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The topographical advantage is the contribution of topographic and traffic conditions to the operational efficiency such as afforestation, cutting, logging, and transportation of forestland. The classification of topographical advantage is of great importance to evaluate the costs of afforestation and cutting. In this paper, slope, distance, and elevation were selected as three main factors influencing the topographical advantage of forestland according to the Expert Scoring method. The Analytic Hierarchy Process was used to determine the weight of each factor, and ArcGIS10.2 software was used for spatial analysis of terrain and traffic data. The topographical advantage was then divided by the equal-difference method. We applied this method to Lingnan forest farm in Xiuning County, China. Results showed that it was difficult for afforestation and cutting in Lingnan forest farm. This paper presents a quantitative method combining spatial analysis and the Analytic Hierarchy Process for the topographical advantage, which will provide a scientific basis for the cost-effective accounting of afforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between growth, yield and climate variables using multivariate analysis on agroforestry system has not been documented yet. Considering the potential of agroforestry systems as strategy to improve the balance of crop production and environmental health, the aims of this study were (i) to analyze the canonical correlations among groups of tree growth and climatic variables during four seasons of the year; and (ii) to characterize the relationships between sugarcane growth, yield, and quality variables in two agroforestry arrangements and sugarcane monocropping system. A field experiment was conducted from September 2011 to June 2016. The information generated in this study is relevant, as it provides information to farmers and can assist in the planning of new agroforestry systems due to the better knowledge of tree–crop interactions and climate effects in Southern Brazil. In this study, we demonstrated that crops and trees interact dynamically as a result of variations in the interception of solar radiation by trees in time due to the effect of tree age and arrangement, and we concluded that larger tree arrangements are suggested to benefit sugarcane growth and yield in agroforestry systems in Southern Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The height to crown base (HCB) of a tree is a necessary variable that includes many growth and yield models as a predictor, and it is important to develop an HCB model due to its contribution to forest management. In this study, we developed an individual tree HCB model for Larix olgensis using a generalized nonlinear mixed-effects model with 2510 Larix olgensis trees on 40 sample plots located on the Dongzhelenghe Forest Farm in northeastern China. According to the evaluated base model, a logistic model that most suited our data was selected as the base model. In addition to height and diameter at breast height, tree and stand level variables that represent tree size, site quality and competition, such as dominant height, basal area of trees larger than subject tree and relative spacing index, were added to the HCB model. The sample plot was set as the random effect, and the parameters describing sample plot-level random effects were included in the HCB model through the mixed-effects model. The variance heteroscedasticity in the residuals was reduced by including a constant plus power variance function in the HCB model. The results showed that the mixed-effects model described a larger part of the HCB variations ( R a d j 2 = 0.7642, RMSE = 1.7225) than did the ordinary least square model ( R a d j 2 = 0.7063, RMSE = 1.9224). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For landscape level conservation and rural sustenance, forests outside of protected areas are becoming increasingly important. Since most outside forests in the lowlands of Nepal are under government control and utilized as open access resources, their feasibility to achieve these objectives is questionable. We compared forests inside (with three decades of strict protection) and outside of protected areas (under government control and proposed as community forests) to assess the ecological sustainability of outside forests and to provide baseline data on structure of outside forests so that effectiveness of community forestry (after implementation) can be evaluated in the future. Our results indicate that outside forests were in a degraded condition with low tree, sapling and seedling densities and lower species diversity. Trees in lower dbh (diameter at breast height) classes were absent in these forests. Although the canopy layer was not significantly different, the ordination of plots and species showed that species composition of understory and the ground layer were different than protected forests. The present condition of outside forests is not only ecologically unsustainable but also cannot fulfill the demands for forest products of local people. The inefficiency of government to monitor against exploitation has been responsible for present conditions. We recommend that community forestry programs, which are successful in improving conditions of degraded forests in the mountains of Nepal, should be widely implemented in lowland areas (Terai) and proposed community forests should be handed over to local communities as soon as it is practicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, sustainability is a political priority at the regional, national, and international levels. It is thought to he attained by political instruments and adequate management. The Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE) is the European forum and reference for sustainable forest management (SFM). The MCPFE has developed criteria and indicators for implementing SFM in Europe. However, there is a gap between policy makers, stakeholders, and researchers with regard to the implementation of the criteria and indicators. A research strategy is proposed by the COST Action E25-European Network for Long-Term Ecosystem and Landscape Research, whereby these gaps are identified, and means for bridging these gaps are suggested. For example, economic and social-cultural criteria and indicators are poorly developed or missing-there is a need for disciplinary and multidisciplinary research. Furthermore, the knowledge base of forests and forestry is well developed in Europe, but could be better communicated to parties involved. Decision-support systems and ‘landscape laboratories’ are suggested as tools for bridging this gap. Furthermore, resources are scarce, so new approaches should he developed that take advantage of existing resources and experiences. Information systems for maintaining and developing long-term information, and increased European collaboration are needed to harmonize existing and future initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 20th century, a sustained afforestation programme was carried out in Scotland, which increased the forest cover from about 4% of the country in 1900 to 17% in 2002. The expansion was achieved primarily through the establishment of even-aged plantations of fast-growing conifer species, most of which were not native to the British Isles. Many of these forests will reach financial maturity in the next two decades, thereby providing a valuable timber resource for the Scottish economy, and giving the opportunity to diversify the forests to meet the multifunctional objectives outlined in the recent Scottish Forestry Strategy. However, diversifying these forests requires the adoption of a range of silvicultural systems and not simply perpetuating the clearfelling and replanting system that has characterized plantation management. These new approaches include greater use of continuous cover forestry and the restoration of native woodlands on sites previously planted with conifers. A sustained period of low timber prices is also influencing this process, as managers are more aware both of the high replanting costs involved in plantation silviculture and of the subsidies given to manage stands for nonmarket benefits. The effect of these changes upon the structure and nature of Scottish forests is unclear, and a sectoral analysis should be undertaken to explore the potential impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study was to determine farmers' perception of Village and Farm Forestry Program (VFFP) towards sustainable forestry development. Data were collected from VFFP members of three selected sub-districts of the Dinajpur district in Bangladesh. In general, most of the respondents did not face major problems in establishing their own forestry. The majority of the farmers (96%) perceived that their forestry management activities had moderately to highly positive effects of VFFP towards sustainable forestry development. Farmers' education, organizational participation, training, communication exposure, innovativeness, farming experience, and knowledge of farm-forestry had significant positive relationships with their perception of VFFP towards sustainable forestry development. This study concludes that VFFP, along with other support service providers, may assist so that the technical and socio-organizational capacities of the beneficiaries, especially of the small and marginal farmers, are built up through a process that promotes self confidence and leadership for their empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a surplus of wood growing in the world, despite generalizations about highly visible over-harvesting of some species and locations that suggests otherwise. Dealing with the oversupply by excluding natural forests from harvest and investing in intensive plantations is a risky strategy. Plantations require high financial investment, generally produce low quality wood, have a narrow ‘biological window’ when they need harvesting, and put the entire 10vestment at risk if this ‘window’ is missed. Plantations could meet the world's wood needs on about ten percent of the current forest area; however, if the non-plantation forests were harvested, these natural forests could produce less expensive, higher quality timber than plantations and ruin the plantation investment. Alternative strategies for timber investment include increasing global wood demand, targeting high quality wood niches, and managing forests for other uses in addition to wood. Intensive plantations may be profitable in a few situations or if global wood consumption increases dramatically. Also, intensive plantations can be useful for non-financial reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review aims to summarize some of the studies in the agroforestry systems of Costa Rica from the 1970s to date. From the 1970s to the mid 1980s, agroforestry systems were characterized by a dominance of the association of indigenous trees from natural regeneration with coffee, cacao, and pastures. However, in the mid-1980s, a number of trials with native species started in Costa Rica, which identified several promising species for reforestation or agroforestry (i.e., Vochysia ferruginea, V. guaternalensis, Terminalia amazonia, Hyeronima alchorneoides, and others). In the 1990s to date, there has been a diversification in the types of agroforestry systems used, and an increase in research on these systems (i.e., taungya, improved fallows, multipurpose trees in pastures, alley cropping, and home gardens). Current research not only focuses on the benefits of trees to the systems, but it also studies the proper combinations of crops-trees to attain more profitable yields and to avoid risk, and highlights the environmental services provided by the systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics, proline, amino acids, total soluble carbohydrates and pigment contents were examined during the summer period in seedlings of seven multipurpose tree species, specifically Alnus nepalensis, Boehmeria rugulosa, Celtis australis, Dalbergia sissoo, Ficus glomerata, Grewia optiva and Sapium sebiferum, grown in abandoned agricultural and degraded lands. All species invariably showed lower photochemical efficiency of photosystem II measured as Fv/Fm ratio in degraded land as compared to abandoned agricultural land except S. sebiferum, which exhibited identical efficiency at both sites. However, differences in percent reduction were observed among the species, with B. rugulosa exhibiting maximum reduction in Fv/Fm ratio in degraded land, whereas minimum reduction was observed in G. optiva and D. sissoo. Plants grown in degraded land also showed significant reduction in leaf area and total leaf number per plant, with G. optiva and D. sissoo having the least reduction, whereas S. sebiferum showed maximum reduction in total leaf area. Considerably higher amounts of osmotic solutes were associated with plants showing better growth in degraded land except D. sissoo. It was observed that plant species with greater leaf area that maintained higher photochemical efficiency exhibited better growth. Among the seven species examined, D. sissoo, followed by A. nepalensis, B. rugulosa and C. australis exhibited better performance, in terms of plant height and diameter at collar height, in abandoned agricultural land. However, in degraded land, A. nepalensis and D. sissoo were superior, whereas B. rugulosa and S. sebiferum performed poorly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Single-tree selection logging will likely result in a 4.3% loss in the relative abundance and a 4.1% loss in basal area of trees of commercial species in one cutting cycle due to their removal by harvesting combined with their potential recolonization of only 31% of logging gaps in a Bolivian tropical dry forest. Densities of the most valuable species, Amburana cearensis and Cedrela fissilis, were particularly reduced by logging. To sustain the current harvesting rate, uses need to be developed for more non-commercial species and/or silvicultural treatments employed that increase regeneration of commercial species and remove non-commercial species using timber stand improvement techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study was conducted in rural central and northern Malawi to (1) identify factors limiting/enhancing agroforestry adoption and (2) assess the impact of cultural differences on the adoption and use of agroforestry systems. The study involved interviewing representatives of a large number households concentrated in four separate study areas. The study used the grounded theory method of sociology, which relies on largely qualitative data and inductive reasoning. Nine-tenths of the farmers in the study were resource poor with little or no formal education. Two-thirds of the farmers in the study were not familiar with agroforestry systems such as alley cropping. The level of interest in adopting agroforestry systems, which did not include the application of inorganic fertilizer, was quite high because of anticipated improved crop yields. An overriding theme emerging from the study was the importance of considering micro-level economic conditions and cultural dynamics in the design of successful agroforestry programs. The results also suggest the utility of local level social analysis prior to efforts designed to further promote the adoption of agroforestry. Clearly, biological sustainability is essential, but not sufficient in the design of such programs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]