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One aim of the MIPP Project (http://www.lifemipp.eu) was to develop non-invasive monitoring methods for selected saproxylic beetles. In this paper, a method is proposed for monitoring the larvae of Osmoderma eremita in their natural habitat (i.e. hollow trees), using a conservation detection dog (CDD). Wood mould sampling (WMS), the standard method to detect hermit beetles and other saproxylic insects inside tree hollows, is time-consuming and exposes the target species and the whole saproxylic communities to some risks. In contrast, CDDs pose no risk to the species living inside trees while, at the same time, offer a powerful tool for surveying the insects. In this paper, the methods applied to train the dog are presented, together with the results for accuracy (the overall proportion of correct indications), sensitivity (the proportion of correct positive indications) and specificity (the proportion of correct negative indications) obtained once the CDD had been fully trained. Results are presented for nitrocellulose filters with the odour of the target species, for larvae living inside hollow trees, for frass and for the remains of adults. A comparison of the efficiency between CDD and WMS showed that employing the dog was much less time-consuming than WMS. The literature on training CDDs for nature conservation tasks, with particular reference to cases involving Coleoptera, was also reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work presents analysis of volume and structure of timber resources in mountain mixed forest stands managed according to Swiss irregular cutting system. Research material consist of results of trees measurements on 413 control sample plots located in square net with the length of side 100 m in "Szczawiczne" object in Forest Experimental Station in Krynica. The results include analysis of tree measurements carried out in year 1975 and repeated in following years: 1986, 1994, 2001,2006 and 2011. Calculations were performed for 16 interpretation units created by joining together stands with the same species composition category and phase of stand development with total area of 455,86 ha. The work presents analysis of changes of volume and structure of timber resources in mountain mixed forest stands managed according to Swiss irregular cutting system. The study was conducted in stands of "Szczawiczne" object in Forest Experimental Station in Krynica. Research material consist of results of trees measurements on 413 control sample plots located in square net with the length of side 100 m in "Szczawiczne" object in Forest Experimental Station in Krynica. The results include analysis of tree measurements carried out from year 1975 and repeated in following years: 1986, 1994, 2001, 2006 and 2011. Calculations stand volume were performed for 16 interpretation units created by joining together stands with the same species composition category and the phase of stand development with total area 455,86 ha. On the basic of obtained results following conclusions were formulated. In analyzed stands there were observed significant changes of forest resources favorable from economic as well as natural point of view. The progress of target species such as: fir and beech and regress of forecrop species such: pine, spruce and alder were observed. Mean stand volume in "Szczawiczne" almost doubled from level of 147 to 284 m³ x ha-1. The biggest increase of volume occurred in Silver fir stands the smallest in forecrop stands. In Scots pine stands in terminal phase of development volume decreased. The volume increment doubled in average from the level of 5,92 m³ x ha-1 x year-1 in first period to about 11,93 m³ x ha-1 x year-1 in the last period. In years 2006-2016 Silver fir stands had the biggest volume increment (about 16,04 m³ x ha-1 x year-1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical and subtropical high mountains forests are mainly situated within ravines. Two alternative and often confronted explanations have been proposed for this pattern: that abiotic environmental conditions are favourable for tree establishment only within ravines, or that ravines are less affected by grazing and fires which negatively affect establishment in other sites. Here we propose a mixed explanation and hypothesize that abiotic environmental conditions associated to spatial variation are important during early seedling establishment and that grazing is the main determinant during later stages through its negative effect on survival and growth of larger saplings. We sowed 302,400 seeds and planted 360 saplings of the dominant tree species from the upper Córdoba Mountain range (Central Argentina) with and without grazing in three contrasting sites: a ravine, a valley and a ridge. We monitored seeding plots 5 years until the seedlings reached the height of the planted saplings and we monitored the planted saplings for 12 years. We integrated life stages using matrix multiplications, which resulted in data simulating 17 years of the trees’ early development. Our results showed that seedling establishment was lower in the ravine and ridge sites and higher in the valley site with negative differences due to grazing only in the valley. Planted sapling survival increased but growth decreased from ravine to valley and ridge sites in the absence of large herbivores, while both survival and growth were substantially lower in the presence of large herbivores. Matrix multiplications indicated that differences between sites were 5.0 times more important than grazing when integrating up to year 5, but grazing by large herbivores was 5.4 times more important than differences between sites when assessed across the whole 17 year period. We conclude that there could be a strong influence of grazing in restricting high montane forests to sites like ravines where large herbivores are less frequent and show how the relative importance of site characteristics and grazing changes as a result of the length and the differing life stages which are monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first forestry experimental stations in Europe appeared in the 1860-1870s. Russia also had draft proposals for such stations around this time. Discussions about forestry experimental stations began in the 1870s, soon after the Forestry Society of St. Petersburg was established with the support of the Forestry Department. Leading experts in forestry proposed that two 'central' experimental stations (at the Forestry Institute and Petrovskaya Agricultural Academy) should be established and that these should be linked to a further 20 'local' stations. The proposal described in detail the organization of the stations, especially the meteorological department, the model for which was the Bavarian forest-meteorology network created by Ernst Ebermayer. The Russian proposal also contained new ideas on how to study soil moisture dynamics under the forest canopy. Despite productive discussions the network of Russian forestry experimental stations never materialized - probably because of the Russo- Turkish war. The institutionalization of forestry experimentation eventually took place in Russia in the 1890s. This was in response to the 1891-1892 drought and famine, which prompted the organization of the so-called Special Expedition under the supervision of Vasily Dokuchaev. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data in forestry are often spatially and (or) serially correlated. In the last two decades, mixed models have become increasingly popular for the analysis of such data because they can relax the assumption of independent observations. However, when the relationship between the response variable and the covariates is nonlinear, as is the case in generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs), population-averaged predictions cannot be obtained from the fixed effects alone. This study proposes an estimator, which is based on a five-point Gauss−Hermite quadrature, for population-averaged predictions in the context of GLMM. The estimator was tested through Monte Carlo simulation and compared with a regular generalized linear model (GLM). The estimator was also applied to a real-world case study, a harvest model. The results showed that GLM predictions were unbiased but that their confidence intervals did not achieve their nominal coverage. On the other hand, the proposed estimator yielded unbiased predictions with reliable confidence intervals. The predictions based on the fixed effects of a GLMM exhibited the largest biases. If statistical inferences are needed, the proposed estimator should be used. It is easily implemented as long as the random effect specification does not contain multiple random effects for the same hierarchical level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Daily stomatal ozone flux to a mountain Norway spruce forest stand at the Bily Kriz experimental site in the Beskydy Mts. (Czech Republic) was modelled using a multiplicative model during the 2009 growing season. The multiplicative model was run with meteorological data for the growing season 2009 and ALADIN-CLIMATE/CZ model data for the 2030 growing season. The exceedance of the flux-based critical level of O3 (Phytotoxic Ozone Dose) might be lower for Norway spruce at the Bily Kriz experimental site in a future climate (around 2030), due to increased stomatal closure induced by climate change, even when taking into account increased tropospheric background O3 concentration. In contrast, exceedance of the concentration-based critical level (AOT40) of O3 will increase with the projected increase in background O3 concentration. Ozone concentration and stomatal flux of ozone significantly decreased NEP under both present and future climatic conditions, especially under high intensities of solar radiation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a profile of forestry researcher Raphael Zon and examines his efforts to establish forest experiment stations during his time working with the U.S. Forest Service. It describes how Zon's ideas of experiment stations were influenced by his relationship with German forester Bernhard Fernow while at Cornell University, chronicles Zon's push to develop American forest experiment stations through a memorandum written to Forest Service's chief Gifford Pinchot, and discusses the work in soil, weather, and tree studies completed by Gustav Adolph "Gus" Pearson as director of Arizona's Fort Valley Experiment Station.

The article focuses on the Forest History Association of British Columbia. Topics discussed include its establishment in 1982 to save, record and increase awareness and interest in the province's forest history, books published, and oral history program on the Aleza Kale Forest Experimentation Station. Also mentioned are problems created by the mountain pine beetle, the pros and cons of electronic data storage and transmission, and the use of technology to preserve forest industry history.

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience of touring the North Pond Experimental Field Station in Newfoundland and Labrador.