Forest Transformation in the Wake of Colonization: The Quijos Andean Amazonian Flank, Past and Present

Forest transformation modified the Quijos’ ancient mountainscapes in three ways: scientific approximation, entrepreneurial investing, and community engagement. We concentrate the study in the Cumandá Protected Forest reserve as exemplar in the Quijos valley. Our objective is to understand forest transition trends and prospects of sustainability by answering qualitative research questions of impact on cloud forest vegetation from a socioecological standpoint. We used ethnographic work, personal interviews, surveys to the community, and queries to authorities; our qualitative methods included critical discourse analyses, onomastic interpretation, and matrix comparison for ecological legacies, focused on three sectors of the economy that we posit impacted these forests, all indicative of a more competitive, globalized framework: forest tourism, retreating forest frontier, and mining forested watersheds. We found that these sectors also helped alleviate poverty in local communities so that ecotourism, non-traditional forest product harvest, and subsistence mining of water could become stewards, despite the fact that such a nuanced approach has not yet been fully implemented by local governments. We conclude that Hostería Cumandá promotes new conservation narratives in positive ways, since it fuels grassroots organizations to incorporate nature conservation into restoration ecology efforts, provides studies on mountain forest species of concern in the area, generates local employment, and converts a transitory, ephemeral attraction into an international tourism destination.

Forest Transformation Urgency for Topsoil Diversity Optimization During Environmental Change

Combined effect of environmental change and management variability leads to reduced soil diversity in homogenous forest stands. On the other hand, forest soil diversity is maintained with rich tree species composition. In this study, focus has been put on deriving urgency to change forest tree species composition in order to increase soil diversity in biogeographic regions with uneven impact of environmental change. The relation of forest tree species and soil diversities was compared between the periods of dominant sulphur deposition (1985–1994) and the period of regional environmental change (2003–2012) in the Czech Republic (Central Europe; 78 866 km2; 115–1602 m n.m.). Forest tree species and soil diversities were assessed using linear regression, discrimination analysis and geographically weighted regression including residue analysis. The effect of spatial differences of acid deposition on soil properties, though, decreased, still dependencies between the diversity of bedrock, soils and forest tree species increased significantly. Only 12.9 % of forests in the territory of the CR have optimum tree species diversity. The total of 65.9 % of forest require highly or moderately urgent transformation. An increase in spatial dependencies between soil and tree species diversities confirms the importance of site differentiation in forest transformation.

Present Situation and Countermeasure of Camellia Oleifera Industry in Guizhou Province

<p>Starting from the current situation of the development of camellia oleifera industry in Guizhou Province, China, this paper systematically summarizes the development advantages, and puts forward the countermeasures for further development. Moreover, it points out that camellia oleifera industry must strengthen the propaganda, put the promotion of science and technology in the first place, deal with a series of problems such as variety resources, planting technology, capital investment, low-yield forest transformation, and processing of camellia oleifera, so as to speed up the processing development of camellia oleifera industry in Guizhou Province.</p>

Long-term transformation of submontane spruce-beech forests in the Jizerské hory Mts.: dynamics of natural regeneration

The paper deals with development of the natural regeneration of even-aged spruce-beech forests during their transformation to uneven-aged stands with diversified structure at the Jedlový důl area in the Protected Landscape Area Jizerské hory Mts., Czech Republic. Shelterwood management system and free felling policy based on selection principles has been applied there since 1979 with the support of admixed tree species of the natural species composition, especially silver fir (Abies alba Mill.). The research was focuses on structure and development of natural regeneration with the emphasis on ungulate damage and interaction with tree layer from 1979 to 2015. In the course of 36 years, the regeneration structure was diversified towards the close-to-nature tree species composition, spatial and age structure. The number of regeneration recruits increased in average from 941 to 41,669 ind ha-1. During this period share of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) significantly (p < 0.01) increased (by 53.6%), while the share of Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) decreased (by 51.5%), such as damage caused by ungulate (by 61.4%) with the highest loses on sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus L.), rowan (Sorbus aucuparia L.) and silver fir. Moreover, the parent trees had a significant negative influence on natural regeneration at smaller spacing (within a 1 - 5 m radius from the stem). Both, regeneration potential and effective role of the tree layer during the forest transformation has been confirmed as important prerequisites for ongoing forest transformation.

Analysis of operational approach during forest transformation in Klokočná Range, Central Bohemia

Afforestation of agricultural lands may be in many cases a positive step. Especially, it is a beneficial with waterlogged soils, stony soils or for soils which are for any other reason less fertile and unsuitable for farming. Even too in the agricultural landscape, afforestation can be very important by the breaking of large farm blocks by windbreakers and bio-corridors. The value, quality and fertility of soil can be assessed in different ways. The aim of this study is to determine the criteria for the identification of agricultural land suitable for afforestation. This evaluation process is based on Evaluated Soil Ecological Units (BPEJ) that are publicly available and already processed for all agricultural land. The results are represented by complete list of Evaluated Soil Ecological Units that are suitable for afforestation with stating the reason why they were chosen.