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2 pages, 162 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Forest Resources Management: An Editorial

by Vítor João Pereira Domingues Martinho

Sustainability 2022, 14(6), 3652; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063652 - 21 Mar 2022

Viewed by 1002

Abstract

The forest plays a decisive role in terms of its potential contribution to the dimensions of sustainability and the frameworks created by climate change and global warming [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Resources Management)

Research

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19 pages, 1631 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Forest Resource Management: An Empirical Study in Northern Pakistan

by Sajjad Ali, Dake Wang, Talib Hussain, Xiaocong Lu and Mohammad Nurunnabi

Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8752; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168752 - 5 Aug 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3488

Abstract

Community participation for forest sustainability and use of forest resources for community development is considered a vital way in all societies. This study was conducted to assess the public views toward sustainable forest management in the area of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, through collecting data [...] Read more.

Community participation for forest sustainability and use of forest resources for community development is considered a vital way in all societies. This study was conducted to assess the public views toward sustainable forest management in the area of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, through collecting data from 255 respondents. Views about forest management techniques at different levels were discussed. Three main areas of focus to manage forest resources were: strategic-level management, local-level management, and communication-level management. To provide confidence and to measure factors affecting sustainable forest management, this study applied the structural equation modeling approach and built a model that explained and identified the critical factors affecting sustainable forest management. A quantitative approach via Smart Partial Least Squares version 3.2.8 was used for analysis. The findings of the study show that the R² value of the model was 0.653, which means that the three exogenous latent constructs collectively explained 65.3% of the variance in sustainable forest management. In this study, the goodness of fit of the model was 0.431, which is considered valid for further analysis. Among the three proposed levels for forest management, the strategic-level-management factor was found the most important of the three variables. This study concluded that for better and sustainable forest management, policies should flow from the strategic level to the local and also focus on communication-level management because all these factors appear to be significant in measuring sustainable forest management. Community engagement and awareness are also found to be an important way for forest resource management. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Resources Management)

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11 pages, 3226 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Contribution of Natural Forest Products to Rural Livelihoods at Mavunde and Sambandou Villages, Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, South Africa

by Mwazvita T. B. Dalu, Ashley W. Gunter, Mulweli Makatu, Gregory M. Dowo, Farai Dondofema and Tatenda Dalu

Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4252; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084252 - 12 Apr 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2846

Abstract

With ~70% of the sub-Saharan population living in rural areas, more than 90% of rural African households depend on natural forest products. Although several studies in other parts of South Africa have looked into the use of natural forest products in poverty alleviation, [...] Read more.

With ~70% of the sub-Saharan population living in rural areas, more than 90% of rural African households depend on natural forest products. Although several studies in other parts of South Africa have looked into the use of natural forest products in poverty alleviation, little is known on the roles and relative contribution of natural forest products as daily and safety nets specifically within the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, South Africa. This study assessed the different roles played by natural forest products in households and the patterns of their relative contribution to households both as sources of income and direct consumption within differing household compositions as well as socio-economic factors. These included employment and income diversification role and the monetised value of natural resources in the rural livelihoods of households in Sambandou and Mavunde, Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study inter alia compared a wide use of natural resources by two villages and determined on which forest products they most relied for their economic welfare. Their relative contributions to livelihoods were assessed by identifying factors that affected their contributions. Findings of the study showed that Sambandou had a high number of people with formal jobs and females, and fewer old-age pensioners. Differences in employment and education between villages were observed. In all villages, the most frequently used or harvested resource was fuelwood, wild edible fruits, herbs, grass/shrub hand sweepers, insects for food, thatch grass/reeds and poles for fencing and housing. Overall, Mavunde village households were found to be more dependent on natural resource harvesting both for income and subsistence substitution. Findings suggest that this may have been a consequence of socio-economic factors such as income and employment, as well as general underdevelopment in the village. This study’s findings could contribute to further studies into how these results compare to other parts of the country and region, as well as their respective developmental implications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Resources Management)

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17 pages, 943 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimation of Genetic Parameters and Wood Yield Selection Index in a Clonal Trial of Korean Pine (Pinus koraiensis) in Northeastern China

by David Kombi Kaviriri, Huanzhen Liu and Xiyang Zhao

Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4167; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084167 - 8 Apr 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1725

Abstract

In order to determine suitable traits for selecting high-wood-yield Korean pine materials, eleven morphological characteristics (tree height, basal diameter, diameter at breast height, diameter at 3 meter height, stem straightness degree, crown breadth, crown height, branch angle, branch number per node, bark thickness, [...] Read more.

In order to determine suitable traits for selecting high-wood-yield Korean pine materials, eleven morphological characteristics (tree height, basal diameter, diameter at breast height, diameter at 3 meter height, stem straightness degree, crown breadth, crown height, branch angle, branch number per node, bark thickness, and stem volume) were investigated in a 38-year-old Korean pine clonal trial at Naozhi orchard. A statistical approach combining variance and regression analysis was used to extract appropriate traits for selecting elite clones. Results of variance analysis showed significant difference in variance sources in most of the traits, except for the stem straightness degree, which had a p-value of 0.94. Moderate to high coefficients of variation and clonal repeatability ranged from 10.73% to 35.45% and from 0.06% to 0.78%, respectively. Strong significant correlations on the phenotypic and genotypic levels were observed between the straightness traits and tree volume, but crown breadth was weakly correlated to the volume. Four principal components retaining up to 80% of the total variation were extracted, and stem volume, basal diameter, diameter at breast height, diameter at 3 meter height, tree height, and crown height displayed high correlation to these components (r ranged from 0.76 to 0.98). Based on the Type III sum of squares, tree height, diameter at breast height, and branch number showed significant information to explain the clonal variability based on stem volume. Using the extracted characteristics as the selection index, six clones (PK105, PK59, PK104, PK36, PK28, and K101) displayed the highest Qi values, with a selection rate of 5% corresponding to the genetic gain of 42.96% in stem volume. This study provides beneficial information for the selection of multiple traits for genetically improved genotypes of Korean pine. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Resources Management)

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21 pages, 6714 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Short-Term Effects of Fire Severity on Vegetation Based on Sentinel-2 Satellite Data

by Aru Han, Song Qing, Yongbin Bao, Li Na, Yuhai Bao, Xingpeng Liu, Jiquan Zhang and Chunyi Wang

Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 432; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010432 - 5 Jan 2021

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3399

Abstract

An important component in improving the quality of forests is to study the interference intensity of forest fires, in order to describe the intensity of the forest fire and the vegetation recovery, and to improve the monitoring ability of the dynamic change of [...] Read more.

An important component in improving the quality of forests is to study the interference intensity of forest fires, in order to describe the intensity of the forest fire and the vegetation recovery, and to improve the monitoring ability of the dynamic change of the forest. Using a forest fire event in Bilahe, Inner Monglia in 2017 as a case study, this study extracted the burned area based on the BAIS2 index of Sentinel-2 data for 2016–2018. The leaf area index (LAI) and fractional vegetation cover (FVC), which are more suitable for monitoring vegetation dynamic changes of a burned area, were calculated by comparing the biophysical and spectral indices. The results showed that patterns of change of LAI and FVC of various land cover types were similar post-fire. The LAI and FVC of forest and grassland were high during the pre-fire and post-fire years. During the fire year, from the fire month (May) through the next 4 months (September), the order of areas of different fire severity in terms of values of LAI and FVC was: low > moderate > high severity. During the post fire year, LAI and FVC increased rapidly in areas of different fire severity, and the ranking of areas of different fire severity in terms of values LAI and FVC was consistent with the trend observed during the pre-fire year. The results of this study can improve the understanding of the mechanisms involved in post-fire vegetation change. By using quantitative inversion, the health trajectory of the ecosystem can be rapidly determined, and therefore this method can play an irreplaceable role in the realization of sustainable development in the study area. Therefore, it is of great scientific significance to quantitatively retrieve vegetation variables by remote sensing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Resources Management)

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21 pages, 4603 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Forest Resources Management and Sustainability: The Specific Case of European Union Countries

by Vítor João Pereira Domingues Martinho and António José Dinis Ferreira

Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010058 - 23 Dec 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3331

Abstract

Forest land provides several environmental services and goods with significant implications for different socioeconomic and environmental dimensions. Forestry and its management are determinant activities for sustainable development, specifically in the current context of urgent mitigation of climate change. In this perspective, one objective [...] Read more.

Forest land provides several environmental services and goods with significant implications for different socioeconomic and environmental dimensions. Forestry and its management are determinant activities for sustainable development, specifically in the current context of urgent mitigation of climate change. In this perspective, one objective of this research was to survey the main insights from the literature about the forest and management dimensions put together, highlighting the contributions of these activities to mitigate climate change. Another objective was to explore indicators related to forest management (land, employment, output, and net emissions) in order to obtain a forest sustainability index through factor analysis. As main insights from this study, we can quote that the literature survey pinpoints the most relevant factors framing forest management: soil characteristics, ecology, ecosystems, biodiversity, deforestation, climate change, socioeconomic frameworks, local knowledge, public policies, institutional context, and new technologies. Forest indicators reveal a strong relationship between forest land, employment and output, and a weaker relation with net emissions. We concluded that there is a need for stakeholders to explore and improve the interlinkage with climate change impact, specifically with regard to improving the relationships of forestry greenhouse gas emissions impacts with forest size and output. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Resources Management)

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Review

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11 pages, 3070 KiB

Open AccessReview

Experience of Forest Ecological Classification in Assessment of Vegetation Dynamics

by Natalya Ivanova, Valery Fomin and Antonín Kusbach

Sustainability 2022, 14(6), 3384; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063384 - 14 Mar 2022

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4035

Abstract

Due to global climate change and increased forest transformation by humans, accounting for the dynamics of forest ecosystems is becoming a central problem in forestry. We reviewed the success of considering vegetation dynamics in the most influential ecological forest classifications in Russia, the [...] Read more.

Due to global climate change and increased forest transformation by humans, accounting for the dynamics of forest ecosystems is becoming a central problem in forestry. We reviewed the success of considering vegetation dynamics in the most influential ecological forest classifications in Russia, the European Union, and North America. Out of the variety of approaches to forest classification, only those that are widely used in forestry and forest inventory were selected. It was found that the system of diagnostic signs developed by genetic forest typology based on the time-stable characteristics of habitats as well as the developed concept of dynamic series of cenosis formation allows us to successfully take into account the dynamics of vegetation. While forest dynamics in European classifications is assessed at a theoretical level, it is also possible to assess forest dynamics in practice due to information obtained from EUNIS habitat classification. In ecological classifications in North America, the problem of vegetation dynamics is most fully solved with ecological site description (ESD), which includes potential vegetation and disturbance factors in the classification features. In habitat type classification (HTC) and biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification (BEC), vegetation dynamics is accounted based on testing the diagnostic species and other signs of potential vegetation for resistance to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Understanding of vegetation–environment associations is fundamental in forming proper forest management methods and improving existing classification structures. We believe that this topic is relevant as part of the ongoing search for new solutions within all significant forest ecological classifications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Resources Management)

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17 pages, 894 KiB

Open AccessReview

Agri-Food Contexts in Mediterranean Regions: Contributions to Better Resources Management

by Vítor João Pereira Domingues Martinho

Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6683; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126683 - 12 Jun 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2692

Abstract

The agri-food frameworks have specific characteristics (production units with small dimensions and in great number with implications in the respective markets) that call for adjusted approaches, even more so when they are considered in Mediterranean contexts (where global warming will have relevant impacts). [...] Read more.

The agri-food frameworks have specific characteristics (production units with small dimensions and in great number with implications in the respective markets) that call for adjusted approaches, even more so when they are considered in Mediterranean contexts (where global warming will have relevant impacts). In fact, the Mediterranean regions and countries have particular specificities (due to their climate conditions) that distinguish them from their neighbours. This is particularly true in Europe, for example, where the southern countries present socioeconomic dynamics (associated with the respective public debt) that are different from those identified in the northern regions. From this perspective, it seems pertinent to analyse the several dimensions of the agri-food systems in the Mediterranean area. To achieve these objectives, a search was carried out on 26 December 2020 on the scientific databases Web of Science Core Collection (WoS) and Scopus for the topics “agr*-food” and “Mediterranean”. These keywords were selected after a previous literature survey and to capture the agri-food contexts in Mediterranean regions. The keyword “agr*-food” was considered in this way to allow for a wider search (including “agri-food”, “agro-food”, etc.). Considering only articles (excluding proceeding papers, book chapters, and books, because in some cases it is difficult to access the entire content of the document), 100 and 117 documents were obtained from the WoS and Scopus, respectively. After removing the duplicated studies and taking into account the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) approach, 137 documents were surveyed through a literature review. As main insights, several dimensions embedded in the concept of agri-food were highlighted, from those related to heritage subjects to natural assets. On the other hand, the following subtopics were identified: agri-food dynamics and sustainability, agriculture and agri-food systems, agri-chains and food consumption, and food production and composition impact on agri-chains. Stressing the gaps in the scientific literature, related to the topics here addressed, there are possibilities to better explore the several dimensions and solutions offered by the new developments associated with smart agriculture and agriculture 4.0, specifically for the Mediterranean contexts and their challenges. Finally, to complement the PRISMA methodologies, an MB2MBA2 (Methodology Based on Benchmarking of Metadata, from scientific databases, and Bibliometric Assessment and Analysis) approach is suggested to carry out systematic literature reviews, based on bibliometric analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Resources Management)

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