scholarly journals On-Site Experience Effect on Stakeholders’ Preferences of Forest Management

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 7845
Author(s):  
Xiaoshu Li ◽  
G. Andrew Stainback

An understanding of how public preferences vary among different stakeholders toward forest management policies would be helpful in the forest policy design and administration process. In this study, we investigate the preferences toward forest management policies of three stakeholder groups-woodlot owners, environmentalists, and the general public. We used a stated-preference survey to elicit information about stakeholder preferences for forest management practices at Holt Research Forest in Maine. The survey was administered to each group both before and after an on-site experience at the forest. We specifically investigated how information and experience acquired through the on-site experience would influence the preferences of each group. We also conducted a latent class analysis to further explore the preference heterogeneity among survey participants. The results show differences in preferences for forest management policies between stakeholders with the preferences of woodlot owners differing substantially from environmentalists and the general public both before and after the on-site experience. The on-site experience did not have a substantial impact on woodlot owners. In contrast, it increased the consistency of choice decisions among environmentalists and the public.

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
pp. 610-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara R Nelson ◽  
Charles B Halpern

Limited information exists on the effects of forest management practices on bryophytes, despite their importance to forest ecosystems. We examined short-term responses of ground-layer bryophytes to logging disturbance and creation of edges in mature Pseudotsuga forests of western Washington (USA). The abundance and richness of species were measured in four 1-ha forest aggregates (patches of intact forest) and in surrounding logged areas before and after structural retention harvests. One year after treatment, species richness, total cover, and frequency of most moss and liverwort taxa declined within harvest areas. Within forest aggregates, mosses did not show significant edge effects; however, richness and abundance of liverworts declined with proximity to the aggregate edge. Our results suggest that, over short time frames, 1-ha-sized aggregates are sufficient to maintain most common mosses through structural retention harvests but are not large enough to prevent declines or losses of liverworts. Thus, current standards for structural retention, which allow for aggregates as small as 0.2 ha, may be inadequate to retain the diversity and abundance of species found in mature, undisturbed forests.Key words: bryophyte, edge effects, forest borders, forest management, logging effects, structural retention harvest.


1996 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-258
Author(s):  
William P. Furey

Forest Certification is one of the priority issues facing the forest industry and will become increasingly more important as we move towards the year 2000. It will provide a voluntary, impartial process for each company to demonstrate to the general public, customers and Government, that its forest management practices meet or exceed established standards necessary for sustainability. Key words: sustainable forestry, Canadian forest management standards, forest certification


2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
JENS FRIIS LUND ◽  
NEIL D. BURGESS ◽  
SHABANI A. O. CHAMSHAMA ◽  
KLAUS DONS ◽  
JACK A. ISANGO ◽  
...  

SUMMARYNearly 10% of the world's total forest area is formally owned by communities and indigenous groups, yet knowledge of the effects of decentralized forest management approaches on conservation (and livelihood) impacts remains elusive. In this paper, the conservation impact of decentralized forest management on two forests in Tanzania was evaluated using a mixed method approach. Current forest condition, forest increment and forest use patterns were assessed through forest inventories, and changes in forest disturbance levels before and after the implementation of decentralized forest management were assessed on the basis of analyses of Landsat images. This biophysical evidence was then linked to changes in actual management practices, assessed through records, interviews and participatory observations, to provide a measure of the conservation impact of the policy change. Both forests in the study were found to be in good condition, and extraction was lower than overall forest increment. Divergent changes in forest disturbance levels were in evidence following the implementation of decentralized forest management. The evidence from records, interviews and participatory observations indicated that decentralized management had led to increased control of forest use and the observed divergence in forest disturbance levels appeared to be linked to differences in the way that village-level forest managers prioritized conservation objectives and forest-based livelihood strategies. The study illustrates that a mixed methods approach comprises a valid and promising way to evaluate impacts of conservation policies, even in the absence of control sites. By carefully linking policy outcomes to policy outputs, such an approach not only identifies whether such policies work as intended, but also potential mechanisms.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xilei Zhao ◽  
Xinyi Wang ◽  
Xiang Yan ◽  
Zhuoxuan Cao

Abstract The future of public transit service is often envisioned as Mobility-on-Demand (MOD), i.e., a system that integrates fixed routes and shared on-demand shuttles. The MOD transit system has the potential to provide better transit service with higher efficiency and coverage. However, little research has focused on understanding traveler preferences for MOD transit and preference heterogeneity, especially among the disadvantaged population. This study addresses this gap by proposing a two-step method, called latent segmentation based decision tree (LSDT). This method first uses a latent class cluster analysis (LCCA) that extracts traveler profiles who have similar usage patterns for shared modes. Then, decision trees (DT) are adopted to reveal the associations between various factors with preferences for MOD transit across different clusters. We collected stated-preference data among two low-resource communities, i.e., Detroit and Ypsilanti, Michigan. The LCCA model divides the entire sample into three clusters, i.e., shared-mode users, shared-mode non-users, and transit-only users. We find that job accessibility by transit is the most important variable for all the cluster-specific DT to model the MOD transit preference, and it negatively associated with the MOD transit preference. For transit-only users, gender and car ownership are the second-important variables, but neither of them appears in the DT for the other two clusters. In particular, female transit-only users have lower preference for MOD transit, possibly due to safety concerns. The LSDT method can generate richer insights than a single DT fitted to the overall sample by better accounting for heterogeneity. The findings gained from this approach can inform better-targeted strategies to plan for MOD transit services.


1997 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulf Böckenholt ◽  
William R. Dillon

Despite the enormous amounts of resources devoted to concept and product testing and the continued use of pretest market (PTM) modeling procedures, estimates of new product failures are still alarmingly high. The primary objectives of PTM modeling are to forecast the market share/sales volume of a new product and to determine the sources of new product share at the aggregate market level. The authors describe a new approach that is designed to provide a parsimonious description of competitive changes before and after a new product is introduced by identifying latent segments (i.e., groups of consumers) that vary in size and composition with respect to the relative preferences for a set of brands before and after a new product is introduced. Each latent segment represents a particular preference state characterized by a set of segment-level choice probabilities. The modeling framework is based on a class of dynamic latent class models that explicitly recognize two major types of preference heterogeneity: (1) heterogeneity caused by before-after changes in latent preferences for the brands (i.e., time-varying relative choice probabilities) and/or (2) heterogeneity caused by consumers changing their latent preference segment in response to a new product (i.e., time varying latent segment probabilities). As is demonstrated in the empirical application, the dynamic latent class models provide a comprehensive framework for understanding how a new product changes the competitive landscape.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Gradel ◽  
Gerelbaatar Sukhbaatar ◽  
Daniel Karthe ◽  
Hoduck Kang

The natural conditions, climate change and socio-economic challenges related to the transformation from a socialistic society towards a market-driven system make the implementation of sustainable land management practices in Mongolia especially complicated. Forests play an important role in land management. In addition to providing resources and ecosystem functions, Mongolian forests protect against land degradation.We conducted a literature review of the status of forest management in Mongolia and lessons learned, with special consideration to halting deforestation and degradation. We grouped our review into seven challenges relevant to developing regionally adapted forest management systems that both safeguard forest health and consider socio-economic needs. In our review, we found that current forest management in Mongolia is not always sustainable, and that some practices lack scientific grounding. An overwhelming number of sources noticed a decrease in forest area and quality during the last decades, although afforestation initiatives are reported to have increased. We found that they have had, with few exceptions, only limited success. During our review, however, we found a number of case studies that presented or proposed promising approaches to (re-)establishing and managing forests. These studies are further supported by a body of literature that examines how forest administration, and local participation can be modified to better support sustainable forestry. Based on our review, we conclude that it is necessary to integrate capacity development and forest research into holistic initiatives. A special focus should be given to the linkages between vegetation cover and the hydrological regime.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 859
Author(s):  
Geng Guo ◽  
Xiao Li ◽  
Xi Zhu ◽  
Yanyin Xu ◽  
Qiao Dai ◽  
...  

Although forest conversions have long been a focus in carbon (C) research, the relationship between soil erosion and the dynamic change of soil organic carbon (SOC) has not been well-quantified. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of converting CBF (coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests) to economic forests, including CF (chestnut forest), HF (hawthorn forest), and AF (apple forest), on the soil structure and nutrient loss in the Huaibei Rocky Mountain Areas, China. A 137Cs tracer method was used to provide soil erosion data in order to quantify the loss of aggregate-associated SOC. The results showed that forest management operations caused macro-aggregates to decrease by 1.69% in CF, 4.52% in AF, and 3.87% in HF. Therefore, the stability of aggregates was reduced. The SOC contents in each aggregate size decreased significantly after forest conversion, with the largest decreases occurring in AF. We quantified the loss of 0.15, 0.38, and 0.31 Mg hm−2 of aggregate-associated SOC after conversion from CBF to CF, AF, and HF, respectively. These results suggest that forest management operations have a negative impact on soil quality and fertility. CF has better vegetation coverage and less human interference, making it more prominent among the three economic forests species. Therefore, when developing forest management operations, judicious selection of tree varieties and appropriate management practices are extremely critical. In addition, measures should be taken to increase surface cover to reduce soil erosion and achieve sustainable development of economic forests.


2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-48
Author(s):  
P. Christoph Richartz ◽  
Lukas Kornher ◽  
Awudu Abdulai

In this article, we apply a choice experiment meth-od to examine consumers’ preferences for online food product attributes, using survey data for German consumers for meat products. We use both mixed logit and latent class models to analyze preference heterogeneity and sources of heterogeneity, as well as endogenous attribute attendance models to account for consumers’ attribute processing strategies. The empirical results reveal significant heterogeneity in preferences for online meat attributes among consumers. We also find that consumers’ willingness to pay estimates are highly influenced by their attribute processing strategies.


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