 300 m into adjacent forest. Our empirical work demonstrates that high-density housing developments have negative effects on both community and species level responses, except for one urban adapter. We developed a new predictive model of edge effects based on our results and the literature. To predict animal responses across edges, our framework integrates for first time: (1 habitat quality/preference, (2 species response with the proximity to the adjacent habitat, and (3 spillover extent/sensitivity to adjacent habitat boundaries. This

The Cultural Ecology Protection and Management of Urban Forests in China

OpenAIRE

ZHANG, Ying; SONG, Weiming; CHEN, Ke; GUO, Chunjing

2013-01-01

Forests have economic, ecological, social and cultural functions. Forests Cultural ecology, the counterpart of forest ecology， is the integration of human spirit formed on the basis of natural forest and living systems. In recent years, China's urbanization rate has increased from 28% in 1993 to 45.68% in 2008, and ecological protection of urban forest has made great progress, but insufficient attention was paid to the forest cultural ecology protection and the relevant regulatory was not w...

Current net ecosystem exchange of CO2 in a young mixed forest: any heritage from the previous ecosystem?

Science.gov (United States)

Violette, Aurélie; Heinesch, Bernard; Erpicum, Michel; Carnol, Monique; Aubinet, Marc; François, Louis

2013-04-01

For 15 years, networks of flux towers have been developed to determine accurate carbon balance with the eddy-covariance method and determine if forests are sink or source of carbon. However, for prediction of the evolution of carbon cycle and climate, major uncertainties remain on the ecosystem respiration (Reco, which includes the respiration of above ground part of trees, roots respiration and mineralization of the soil organic matter), the gross primary productivity (GPP) and their difference, the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of forests. These uncertainties are consequences of spatial and inter-annual variability, driven by previous and current climatic conditions, as well as by the particular history of the site (management, diseases, etc.). In this study we focus on the carbon cycle in two mixed forests in the Belgian Ardennes. The first site, Vielsalm, is a mature stand mostly composed of beeches (Fagus sylvatica) and douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) from 80 to 100 years old. The second site, La Robinette, was covered before 1995 with spruces. After an important windfall and a clear cutting, the site was replanted, between 1995 and 2000, with spruces (Piceas abies) and deciduous species (mostly Betula pendula, Aulnus glutinosa and Salix aurita). The challenge here is to highlight how initial conditions can influence the current behavior of the carbon cycle in a growing stand compared to a mature one, where initial conditions are supposed to be forgotten. A modeling approach suits particularly well for sensitivity tests and estimation of the temporal lag between an event and the ecosystem response. We use the forest ecosystem model ASPECTS (Rasse et al., Ecological Modelling 141, 35-52, 2001). This model predicts long-term forest growth by calculating, over time, hourly NEE. It was developed and already validated on the Vielsalm forest. Modelling results are confronted to eddy-covariance data on both sites from 2006 to 2011. The main difference between both

Trading Natural Riparian Forests for Urban Shelterbelt Plantations—A Sustainability Assessment of the Kökyar Protection Forest in NW China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siegmund Missall

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Cities at the fringe of the Taklimakan desert in NW China are prone to dust and sand storms with serious consequences for human well-being. The Kökyar Protection Forest was established in the 1980s as an ecological engineering project with the intent of protecting the city of Aksu, NW China, from these impacts. It is designed as a combination of poplar shelterbelts and orchards, irrigated by river water from the Aksu River, the main tributary of the Tarim River. Prevalent literature describes it as an afforestation project for combatting desertification with manifold positive effects for the economic, social, and environmental dimension of sustainable development. This paper sets out to challenge these claims by a sustainability assessment in which the plantation is examined from a broader perspective, embedding it to the wider context of social and environmental problems in South Xinjiang. Methods comprise evapotranspiration calculations, interviews, a socioeconomic household survey, stakeholder dialogues, and literature research. Results affirm its economic sustainability, but see a mixed record for the social sphere. From the nature conservation point of view, it has to be classified as unsustainable because its high irrigation water consumption results in the downstream desiccation and desertification of natural riparian forests along the Tarim River, causing a forest loss in the downstream area twice the size of the forest gain in the upstream area. There is a trade-off between artificial shelterbelt plantations for urban ecosystem services on the one hand side, and natural riparian forests and their biodiversity on the other hand side. The paper recommends restricting agricultural extension, and using locally adapted less water consuming agroforestry schemes to protect urban dwellers from dust stress.

Biogeochemical modelling vs. tree-ring data - comparison of forest ecosystem productivity estimates

Science.gov (United States)

Zorana Ostrogović Sever, Maša; Barcza, Zoltán; Hidy, Dóra; Paladinić, Elvis; Kern, Anikó; Marjanović, Hrvoje

2017-04-01

Forest ecosystems are sensitive to environmental changes as well as human-induce disturbances, therefore process-based models with integrated management modules represent valuable tool for estimating and forecasting forest ecosystem productivity under changing conditions. Biogeochemical model Biome-BGC simulates carbon, nitrogen and water fluxes, and it is widely used for different terrestrial ecosystems. It was modified and parameterised by many researchers in the past to meet the specific local conditions. In this research, we used recently published improved version of the model Biome-BGCMuSo (BBGCMuSo), with multilayer soil module and integrated management module. The aim of our research is to validate modelling results of forest ecosystem productivity (NPP) from BBGCMuSo model with observed productivity estimated from an extensive dataset of tree-rings. The research was conducted in two distinct forest complexes of managed Pedunculate oak in SE Europe (Croatia), namely Pokupsko basin and Spačva basin. First, we parameterized BBGCMuSo model at a local level using eddy-covariance (EC) data from Jastrebarsko EC site. Parameterized model was used for the assessment of productivity on a larger scale. Results of NPP assessment with BBGCMuSo are compared with NPP estimated from tree ring data taken from trees on over 100 plots in both forest complexes. Keywords: Biome-BGCMuSo, forest productivity, model parameterization, NPP, Pedunculate oak

Nitrogen Dynamics in European Forest Ecosystems: Considerations regarding Anthropogenic Nitrogen Depositions

OpenAIRE

Agren, G.I.; Kauppi, P.

1983-01-01

This study deals with the nutrient cycle of forest ecosystems over large geographic regions in Europe as affected by nitrogen deposition. The view is taken that the nitrogen cycle of a forest ecosystem has a maximum capacity for circulating nitrogen. Two different cases are defined: case (1) in which the nutrient cycle functions below its maximum capacity, and case (2) in which the circulation operates at the maximum level.

Social and Policy Aspects of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Forests of Belgrade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivana Živojinović

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Background and Purpose: Climate change has an impact on economic and natural systems as well as human health. These impacts are particularly visible in urbanised areas. Urban forests, which are one of the main natural features of the cities, are threatened by climate change. Generally, the role of forests in combating climate change is widely recognised and its significance is recognised also in urban areas. However, appropriate responses to climate change are usually lacking in their management. Climate change adaptation in relation to urban forests has been studied less often in comparison to climate change mitigation. Adaptive capacity of forests to climate change consists of adaptive capacity of forests as an ecological system and adaptive capacity of related socio-economic factors. The latter determines the capacity of a system and its actors to implement planned actions. This paper studies social and policy aspects of adaptation processes in urban forests of Belgrade. Materials and Methods: For the purpose of this study content analysis of urban forest policy and management documents was applied. Furthermore, in-depth interviews with urban forest managers and Q-methodology surveys with urban forestry stakeholders were conducted. Triangulation of these data is used to assure validity of results. Results: The results show weak integration of climate change issues in urban forest policy and management documents, as well as weak responses by managers. A comprehensive and systematic approach to this challenge does not exist. Three perspectives towards climate change are distinguished: (I ‘sceptics’ - do not perceive climate change as a challenge, (II ‘general-awareness perspective’ - aware of climate change issues but without concrete concerns toward urban forests, (III ‘management-oriented perspective’ - highlights specific challenges related to urban forest management. Awareness of urban forest managers and stakeholders towards

[The concentration and distribution of 137Cs in soils of forest and agricultural ecosystems of Tula Region].

Science.gov (United States)

Lipatov, D N; Shcheglov, A I; Tsvetnova, O B

2007-01-01

The paper deals with a comparative study of 137Cs contamination in forest, old arable and cultivated soils of Tula Region. Initial interception of Chernobyl derived 137Cs is higher in forest ecosystems: oak-forest > birch-forest > pine-forest > agricultural ecosystems. Vertical migration of 137Cs in deeper layers of soils was intensive in agricultural ecosystems: cultivated soils > old arable soils > birch-forest soils > oak-forest soils > pine-forest soils. In study have been evaluated spatial variability of 137Cs in soil and asymmetrical distribution, that is a skew to the right. Spatial heterogeneity of 137Cs in agricultural soils is much lower than in forest soils. For cultivated soil are determined the rate of resuspension, which equal to 6.1 x 10(-4) day(-1). For forest soils are described the 137Cs concentration in litter of different ecosystems. The role of main accumulation and barrier of 137Cs retain higher layers of soils (horizon A1(A1E) in forest, horizon Ap in agricultural ecosystems) in long-term forecast after Chernobyl accident.

Coupled urbanization and agricultural ecosystem services in Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Zone.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Z X; Li, J; Zhang, W

2016-08-01

Ecosystems offer material and environmental support for human habitation and development in those areas of the earth where people choose to live. However, urbanization is an inexorable trend of human social development and threatens the health of those ecosystems inhabited by humans. This study calculates the values of NPP (net primary productivity), carbon sequestration, water interception, soil conservation, and agricultural production in the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Zone. At the same time, we combined DMSP/OLS (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Line Scanner) night lights remote sensing data and statistical data to analyze the level of urbanization. Quantitative analysis was performed on the interactions between the ecosystem service functions and urbanization based on the calculations of their coupled coordination degrees. The results were the following: (1) The values of NPP, carbon sequestration, and agricultural production showed a trend of increase. However, water interception decreased before increasing, while soil conservation showed the reverse trend; (2) Urbanization levels in the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Zone for the last 10 years have proceeded at a fast pace with comprehensive promotion; and (3) Coupled and coupled coordination degrees between urbanization and ecosystem services show increasing trends. This research can provide a theoretical basis for the region's rapid economic development in the balance.

The experimental design of the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project

Science.gov (United States)

Steven L. Sheriff; Shuoqiong. He

1997-01-01

The Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) is an experiment that examines the effects of three forest management practices on the forest community. MOFEP is designed as a randomized complete block design using nine sites divided into three blocks. Treatments of uneven-aged, even-aged, and no-harvest management were randomly assigned to sites within each block...

Forest Ecosystem Processes at the Watershed Scale: Ecosystem services, feedback and evolution in developing mountainous catchments

Science.gov (United States)

Band, Larry

2010-05-01

Mountain watersheds provide significant ecosystem services both locally and for surrounding regions, including the provision of freshwater, hydropower, carbon sequestration, habitat, forest products and recreational/aesthetic opportunities. The hydrologic connectivity along hillslopes in sloping terrain provides an upslope subsidy of water and nutrients to downslope ecosystem patches, producing characteristic ecosystem patterns of vegetation density and type, and soil biogeochemical cycling. Recent work suggests that optimal patterns of forest cover evolve along these flowpaths which maximize net primary productivity and carbon sequestration at the hillslope to catchment scale. These watersheds are under significant pressure from potential climate change, changes in forest management, increasing population and development, and increasing demand for water export. As water balance and flowpaths are altered by shifting weather patterns and new development, the spatial distribution and coupling of water, carbon and nutrient cycling will spur the evolution of different ecosystem patterns. These issues have both theoretical and practical implications for the coupling of water, carbon and nutrient cycling at the landscape level, and the potential to manage watersheds for bundled ecosystem services. If the spatial structure of the ecosystem spontaneously adjusts to maximize landscape level use of limiting resources, there may be trade-offs in the level of services provided. The well known carbon-for-water tradeoff reflects the growth of forests to maximize carbon uptake, but also transpiration which limits freshwater availability in many biomes. We provide examples of the response of bundled ecosystem services to climate and land use change in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of the United States. These mountains have very high net primary productivity, biodiversity and water yields, and provide significant freshwater resources to surrounding regions. There has been a

Assemblages of braconidae (Hymenoptera) at agricultural and secondary forest ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Razali, Rabibah; Din, Abdullah Muhaimin Mohammad; Yaakop, Salmah

2016-11-01

Braconids are parasitoid insects which parasitize other insects by injecting their eggs into the larvae and eventually killing the hosts. Due to this character, braconids play an important role in stabilizing the natural and human-made environment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diversity and distribution of braconids in two ecosystems. Nine Malaise traps were installed in each ecosystem for 30 days at five sampling sites, namely Bukit Rupa (BR), Bukit Fraser (BF), Ladang Zamrud (LZ), Felda Lui Muda (FLM) and Cherating (Ch). Samples were collected and kept in 75% alcohol for identification process. Two types of ecosystem were selected namely forest (secondary forest) and agricultural (oil palm plantation, star fruit orchard) ecosystems. A total of 1201 individuals were collected in 18 subfamilies and 137 morphospecies. From the results, BR showed the highest H', as it was a natural habitat for the braconids. FLM and LZ also showed high H' values, while Ch was the lowest. Based on the cluster analysis, the clade was divided into two groups; the oil palm plantation (LZ, FLM) and forest ecosystem (BF, BR). Ch was considered an outgroup because the braconid spesies found there were specific to Bactocera spp. Based on the rarefaction curve, LZ had the most stable curve compared to the others due to high sample size.

Disturbances catalyze the adaptation of forest ecosystems to changing climate conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Thom, Dominik; Rammer, Werner; Seidl, Rupert

2017-01-01

The rates of anthropogenic climate change substantially exceed those at which forest ecosystems - dominated by immobile, long-lived organisms - are able to adapt. The resulting maladaptation of forests has potentially detrimental effects on ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, as many forest-dwelling species are highly dependent on the prevailing tree species, a delayed response of the latter to a changing climate can contribute to an extinction debt and mask climate-induced biodiversity loss. However, climate change will likely also intensify forest disturbances. Here, we tested the hypothesis that disturbances foster the reorganization of ecosystems and catalyze the adaptation of forest composition to climate change. Our specific objectives were (i) to quantify the rate of autonomous forest adaptation to climate change, (ii) examine the role of disturbance in the adaptation process, and (iii) investigate spatial differences in climate-induced species turnover in an unmanaged mountain forest landscape (Kalkalpen National Park, Austria). Simulations with a process-based forest landscape model were performed for 36 unique combinations of climate and disturbance scenarios over 1000 years. We found that climate change strongly favored European beech and oak species (currently prevailing in mid- to low-elevation areas), with novel species associations emerging on the landscape. Yet, it took between 357 and 706 years before the landscape attained a dynamic equilibrium with the climate system. Disturbances generally catalyzed adaptation and decreased the time needed to attain equilibrium by up to 211 years. However, while increasing disturbance frequency and severity accelerated adaptation, increasing disturbance size had the opposite effect. Spatial analyses suggest that particularly the lowest and highest elevation areas will be hotspots of future species change. We conclude that the growing maladaptation of forests to climate and the long lead times of autonomous

Assessing impacts of intensified biomass production and biodiversity protection on ecosystem services provided by European forests

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verkerk, P.J.; Mavsar, R.; Giergiczny, M.; Lindner, M.; Edwards, D.; Schelhaas, M.J.

2014-01-01

To develop viable strategies for intensifying the use of forest biomass and for increasing forest protection, impacts on ecosystem services need to be assessed. We investigated the biophysical and economic impacts of increased forest biomass production and biodiversity protection on forest ecosystem

Urban Forest Revolution

Science.gov (United States)

Kucherova, Anastasia; Narvaez, Hana

2018-03-01

The tendency of the last 100 years shows the radical change of the proportion between urbanized areas and those dedicated to wild nature and agriculture. Whether we agree with it or not, cities are our future. Also it is confirmed by the annual reports of UNEP that cities are responsible for 75% of CO2 emissions. Among negative consequences of the uncontrolled urban sprawl on the ecology there are: greenhouse effect leading to global warming; increasingly growing number of people affected by respiratory diseases due to the smog; drastic reduction of the biodiversity. The environmental impact and the look of the city of the future is in the hands of the architects of today. At Stefano Boeri Architetti we are exploring one of the possible way of reducing the buildings' ecological footprint and improving the quality of air in cities. It is called "Vertical Foresting", an evolution of the revolutionary idea of bringing the trees to the sky, far beyond its first realization - it became a philosophy, a new lifestyle. But first of all, Vertical Forest is a big question mark, addressed to the global community, to the politicians and common people, asking each and every one living in our planet - what can you do for our common home?

Forest Ecosystem services and development pressures

Science.gov (United States)

David N. Wear

2006-01-01

Ecosystem services from forests on private lands are often under-produced because landowners bear the cost of restoring, preserving, and managing their lands to produce ecological services that benefit all members of the community or larger society. Over the last two decades, a variety of federal and state programs have applied a combination of regulations, extension,...

Increased forest ecosystem carbon and nitrogen storage from nitrogen rich bedrock.

Science.gov (United States)

Morford, Scott L; Houlton, Benjamin Z; Dahlgren, Randy A

2011-08-31

Nitrogen (N) limits the productivity of many ecosystems worldwide, thereby restricting the ability of terrestrial ecosystems to offset the effects of rising atmospheric CO(2) emissions naturally. Understanding input pathways of bioavailable N is therefore paramount for predicting carbon (C) storage on land, particularly in temperate and boreal forests. Paradigms of nutrient cycling and limitation posit that new N enters terrestrial ecosystems solely from the atmosphere. Here we show that bedrock comprises a hitherto overlooked source of ecologically available N to forests. We report that the N content of soils and forest foliage on N-rich metasedimentary rocks (350-950 mg N kg(-1)) is elevated by more than 50% compared with similar temperate forest sites underlain by N-poor igneous parent material (30-70 mg N kg(-1)). Natural abundance N isotopes attribute this difference to rock-derived N: (15)N/(14)N values for rock, soils and plants are indistinguishable in sites underlain by N-rich lithology, in marked contrast to sites on N-poor substrates. Furthermore, forests associated with N-rich parent material contain on average 42% more carbon in above-ground tree biomass and 60% more carbon in the upper 30 cm of the soil than similar sites underlain by N-poor rocks. Our results raise the possibility that bedrock N input may represent an important and overlooked component of ecosystem N and C cycling elsewhere.

Towards integration of research and monitoring at forest ecosystems in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Danielewska, A; Paoletti, E.; Clarke, N.

2013-01-01

identified. Thereafter, the access to the network database, available quality assurance/quality control procedures and publication were described. Finally, the so-called “Supersites” concept, defined as a “highly instrumented research infrastructure, for both research and monitoring of soil-plant-atmosphere...... interactions” was discussed. Main results: The result of the survey indicate that the vast majority of the Action FP0903 countries participate in the International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forest (ICP Forest). The multi-disciplinary International...... Cooperative Programme on Integrated Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Ecosystems (ICPIM) is the second most widespread forest programme. Research highlights: To fully understand biochemical cycles in forest ecosystems, long-term monitoring is needed. Hence, a network of “Supersites”, is proposed...

Ecosystem-Level Carbon Stocks in Costa Rican Mangrove Forests

Science.gov (United States)

Cifuentes, M.

2012-12-01

Tropical mangroves provide a wide variety of ecosystem services, including atmospheric carbon sequestration. Because of their high rates of carbon accumulation, the large expected size of their total stocks (from 2 to 5 times greater than those of upland tropical forests), and the alarming rates at which they are being converted to other uses (releasing globally from 0.02 to 0.12 Pg C yr-1), mangroves are receiving increasing attention as additional tools to mitigate climate change. However, data on whole ecosystem-level carbon in tropical mangroves is limited. Here I present the first estimate of ecosystem level carbon stocks in mangrove forests of Central America. I established 28, 125 m-long, sampling transects along the 4 main rivers draining the Térraba-Sierpe National Wetland in the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica. This area represents 39% of all remaining mangroves in the country (48300 ha). A circular nested plot was placed every 25 m along each transect. Carbon stocks of standing trees, regeneration, the herbaceous layer, litter, and downed wood were measured following internationally-developed methods compatible with IPCC "Good Practice Guidelines". In addition, total soil carbon stocks were determined down to 1 m depth. Together, these carbon estimates represent the ecosystem-carbon stocks of these forests. The average aboveground carbon stocks were 72.5 ± 3.2 MgC ha-1 (range: 9 - 241 MgC ha-1), consistent with results elsewhere in the world. Between 74 and 92% of the aboveground carbon is stored in trees ≥ 5cm dbh. I found a significant correlation between basal area of trees ≥ 5cm dbh and total aboveground carbon. Soil carbon stocks to 1 m depth ranged between 141 y 593 MgC ha-1. Ecosystem-level carbon stocks ranged from 391 MgC ha-1 to 438 MgC ha-1, with a slight increase from south to north locations. Soil carbon stocks represent an average 76% of total ecosystem carbon stocks, while trees represent only 20%. These Costa Rican mangroves

Effect of ecosystems substitutions and CO2 increase of the atmosphere on the microbial ecosystems of forests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, F.

2007-01-01

Biological diversity is often exclusively considered at the level of plants and animals, whereas the bulk of global biodiversity is in fact at the microbial level. Although it is clear that the ecology of our planet is driven by microbial ecosystems, we are severely hampered by our limited understanding of the diversity and function of such microbial ecosystems. In the present project, teams in the disciplines of geochemistry, soil microbiology, genomics and ecosystem processes are assembled to study the relationship between environmental change, land use changes, biodiversity, and functioning of forest ecosystems. The network has a strong focus on developing and applying biochemical and genotyping methodologies to address key scientific issues in soil microbial ecology. These include assessing the impact of environmental- and land use changes on microbial diversity and function and exploring the evolutionary and mechanistic links between biological diversity and ecosystem function. In the present study, we have shown that: (1) The native mixed forest showed the highest microbial diversity (2) The mono specific plantations of tree species (e.g., oak, beech, pine, spruce) strikingly alter genetic and functional diversities of soil bacterial and fungal species. (3) Bacterial denitrification rates were dramatically modified by the planted species. Only by taking into account the impact of forest management on below-ground microbial diversity can one hope to get a full ecosystem-based understanding, and this must be addressed via modelling in order to provide relevant and useful information for conservation and policy making. (author)

Cities as Novel Biomes;Recognizing Urban Ecosystem Services as Anthropogenic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie ePincetl

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Urban Ecosystem Science is now an established science, arising along side the historic shift of humans to becoming in majority urban dwellers. In this Perspective I suggest there is a need to develop a new framework for UES as embedded in distinct urban biomes that can be classified by city-type and typologized. UES are largely the artifact of human decision making from what to plant where, to determining the urban infrastructure type in which UES will be placed. Developing urban typologies by climate zone, level of development, size and history will better enable the understanding of UES. I attempt to show the rise of the importance of nature, and of urban nature following the development of industrial city, and the importance of human intent in creating these urban ecosystems over time. If humans choose to manage cities through increasing UES, this will require coupled shifts, the shift in rules and regulations, goals and processes and shifts in urban form, infrastructure and function – socio-technical-ecological changes – driven by human decision-making. Such efforts will vary widely by city -- by urban biome.

Forest type effects on the retention of radiocesium in organic layers of forest ecosystems affected by the Fukushima nuclear accident

Science.gov (United States)

Koarashi, Jun; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Matsunaga, Takeshi; Sanada, Yukihisa

2016-12-01

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster caused serious radiocesium (137Cs) contamination of forest ecosystems over a wide area. Forest-floor organic layers play a key role in controlling the overall bioavailability of 137Cs in forest ecosystems; however, there is still an insufficient understanding of how forest types influence the retention capability of 137Cs in organic layers in Japanese forest ecosystems. Here we conducted plot-scale investigations on the retention of 137Cs in organic layers at two contrasting forest sites in Fukushima. In a deciduous broad-leaved forest, approximately 80% of the deposited 137Cs migrated to mineral soil located below the organic layers within two years after the accident, with an ecological half-life of approximately one year. Conversely, in an evergreen coniferous forest, more than half of the deposited 137Cs remained in the organic layers, with an ecological half-life of 2.1 years. The observed retention behavior can be well explained by the tree phenology and accumulation of 137Cs associated with litter materials with different degrees of degradation in the organic layers. Spatial and temporal patterns of gamma-ray dose rates depended on the retention capability. Our results demonstrate that enhanced radiation risks last longer in evergreen coniferous forests than in deciduous broad-leaved forests.

The effects of habitat edges and trampling intensity on vegetation in urban forests

OpenAIRE

Hamberg, Leena

2009-01-01

Although changes in urban forest vegetation have been documented in previous Finnish studies, the reasons for these changes have not been studied explicitly. Especially, the consequences of forest fragmentation, i.e. the fact that forest edges receive more solar radiation, wind and air-borne nutrients than interiors have been ignored. In order to limit the change in urban forest vegetation we need to know why it occurs. Therefore, the effects of edges and recreational use of urban forests on ...

Ecosystem consequences of tree monodominance for nitrogen cycling in lowland tropical forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Brookshire, E N Jack; Thomas, Steven A

2013-01-01

Understanding how plant functional traits shape nutrient limitation and cycling on land is a major challenge in ecology. This is especially true for lowland forest ecosystems of the tropics which can be taxonomically and functionally diverse and rich in bioavailable nitrogen (N). In many tropical regions, however, diverse forests occur side-by-side with monodominant forest (one species >60% of canopy); the long-term biogeochemical consequences of tree monodominance are unclear. Particularly uncertain is whether the monodominant plant-soil system modifies nutrient balance at the ecosystem level. Here, we use chemical and stable isotope techniques to examine N cycling in old-growth Mora excelsa and diverse watershed rainforests on the island of Trinidad. Across 26 small watershed forests and 4 years, we show that Mora monodominance reduces bioavailable nitrate in the plant-soil system to exceedingly low levels which, in turn, results in small hydrologic and gaseous N losses at the watershed-level relative to adjacent N-rich diverse forests. Bioavailable N in soils and streams remained low and remarkably stable through time in Mora forests; N levels in diverse forests, on the other hand, showed high sensitivity to seasonal and inter-annual rainfall variation. Total mineral N losses from diverse forests exceeded inputs from atmospheric deposition, consistent with N saturation, while losses from Mora forests did not, suggesting N limitation. Our measures suggest that this difference cannot be explained by environmental factors but instead by low internal production and efficient retention of bioavailable N in the Mora plant-soil system. These results demonstrate ecosystem-level consequences of a tree species on the N cycle opposite to cases where trees enhance ecosystem N supply via N2 fixation and suggest that, over time, Mora monodominance may generate progressive N draw-down in the plant-soil system.

Ecosystem consequences of tree monodominance for nitrogen cycling in lowland tropical forest.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E N Jack Brookshire

Full Text Available Understanding how plant functional traits shape nutrient limitation and cycling on land is a major challenge in ecology. This is especially true for lowland forest ecosystems of the tropics which can be taxonomically and functionally diverse and rich in bioavailable nitrogen (N. In many tropical regions, however, diverse forests occur side-by-side with monodominant forest (one species >60% of canopy; the long-term biogeochemical consequences of tree monodominance are unclear. Particularly uncertain is whether the monodominant plant-soil system modifies nutrient balance at the ecosystem level. Here, we use chemical and stable isotope techniques to examine N cycling in old-growth Mora excelsa and diverse watershed rainforests on the island of Trinidad. Across 26 small watershed forests and 4 years, we show that Mora monodominance reduces bioavailable nitrate in the plant-soil system to exceedingly low levels which, in turn, results in small hydrologic and gaseous N losses at the watershed-level relative to adjacent N-rich diverse forests. Bioavailable N in soils and streams remained low and remarkably stable through time in Mora forests; N levels in diverse forests, on the other hand, showed high sensitivity to seasonal and inter-annual rainfall variation. Total mineral N losses from diverse forests exceeded inputs from atmospheric deposition, consistent with N saturation, while losses from Mora forests did not, suggesting N limitation. Our measures suggest that this difference cannot be explained by environmental factors but instead by low internal production and efficient retention of bioavailable N in the Mora plant-soil system. These results demonstrate ecosystem-level consequences of a tree species on the N cycle opposite to cases where trees enhance ecosystem N supply via N2 fixation and suggest that, over time, Mora monodominance may generate progressive N draw-down in the plant-soil system.

Modelling carbon cycle of agro-forest ecosystems in Lombardy (Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colombo R

2009-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper we present a methodology for the estimation of Gross Primary Production (GPP, Net Primary Production (NPP and Net Ecosystem Production (NEP for the main agricultural and forest ecosystems of the Lombardia Region (Italy. The MOD17 model was parameterized according to the different agro-forestry ecosystems and applied at regional scale by using satellite data with a spatial resolution of 250m. The high spatial resolution along with fine classification agro-forestry ecosystems has allowed to accurately analyze the carbon budget of an extremely fragmented and complex environment such as the Lombardia Region. Modeling results showed the role of the forests in the carbon budget at regional scale and represent important information layer for the spatial analysis and for inferring the inter-annual variability of carbon sequestration due to impacts of extreme events and recent climate change (e.g., drought, heat wave, flooding, fires.

Wildfires, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity in Tropical Dry Forest in India

Science.gov (United States)

Schmerbeck, Joachim; Fiener, Peter

2015-08-01

This review is intended to contribute to the understanding of the interlinkage between wildfire in India's tropical dry forest (TDF) and selected ecosystem services (ES), namely forest provisioning and water regulating services, as well as biodiversity. TDF covers approximately 146,000 km2 (4.4 %) of India, whereas according to the MODIS fire product about 2200 km2 (1.4 %) burns per year. As studies on wildfire effects upon ESs and biodiversity in Indian TDFs are rare we partly transferred findings from other (dry) forest areas to the environmental situation in India. In India (intentionally lit) wildfires have a very important connection to local livelihoods and the availability of non-wood forest products. Very important adverse long-term effects are the deterioration of forest ecosystems and soil degradation. The potential for TDF to regulate hydrological cycles is expected to be greater in the absence of fire than with it. A general judgment on the effect of fire on biodiversity is difficult as it depends on the community and species involved but a loss of biodiversity under regular burnings is apparent. Consequently, forest managers need sound knowledge regarding the interplay of wildfires and ecosystem behavior in general and more specific knowledge regarding the effects on taxa being considered for conservation efforts. Generally, much more research is needed to understand the trade-offs between the short-term benefits gained from forest provisioning services and long-term adverse effects.

Wildfires, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity in Tropical Dry Forest in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmerbeck, Joachim; Fiener, Peter

2015-08-01

This review is intended to contribute to the understanding of the interlinkage between wildfire in India's tropical dry forest (TDF) and selected ecosystem services (ES), namely forest provisioning and water regulating services, as well as biodiversity. TDF covers approximately 146,000 km(2) (4.4%) of India, whereas according to the MODIS fire product about 2200 km(2) (1.4%) burns per year. As studies on wildfire effects upon ESs and biodiversity in Indian TDFs are rare we partly transferred findings from other (dry) forest areas to the environmental situation in India. In India (intentionally lit) wildfires have a very important connection to local livelihoods and the availability of non-wood forest products. Very important adverse long-term effects are the deterioration of forest ecosystems and soil degradation. The potential for TDF to regulate hydrological cycles is expected to be greater in the absence of fire than with it. A general judgment on the effect of fire on biodiversity is difficult as it depends on the community and species involved but a loss of biodiversity under regular burnings is apparent. Consequently, forest managers need sound knowledge regarding the interplay of wildfires and ecosystem behavior in general and more specific knowledge regarding the effects on taxa being considered for conservation efforts. Generally, much more research is needed to understand the trade-offs between the short-term benefits gained from forest provisioning services and long-term adverse effects.

Identifying forest lands in urban areas in the Central Hardwood Region

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas W. Birch; Rachel Riemann Hershey; Philip Kern

1997-01-01

Forests in urban areas are an important component of urban and suburban environments. They provide places for recreation and environmental education, wildlife habitat for species adapted to living near humans, contribute to general human physical and psychological health. Knowing how much and what type of forest exists in urban areas provides critical baseline data for...

Mites associated to Xylopia aromatica (Lam. Mart. (Annonaceae in urban and rural fragments of semidecidual forest

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe M. Nuvoloni

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Mites associated to Xylopia aromatica (Lam. Mart. (Annonaceae in urban and rural fragments of semidecidual forest. Native plants can shelter a great diversity of mites. Notwithstanding, the conservation of the forest fragments where the plants are located can influence the structure of the mites community. Generally, in homogenous environments the diversity is lower due to the dominance of one or a few species. In this work, we studied the mite community on Xylopia aromatica (Lam. Mart. (Annonaceae in two fragments of semidecidual forest: one on rural and other on urban area. Seven individuals of X. aromatica were monthly sampled from April 2007 to March 2008, in each of these fragments. Descriptive indexes of diversity, dominance and evenness were applied to verify the ecological patterns of the mite community, besides the Student's t-test to compare the abundance between the fragments. We collected 27,365 mites of 37 species belonging to 11 families. Calacarus sp. (Eriophyidae was the most abundant species, representing 73% of the total sampled. The abundance was greater in the urban fragment (67.7%, with the diversity index reaching only 25% of the theoretical maximum expected. Probably, these values might have been influenced by the location of this fragment in the urban area, being more homogeneous and submitted directly to the presence of atmospheric pollution. In this manner, X. aromatica is able to shelter a higher diversity of mites when inserted in preserved ecosystems, since the highest diversity of available resources allows the establishment of richer and most diverse mite community.

Faunal impact on vegetation structure and ecosystem function in mangrove forests

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cannicci, S.; Burrows, Damien; Fratini, Sara

2008-01-01

The last 20 years witnessed a real paradigm shift concerning the impact of biotic factors on ecosystem functions as well as on vegetation structure of mangrove forests. Before this small scientific revolution took place, structural aspects of mangrove forests were viewed to be the result of abiotic...... processes acting from the bottom-up, while, at ecosystem level, the outwelling hypothesis stated that mangroves primary production was removed via tidal action and carried to adjacent nearshore ecosystems where it fuelled detrital based food-webs. The sesarmid crabs were the first macrofaunal taxon...... to be considered a main actor in mangrove structuring processes, thanks to a number of studies carried out in the Indo-Pacific forests in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Following these classical papers, a number of studies on Sesarmidae feeding and burrowing ecology were carried out, which leave no doubts about...

Climate change, human communities, and forests in rural, urban, and wildland-urban interface environments

Science.gov (United States)

David N. Wear; Linda A. Joyce

2012-01-01

Human concerns about the effects of climate change on forests are related to the values that forests provide to human populations, that is, to the effects on ecosystem services derived from forests. Service values include the consumption of timber products, the regulation of climate and water quality, and aesthetic and spiritual values. Effects of climate change on...

A Evaluation of Effects on a Ecosystem and Countermeasures in accordance with Climate Change I- Forest Ecosystem

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Yong Ha; Jeon, Seong Woo; Choi, Jae Yong; Jeong Hwi Chol; Kim, Jeong Won [Korea Environment Institute, Seoul (Korea)

2000-12-01

Climate change requests a lot of changes in the existing life style and economic developing system, which form the foundation of modern culture and economic/social development. Especially, in Korea, whose economic basis is mainly dependent on fossil energy, it is expected that the change of policies on climate change have a bigger effect on many-sided fields including ecosystem than other nations. Therefore, even though all of the Government, academic organizations, and private organizations have made efforts to estimate effects of climate change and to prepare countermeasures, the focus has been on forecast and evaluation of the mutual effect between industrial/economic activities and climate change. Forecast of ecosystem change and preservation of ecosystem according to climate change is another political field to promote. However, such a field has not been promoted systematically in Korea. The Institute recognizing such a current state, as part of the policy on ecosystem preservation according to climate change, forecasted the effect on forest ecosystem, analyzed the economic effects according to the effect of forest ecosystem, and started this study to prepare the countermeasures of the Government-level. This study collected and analyzed international trend and necessary data to develop the model, which would be executed in future, and then suggested the selection and development of the model fitted to Korea. There could be differences between Institute's view and the Government/other institutes. However, such differences are caused by the different methods in capturing the effects of various ecosystems. Such various approaching methods will be of great help to estimate the correct effects and to establish the Government's policies as base data. I hope that this study cannot only be applied to analyze the effects of forest ecosystem according to climate change but contribute to enlarging the understanding of various problems according to climate

Effect of industrial pollution on behaviour of radionuclides in forest ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Outola, I.

2009-01-01

To investigate how and to what extent industrial pollution affects the behaviour of radionuclides in forest ecosystems, studies were conducted in the vicinity of two Cu-Ni smelters: one in a pine forest at Harjavalta, Finland, and the other in a spruce forest at Monchegorsk, Russia. Industrial pollution had significant effects on the distribution of radionuclides in soil horizons. With the increase in pollution towards the smelter, radionuclides were accumulated more in the litter layer because the conversion of litter into organic material was diminished due to inhibited microbial activity. As a result, the organic layer contained less radionuclides towards the smelter. The effect of industrial pollution on soil-to-plant transfer was complex. The effect varied with radionuclide, plant species and also on forest type. For 137 Cs, soil-to-plant transfer decreased significantly as industrial pollution increased in pine forest, whereas the decrease was less pronounced in spruce forest. Root uptake of 239,240 Pu by plants is extremely small, and plant contamination by resuspended soil is an important factor in considering the soil-to-plant transfer of this radionuclide. In spruce forest, more plutonium was transferred into plants when pollution load increased due to resuspension of litter particles, which contained higher concentrations of plutonium in the vicinity of the smelter. Soil-to-plant transfer of plutonium was much less affected in pine forests contaminated with industrial pollution. This research clearly indicates the sensitivity of the northern forest ecosystem to inorganic pollutants. Prediction of the soil-to-plant transfer of radionuclides in industrially polluted forest ecosystems requires detailed information on the total deposition, vertical distribution of radionuclides in soil, soil microbiological factors, other soil parameters as well as the rooting depths of the plants. (LN)

Ecosystem service value assessment in temporal and spatial scales in Dalian, China: implications for urban development policy

Science.gov (United States)

Xin, Z.; Chen, X.; Fu, G.; Li, C.

2017-12-01

Landscapes differ in their capacities to provide ecosystem good and services, which are the benefits humans obtain from nature. Valuation of ecosystem services is recognized as one effective way for improving the recognition and implementation for disposition of land resource and ecosystem protection. In this content, this study aims to reveal the changes in provision of ecosystem services induced by land use changes in both temporal and spatial scales in Dalian, China. Land use changes were firstly characterized based on Landsat TM images from 1984 to 2013. Results showed a severe increase in urban area, with an average increasing rate of 39.5%. Dry land occupied the largest portion of the total area which is mainly developed on the expenses of forest loss; meanwhile, policies of water-saving irrigation has promoted a conversion of paddy fields to dry land. Other categories including water, wetland, brush grass and salting were found to have relative small contrition to the total area. Assigning ecosystem service value (ESV) coefficient to each land use category, changes in ESV of the study area were assessed. Results indicated that the total ESV decreased by 21 billion from 1984 to 2013. Forest, dry land and water are the primary contributors. As for ecosystem functions, the regulation service is the most prominent which contributed to 60% of the total ESV, followed by support, supply and culture services. In addition, ESV changes were found to have a spatial variability, which shows a maximum decreasing rate in the central city, and a highest net value in the surrounding islands. The changes and distributions in land use pattern and ESV were further linked with the local city landscape planning, which has provided implications on city landscape policy making for sustaining the provision of ecosystem services and achieving sustainable development goals.

A review of impacts by invasive exotic plants on forest ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Kevin Devine; Songlin. Fei

2011-01-01

Many of our forest ecosystems are at risk due to the invasion of exotic invasive plant species. Invasive plant species pose numerous threats to ecosystems by decreasing biodiversity, deteriorating ecosystem processes, and degrading ecosystem services. Literature on Kentucky's most invasive exotic plant species was examined to understand their potential impacts on...

Recreational transformation of the herbaceous layer in an urban forest ecosystem of Central Podolia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. I. Blinkova

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This article examines the impact of recreational activities on herbaceous cover of forests on the example of an urban environment in Central Podolia. The features of changes in environmental conditions of ecotypes of an urban forest have been shown through the systematic, biomorphological and ecomorphic structure of the herbaceous cover, the ratio of ecological groups, changes in type of ecological strategy of species, assessment of ecological fractions valences, and phytodiversity. We found 78 species of vascular plants. The most diverse families are Asteraceae, Poaceae and Lamiaceae. The biomorphological range of phytodiversity of the intensive recreational zone is characterized by a high proportion of adventive and ruderal species, dominance of vegetative mobile species, forming of monodominant groups and disturbed distribution of all spectrum types for coenotic morphs. Perennial hemicryptophytes dominate in the spectrum of life forms. The share of therophytes increased along the gradient of recreational transformation. Unrosellate herbal plants dominate in the structure of aboveground shoots and leaf placement, plants that don’t have special modifications dominate in the structures of underground shoots. Helophytes dominated in the analysis of heliomorphic plants. Mesophytes dominated almost everywhere. The share of hydrocontrastophobes increased with a gradual removal from places of recreation. Changes in acidomorphic and nitromorphic structures of plants were not found. Types of transitional groups of ecological strategies, including CR-, CS-, and CRS-strategies prevailed. The share of patiens diminished. Exsplerents from all types of primary ecological strategies dominated. Analysis of ecological valence fractions showed that species of hemi-euryvalent and euryvalent fractions dominate among hydromorphs, hemi-euryvalent species dominate among ecogroups of scale variability humidification of soil, hemystenovalences species dominate among

Temporal dynamics of a subtropical urban forest in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2001-2010

Science.gov (United States)

J. M. Tucker Lima; C. L. Staudhammer; T. J. Brandeis; F. J. Escobedo; W. Zipperer

2013-01-01

Several studies report urban tree growth and mortality rates as well as species composition, structural dynamics, and other characteristics of urban forests in mostly temperate, inland urban areas. Temporal dynamics of urban forests in subtropical and tropical forest regions are, until now, little explored and represent a new and important direction for study and...

Methods for calculating forest ecosystem and harvested carbon with standard estimates for forest types of the United States

Science.gov (United States)

James E. Smith; Linda S. Heath; Kenneth E. Skog; Richard A. Birdsey

2006-01-01

This study presents techniques for calculating average net annual additions to carbon in forests and in forest products. Forest ecosystem carbon yield tables, representing stand-level merchantable volume and carbon pools as a function of stand age, were developed for 51 forest types within 10 regions of the United States. Separate tables were developed for...

Resilient landscapes in Mediterranean urban areas: Understanding factors influencing forest trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomao, Antonio; Quatrini, Valerio; Corona, Piermaria; Ferrara, Agostino; Lafortezza, Raffaele; Salvati, Luca

2017-07-01

Urban and peri-urban forests are recognized as basic elements for Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), as they preserve and may increase environmental quality in urbanized contexts. For this reason, the amount of forest land per inhabitant is a pivotal efficiency indicator to be considered in the sustainable governance, land management, planning and design of metropolitan areas. The present study illustrates a multivariate analysis of per-capita forest area (PFA) in mainland Attica, the urban region surrounding Athens, Greece. Attica is considered a typical case of Mediterranean urbanization where planning has not regulated urban expansion and successive waves of spontaneous growth have occurred over time. In such a context, an analysis of factors that can affect landscape changes in terms of PFA may inform effective strategies for the sustainable management of socio-ecological local systems in light of the NBS perspective. A total of 26 indicators were collected per decade at the municipal scale in the study area with the aim to identify the factors most closely associated to the amount of PFA. Indicators of urban morphology and functions have been considered together with environmental and topographical variables. In Attica, PFA showed a progressive decrease between 1960 and 2010. In particular, PFA progressively declined (1980, 1990) along fringe areas surrounding Athens and in peri-urban districts experiencing dispersed expansion of residential settlements. Distance from core cities and from the seacoast, typical urban functions (e.g., multiple use of buildings and per capita built-up area) and percentage of agricultural land-use in each municipality are the variables most associated with high PFA. In recent years, some municipalities have shown an expansion of forest cover, mainly due to land abandonment and forest recolonization. Findings from this case study have allowed us to identify priorities for NBS at metropolitan level aimed at promoting more sustainable

The Moving Edge: Perspectives on the Southern Wildland-Urban Interface

Science.gov (United States)

Martha C. Monroe; Alison W. Bowers; L. Annie Hermansen

2003-01-01

To better understand the wildland-urban interface across the 13 Southern States and to identify issues to be covered in the USDA Forest Service report, "Human Influences on Forest Ecosystems: The Southern Wildland-Urban Interface Assessment," 12 focus groups were conducted in 6 of the Southern States in May and June 2000. The groups were guided through a...

Valuing Urban Forests: The Application of Contingent Valuation ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Choice-Academy

1988-01-01

Jan 1, 1988 ... to elicit willingness to pay (WTP) values from the respondents as a measure of value for the conservation of forest trees ... gap often predisposed urban forests and green spaces to .... income, education gender and length of.

Analysis of litter mesofauna of Poltava region forest ecosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. S. Komarov

2007-08-01

Full Text Available On the basis of research of litter mesofauna of 48 forest biogeocenoses the regularities of invertebrate communities formation on the species and families levels are determined. The degree of similarity of test plots are analysed by taxonomic structure of the communities. The factors of the litter invertebrate communities formation in forest ecosystems of the Poltava region are revealed.

A new estimate of carbon for Bangladesh forest ecosystems with their spatial distribution and REDD+ implications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mukul, Sharif A.; Biswas, Shekhar R.; Rashid, A. Z. M. Manzoor

2014-01-01

In tropical developing countries, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is becoming an important mechanism for conserving forests and protecting biodiversity. A key prerequisite for any successful REDD+ project, however, is obtaining baseline estimates of carbon...... in forest ecosystems. Using available published data, we provide here a new and more reliable estimate of carbon in Bangladesh forest ecosystems, along with their geo-spatial distribution. Our study reveals great variability in carbon density in different forests and higher carbon stock in the mangrove...... ecosystems, followed by in hill forests and in inland Sal (Shorea robusta) forests in the country. Due to its coverage, degraded nature, and diverse stakeholder engagement, the hill forests of Bangladesh can be used to obtain maximum REDD+ benefits. Further research on carbon and biodiversity in under...

Forest owners' willingness to accept contracts for ecosystem service provision is sensitive to additionality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vedel, Suzanne Elizabeth; Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl; Thorsen, Bo Jellesmark

2015-01-01

A key prerequisite to ensure that payment for ecosystem services is effective is that the management measures landowners are paid to undertake are in fact additional to the status quo and hence bring about a change in provision. We investigated Danish forest owners' preferences for conditional...... owners may already provide some of these, e.g., if they derive private benefits from them, in which case additionality becomes an issue. This study investigates the link between forest owners' current management and their willingness to accept (WTA) payments for providing specific ecosystem services...... contracts for the provision of ecosystem services in Natura 2000 policies in a sample covering 12.5% of the total private forest area. This involves allowing old trees to decay naturally, setting aside forest areas, accepting a fixed percentage of broadleaves and increasing access for the public. Forest...

Producing edible landscapes in Seattle's urban forest

Science.gov (United States)

Rebecca McLain; Melissa Poe; Patrick T. Hurley; Joyce Lecompte-Mastenbrook; Marla R. Emery

2012-01-01

Over the next decades, green infrastructure initiatives such as tree planting campaigns, and ecological restoration will dramatically change the species composition, species distribution and structure of urban forests across the United States. These impending changes are accompanied by a demand for urban public spaces where people can engage in practices such as...

Ecosystem carbon stocks in Pinus palustris forests

Science.gov (United States)

Lisa Samuelson; Tom Stokes; John R. Butnor; Kurt H. Johnsen; Carlos A. Gonzalez-Benecke; Pete Anderson; Jason Jackson; Lorenzo Ferrari; Tim A. Martin; Wendell P. Cropper

2014-01-01

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) restoration in the southeastern United States offers opportunities for carbon (C) sequestration. Ecosystem C stocks are not well understood in longleaf pine forests, which are typically of low density and maintained by prescribed fire. The objectives of this research were to develop allometric equations for...

TOWARDS THE LEGAL RECOGNITION AND GOVERNANCE OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN MOZAMBIQUE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S Norfolk

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Within the context of Mozambique, this paper examines the state of forest ecosystem services, the dependency of the population on these systems for their well-being, if an adaptive governance regime is being created which will ensure the resilience of the forest ecosystem services including the legal framework, the institutions operating within this framework, the tools available and their functioning, and how cooperative governance is operating.

Newtonian boreal forest ecology: The Scots pine ecosystem as an example.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pertti Hari

Full Text Available Isaac Newton's approach to developing theories in his book Principia Mathematica proceeds in four steps. First, he defines various concepts, second, he formulates axioms utilising the concepts, third, he mathematically analyses the behaviour of the system defined by the concepts and axioms obtaining predictions and fourth, he tests the predictions with measurements. In this study, we formulated our theory of boreal forest ecosystems, called NewtonForest, following the four steps introduced by Newton. The forest ecosystem is a complicated entity and hence we needed altogether 27 concepts to describe the material and energy flows in the metabolism of trees, ground vegetation and microbes in the soil, and to describe the regularities in tree structure. Thirtyfour axioms described the most important features in the behaviour of the forest ecosystem. We utilised numerical simulations in the analysis of the behaviour of the system resulting in clear predictions that could be tested with field data. We collected retrospective time series of diameters and heights for test material from 6 stands in southern Finland and five stands in Estonia. The numerical simulations succeeded to predict the measured diameters and heights, providing clear corroboration with our theory.

Exploring the willingness to pay for forest ecosystem services by residents of the Veneto Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paola Gatto

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Forests produce a wide array of goods, both private and public. The demand for forest ecosystem services is increasing in many European countries, yet there is still a scarcity of data on values at regional scale for Alpine areas. A Choice Experiment survey has been conducted in order to explore preferences, uses and the willingness of the Veneto population to pay for ecosystem services produced by regional mountain forests. The results show that willingness to pay is significant for recreation and C-sequestration but not for biodiversity conservation, landscape and other ecosystem services. These findings question the feasibility of developing market-based mechanisms in Veneto at present and cast light on the possible role of public institutions in promoting policy actions to increase the general awareness of forest-related ecosystem services.

FORECO. Countermeasures applied in forest ecosystems and their secondary effects. A review of literature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rafferty, B.; Synnot, H.

1998-01-01

The present document reports a literature review of the countermeasures applied in forest ecosystems and their secondary effects. The review has been prepared as a deliverable for the FORECO research Project. FORECO (Forest Ecosystems: Classification of Restoration Options, Considering Dose Reduction, Long-Term Ecological Quality and Economic Factors) is a project funded by the European Commission (Research Contract n. ERBIC-CT96-0202) in the frame of the Cooperation with third countries and international organizations (INCO-COPERNICUS) and coordinated by the National Environmental Protection Agency of Italy. The main aim of FORECO activities with respect to forest ecosystems is the classification of countermeasure options in different forest types, considering the balance between dose reduction, long-term ecological quality and economical factors

FORECO. Countermeasures applied in forest ecosystems and their secondary effects: a review of literature

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rafferty, B.; Synnot, H. [Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, (Ireland)

1998-12-31

The present document reports a literature review of the countermeasures applied in forest ecosystems and their secondary effects. The review has been prepared as a deliverable for the FORECO research Project. FORECO (Forest Ecosystems: Classification of Restoration Options, Considering Dose Reduction, Long-Term Ecological Quality and Economic Factors) is a project funded by the European Commission (Research Contract n. ERBIC-CT96-0202) in the frame of the Cooperation with third countries and international organizations (INCO-COPERNICUS) and coordinated by the National Environmental Protection Agency of Italy. The main aim of FORECO activities with respect to forest ecosystems is the classification of countermeasure options in different forest types, considering the balance between dose reduction, long-term ecological quality and economical factors.

Application of artificial intelligence to risk analysis for forested ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel L. Schmoldt

2001-01-01

Forest ecosystems are subject to a variety of natural and anthropogenic disturbances that extract a penalty from human population values. Such value losses (undesirable effects) combined with their likelihoods of occurrence constitute risk. Assessment or prediction of risk for various events is an important aid to forest management. Artificial intelligence (AI)...

Intensive monitoring of forest ecosystems in Europe; 1 objectives, set-up and evaluation strategy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vries, de W.; Vel, E.M.; Reinds, G.J.; Deelstra, H.; Klap, J.M.; Leeters, E.E.J.M.; Hendriks, C.M.A.; Kerkvoorden, M.; Landmann, G.; Herkendell, J.; Haussmann, T.; Erisman, J.W.

2003-01-01

In order to contribute to a better understanding of the impact of air pollution and other environmental factors on forest ecosystems, a Pan-European Programme for Intensive and Continuous Monitoring of Forest Ecosystems has been implemented in 1994. Results of the Programme must contribute to a

Effects of roads on elk: implications for management in forested ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Mary M. Rowland; Michael J. Wisdom; Bruce K. Johnson; Mark A. Penninger

2004-01-01

The effects of roads on both habitat and population responses of elk (Cervus elaphus) have been of keen interest to foresters and ungulate biologists for the last half century. Increased timber harvest in national forests, beginning in the 1960s, led to a proliferation of road networks in forested ecosystems inhabited by elk (Hieb 1976, Lyon and...

Carbon cycle dynamics within Oregon’s urban-suburban-forested-agricultural landscapes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Law, Beverly E. [Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States); Still, Christopher Jason [Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States); Schmidt, Andres [Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)

2017-06-15

Our overarching goal was to develop and utilize an observation-based analysis framework to assess interactions between climate and mosaics of land use, land cover and urbanization on regional carbon, water, and energy dynamics, and potential changes associated with land management and climate. Carbon, water and energy cycling was quantified for the range of current and potential land uses under present and future climates. The study region of Oregon has a strong climatic gradient from the coastal mesic forests (2500mm ppt) to the Willamette Valley, Cascade Mountains, and the Northern Great Basin semi-arid “cold desert” to the east (300 mm). The study was focused on the effects of (1) conversion of semi-arid sagebrush and Willamette Valley agricultural crops to bioenergy production; (2) afforestation of idle land and rangelands deemed suitable for forests or poplar crops under future climate conditions. We found that net ecosystem production (NEP), the net of ecosystem photosynthesis and respiration, was 10 times higher in the high biomass forests of the Coast Range compared with drier regions like sagebrush in the Northern Great Basin, which was nearly zero (Schmidt et al. 2016). The state total NEP averaged about 30 teragrams carbon (Tg C) per year for the years 2012 to 2014 using our model framework that we developed for predictions of current and future NEP, and compared well with our detailed inventory estimates (28 Tg C annual average for 2011-2015 for forests only; Law et al. 2017). Running our model framework until the year 2050, we found that climate alone only increased NEP by less than 1 Tg C per decade (~3%) using the current trajectory of carbon dioxide emissions, however, changes are expected to be more rapid in subsequent years. We evaluated the possibility of land use change from grass seed crops to poplar for bioenergy, which slightly increased NEP by 2050. The most important variable for carbon sequestration estimates (net carbon sources and

[Selection of distance thresholds of urban forest landscape connectivity in Shenyang City].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chang-fu; Zhou, Bin; He, Xing-yuan; Chen, Wei

2010-10-01

By using the QuickBird remote sensing image interpretation data of urban forests in Shenyang City in 2006, and with the help of geographical information system, this paper analyzed the landscape patches of the urban forests in the area inside the third ring-road of Shenyang. Based on the habitat availability and the dispersal potential of animal and plant species, 8 distance thresholds (50, 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, and 1200 m) were selected to compute the integral index of connectivity, probability of connectivity, and important value of the landscape patches, and the computed values were used for analyzing and screening the distance thresholds of urban forest landscape connectivity in the City. The results showed that the appropriate distance thresholds of the urban forest landscape connectivity in Shenyang City in 2006 ranged from 100 to 400 m, with 200 m being most appropriate. It was suggested that the distance thresholds should be increased or decreased according to the performability of urban forest landscape connectivity and the different demands for landscape levels.

Emerging Diseases in European Forest Ecosystems and Responses in Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johanna B. Boberg

2011-04-01

Full Text Available New diseases in forest ecosystems have been reported at an increasing rate over the last century. Some reasons for this include the increased disturbance by humans to forest ecosystems, changed climatic conditions and intensified international trade. Although many of the contributing factors to the changed disease scenarios are anthropogenic, there has been a reluctance to control them by legislation, other forms of government authority or through public involvement. Some of the primary obstacles relate to problems in communicating biological understanding of concepts to the political sphere of society. Relevant response to new disease scenarios is very often associated with a proper understanding of intraspecific variation in the challenging pathogen. Other factors could be technical, based on a lack of understanding of possible countermeasures. There are also philosophical reasons, such as the view that forests are part of the natural ecosystems and should not be managed for natural disturbances such as disease outbreaks. Finally, some of the reasons are economic or political, such as a belief in free trade or reluctance to acknowledge supranational intervention control. Our possibilities to act in response to new disease threats are critically dependent on the timing of efforts. A common recognition of the nature of the problem and adapting vocabulary that describe relevant biological entities would help to facilitate timely and adequate responses in society to emerging diseases in forests.

Evaluating green infrastructure in urban environments using a multi-taxa and functional diversity approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinho, Pedro; Correia, Otília; Lecoq, Miguel; Munzi, Silvana; Vasconcelos, Sasha; Gonçalves, Paula; Rebelo, Rui; Antunes, Cristina; Silva, Patrícia; Freitas, Catarina; Lopes, Nuno; Santos-Reis, Margarida; Branquinho, Cristina

2016-05-01

Forested areas within cities host a large number of species, responsible for many ecosystem services in urban areas. The biodiversity in these areas is influenced by human disturbances such as atmospheric pollution and urban heat island effect. To ameliorate the effects of these factors, an increase in urban green areas is often considered sufficient. However, this approach assumes that all types of green cover have the same importance for species. Our aim was to show that not all forested green areas are equal in importance for species, but that based on a multi-taxa and functional diversity approach it is possible to value green infrastructure in urban environments. After evaluating the diversity of lichens, butterflies and other-arthropods, birds and mammals in 31 Mediterranean urban forests in south-west Europe (Almada, Portugal), bird and lichen functional groups responsive to urbanization were found. A community shift (tolerant species replacing sensitive ones) along the urbanization gradient was found, and this must be considered when using these groups as indicators of the effect of urbanization. Bird and lichen functional groups were then analyzed together with the characteristics of the forests and their surroundings. Our results showed that, contrary to previous assumptions, vegetation density and more importantly the amount of urban areas around the forest (matrix), are more important for biodiversity than forest quantity alone. This indicated that not all types of forested green areas have the same importance for biodiversity. An index of forest functional diversity was then calculated for all sampled forests of the area. This could help decision-makers to improve the management of urban green infrastructures with the goal of increasing functionality and ultimately ecosystem services in urban areas. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Carbon Budget and its Dynamics over Northern Eurasia Forest Ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Shvidenko, Anatoly; Schepaschenko, Dmitry; Kraxner, Florian; Maksyutov, Shamil

2016-04-01

The presentation contains an overview of recent findings and results of assessment of carbon cycling of forest ecosystems of Northern Eurasia. From a methodological point of view, there is a clear tendency in understanding a need of a Full and Verified Carbon Account (FCA), i.e. in reliable assessment of uncertainties for all modules and all stages of FCA. FCA is considered as a fuzzy (underspecified) system that supposes a system integration of major methods of carbon cycling study (land-ecosystem approach, LEA; process-based models; eddy covariance; and inverse modelling). Landscape-ecosystem approach 1) serves for accumulation of all relevant knowledge of landscape and ecosystems; 2) for strict systems designing the account, 3) contains all relevant spatially distributed empirical and semi-empirical data and models, and 4) is presented in form of an Integrated Land Information System (ILIS). The ILIS includes a hybrid land cover in a spatially and temporarily explicit way and corresponding attributive databases. The forest mask is provided by utilizing multi-sensor remote sensing data, geographically weighed regression and validation within GEO-wiki platform. By-pixel parametrization of forest cover is based on a special optimization algorithms using all available knowledge and information sources (data of forest inventory and different surveys, observations in situ, official statistics of forest management etc.). Major carbon fluxes within the LEA (NPP, HR, disturbances etc.) are estimated based on fusion of empirical data and aggregations with process-based elements by sets of regionally distributed models. Uncertainties within LEA are assessed for each module and at each step of the account. Within method results of LEA and corresponding uncertainties are harmonized and mutually constrained with independent outputs received by other methods based on the Bayesian approach. The above methodology have been applied to carbon account of Russian forests for 2000

Advancing Sustainability through Urban Green Space: Cultural Ecosystem Services, Equity, and Social Determinants of Health

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, Viniece; Larson, Lincoln; Yun, Jessica

2016-01-01

Urban green spaces provide an array of benefits, or ecosystem services, that support our physical, psychological, and social health. In many cases, however, these benefits are not equitably distributed across diverse urban populations. In this paper, we explore relationships between cultural ecosystem services provided by urban green space and the social determinants of health outlined in the United States Healthy People 2020 initiative. Specifically, we: (1) explore connections between cultural ecosystem services and social determinants of health; (2) examine cultural ecosystem services as nature-based health amenities to promote social equity; and (3) recommend areas for future research examining links between urban green space and public health within the context of environmental justice. PMID:26861365

Improving SWAT for simulating water and carbon fluxes of forest ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Qichun; Zhang, Xuesong

2016-01-01

As a widely used watershed model for assessing impacts of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on water quantity and quality, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) has not been extensively tested in simulating water and carbon fluxes of forest ecosystems. Here, we examine SWAT simulations of evapotranspiration (ET), net primary productivity (NPP), net ecosystem exchange (NEE), and plant biomass at ten AmeriFlux forest sites across the U.S. We identify unrealistic radiation use efficiency (Bio-E), large leaf to biomass fraction (Bio-LEAF), and missing phosphorus supply from parent material weathering as the primary causes for the inadequate performance of the default SWAT model in simulating forest dynamics. By further revising the relevant parameters and processes, SWAT's performance is substantially improved. Based on the comparison between the improved SWAT simulations and flux tower observations, we discuss future research directions for further enhancing model parameterization and representation of water and carbon cycling for forests. - Graphical abstract: Evaluating and improving SWAT simulations of water and carbon cycling over ten AmeriFlux sites across the United States. - Highlights: • The default forest parameterization in SWAT results in inadequate simulations of water and carbon. • Radiation use efficiency, leaf to biomass fraction, and parent material weathering processes are modified. • Revised SWAT provides improved simulations of evapotranspiration and net ecosystem exchange

Improving SWAT for simulating water and carbon fluxes of forest ecosystems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Qichun [Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Lab, College Park, MD 20740 (United States); Zhang, Xuesong, E-mail: xuesong.zhang@pnnl.gov [Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Lab, College Park, MD 20740 (United States); Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States)

2016-11-01

As a widely used watershed model for assessing impacts of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on water quantity and quality, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) has not been extensively tested in simulating water and carbon fluxes of forest ecosystems. Here, we examine SWAT simulations of evapotranspiration (ET), net primary productivity (NPP), net ecosystem exchange (NEE), and plant biomass at ten AmeriFlux forest sites across the U.S. We identify unrealistic radiation use efficiency (Bio-E), large leaf to biomass fraction (Bio-LEAF), and missing phosphorus supply from parent material weathering as the primary causes for the inadequate performance of the default SWAT model in simulating forest dynamics. By further revising the relevant parameters and processes, SWAT's performance is substantially improved. Based on the comparison between the improved SWAT simulations and flux tower observations, we discuss future research directions for further enhancing model parameterization and representation of water and carbon cycling for forests. - Graphical abstract: Evaluating and improving SWAT simulations of water and carbon cycling over ten AmeriFlux sites across the United States. - Highlights: • The default forest parameterization in SWAT results in inadequate simulations of water and carbon. • Radiation use efficiency, leaf to biomass fraction, and parent material weathering processes are modified. • Revised SWAT provides improved simulations of evapotranspiration and net ecosystem exchange.

How forest management affects ecosystem services, including timber production and economic return

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duncker, Philipp S.; Raulund-Rasmussen, Karsten; Gundersen, Per

2012-01-01

and services. By use of virtual but realistic datasets, we quantified, for multiple services, the effects of five forest management alternatives that form an intensity gradient. Our virtual forest management units represented Central European forest ecosystems in the submontane vegetation zone under a humid......–temperate climate with acidic soils. In this zone the European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is the dominant tree species. In order to assess the effects on ecosystem services, the untouched natural forest reserve served as a reference. Wherever possible, response functions were deduced to couple the various services...... via stand-level data to demonstrate trade-offs between the services. Management units comprised all development phases in the sense of a "normal forest". It was clearly illustrated that maximizing the rates of biomass production and carbon sequestration may conflict with protection of authentic...

Austin's Urban Forest, 2014

Science.gov (United States)

David J. Nowak; Allison R. Bodine; Robert E. Hoehn; Christopher B. Edgar; Dudley R. Hartel; Tonya W. Lister; Thomas J. Brandeis

2016-01-01

An analysis of the urban forest in Austin, Texas, reveals that this area has an estimated 33.8 million trees with tree canopy that covers 30.8 percent of the city. The most common tree species are Ashe juniper, cedar elm, live oak, sugarberry, and Texas persimmon. Trees in Austin currently store about 1.9 million tons of carbon (7.0 million tons of carbon dioxide [CO...

Impacts and adaptation for climate change in urban forests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnston, M. [Saskatchewan Research Council, Saskatoon, SK (Canada)

2006-07-01

Changes to urban trees as a result of climate change were reviewed in order to aid urban forest managers in the development of adaptive climate change strategies. Various climate change models have predicted that winter and spring temperatures will increase. Higher amounts of precipitation are also anticipated. Higher temperatures will results in evapotranspiration, which will cause soil moisture levels to decline. Climatologists have also suggested that very hot days, winter storms and high rainfall events will increase in frequency. In addition, higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) will affect photosynthesis, with associated impacts on urban tree growth. Higher temperatures and longer growing seasons will allow insect populations to build up to higher levels, and warmer and dryer summers are likely to bring longer fire seasons and more severe fires. Urban trees under stress from drought and higher temperatures will be increasingly vulnerable to existing urban stressors such as air pollution and soil compaction. However, the ecological services provided by trees will become more valuable under future climate change regimes, particularly for shading and space cooling, as well as soil aeration and stabilization and the uptake of storm water. It was suggested that future tree growth may be enhanced on sites with adequate water and nutrients, but will probably decline in areas that are already marginal. It was recommended that urban forest managers assess the present vulnerability of trees to climate-related events in order to prepare for future change. Managers should also assess their capacity to implement various strategies through municipal and provincial partnerships. It was observed that decisions taken now about forest management will play out over several decades. It was concluded that maintaining a flexible and resilient urban forest management system is the best defence, as specific climate change impacts cannot be predicted. 18 refs., 4

Ecosystem services to enhance sustainable forest management in the US: moving from forest service national programmes to local projects in the Pacific Northwest

Science.gov (United States)

Robert L. Deal; Nikola Smith; Joe Gates

2017-01-01

Ecosystem services are increasingly recognized as a way of framing and describing the broad suite of benefits that people receive from forests. The USDA Forest Service has been exploring use of an ecosystem services framework to describe forest values provided by federal lands and to attract and build partnerships with stakeholders to implement projects. Recently, the...

Hydrological evaluation of a peri-urban stream and its impact on ecosystem services potential

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caro-Borrero Angela

2015-01-01

The rivers of the Magdalena–Eslava sub-basin are among the few remaining surficial water sources in Mexico City. These rivers are located in an area classified as a Soil Conservation Zone, which has been intensely managed for decades. The aims of this paper are (1 to perform a hydrological evaluation of two urban streams and identify their relationship with the provision of hydrological ecosystem services via (i a hydraulic balance analysis, (ii a hydro-geomorphological characterization of each stream, (iii an estimate of present and potential hydraulic erosion, (iv the determination of physicochemical and bacteriological parameters and (v a description of macroinvertebrates, macroalgae and their habitats in order to (2 identify the impacts of socio-economic dynamics on the responses of this rural-urban lotic system. Our results show that water flow, forest cover and hydro-geomorphologic heterogeneity are key to sustaining ecosystem functioning, especially in the high and middle sections of the basin. The highest potential provision of water for direct use was recorded in the sub-basin’s middle section; however, the stream channels in that section have lost their natural water flow due to a water management infrastructure built to regulate flow during the rainy season. This intervention can be viewed as a regulation of HESs as water management infrastructure alters the transport of sediment and reduces available natural habitat. The provision of quality water in the lower area of the sub-basin has been seriously compromised by the establishment of illegal urban settlements. A relationship between biologically diverse ecological traits and their response capabilities was established and can be considered an indicator of current HES potential. Therefore, this sub-basin may constitute an example of good management and maximizing potential HESs in an urban-rural setting based on improved management strategies that could be applied in other developing nations.

FOREST ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS ASSESSMENT AND PREDICTIVE MODELLING IN EASTERN HIMALAYA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. P. S. Kushwaha

2012-09-01

Full Text Available This study focused on the forest ecosystem dynamics assessment and predictive modelling deforestation and forest cover prediction in a part of north-eastern India i.e. forest areas along West Bengal, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam border in Eastern Himalaya using temporal satellite imagery of 1975, 1990 and 2009 and predicted forest cover for the period 2028 using Cellular Automata Markov Modedel (CAMM. The exercise highlighted large-scale deforestation in the study area during 1975–1990 as well as 1990–2009 forest cover vectors. A net loss of 2,334.28 km2 forest cover was noticed between 1975 and 2009, and with current rate of deforestation, a forest area of 4,563.34 km2 will be lost by 2028. The annual rate of deforestation worked out to be 0.35 and 0.78% during 1975–1990 and 1990–2009 respectively. Bamboo forest increased by 24.98% between 1975 and 2009 due to opening up of the forests. Forests in Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Darrang, Sonitpur, and Dhemaji districts in Assam were noticed to be worst-affected while Lower Subansiri, West and East Siang, Dibang Valley, Lohit and Changlang in Arunachal Pradesh were severely affected. Among different forest types, the maximum loss was seen in case of sal forest (37.97% between 1975 and 2009 and is expected to deplete further to 60.39% by 2028. The tropical moist deciduous forest was the next category, which decreased from 5,208.11 km2 to 3,447.28 (33.81% during same period with further chances of depletion to 2,288.81 km2 (56.05% by 2028. It noted progressive loss of forests in the study area between 1975 and 2009 through 1990 and predicted that, unless checked, the area is in for further depletion of the invaluable climax forests in the region, especially sal and moist deciduous forests. The exercise demonstrated high potential of remote sensing and geographic information system for forest ecosystem dynamics assessment and the efficacy of CAMM to predict the forest cover change.

Forest Ecosystem Dynamics Assessment and Predictive Modelling in Eastern Himalaya

Science.gov (United States)

Kushwaha, S. P. S.; Nandy, S.; Ahmad, M.; Agarwal, R.

2011-09-01

This study focused on the forest ecosystem dynamics assessment and predictive modelling deforestation and forest cover prediction in a part of north-eastern India i.e. forest areas along West Bengal, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam border in Eastern Himalaya using temporal satellite imagery of 1975, 1990 and 2009 and predicted forest cover for the period 2028 using Cellular Automata Markov Modedel (CAMM). The exercise highlighted large-scale deforestation in the study area during 1975-1990 as well as 1990-2009 forest cover vectors. A net loss of 2,334.28 km2 forest cover was noticed between 1975 and 2009, and with current rate of deforestation, a forest area of 4,563.34 km2 will be lost by 2028. The annual rate of deforestation worked out to be 0.35 and 0.78% during 1975-1990 and 1990-2009 respectively. Bamboo forest increased by 24.98% between 1975 and 2009 due to opening up of the forests. Forests in Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Darrang, Sonitpur, and Dhemaji districts in Assam were noticed to be worst-affected while Lower Subansiri, West and East Siang, Dibang Valley, Lohit and Changlang in Arunachal Pradesh were severely affected. Among different forest types, the maximum loss was seen in case of sal forest (37.97%) between 1975 and 2009 and is expected to deplete further to 60.39% by 2028. The tropical moist deciduous forest was the next category, which decreased from 5,208.11 km2 to 3,447.28 (33.81%) during same period with further chances of depletion to 2,288.81 km2 (56.05%) by 2028. It noted progressive loss of forests in the study area between 1975 and 2009 through 1990 and predicted that, unless checked, the area is in for further depletion of the invaluable climax forests in the region, especially sal and moist deciduous forests. The exercise demonstrated high potential of remote sensing and geographic information system for forest ecosystem dynamics assessment and the efficacy of CAMM to predict the forest cover change.

EnviroAtlas - Ecosystem Service Market and Project Locations, U.S., 2015, Forest Trends' Ecosystem Marketplace

Science.gov (United States)

This EnviroAtlas dataset contains points depicting the location of market-based programs, referred to herein as markets, and projects addressing ecosystem services protection in the United States. The data were collected via surveys and desk research conducted by Forest Trends' Ecosystem Marketplace from 2008 to 2016 on biodiversity (i.e., imperiled species/habitats; wetlands and streams), carbon, and water markets. Additional biodiversity data were obtained from the Regulatory In-lieu Fee and Bank Information Tracking System (RIBITS) database in 2015. Points represent the centroids (i.e., center points) of market coverage areas, project footprints, or project primary impact areas in which ecosystem service markets or projects operate. National-level markets are an exception to this norm with points representing administrative headquarters locations. Attribute data include information regarding the methodology, design, and development of biodiversity, carbon, and water markets and projects. This dataset was produced by Forest Trends' Ecosystem Marketplace for EnviroAtlas in order to support public access to and use of information related to environmental markets. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) o

Forest ecosystem services in the context of climate change: A new concept for forestry in the Republic of Serbia

OpenAIRE

Trudić, Branislav; Orlović, Saša; Stojnić, Srđan; Pilipović, Andrej; Matović, Bratislav; Novčić, Zoran

2015-01-01

Ecosystem services are a relatively new concept in forestry. While the current forestry practice still describes non-timber forest products as secondary, the concept of ecosystem services originating from FAO and researchers of ecosystem services equally emphasises the economic significance of non-timber products and services forest ecosystems provide as of those primary products - timber biomass. Forest ecosystem services are only a segment of the overall context of ecosystem services in whi...

The roles of a decision support system in applying forest ecosystem management in Northeast China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

DAI; Limin; ZHENG; Bofu; Guofan; Shao; ZHOU; Li

2006-01-01

Forest ecosystems provide a variety of services and forest ecosystem management (FEM) is an effective approach to maximize the services. Because of the complexity of forest ecosystems, the applications of FEM can be facilitated with decision support systems (DSS) that recognize and incorporate ecological and socio-economic variables. With the rapid development of computation and information technologies, DSS have been advanced in many ways. Traditional forest management within a forestry unit in China is planned on a yearly basis. The planning itself remains primarily a verbal concept as there are no quantitative decision-support tools available to translate the concept into forest management actions. For the purposes of FEM at the management level, a forest management DFF, FORESTAR(R), has been developed under a framework of geographic information system (GIS) and forest models. The paper explained the intelligent modeling mechanisms and demonstrated how the applications of FEM can be strengthened with the applications of FORESTAR(R).

Changes in biodiversity and ecosystem function during the restoration of a tropical forest in south China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

REN Hai; LI ZhiAn; SHEN WeiJun; YU ZuoYue; PENG ShaoLin; LIAO ChongHui; DING MingMao; WU JianGuo

2007-01-01

Tropical forests continue to vanish rapidly, but few long-term studies have ever examined if and how the lost forests can be restored. Based on a 45-year restoration study in south China, we found that a tropical rain forest, once completely destroyed, could not recover naturally without deliberate restoration efforts. We identified two kinds of thresholds that must be overcome with human ameliorative measures before the ecosystem was able to recover. The first threshold was imposed primarily by extreme physical conditions such as exceedingly high surface temperature and impoverished soil, while the second was characterized by a critical level of biodiversity and a landscape context that accommodates dispersal and colonization processes. Our three treatment catchments (un-restored barren land, single-species plantation, and mixed-forest stand) exhibited dramatically different changes in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning over 4 decades. The mixed forest, having the highest level of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, possesses several major properties of tropical rain forest.These findings may have important implications for the restoration of many severely degraded or lost tropical forest ecosystems.

Water stress and harmful insects in agri-forest ecosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Solinas

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Present knowledge on ecological services supplied by insects to natural terrestrial ecosystems, allow us to identify many homeostatic mechanisms regulating biological balance as well as life perpetuation of the said ecosystems; at the same time, that knowledge represents a sound referring point to understanding how those mechanisms do work so as to manage them in the anthropized ecosystems (i.e., agriculture and forests, and especially in order to identify in the latter the natural meaning of the so called insect outbreaks, so as to forecast and possibly prevent them; as well as, when needed, to conceive and formulate efficient control strategies having minimal environmental impact. Water factor is crucial with genesis, configuration and conservation of a terrestrial ecosystem (both natural or anthropized as a whole or in its individual components, but especially concerning plant life as well as plant interactions with phytophagous invertebrates, mainly insects. Insect-plant trophic interactions are principally influenced by the water conditions in the ecosystem, and the impact of phytophagous insects on crops is markedly affected. Extremely severe water stress, especially if prolonged, prevent insect life just like plant’s life but a moderate and not so prolonged water stress, while depressing plant vigour, paradoxically can improve development and multiplication of phytophagous arthropods, with severe consequences on woody plants especially, and forest trees markedly.

Water stress and harmful insects in agri-forest ecosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Solinas

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Present knowledge on ecological services supplied by insects to natural terrestrial ecosystems, allow us to identify many homeostatic mechanisms regulating biological balance as well as life perpetuation of the said ecosystems; at the same time, that knowledge represents a sound referring point to understanding how those mechanisms do work so as to manage them in the anthropized ecosystems (i.e., agriculture and forests, and especially in order to identify in the latter the natural meaning of the so called insect outbreaks, so as to forecast and possibly prevent them; as well as, when needed, to conceive and formulate efficient control strategies having minimal environmental impact. Water factor is crucial with genesis, configuration and conservation of a terrestrial ecosystem (both natural or anthropized as a whole or in its individual components, but especially concerning plant life as well as plant interactions with phytophagous invertebrates, mainly insects. Insect-plant trophic interactions are principally influenced by the water conditions in the ecosystem, and the impact of phytophagous insects on crops is markedly affected. Extremely severe water stress, especially if prolonged, prevent insect life just like plant’s life but a moderate and not so prolonged water stress, while depressing plant vigour, paradoxically can improve development and multiplication of phytophagous arthropods, with severe consequences on woody plants especially, and forest trees markedly.

Water stress and harmful insects in agri-forest ecosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Solinas

Full Text Available Present knowledge on ecological services supplied by insects to natural terrestrial ecosystems, allow us to identify many homeostatic mechanisms regulating biological balance as well as life perpetuation of the said ecosystems; at the same time, that knowledge represents a sound referring point to understanding how those mechanisms do work so as to manage them in the anthropized ecosystems (i.e., agriculture and forests, and especially in order to identify in the latter the natural meaning of the so called insect outbreaks, so as to forecast and possibly prevent them; as well as, when needed, to conceive and formulate efficient control strategies having minimal environmental impact. Water factor is crucial with genesis, configuration and conservation of a terrestrial ecosystem (both natural or anthropized as a whole or in its individual components, but especially concerning plant life as well as plant interactions with phytophagous invertebrates, mainly insects. Insect-plant trophic interactions are principally influenced by the water conditions in the ecosystem, and the impact of phytophagous insects on crops is markedly affected. Extremely severe water stress, especially if prolonged, prevent insect life just like plant’s life but a moderate and not so prolonged water stress, while depressing plant vigour, paradoxically can improve development and multiplication of phytophagous arthropods, with severe consequences on woody plants especially, and forest trees markedly.

Human and biophysical legacies shape contemporary urban forests: A literature synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Lara A. Roman; Hamil Pearsall; Theodore S. Eisenman; Tenley M. Conway; Robert T. Fahey; Shawn Landry; Jess Vogt; Natalie S. van Doorn; J. Morgan Grove; Dexter H. Locke; Adrina C. Bardekjian; John J. Battles; Mary L. Cadenasso; Cecil C. Konijnendijk van den Bosch; Meghan Avolio; Adam Berland; G. Darrel Jenerette; Sarah K. Mincey; Diane E. Pataki; Christina Staudhammer

2018-01-01

Understanding how urban forests developed their current patterns of tree canopy cover, species composition, and diversity requires an appreciation of historical legacy effects. However, analyses of current urban forest characteristics are often limited to contemporary socioeconomic factors, overlooking the role of history. The institutions, human communities, and...

Radiocesium in a Danish pine forest ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strandberg, Morten

1994-01-01

During the autumn of 1991, a Scots pine forest, Tisvilde Hegn, was investigated with respect to the distribution of radiocesium on compartments in the forest ecosystem. The sandy acidic soil is poor, with a circa 5-cm thick layer of organic soil, and clay content is very low, between 0 and 2%. Cesium from Chernobyl is still totally in the upper 5 cm, while almost half of the fallout cesium has penetrated to depths lower than 5 cm. More than 95% of the total amount of 137 Cs is in the soil compartment. The rest is mainly in the trees (3.4%) and vegetation (0.4%), moss and lichen included. The concentrations of radiocesium are highest in the endshoots of the pine trees, and lowest in the hardwood. There are indications that the Chernobyl cesium is mainly distributed in the parts of the trees that have been formed since 1986. Observed Ratios (OR) were used to characterize the ability of the different components of the forest ecosystem to accumulate radiocesium. OR is defined as the ratio between the content of 137 Cs kg -1 (dry wt.) and the deposition per meter square. In vascular plants, mosses and lichens, OR varied between 0.01 and 0.1 m 2 /kg. In fungi, it varied between 0.05 and 4.5 m 2 /kg, though generally it was between 0.2 and 1 m 2 /kg. OR ( 137 Cs kg -1 /dry wt. of meat x 137 Cs m -2 ) levels in three roe deer samples varied between 0.016 and 0.21 kg -1 /dry wt. With an annual harvest of around 70,000 animals, this might be the most important pathway of this radionuclide to man from semi-natural ecosystems in Denmark

Soil-plant transfer factors in forest ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strebl, F.; Gerzabek, M.H.

1995-04-01

Within scope of an extended study about 137 Cs behaviour in forest ecosystems several parameters were found to influence soil-plant transfer factors. TF-values of different plant species cover a range of two magnitudes. This is partly due to variations in rooting depth of plants and specific physiological adaptations of nutrient supply. Perrenial plants like trees (Picea abies) and dwarf shrubs (Vaccinium myrtillus) showed a distinct age - dependency of 137 Cs - transfer factors. In young plant parts caesium concentration is higher than in old, more signified twigs. A correlation analysis of physico-chemical soil parameters and TF-values to forest vegetation showed, that soil organic matter, especially the degree of humification and the ratio between extractable fulvic to humic acids are important influencing factors of 137 Cs transfer from forest soils to plants. (author)

Soil Microbial Community Successional Patterns during Forest Ecosystem Restoration ▿†

OpenAIRE

Banning, Natasha C.; Gleeson, Deirdre B.; Grigg, Andrew H.; Grant, Carl D.; Andersen, Gary L.; Brodie, Eoin L.; Murphy, D. V.

2011-01-01

Soil microbial community characterization is increasingly being used to determine the responses of soils to stress and disturbances and to assess ecosystem sustainability. However, there is little experimental evidence to indicate that predictable patterns in microbial community structure or composition occur during secondary succession or ecosystem restoration. This study utilized a chronosequence of developing jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest ecosystems, rehabilitated after bauxite mini...

Biogeochemistry of vertebrate decomposition in a forest ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Decomposing plants and animals provide critical nutrients for ecosystems, including forests. During vertebrate decay, the rapid release of limiting nutrients, including N, P, C, and S fundamentally transforms the soil environment by stimulating endogenous organisms. The goal of this study was t...

Impacts of urbanization on carbon balance in terrestrial ecosystems of the Southern United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Chi; Tian Hanqin; Chen, Guangsheng; Chappelka, Arthur; Xu Xiaofeng; Ren Wei; Hui Dafeng; Liu Mingliang; Lu Chaoqun; Pan, Shufen; Lockaby, Graeme

2012-01-01

Using a process-based Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model, we assessed carbon dynamics of urbanized/developed lands in the Southern United States during 1945–2007. The results indicated that approximately 1.72 (1.69–1.77) Pg (1P = 10 15 ) carbon was stored in urban/developed lands, comparable to the storage of shrubland or cropland in the region. Urbanization resulted in a release of 0.21 Pg carbon to the atmosphere during 1945–2007. Pre-urbanization vegetation type and time since land conversion were two primary factors determining the extent of urbanization impacts on carbon dynamics. After a rapid decline of carbon storage during land conversion, an urban ecosystem gradually accumulates carbon and may compensate for the initial carbon loss in 70–100 years. The carbon sequestration rate of urban ecosystem diminishes with time, nearly disappearing in two centuries after land conversion. This study implied that it is important to take urbanization effect into account for assessing regional carbon balance. - Highlights: ► A series of spatial and temporal urban/developed land maps were generated. ► Urbanization effects on regional carbon dynamics were studied with a process-based Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM). ► Carbon storage of urban/developed land was comparable to that stored in cropland and shrubland in the Southern United States. ► Pre-urbanization vegetation type and time since land conversion were two primary factors determining the extent of urbanization impacts on carbon dynamics. ► Urbanization resulted in carbon emission, but established urban areas may gradually accumulate carbon over time. - Urbanization has resulted in carbon release to the atmosphere, but established urban areas may gradually accumulate carbon over time.

Global Drivers and Tradeoffs of Three Urban Vegetation Ecosystem Services

Science.gov (United States)

Dobbs, Cynnamon; Nitschke, Craig R.; Kendal, Dave

2014-01-01

Our world is increasingly urbanizing which is highlighting that sustainable cities are essential for maintaining human well-being. This research is one of the first attempts to globally synthesize the effects of urbanization on ecosystem services and how these relate to governance, social development and climate. Three urban vegetation ecosystem services (carbon storage, recreation potential and habitat potential) were quantified for a selection of a hundred cities. Estimates of ecosystem services were obtained from the analysis of satellite imagery and the use of well-known carbon and structural habitat models. We found relationships between ecosystem services, social development, climate and governance, however these varied according to the service studied. Recreation potential was positively related to democracy and negatively related to population. Carbon storage was weakly related to temperature and democracy, while habitat potential was negatively related to democracy. We found that cities under 1 million inhabitants tended to have higher levels of recreation potential than larger cities and that democratic countries have higher recreation potential, especially if located in a continental climate. Carbon storage was higher in full democracies, especially in a continental climate, while habitat potential tended to be higher in authoritarian and hybrid regimes. Similar to other regional or city studies we found that the combination of environment conditions, socioeconomics, demographics and politics determines the provision of ecosystem services. Results from this study showed the existence of environmental injustice in the developing world. PMID:25402184

Global drivers and tradeoffs of three urban vegetation ecosystem services.

Science.gov (United States)

Dobbs, Cynnamon; Nitschke, Craig R; Kendal, Dave

2014-01-01

Our world is increasingly urbanizing which is highlighting that sustainable cities are essential for maintaining human well-being. This research is one of the first attempts to globally synthesize the effects of urbanization on ecosystem services and how these relate to governance, social development and climate. Three urban vegetation ecosystem services (carbon storage, recreation potential and habitat potential) were quantified for a selection of a hundred cities. Estimates of ecosystem services were obtained from the analysis of satellite imagery and the use of well-known carbon and structural habitat models. We found relationships between ecosystem services, social development, climate and governance, however these varied according to the service studied. Recreation potential was positively related to democracy and negatively related to population. Carbon storage was weakly related to temperature and democracy, while habitat potential was negatively related to democracy. We found that cities under 1 million inhabitants tended to have higher levels of recreation potential than larger cities and that democratic countries have higher recreation potential, especially if located in a continental climate. Carbon storage was higher in full democracies, especially in a continental climate, while habitat potential tended to be higher in authoritarian and hybrid regimes. Similar to other regional or city studies we found that the combination of environment conditions, socioeconomics, demographics and politics determines the provision of ecosystem services. Results from this study showed the existence of environmental injustice in the developing world.

Assessment of vulnerability of forest ecosystems to climate change and adaptation planning in Nepal

Science.gov (United States)