FSC-certified forest management benefits large mammals compared to non-FSC

More than a quarter of the world's tropical forests are exploited for timber1. Logging impacts biodiversity in these ecosystems, primarily through the creation of forest roads that facilitate hunting for wildlife over extensive areas. Forest management certification schemes such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) are expected to mitigate impacts on biodiversity, but so far very little is known about the effectiveness of FSC certification because of research design challenges, predominantly limited sample sizes2,3. Here we provide this evidence by using 1.3 million camera-trap photos of 55 mammal species in 14 logging concessions in western equatorial Africa. We observed higher mammal encounter rates in FSC-certified than in non-FSC logging concessions. The effect was most pronounced for species weighing more than 10 kg and for species of high conservation priority such as the critically endangered forest elephant and western lowland gorilla. Across the whole mammal community, non-FSC concessions contained proportionally more rodents and other small species than did FSC-certified concessions. The first priority for species protection should be to maintain unlogged forests with effective law enforcement, but for logged forests our findings provide convincing data that FSC-certified forest management is less damaging to the mammal community than is non-FSC forest management. This study provides strong evidence that FSC-certified forest management or equivalently stringent requirements and controlling mechanisms should become the norm for timber extraction to avoid half-empty forests dominated by rodents and other small species.

Estimating retention benchmarks for salvage logging to protect biodiversity

Forests are increasingly affected by natural disturbances. Subsequent salvage logging, a widespread management practice conducted predominantly to recover economic capital, produces further disturbance and impacts biodiversity worldwide. Hence, naturally disturbed forests are among the most threatened habitats in the world, with consequences for their associated biodiversity. However, there are no evidence-based benchmarks for the proportion of area of naturally disturbed forests to be excluded from salvage logging to conserve biodiversity. We apply a mixed rarefaction/extrapolation approach to a global multi-taxa dataset from disturbed forests, including birds, plants, insects and fungi, to close this gap. We find that 75 ± 7% (mean ± SD) of a naturally disturbed area of a forest needs to be left unlogged to maintain 90% richness of its unique species, whereas retaining 50% of a naturally disturbed forest unlogged maintains 73 ± 12% of its unique species richness. These values do not change with the time elapsed since disturbance but vary considerably among taxonomic groups.

Culturally modified trees or wasted timber: Different approaches to marked trees in Poland's Białowieża Forest

Studies of past forest use traditions are crucial in both understanding the present state of the oldest European forests, and in guiding decisions on future forest conservation and management. Current management of Poland’s Białowieża Forest (BF), one of the best-preserved forests of the European lowlands, is heavily influenced by anecdotal knowledge on forest history. Therefore, it is important to gain knowledge of the forest’s past in order to answer questions about its historical administration, utilisation, and associated anthropogenic changes. Such understanding can then inform future management. This study, based on surveys in Belarussian and Russian archives and a preliminary field survey in ten forest compartments of Białowieża National Park, focuses on culturally-modified trees (CMTs), which in this case are by-products of different forms of traditional forest use. Information about the formation of the CMTs can then be used to provide insight into former forest usage. Two types of CMTs were discovered to be still present in the contemporary BF. One type found in two forms was of 1) pine trees scorched and chopped in the bottom part of the trunk and 2) pine trees with carved beehives. A second type based on written accounts, and therefore known to be present in the past (what we call a ‘ghost CMT’), was of 3) lime-trees with strips of bark peeled from the trunk. Written accounts cover the period of transition between the traditional forest management (BF as a Polish royal hunting ground, until the end of the eighteenth century) and modern, “scientific” forestry (in most European countries introduced in the second half of the nineteenth century). These accounts document that both types of CMTs and the traditional forest uses responsible for their creation were considered harmful to “rational forestry” by the nineteenth-century forest administration. Thus the practices which created CMTs were banned and the trees gradually removed from the forest. Indeed, these activities drew the attention of forest administrators for several decades, and in our view delayed the introduction of new, timber-oriented, forest management in the BF.

Rating experiments in forestry: How much agreement is there in tree marking?

The process of selecting individual trees by humans for forest management purposes is the result of a plethora of factors and processes that are hard to disentangle. And yet in the past many textbooks and other publications have maintained that this selection leads to somewhat unanimous results. In this study, we analysed the data of 36 so-called marteloscope experiments from all over Britain, which are managed by the Ae Training Centre (Scotland, UK). Our objective was (1) to establish how much agreement there actually was when asking test persons (raters) to apply two different thinning methods, low and crown thinning. In addition we (2) were interested in understanding some of the processes leading to certain levels of agreement and in relationships between the agreement measures and characteristics of forest structure. Our analysis was based on multivariate statistics, particularly using Fleiss’ kappa. This was the first time that an analysis of rater behaviour was performed at such a large scale and it revealed that the general agreement in tree selection in Britain was only slight to fair, i.e. much lower than in medical experiments. The variability of selecting individual trees was considerable. We also found that agreement in tree selection was much stronger in low-thinning as opposed to crown-thinning experiments. As the latter is an important method of Continuous Cover Forestry and British forestry is increasingly adopting this forest management type, our results suggested that there is a need to provide more training. Interestingly the different levels of agreement as identified by Fleiss’ kappa could not be explained by measures of forest structure, however, the mean conformity number, a surrogate of Fleiss’ kappa, showed correlations and indicated that conformity increased with increasing complexity of tree stem diameter structure.

A criteria and indicators monitoring framework for food forestry embedded in the principles of ecological restoration

Food forestry is a burgeoning practice in North America, representing a strong multifunctional approach that combines agriculture, forestry, and ecological restoration. The Galiano Conservancy Association (GCA), a community conservation, restoration, and educational organization on Galiano Island, British Columbia in Canada, recently has created two food forests on their protected forested lands: one with primarily non-native species and the other comprising native species. These projects, aimed at food production, education, and promotion of local food security and sustainability, are also intended to contribute to the overall ecological integrity of the landscape. Monitoring is essential for assessing how effectively a project is meeting its goal and thus informing its adaptive management. Yet, presently, there are no comprehensive monitoring frameworks for food forestry available. To fill this need, this study developed a generic Criteria and Indicators (C&I) monitoring framework for food forestry, embedded in ecological restoration principles, by employing qualitative content analysis of 61 literature resources and semi-structured interviews with 16 experts in the fields of food forestry and ecological restoration. The generic C&I framework comprises 14 criteria, 39 indicators, and 109 measures and is intended to guide a comprehensive and systematic assessment for food forest projects. The GCA adapted the generic C&I framework to develop a customized monitoring framework. The Galiano C&I monitoring framework has comprehensive suite of monitoring parameters, which are collectively address multiple values and goals.

Assessing effectiveness of long-term forestry best management practices on stream water quality at a basin scale-a case study in Southern USA

Forestry best management practices (BMPs) have proven to be very effective in protecting adjacent stream water quality at the plot scale. However, our knowledge is incomplete about the effectiveness of forestry BMPs in large watersheds where industrial forests are intensively managed. In this study, we compared long-term concentrations and loadings of total suspended solids (TSS), nitrate/nitrite nitrogen (NO₃NO₂-N), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), and total phosphorus (TP) before (1978-1988) and after extensive implementation of forestry BMPs (1994-2008) at the outlet of a 5000-km² river basin that is predominately covered by intensively managed pine forests in Central Louisiana, USA. Our study shows that after extensive BMP implementation, both concentrations and loads of TSS in the basin outlet decreased significantly from 34 to 25 mg L^-1 and from 55,000 to 36,700 t year^-1, respectively. However, no significant difference was found in NO₃NO₂-N, TKN, and TP concentrations between the two periods. The results of nutrient loadings varied, whereby the annual nitrogen loading declined without significant differences (from 1790 to 1600 t year^-1 for TKN and from 176 to 158 t year^-1 for NO₃NO₂-N, respectively) but the annual TP loading increased significantly (from 152 to 192 t year^-1) after BMP implementation. The increase in TP loading is likely due to an increased application of phosphorus fertilizer, which offset BMPs' effects especially during high-flow conditions. These results strongly suggest that current forestry BMPs in this region are effective in reducing sediment loading, but current BMP guidelines for fertilization and nutrient management need to be reviewed and improved.

Does environmental certification in coffee promote "business as usual"? A case study from the Western Ghats, India

Conservation initiatives are designed to address threats to forests and biodiversity, often through partnerships with natural-resource users who are incentivized to change their land-use and livelihood practices to avoid further biodiversity loss. In particular, direct incentives programmes that provide monetary benefits are commended for being effective in achieving conservation across short timescales. In biodiversity-rich areas, outside protected areas, such as coffee agroforestry systems, direct incentives, such as certification schemes, are used to motivate coffee producers to maintain native tree species, natural vegetation, restrict wildlife hunting, and conserve soil and water, in addition to encouraging welfare of workers. However, despite these claims, there is a lack of strong evidence of the on-ground impact of such schemes. To assess the conservation importance of certification, we describe a case study in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot of India, in which coffee growers are provided price incentives to adopt Rainforest Alliance certification standards. We analyse the conservation and social outcomes of this programme by studying peoples' experiences of participating in certification. Despite high compliance and effective implementation, we find a strong case for the endorsement of 'business as usual' with no changes in farm management as a result of certification. We find that such 'business as usual' participation in certification creates grounds for diminishing credibility and local support for conservation efforts. Working towards locally relevant conservation interventions, rather than implementing global blueprints, may lead to more meaningful biodiversity conservation and increased community support for conservation initiatives in coffee landscapes.

Impacts of nonstate, market-driven governance on Chilean forests

Global markets for agricultural products, timber, and minerals are critically important drivers of deforestation. The supply chains driving land use change may also provide opportunities to halt deforestation. Market campaigns, moratoria, and certification schemes have been promoted as powerful tools to achieve conservation goals. Despite their promise, there have been few opportunities to rigorously quantify the ability of these nonstate, market-driven (NSMD) governance regimes to deliver conservation outcomes. This study analyzes the impacts of three NSMD governance systems that sought to end the conversion of natural forests to plantations in Chile at the start of the 21st century. Using a multilevel, panel dataset of land use changes in Chile, we identify the impact of participation within each of the governance regimes by implementing a series of matched difference-in-differences analyses. Taking advantage of the mosaic of different NSMD regimes adopted in Chile, we explore the relative effectiveness of different policies. NSMD governance regimes reduced deforestation on participating properties by 2-23%. The NSMD governance regimes we studied included collaborative and confrontational strategies between environmental and industry stakeholders. We find that the more collaborative governance systems studied achieved better environmental performance than more confrontational approaches. Whereas many government conservation programs have targeted regions with little likelihood of conversion, we demonstrate that NSMD governance has the potential to alter behavior on high-deforestation properties.

Can't see the (bamboo) forest for the trees: examining bamboo's fit within international forestry institutions

Over the centuries, governments and international agencies have developed a wide range of institutions to manage timber resources and conserve values provided by treed lands. Concerns regarding the sustainable supply of timber have provided opportunities for the development of substitute resources; however, bamboo and other non-timber forest resources have not been a part of the development of these institutions. Bamboo is a unique Non-Timber Forest Product, as it is often classified as forest or timber, and therefore must adhere to the same regulations as timber. Given the recent global expansion of bamboo, it is timely to examine the interplay between bamboo and the traditional institutions of forest governance. This paper aims to contribute to debates regarding cognitive institutional constraints on the development of substitute natural resources using bamboo as a case study, with specific focus on the applicability of Forest Stewardship Council certification, timber legality verification and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation to bamboos.

Satellite data-based phenological evaluation of the nationwide reforestation of South Korea

Through the past 60 years, forests, now of various age classes, have been established in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula through nationwide efforts to reestablish forests since the Korean War (1950–53), during which more than 65% of the nation's forest was destroyed. Careful evaluation of long-term changes in vegetation growth after reforestation is one of the essential steps to ensuring sustainable forest management. This study investigated nationwide variations in vegetation phenology using satellite-based growing season estimates for 1982–2008. The start of the growing season calculated from the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) agrees reasonably with the ground-observed first flowering date both temporally (correlation coefficient, r = 0.54) and spatially (r = 0.64) at the 95% confidence level. Over the entire 27-year period, South Korea, on average, experienced a lengthening of the growing season of 4.5 days decade⁻¹, perhaps due to recent global warming. The lengthening of the growing season is attributed mostly to delays in the end of the growing season. The retrieved nationwide growing season data were used to compare the spatial variations in forest biomass carbon density with the time-averaged growing season length for 61 forests. Relatively higher forest biomass carbon density was observed over the regions having a longer growing season, especially for the regions dominated by young (<30 year) forests. These results imply that a lengthening of the growing season related to the ongoing global warming may have positive impacts on carbon sequestration, an important aspect of large-scale forest management for sustainable development.

Certified and uncertified logging concessions compared in Gabon: changes in stand structure, tree species, and biomass

Forest management certification is assumed to promote sustainable forest management, but there is little field-based evidence to support this claim. To help fill this gap, we compared a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified with an adjacent uncertified, conventionally logged concession (CL) in Gabon on the basis of logging damage, above-ground biomass (AGB), and tree species diversity and composition. Before logging, we marked, mapped, and measured all trees >10 cm dbh in 20 and twelve 1-ha permanent plots in the FSC and CL areas, respectively. Soil and tree damage due to felling, skidding, and road-related activities was then assessed 2-3 months after the 508 ha FSC study area and the 200 ha CL study area were selectively logged at respective intensities of 5.7 m(3)/ha (0.39 trees/ha) and 11.4 m(3)/ha (0.76 trees/ha). For each tree felled, averages of 9.1 and 20.9 other trees were damaged in the FSC and CL plots, respectively; when expressed as the impacts per timber volume extracted, the values did not differ between the two treatments. Skid trails covered 2.9 % more of the CL surface, but skid trail length per unit timber volume extracted was not greater. Logging roads were wider in the CL than FSC site and disturbed 4.7 % more of the surface. Overall, logging caused declines in AGB of 7.1 and 13.4 % at the FSC and CL sites, respectively. Changes in tree species composition were small but greater for the CL site. Based on these findings and in light of the pseudoreplicated study design with less-than perfect counterfactual, we cautiously conclude that certification yields environmental benefits even after accounting for differences in logging intensities.

Evidence-based knowledge versus negotiated indicators for assessment of ecological sustainability: the Swedish Forest Stewardship Council standard as a case study

Assessing ecological sustainability involves monitoring of indicators and comparison of their states with performance targets that are deemed sustainable. First, a normative model was developed centered on evidence-based knowledge about (a) forest composition, structure, and function at multiple scales, and (b) performance targets derived by quantifying the habitat amount in naturally dynamic forests, and as required for presence of populations of specialized focal species. Second, we compared the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification standards' ecological indicators from 1998 and 2010 in Sweden to the normative model using a Specific, Measurable, Accurate, Realistic, and Timebound (SMART) indicator approach. Indicator variables and targets for riparian and aquatic ecosystems were clearly under-represented compared to terrestrial ones. FSC's ecological indicators expanded over time from composition and structure towards function, and from finer to coarser spatial scales. However, SMART indicators were few. Moreover, they poorly reflected quantitative evidence-based knowledge, a consequence of the fact that forest certification mirrors the outcome of a complex social negotiation process.

Biological assessment of aquaculture effects on effluent-receiving streams in Ghana using structural and functional composition of fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages

Biological assessment of aquatic ecosystems is widely employed as an alternative or complement to chemical and toxicity testing due to numerous advantages of using biota to determine ecosystem condition. These advantages, especially to developing countries, include the relatively low cost and technical requirements. This study was conducted to determine the biological impacts of aquaculture operations on effluent-receiving streams in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. We collected water, fish and benthic macroinvertebrate samples from 12 aquaculture effluent-receiving streams upstream and downstream of fish farms and 12 reference streams between May and August of 2009, and then calculated structural and functional metrics for biotic assemblages. Fish species with non-guarding mode of reproduction were more abundant in reference streams than downstream (P = 0.0214) and upstream (P = 0.0251), and sand-detritus spawning fish were less predominant in reference stream than upstream (P = 0.0222) and marginally less in downstream locations (P = 0.0539). A possible subsidy-stress response of macroinvertebrate family richness and abundance was also observed, with nutrient (nitrogen) augmentation from aquaculture and other farming activities likely. Generally, there were no, or only marginal differences among locations downstream and upstream of fish farms and in reference streams in terms of several other biotic metrics considered. Therefore, the scale of impact in the future will depend not only on the management of nutrient augmentation from pond effluents, but also on the consideration of nutrient discharges from other industries like fruit and vegetable farming within the study area.

Risk and cooperation: managing hazardous fuel in mixed ownership landscapes

Managing natural processes at the landscape scale to promote forest health is important, especially in the case of wildfire, where the ability of a landowner to protect his or her individual parcel is constrained by conditions on neighboring ownerships. However, management at a landscape scale is also challenging because it requires cooperation on plans and actions that cross ownership boundaries. Cooperation depends on people's beliefs and norms about reciprocity and perceptions of the risks and benefits of interacting with others. Using logistic regression tests on mail survey data and qualitative analysis of interviews with landowners, we examined the relationship between perceived wildfire risk and cooperation in the management of hazardous fuel by nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) owners in fire-prone landscapes of eastern Oregon. We found that NIPF owners who perceived a risk of wildfire to their properties, and perceived that conditions on nearby public forestlands contributed to this risk, were more likely to have cooperated with public agencies in the past to reduce fire risk than owners who did not perceive a risk of wildfire to their properties. Wildfire risk perception was not associated with past cooperation among NIPF owners. The greater social barriers to private-private cooperation than to private-public cooperation, and perceptions of more hazardous conditions on public compared with private forestlands may explain this difference. Owners expressed a strong willingness to cooperate with others in future cross-boundary efforts to reduce fire risk, however. We explore barriers to cooperative forest management across ownerships, and identify models of cooperation that hold potential for future collective action to reduce wildfire risk.

A primer for nonresponse in the US forest inventory and analysis program

Nonresponse caused by denied access and hazardous conditions are a concern for the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program, whose mission is to quantify status and trends in forest resources across the USA. Any appreciable amount of nonresponse can cause bias in FIA's estimates of population parameters. This paper will quantify the magnitude of nonresponse and describe the mechanisms that result in nonresponse, describe and qualitatively evaluate FIA's assumptions regarding nonresponse, provide a recommendation concerning plot replacement strategies, and identify appropriate strategies to pursue that minimize bias. The nonresponse rates ranged from 0% to 21% and differed by land owner group; with denied access to private land the leading cause of nonresponse. Current FIA estimators assume that nonresponse occurs at random. Although in most cases this assumption appears tenable, a qualitative assessment indicates a few situations where the assumption is not tenable. In the short-term, we recommend that FIA use stratification schemes that make the missing at random assumption tenable. We recommend the examination of alternative estimation techniques that use appropriate weighting and auxiliary information to mitigate the effects of nonresponse. We recommend the replacement of nonresponse sample locations not be used.

An exploratory assessment of the attitudes of Chinese wood products manufacturers towards forest certification

Interviews with Chinese forest products manufacturers were conducted to explore their attitudes towards forest certification and related issues. Participants comprised owners, CEOs, and managers in 20 Chinese wood products companies, including producers of furniture, doors, flooring, and various engineered wood products. The interviews were used to analyze the extent to which participants were considering adopting forest certification and what might motivate such a decision. This was done by assessing their awareness and knowledge of certification. The results indicated that participants' understanding of forest certification was extremely low, despite major efforts in China to raise awareness of the issue. Potential economic benefits were the most frequently cited reason to adopt certification, including gaining or maintaining competitive advantage over their industry counterparts, improved access to both domestic and export markets, better customer recognition, and enhanced corporate responsibility practices. Some interviewees (3 out of 20) considered that certification would become a mandatory requirement or industry standard, and that this would be the only viable motivation for certification given that the financial benefits were potentially limited. According to the participants, the main differences between certified and uncertified wood products operations related to improved market access and public image. Interviewees felt that cooperation between and support from governments and the forest industry would enable the enhanced awareness of certification amongst manufacturers and the general public. This, in turn, could serve to stimulate demand for certified products.

Relating safety, productivity and company type for motor-manual logging operations in the Italian Alps

The study compared the performance of four different logging crews with respect to productivity, organization and safety. To this purpose, the authors developed a data collection method capable of providing a quantitative analysis of risk-taking behavior. Four crews were tested under the same working conditions, representative of close-to-nature alpine forestry. Motor-manual working methods were applied, since these methods are still prevalent in the specific study area, despite the growing popularity of mechanical processors. Crews from public companies showed a significantly lower frequency of risk-taking behavior. The best safety performance was offered by the only (public) crew that had been administered formal safety training. The study seems to deny the common prejudice that safety practice is inversely proportional to productivity. Instead, productivity is increased by introducing more efficient working methods and equipment. The quantitative analysis of risk-taking behavior developed in this study can be applied to a number of industrial fields besides forestry. Characterizing risk-taking behavior for a given case may eventually lead to the development of custom-made training programmes, which may address problem areas while avoiding that the message is weakened by the inclusion of redundant information. In the specific case of logging crews in the central Alps, the study suggests that current training courses may be weak on ergonomics, and advocates a staged training programme, focusing first on accident reduction and then expanding to the prevention of chronic illness.

Assessing the effects of management alternatives on habitat suitability in a forested landscape of northeastern China

Forest management often has cumulative, long-lasting effects on wildlife habitat suitability and the effects may be impractical to evaluate using landscape-scale field experiments. To understand such effects, we linked a spatially explicit landscape disturbance and succession model (LANDIS) with habitat suitability index (HSI) models to assess the effects of management alternatives on habitat suitability in a forested landscape of northeastern China. LANDIS was applied to simulate future forest landscape changes under four management alternatives (no cutting, clearcutting, selective cutting I and II) over a 200-year horizon. The simulation outputs were linked with HSI models for three wildlife species, the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), the red deer (Cervus elaphus) and the hazel grouse (Bonasa bonasia). These species are chosen because they represent numerous species that have distinct habitat requirements in our study area. We assessed their habitat suitability based on the mean HSI values, which is a measure of the average habitat quality. Our simulation results showed that no one management scenario was the best for all species and various forest management scenarios would lead to conflicting wildlife habitat outcomes. How to choose a scenario is dependent on the trade-off of economical, ecological and social goals. Our modeling effort could provide decision makers with relative comparisons among management scenarios from the perspective of biodiversity conservation. The general simulation results were expected based on our knowledge of forest management and habitat relationships of the species, which confirmed that the coupled modeling approach correctly simulated the assumed relationships between the wildlife, forest composition, age structure, and spatial configuration of habitat. However, several emergent results revealed the unexpected outcomes that a management scenario may lead to.

The effects of forestry on Hg bioaccumulation in nemoral/boreal waters and recommendations for good silvicultural practice

Mercury (Hg) levels are alarmingly high in fish from lakes across Fennoscandia and northern North America. The few published studies on the ways in which silviculture practices influence this problem indicate that forest operations increase Hg in downstream aquatic ecosystems. From these studies, we estimate that between one-tenth and one-quarter of the Hg in the fish of high-latitude, managed forest landscapes can be attributed to harvesting. Forestry, however, did not create the elevated Hg levels in the soils, and waterborne Hg/MeHg concentrations downstream from harvested areas are similar to those from wetlands. Given the current understanding of the way in which silviculture impacts Hg cycling, most of the recommendations for good forest practice in Sweden appear to be appropriate for high-latitude regions, e.g., leaving riparian buffer zones, as well as reducing disturbance at stream crossings and in moist areas. The recommendation to restore wetlands and reduce drainage, however, will likely increase Hg/MeHg loadings to aquatic ecosystems.

Improving the integration of recreation management with management of other natural resources by applying concepts of scale from ecology

In this article, we examine how issues of scale affect the integration of recreation management with the management of other natural resources on public lands. We present two theories used to address scale issues in ecology and explore how they can improve the two most widely applied recreation-planning frameworks. The theory of patch dynamics and hierarchy theory are applied to the recreation opportunity spectrum (ROS) and the limits of acceptable change (LAC) recreation-planning frameworks. These frameworks have been widely adopted internationally, and improving their ability to integrate with other aspects of natural resource management has significant social and conservation implications. We propose that incorporating ecologic criteria and scale concepts into these recreation-planning frameworks will improve the foundation for integrated land management by resolving issues of incongruent boundaries, mismatched scales, and multiple-scale analysis. Specifically, we argue that whereas the spatially explicit process of the ROS facilitates integrated decision making, its lack of ecologic criteria, broad extent, and large patch size decrease its usefulness for integration at finer scales. The LAC provides explicit considerations for weighing competing values, but measurement of recreation disturbances within an LAC analysis is often done at too fine a grain and at too narrow an extent for integration with other recreation and resource concerns. We suggest that planners should perform analysis at multiple scales when making management decisions that involve trade-offs among competing values. The United States Forest Service is used as an example to discuss how resource-management agencies can improve this integration.

A review of post-modern management techniques as currently applied to Turkish forestry

This paper reviews the effects of six post-modern management concepts as applied to Turkish forestry. Up to now, Turkish forestry has been constrained, both in terms of its operations and internal organization, by a highly bureaucratic system. The application of new thinking in forestry management, however, has recently resulted in new organizational and production concepts that promise to address problems specific to this Turkish industry and bring about positive changes. This paper will elucidate these specific issues and demonstrate how post-modern management thinking is influencing the administration and operational capacity of Turkish forestry within its current structure.

Dissipation of four forest-use herbicides at high latitudes

BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE

Large-scale deforestation is occurring in subarctic North America following clearing by salvage logging or insect attack. Numerous shrubs, herbs, and deciduous tree species tend to dominate areas on which stands of white spruce have grown. In the absence of economically advantageous mechanical methods, several herbicides have value in efforts to reforest by planting white spruce. Glyphosate, imazapyr, triclopyr, and hexazinone are all capable of selectively removing many competing species, but there is concern about whether they would degrade naturally or persist owing to the frigid climate.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We established test plots with all four herbicides in upland and river bottom sites at 65 degrees N and 58 degrees N latitudes. The northern site has extremely cold winters, with soils that freeze to a depth of 1-2 m, and precipitation of 275 mm/year. The southern site has heavy rain and snowfall, amounting to 2,250 mm/year evenly distributed. Soil seldom freezes deeply. On each test plot, one of the four herbicides was applied at twice the normal operational use rate to facilitate detection. They were applied at the normal timing, with hexazinone, imazapyr, and triclopyr applied in June and glyphosate applied in fall. Soils were sampled immediately after treatment and those samples used as references for dissipation data gathered over the next 11-14 months from soil 0- to 15- and 15- to 45-cm depths.

RESULTS

Dissipation rates did not follow first-order rates because freezing conditions slowed most microbial activity. All products dissipated to close to or below detection limits within the time of the study. Dissipation from vegetation was substantially more rapid and depended on the nature of the plants treated as well as the product used. While soil residues dissipated more slowly than in temperate regions, they did display consistent dissipation patterns during above-freezing conditions and also the influence of microbial activity. Mobility was very limited with all products but hexazinone.

DISCUSSION

These products dissipate during summer in high latitudes much as they would in temperate climates. Winter changes are small, but are not unlike some changes reported elsewhere under freezing conditions. Unlike many other studies, soil water did not influence dissipation heavily, but the high latitude and semi-arid climate also did not create severely droughty soils. Residues in plants were much higher than those in soils, but denatured the vegetation quickly, leading to unsuitability for forage in any case.

CONCLUSIONS

Low toxicity of these products and their metabolites combined with consistent dissipation and low mobility suggest that toxic hazard of their use at high latitudes need not be a matter of serious concern to humans, terrestrial wildlife, or aquatic systems. They are safe for use in management and rehabilitation of boreal forests when used properly.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES

Dissipation at rates approaching those in warmer climates offer a hypothesis that microflora native to high latitudes may be adapted to destruction of such molecules at lower temperatures than may be indicated by experiments with microflora adapted to warmer climates. Residues pose no observable risk to wildlife or humans in the area of use when products are applied properly.

Forestry best management practices: evaluation of alternate streamside management zones on stream water quality in Pockwock Lake and Five Mile Lake watersheds in central Nova Scotia, Canada

The effects of timber harvesting on stream water quality and efficiency of alternate streamside management zones were evaluated in Pockwock Lake and Five Mile Lake watersheds in central Nova Scotia, Canada. The streamside management zone (SMZ) included a 20 m no cut, 20 m select cut and a 30 m select cut buffer strips along the stream. Water quality of eight streams, six in harvested and two in not-harvested watersheds were monitored for two years before and two years after the harvesting of timber. Nonparametric statistical tests on stream water quality showed that there was significant change in the concentration of potassium in six streams, manganese in five streams, zinc in two streams and total nitrogen in one stream after timber harvesting. There was no significant change in the quality of water in two streams used as control sites in the neighboring watersheds of similar size and hydrological characteristics. The results show that forest management practices were most favorable in streams maintained with 30 m select cut followed by 20 m no cut and 20 m select cut SMZ. The streamside zone width and treatment of select cut or no cut in the zone played an important role in filtering or retaining the minerals in surface water runoff. In buffer zones of similar width, the buffer zone with no cut or forested buffer was relatively more effective at protecting stream water quality than select cut SMZ. The vegetation in the zone may have decreased the flow velocity and increased residence time and thus increased filtration and retention of minerals in the riparian soil.

Test of APEX for nine forested watersheds in East Texas

Hydrologic/water quality models are increasingly used to explore management and policy alternatives for managing water quality and quantity from intensive silvicultural practices with best management practices (BMPs) in forested watersheds due to the limited number of and cost of conducting watershed monitoring. The Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model was field-tested using 6 yr of data for flow, sediment, nutrient, and herbicide losses collected from nine small (2.58 to 2.74 ha) forested watersheds located in southwest Cherokee County in East Texas. Simulated annual average stream flow for each of the nine watersheds was within +/- 7% of the corresponding observed values; simulated annual average sediment losses were within +/- 8% of measured values for eight out of nine watersheds. Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (EF) values ranged from 0.68 to 0.94 based on annual stream flow comparison and from 0.60 to 0.99 based on annual sediment comparison. Similar to what was observed, simulated flow, sediment, organic N, and P were significantly increased on clear-cut watersheds compared with the control watersheds. APEX reasonably simulated herbicide losses, with an EF of 0.73 and R(2) of 0.74 for imazapyr, and EF of 0.65 and R(2) of 0.68 for hexazinone based on annual values. Overall, the results show that APEX was able to predict the effects of silvicultural practices with BMPs on water quantity and quality and that the model is a useful tool for simulating a variety of responses to forest conditions.

Understanding self-evaluations of effectiveness by forestry advisory committee members: a case of Ontario's Local Citizens Committee members

Researchers have devised many criteria that could assist with the development of an effective public participation process. Few studies, however, have linked these criteria to the effectiveness of decision-making resulting from these processes. We assess whether several criteria postulated by others for designing an effective decision-making process are associated with evaluations of the effectiveness of decision-making by advisory group members from a forest management planning process in Ontario, Canada. Data were collected by written questionnaires from 197 advisory group members in 2001. Four criteria were linked to the effectiveness evaluations including process control (influence), trust in decision-makers, information credibility, and process efficiency. The criterion of knowledge along with contextual variables related to experience, economic dependence on forestry, and geographical residence were not associated with evaluations of effectiveness.

Condition and fate of logged forests in the Brazilian Amazon

The long-term viability of a forest industry in the Amazon region of Brazil depends on the maintenance of adequate timber volume and growth in healthy forests. Using extensive high-resolution satellite analyses, we studied the forest damage caused by recent logging operations and the likelihood that logged forests would be cleared within 4 years after timber harvest. Across 2,030,637 km2 of the Brazilian Amazon from 1999 to 2004, at least 76% of all harvest practices resulted in high levels of canopy damage sufficient to leave forests susceptible to drought and fire. We found that 16+/-1% of selectively logged areas were deforested within 1 year of logging, with a subsequent annual deforestation rate of 5.4% for 4 years after timber harvests. Nearly all logging occurred within 25 km of main roads, and within that area, the probability of deforestation for a logged forest was up to four times greater than for unlogged forests. In combination, our results show that logging in the Brazilian Amazon is dominated by highly damaging operations, often followed rapidly by deforestation decades before forests can recover sufficiently to produce timber for a second harvest. Under the management regimes in effect at the time of our study in the Brazilian Amazon, selective logging would not be sustained.

Modelling ecological expertise for forest planning calculations-rationale, examples, and pitfalls

Modern forestry increasingly often requires consideration of ecological objectives in planning calculations. A common problem in the integration of ecological objectives with forest planning is the lack of empirical models usable when evaluating the ecological merits of alternative forest treatment schedules. With respect to the habitat requirements of a threatened species, for example, the information might only be descriptive and scattered in numerous different case studies not directly exploitable with the forest area in question. A natural approach to alleviate these problems is to use existing ecological expertise in the form of expert judgments. This paper considers different possibilities for utilising ecological expertise in multi-objective forest planning through some practical examples. Special attention is paid to methodological issues concerning the collection and analysis of expert judgments. It is concluded that the modelling of ecological expertise is a useful tool in forest planning, but the inevitable uncertainties of expert judgments and the special pitfalls in modelling of expertise-as discussed in the paper-should be taken into account.

[Good laboratory practice: applications in the plant health sector]

The principles of good laboratory practice (GLP) are also applicable to studies on plant protection products (PPP). In Italy the placing of PPP on the market is authorized by Ministry of Health in accordance with the Decree no. 194/95, which implements Directive 91/414/EEC. The studies listed in Annexes II and III of Directive 91/414/EEC must be conducted in accordance with the principles of GLP, independently of the site of conduct (laboratory, greenhouse, field). Studies on efficacy may be instead conducted in accordance with the principles of good experimental practice. The Ministry of Health grants the compliance status to test facilities which work according to the principles of BPL, with the exception of test facilities which conduct field studies as regards efficacy tests. Such test facilities are under the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

A survey of forest workers in New Zealand. Do hours of work, rest, and recovery play a role in accidents and injury?

PROBLEM

A number of structural and organizational changes have occurred recently within the New Zealand Forestry Industry, with concerns being raised about the impact of these changes on the forestry worker in terms of fatigue, sleepiness, and compromised safety. This study explored the relationship of fatigue, and some of its key determinants, with accidents and injuries in a group of forestry industry workers in New Zealand.

METHOD

A total of 367 forestry workers responded to a self-administered questionnaire.

RESULTS

Fatigue was found to be commonly experienced at work in the forest, with 78% of workers reporting that they experienced fatigue at least "sometimes." This study found that certain groups of workers reported long working hours, reduced sleep, compromised recovery time, and intensely paced work. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that recent sleep, number of breaks taken during the workday, and specific job/tasks were independently associated with reporting of high fatigue levels at work. Near-miss injury events were significantly more common among those reporting a high level of fatigue at work. Accidents and lost-time injury were associated with length of time at work, ethnicity, and having had near-miss injury events.

DISCUSSION

Together, these results suggest that fatigue and aspects of work organization, which are likely to be fatiguing, may be associated with compromised safety for forest workers.

IMPACT ON INDUSTRY

With an already slim margin of error present in forest operations, an impairment due to increased fatigue may constitute a significant risk factor for accidents and injuries in this workforce. The results indicate the need for further examination of shift and workload management among forestry workers, as well as a role for improving industry awareness about the causes and consequences of fatigue.