In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the main goals behind the development of a biofuel industry are employment creation and income generation. Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) has emerged as a candidate for biodiesel production. It is a non-edible oil producing, drought-resistant plant that can be grown on marginal land with limited water and low soil fertility. However, these are also attributes that typify weedy and invasive plant species. Adding to these concerns are the general questioning of whether biofuel production will reduce Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally. Currently, there is limited information on the potential invasiveness of many biofuel crops, and in particular, the potential risks of cultivating Jatropha. This paper aims to assess the benefits and risks, especially risks, of growing Jatropha for biodiesel production. Jatropha should be screened through a science-based risk-assessment procedure to predict the risk of becoming invasive before it is released for large-scale commercial cultivation. The net GHG savings can be achieved through the cultivation of Jatropha, considering two main factors: no land-use change and crop management without chemical fertilization.

With their widespread utilization, cut-to-length harvesters have become a major source of “big data” for forest management as they constantly capture, and provide a daily flow of, information on log production and assortment over large operational areas. Harvester data afford the calculation of the total log length between the stump and the last cut but not the total height of trees. They also contain the length and end diameters of individual logs but not always the diameter at breast height overbark (DBHOB) of harvested stems largely because of time lapse, operating and processing issues and other system deficiencies. Even when DBHOB is extracted from harvester data, errors and/or bias of the machine measurements due to the variation in the stump height of harvested stems from that specified for the harvester head prior to harvesting and diameter measurement errors may need to be corrected. This study developed (1) a system of equations for estimating DBHOB of trees from diameter overbark (DOB) measured by a harvester head at any height up to 3 m above ground level and (2) an equation to predict the total height of harvested stems in P. radiata plantations from harvester data. To generate the data required for this purpose, cut-to-length simulations of more than 3000 trees with detailed taper measurements were carried out in the computer using the cutting patterns extracted from the harvester data and stump height survey data from clearfall operations. The equation predicted total tree height from DBHOB, total log length and the small end diameter of the top log. Prediction accuracy for total tree height was evaluated both globally over the entire data space and locally within partitioned subspaces through benchmarking statistics. These statistics were better than that of the conventional height-diameter equations for P. radiata found in the literature, even when they incorporated stand age and the average height and diameter of dominant trees in the stand as predictors. So this equation when used with harvester data would outperform the conventional equations in tree height prediction. Tree and stand reconstructions of the harvested forest is the necessary first step to provide the essential link of harvester data to conventional inventory, remote sensing imagery and LiDAR data. The equations developed in this study will provide such a linkage for the most effective combined use of harvester data in predicting the attributes of individual trees, stands and forests, and product recovery for the management and planning of P. radiata plantations in New South Wales, Australia.

Phoebe bournei (Hemsl.) Yang is a rare and protected plant in China. This study was conducted to determine the phenotypic variation in this species and to document phenotypic variation within and among populations of P. bournei. Nested analysis of variance, coefficient of variation, multiple comparisons, principal component analysis (PCA) and correlation analysis were used to analyze ten phenotypic traits in ten natural populations of P. bournei from both the northeastern and the primary region of the range of this species. Significant differences among and within populations were observed in leaf and seed phenotypic traits. Variation among populations (34.92%) was greater than that within populations (26.19%). The mean phenotypic differentiation coefficient was 53.77% among populations, indicating that variation among populations comprised the majority of the phenotypic variation of P. bournei. The coefficient of variance (CV) of ten traits varied from 6.44 to 18.45%, with an average of 12.03%. The CV of leaf traits among populations (15.64%) was higher than that of seed traits (8.60%), indicating that seed traits were more stable. The results from CV and PCA indicated that leaf area, leaf length and thousand seed weight were the main factors accounting for the observed phenotypic variations. Significant or highly significant correlations were observed among most leaf and/or in seed phenotypic traits, whereas no significant correlations were observed between phenotypic traits and geographic factors. Based on cluster analysis, the ten populations can be divided into three clusters. These clusters were not a result of geographic distances.

To clarify the changes in plant photosynthesis and mechanisms underlying those responses to gradually increasing soil drought stress and reveal quantitative relationships between photosynthesis and soil moisture, soil water conditions were controlled in greenhouse pot experiments using 2-year-old seedlings of Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl. Photosynthetic gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence variables were measured and analyzed under 13 gradients of soil water content. Net photosynthetic rate (P _N), stomatal conductance (g _s), and water-use efficiency (W _UE) in the seedlings exhibited a clear threshold response to the relative soil water content (R _SWC). The highest P _N and W _UE occurred at R _SWC of 51.84 and 64.10%, respectively. Both P _N and W _UE were higher than the average levels at 39.79% ≤ R _SWC ≤ 73.04%. When R _SWC decreased from 51.84 to 37.52%, P _N, g _s, and the intercellular CO₂ concentration (C _i) markedly decreased with increasing drought stress; the corresponding stomatal limitation (L _s) substantially increased, and nonphotochemical quenching (N _PQ) also tended to increase, indicating that within this range of soil water content, excessive excitation energy was dispersed from photosystem II (PSII) in the form of heat, and the reduction in P _N was primarily due to stomatal limitation. While R _SWC decreased below 37.52%, there were significant decreases in the maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry (F _v/F _m) and the effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry (ΦPSII), photochemical quenching (q _P), and N _PQ; in contrast, minimal fluorescence yield of the dark-adapted state (F ₀) increased markedly. Thus, the major limiting factor for the P _N reduction changed to a nonstomatal limitation due to PSII damage. Therefore, an R _SWC of 37.52% is the maximum allowable water deficit for the normal growth of seedlings of F. suspensa, and a water content lower than this level should be avoided in field soil water management. Water contents should be maintained in the range of 39.79% ≤ R _SWC ≤ 73.04% to ensure normal function of the photosynthetic apparatus and high levels of photosynthesis and efficiency in F. suspensa.

The Chinese dwarf cherry (Cerasus humilis (Bge.) Sok.) is a small shrub with edible fruits. It is native to northern and western China. This species was included as a medicinal plant in the “Chinese Pharmacopeia” and has emerged as an economically important crop for fresh fruit consumption, processing into juice and wine and nutraceutical products as well. To gain a better understanding of flavonoid biosynthesis and help develop value added products and better cultivars with greater health benefits, we analyzed total flavonoid content (TFC), composition, and radical scavenging activities in fruit extracts of 16 Chinese dwarf cherry genotypes. Fruit peel TFC ranged from 33.5 to 72.8 mg/g RE·FW (RE: rutin equivalent, FW: fresh weight) while fruit flesh TFC ranged from 4.3 to 16.9 mg/g RE·FW. An HPLC analysis revealed that fruit extracts contained 14 flavonoids with considerable variation in their profiles across genotypes. The most abundant flavonoids in most genotypes were proanthocyanidin B1 (PA-B1), proanthocyanidin B2 (PA-B2), phloretin 2′-O-glucoside (PG), and phloretin 2′,4′-O-diglucoside (PDG). Principal component analysis showed that PG, PA-B1, and PA-B2 had large, positive factor loading values in the first principal component for each genotype. Increased scavenging activity of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals was apparent in genotypes ‘Nongda 4’, ‘Nongda 3’, ‘Nongda 6’, ‘Wenfenli’, and ’10-32’, suggesting promising applications in the production of nutraceutical products. In summary, our results will aid in breeding, fruit processing, and developing medicinal uses of the Chinese dwarf cherry.

In this study to screen for stable, high Taxol-producing cell lines (CL5, CL12, and CL21) of Taxus cuspidata, stem tissues were used to induce calli, which were then subcultured nine times to establish suspension cell cultures. From 97 cell lines obtained from conditioned cultures, 10 cell lines with high Taxol content were selected. Stability analyses on solid and liquid B5 media were then used to obtain lines that stably produced high levels of Taxol. Fresh biomass and Taxol production of the ninth generation became stable. Taxol content of selected CL5, CL12, and CL21 samples was 0.0448, 0.0477, and 0.0428% of dry mass (DW), respectively. Proliferation of CL5, CL12 and CL21 was 346.3, 382.5, and 409.2%, respectively. From work over about 2 years, the three cell lines appear suitable for mass production of Taxol, promoting the industrialisation and commercial-scale production of Taxol using cell culture.

Khaya anthotheca is a hardwood species from Africa and recently introduced to Brazil. This species yields high-quality wood for diverse applications, but little has been done toward an effective propagation method for large-scale production in nurseries. We evaluated the effects of different concentrations of macro and micronutrients (i.e., 100, 50 and 25% of the concentration of a referenced solution) combined with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) at 0 and 2 g L⁻¹ on the survival rate of mini-stumps and the survival and adventitious rooting of K. anthotheca mini-cuttings. The mini-stumps were grown from a source of seeds imported from Ghana, West Africa. The mini-stumps survived at a high rate (97%). Consistently high shoot yields were obtained from the mini-stumps (average of 1.8 per mini-stump). High survival percentage of mini-cuttings and adventitious rooting were observed when solutions with 100 and 50% of the nutrients concentration were combined with 2 g L⁻¹ IBA. Histological sections analyzed through optical microscopy indicated the tissues from mini-cutting stems were juvenile, which might have stimulated adventitious rooting. These results have important implications for further work aimed at establishing propagation strategies for K. anthotheca, which are of prime importance for assisting breeding programs of this species.

Continuous increases in anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition are likely to change soil microbial properties, and ultimately to affect soil carbon (C) storage. Temperate plantation forests play key roles in C sequestration, yet mechanisms underlying the influences of N deposition on soil organic matter accumulation are poorly understood. This study assessed the effect of N addition on soil microbial properties and soil organic matter distribution in a larch (Larix gmelinii) plantation. In a 9-year experiment in the plantation, N was applied at 100 kg N ha⁻¹ a⁻¹ to study the effects on soil C and N mineralization, microbial biomass, enzyme activity, and C and N in soil organic matter density fractions, and organic matter chemistry. The results showed that N addition had no influence on C and N contents in whole soil. However, soil C in different fractions responded to N addition differently. Soil C in light fractions did not change with N addition, while soil C in heavy fractions increased significantly. These results suggested that more soil C in heavy fractions was stabilized in the N-treated soils. However, microbial biomass C and N and phenol oxidase activity decreased in the N-treated soils and thus soil C increased in heavy fractions. Although N addition reduced microbial biomass and phenol oxidase activity, it had little effect on soil C mineralization, hydrolytic enzyme activities, δ¹³C value in soil and C–H stretch, carboxylates and amides, and C–O stretch in soil organic matter chemistry measured by Fourier transform infrared spectra. We conclude that N addition (1) altered microbial biomass and activity without affecting soil C in light fractions and (2) resulted in an increase in soil C in heavy fractions and that this increase was controlled by phenol oxidase activity and soil N availability.

Short-term recovery of soil physical properties on skid trails was investigated upon cessation of skidding operations and 1 year later. Bulk density and porosity were assessed at three levels of traffic intensity and two slope gradients. Compared to undisturbed areas, bulk density increased, total porosity and macroporosity decreased, and microporosity increased in the compacted areas immediately after skidding. In all cases, changes were significantly greater when traffic intensity was higher and when slopes were steeper. Surface soil compaction did not show any recovery over the 1-year period, illustrating the persistent effects of compaction on soil structure. In fact, surficial compaction further increased and macroporosity further decreased after 1 year of recovery, compared to immediately after skidding. While these changes may reflect inherent small-scale site variability or differences in soil moisture content at times of sampling, direct negative physical impacts on newly exposed soil (such as by raindrops), in addition to the loss of organic matter after canopy removal and skidding, likely delayed any physical recovery, particularly on heavily trafficked trails on steeper slopes. These results raise serious concerns about long-term resilience to traffic on forest soils and indicate the necessity to properly retire skid trails to avoid further soil degradation as trails age.

Hydrogel amendments have been used to improve seedling survival and establishment particularly in dry environments. However, their effect on survival and growth of newly transplanted seedlings under varying water stress conditions is poorly known. In this regard, we examined the effects of Aqua Matrix Forestry^®, a potassium-based water-absorbent polymer, on the survival and early growth of Pinus patula seedlings planted in early-, mid- and late-dry season in the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe. The late-dry season was hotter and received more rainfall than the early- and mid-dry season. Hydrogel increased seedling survival by 34 and 22% in the mid- and late-dry season, respectively. Also, hydrogel-treated seedlings were significantly taller than untreated seedlings (P < 0.001). The height to root collar diameter ratio of hydrogel-treated seedlings was greater than that of untreated seedlings only in the mid-dry season. In conclusion, increase in survival and early growth of hydrogel-treated seedlings suggests that hydrogels can be used to extend planting beyond the rainy season to include the dry months, a feat previously unattainable due to high seedling mortality. Further, these findings reflect similar findings with other hydrogels, suggesting that improved seedling survival and plant performance may be a general consequence of hydrogel amendments.

Betula alnoides is a fast-growing hardwood species grown in large plantations in Southeast Asia and South China. Nitrogen requirements for producing robust seedlings, growth and nutrient dynamics were investigated using exponential fertilization treatments. Root collar diameter, height, dry mass and nutrient contents of seedlings increased exponentially in all fertilization treatments as time progressed. Moreover, with water soluble fertilizer (Plant Products plus microelements N–P₂O₅–K₂O: 20–20–20), 300 mg N seedling⁻¹ was adequate. Vector analysis revealed that P was the most responsive nutrient element, followed by N and K. Dilutions of N and K were evident in the plants without N addition, which induced initial P sufficiency and then luxury consumption probably due to the antagonistic interaction between N and P. However, deficiencies of N, P and K were mostly observed in all exponential regimes during the experiment because seedling growth rate exceeded nutrient uptake rate, inferring that further study on improving the nutrient uptake efficiency is needed. Analysis of relationships among nutrient supply, dry mass, N content and N concentration demonstrated that 100–400 mg N seedling⁻¹ induced sufficiency to luxury consumption of nitrogen without significant change in dry mass, and 400 mg N seedling⁻¹ is recommended to apply for nutrient loading of seedlings before outplanting. The findings will help improve seedling quality and enhance the production of robust seedlings for plantation forestry of this species.

We studied seed morphometric characters, oil content and azadirachtin content in a medicinally important and insect repellent tree species Azadirachta indica A. Juss. Ten populations were selected from two central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and twenty candidate plus trees were selected from each population based on tree attributes. Azadirachtin content was estimated in seeds, in vitro shoots and callus cultures through HPLC. Significant variation (p < 0.05) was observed in seed morphometric characters, oil content and azadirachtin content among the ten populations. Maximum value for 100 seed weight was obtained in seeds of Raigarh (30.51 g) which was on par with seeds of Bargi (28.37 g) and Chhatarpur (26.36 g). The ratio of highest kernel to seed was also obtained in seeds of Raigarh (60.11%). Kernels from Chhatarpur population recorded the highest oil content (24.20%), which was equal to that in Sihore (23.75%) and Katni (21.75%). We recorded highly significant variation in azadirachtin content in seed samples, in vitro shoot samples and callus cultures. Maximum azadirachtin was present in the seeds of Gwalior (0.882%) which was on par with azadirachtin content in seeds of Chhatarpur, Katni, Sihore, Shahdol and Chhindwara. Maximum azadirachtin in the in vitro shoots was present in the cultures of Gwalior (0.218%) which was statistically on par with Sihore (0.176%). Similarly, in callus cultures of nodal segments maximum azadirachtin was recorded in the Gwalior population (0.033%) which was statistically on par with Sihore (0.028%). The trees of Gwalior and Sihore populations can be produced in large numbers through vegetative propagation to obtain seeds with higher azadirachtin content.

The natural upper boundary of a forest (forest line) in mountain environments is an indicator of climate conditions. An increase in global average temperatures has resulted in an upward advance of the forest line. This advance may result in fragmentation of the alpine ecosystem and a loss of biodiversity. Therefore, it is important to identify potential areas where current forests can advance under scenarios of future climate change. I used expert knowledge and cartographic modeling to create a hybrid cartographic model considering five topographic variables to predict areas where forest line can expand in the future. The prediction accuracy of the model is around 82%. The model is able to predict areas above the current forest line that are suitable or unsuitable for future forest advance. Further inclusion of high-resolution satellite imagery and digital elevation models, as well as field-based information into the model can help to improve the model accuracy.

Forest structure changes continuously by natural and anthropogenic effects. Because the level of goods and services provided by forest ecosystems are related to this structure, some attributes have to be controlled while they are being managed. In this paper we describe the long-term temporal changes in land area and landscape metrics related to different land uses of a managed forest in Turkey. The study was carried out for the Daday Forest Planning Unit located in the west Black Sea region of northern Turkey. The total area is 16,813 ha and besides wood production, it is managed for erosion control, public health, aesthetics, and recreation. Stand type maps that were constructed in 1970, 1989, 1999, and 2010 were used in this analysis. Transition matrixes that illustrate area changes among cover types and temporal changes on some landscape metrics were obtained using Geographic Information Systems. Stands were separated into small patches, and thus the number of patches increased nearly two-fold between 1970 and 2010. The total forest edge increased and through the associated fragmentation, the amount of core forest area decreased at the landscape scale. Landscape metrics were applied to digitized versions of historical maps to assess how forest area changed. Human use of the land has changed, forest management practices have evolved, and these along with natural forest growth have contributed to interesting changes in landscape character.

The spatial distribution of forest biomass is closely related with carbon cycle, climate change, forest productivity, and biodiversity. Efficient quantification of biomass provides important information about forest quality and health. With the rising awareness of sustainable development, the ecological benefits of forest biomass attract more attention compared to traditional wood supply function. In this study, two nonparametric modeling approaches, random forest (RF) and support vector machine were adopted to estimate above ground biomass (AGB) using widely used Landsat imagery in the region, especially within the ecological forest of Fuyang District in Zhejiang Province, China. Correlation analysis was accomplished and model parameters were optimized during the modeling process. As a result, the best performance modeling method RF was implemented to produce an AGB estimation map. The predicted map of AGB in the study area showed obvious spatial variability and demonstrated that within the current ecological forest zone, as well as the protected areas, the average of AGB were higher than the ordinary forest. The quantification of AGB was proven to have a close relationship with the local forest policy and management pattern, which indicated that combining remote-sensing imagery and forest biophysical property would provide considerable guidance for making beneficial decisions.

Young leaves are conventionally used in the analysis to study the nutrient status of evergreen plants and their responses to environmental changes, but the role of old leaves remains poorly understood. We selected two stand types in 31-year-old Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantations with similar soil conditions but different stand densities, to test the hypothesis that nitrogen (N) concentration of old leaves and twigs is more sensitive to stand density than that of young ones. Leaves and twigs were sampled and sorted into young (one-year-old) and old (two- and three-year-old) groups. Significant differences in N concentration and carbon: nitrogen ratio between the low-density stand and high-density stand were only found in the old leaves and twigs but not in the young ones. Although the N resorption efficiency did not vary significantly with stand density, the annual N resorption rates were increased in old leaves and relatively young twigs at high stand density. These results show the potential use of old tissues in the nutrient analysis in Chinese fir plantations. Testing the generality of these results could improve the use of foliar analysis as an indicator of nutrient status and environmental changes in evergreen tree species.

We classified forest resources into four modes: high timber output and high ecological reserve (Mode T-E); high timber output and low ecological reserve (Mode T-e); low timber output and low ecological reserve (Mode t-e); and low timber output and high ecological reserve (Mode t-E). Ecological reserve is stand volume per unit area of natural forests and total area of natural forests; timber output is defined as total area of timber forests and unit area of timber production. We used this classification system to examine forest development in China between 1950 and 2013. Data were acquired mainly from forest inventory statistics published by China’s Forestry Administration between the 1970s and 2013. I Information from the 1950s was acquired from relevant literature. Our analysis suggests that China’s forest resources transitioned from Mode t-E to Mode T-e during the period between the early 1950s and late 1970s, resulting in the destruction of both ecological vigor and timber resources. During the following 20 years, strategies were implemented to improve the ecological reserve and increase timber supply, resulting in a decline in the rate of forest degradation. Over the past decade, China’s forest resources have reached Mode T-E as a result of improvements in both the ecological reserve and the timber supply. Currently, the total area of timber forests is relatively low, representing the limiting factor for improvement in overall forest functionality. Nevertheless, along with increased efforts to protect natural forests and develop fast-growing forest plantations, it is hopeful that China’s forest resources will achieve a sustainable state. The four-mode TOER (timber output, ecological reserve) method introduced in this paper is a simple but an effective approach for characterizing the overall quality and quantity of forest resources. The data used for this type of evaluation are typically easy to obtain and reliable. This methodology has potential to be applied to forests in various regions and countries.

Fires have a noteworthy role to play with regards to ecological and environmental losses in Mediterranean forests. In addition to ecological impacts, fire may create economic, social as well as cultural changes. The detection of fire-scars has critical importance to help decrease losses. In the present study, forest fires recorded in Antalya, one of the most important ecological and tourist regions within the Western Mediterranean, were clustered and mapped. Since the dominant factors and devastation records derived from the cases had nominal-scaled properties, a categorical data-based nonparametric clustering algorithm was performed in this evaluation. The proposed tool, k-modes algorithm, uses modes instead of means for clustering. The algorithm may be implemented quickly and does not make distributional assumptions concerning the available data. It uses a frequency-based method to update the modes of the fires. The derived modes from the maps may be useful information for local authorities to manage. In conclusion, the proposed nonparametric clustering procedure may be employed to build a decision-support system to monitor and identify fire activities and to enhance fire management efficiency.

Canopy interception is a significant proportion of incident rainfall and evapotranspiration of forest ecosystems. Hence, identifying its magnitude is vital for studies of eco-hydrological processes and hydrological impact evaluation. In this study, throughfall, stemflow and interception were measured in a pure Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr. (larch) plantation in the Liupan Mountains of northwestern China during the growing season (May–October) of 2015, and simulated using a revised Gash model. During the study period, the total precipitation was 499.0 mm; corresponding total throughfall, stemflow and canopy interception were 410.3, 2.0 and 86.7 mm, accounting for 82.2, 0.4 and 17.4% of the total precipitation, respectively. With increasing rainfall, the canopy interception ratio of individual rainfall events decreased initially and then tended to stabilize. Within the study period, the simulated total canopy interception, throughfall and stemflow were 2.2 mm lower, 2.5 mm higher and 0.3 mm lower than their measured values, with a relative error of 2.5, 0.6 and 15.0%, respectively. As quantified by the model, canopy interception loss (79%) mainly consisted of interception caused by canopy adsorption, while the proportions of additional interception and trunk interception were small. The revised Gash model was highly sensitive to the parameter of canopy storage capacity, followed by the parameters of canopy density and mean rainfall intensity, but less sensitive to the parameters of mean evaporation rate, trunk storage capacity, and stemflow ratio. The revised Gash model satisfactorily simulated the total canopy interception of the larch plantation within the growing season but was less accurate for some individual rainfall events, indicating that some flaws exist in the model structure. Further measures to improve the model’s ability in simulating the interception of individual rainfall events were suggested.

Tropical forests play a critical role in mitigating climate change because they account for large amount of terrestrial carbon storage and productivity. However, there are many uncertainties associated with the estimation of carbon dynamics. We estimated forest structure and carbon dynamics along a slope (17.3°–42.8°) and to assess the relations between forest structures, carbon dynamics, and slopes in an intact lowland mixed dipterocarp forest, in Kuala Belalong, Brunei Darussalam. Living biomass, basal area, stand density, crown properties, and tree family composition were measured for forest structure. Growth rate, litter production, and litter decomposition rates were also measured for carbon dynamics. The crown form index and the crown position index were used to assess crown properties, which we categorized into five stages, from very poor to perfect. The living biomass, basal area and stand density were 261.5–940.7 Mg ha⁻¹, 43.6–63.6 m² ha⁻¹ and 6,675–8400 tree ha⁻¹, respectively. The average crown form and position index were 4, which means that the crown are mostly symmetrical and sufficiently exposed for photosynthesis. The mean biomass growth rate, litter production, litter decomposition rate were estimated as 11.9, 11.6 Mg ha⁻¹ a⁻¹, and 7.2 g a⁻¹, respectively. Biomass growth rate was significantly correlated with living biomass, basal area, and crown form. Crown form appeared to strongly influence living biomass, basal area and biomass growth rate in terms of light acquisition. However, basal area, stand density, crown properties, and biomass growth rate did not vary by slope or tree family composition. The results indicate that carbon accumulation by tree growth in an intact lowland mixed dipterocarp forest depends on crown properties. Absence of any effect of tree family composition on carbon accumulation suggests that the main driver of biomass accumulation in old-growth forests of Borneo is not species-specific characteristics of tree species.

Allometric equations developed for the Lama forest, located in southern Benin, West Africa, were applied to estimate carbon stocks of three vegetation types: undisturbed forest, degraded forest, and fallow. Carbon stock of the undisturbed forest was 2.7 times higher than that in the degraded forest and 3.4 times higher than that in fallow. The structure of the forest suggests that the individual species were generally concentrated in lower diameter classes. Carbon stock was positively correlated to basal area and negatively related to tree density, suggesting that trees in higher diameter classes contributed significantly to the total carbon stock. The study demonstrated that large trees constitute an important component to include in the sampling approach to achieve accurate carbon quantification in forestry. Historical emissions from deforestation that converted more than 30% of the Lama forest into cropland between the years 1946 and 1987 amounted to 260,563.17 tons of carbon per year (t CO₂/year) for the biomass pool only. The study explained the application of biomass models and ground truth data to estimate reference carbon stock of forests.

Amongst all forest utilization phases, harvesting plays a key role as the beginning phase of the utilization cycle and has a significant effect on the following phases. In this research, in order to examine the reduction of costs with respect to present and planned operations, the starting time of the harvesting or cutting phase and work flow were recorded. The starting time of each phase of the entire operation was recorded as well. Before harvesting the marked tree, the appropriate felling direction was determined and the azimuth of the correct direction was taken. The results indicate that there was not a meaningful relationship between the differences in direction of a leaning tree compared with the felling direction. However, there was a significant relationship between the difference of the defined and felling direction and the difference in tree leaning and defined direction. The same trend was observed between tree leaning and felling directions and tree leaning and defined directions. On the other hand, there was no significant relationship between tree leaning and felling directions and the defined and tree felling directions. In addition, this research shows that with an increase in tree volume, the time for tree cutting rose. Furthermore, when the difference of tree leaning and felling direction decreased, the time to cut the tree declined. The regression equation is Y = 168.9–0.14 (the difference between tree leaning and felling direction) + 0.7 (volume).

We investigated the distribution and frequency of damage to tree stands adjacent to low-volume roads according to the type of hillside materials involved (soil or rock) and hillside gradient in mountainous forests of northern Iran. A total of 80 plots were systematically and randomly sampled to record damaged trees (bending, crushing and wounding) by class of hillside gradient and materials at the edge of road. Tree wounding and crushing at rock slopes was significantly greater than at hillsides with a mix of clay soil (p < 0.05). Damage on hillsides with slope gradients >45% were 2, 8.5 and 2.3 times more frequent than on hillsides with slope gradient <15% for bending, crushing and wounding, respectively. The damage distribution varied according by type and the most frequent damage was tree wounding (p < 0.05). The damage distribution was measured at distances of 4, 5 and 8 m from the road fillslope for tree bending, crushing and wounding, respectively. Using hydraulic excavators and physical barriers (wooden obstruction and synthetic holder) during earthworks for road construction could reduce these damage.

The Tibet Shannan Red Deer Nature Reserve is the center of the geographic distribution of Tibetan red deer. This paper presents the results of DNA analysis of 199 red deer fecal pellet groups collected during 2013 and 2014 during the green-plant period. We successfully extracted DNA from 87 DNA pellet groups and determined individual identification with 12 microsatellite loci. We evaluated the genetic diversity of the population and various population estimates with Capwire in R software. The 87 successfully extracted pellet groups were from 50 individuals. In the population, the average number of alleles was 7.58 ± 0.18, the average effective number of alleles was 4.58 ± 0.15, and average polymorphism information content was 0.67 ± 0.01. Among the 12 loci, only T123 was moderately polymorphic; the other 11 loci were highly polymorphic. Expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.45 to 0.91, with an average of 0.72 ± 0.01, and average observed heterozygosity was 0.52 ± 0.11. Although Tibetan red deer remains endangered, the high genetic diversity indicates that this population has a good chance of recovery. This study provided insight that could be used by the local forestry department to develop programs to protect Tibetan red deer.

We used GIS and maximum entropy to predict the potential distribution of six snake species belong to three families in Kroumiria (Northwestern Tunisia): Natricidae (Natrix maura and Natrix astreptophora), Colubridae (Hemorrhois hippocrepis, Coronella girondica and Macroprotodon mauritanicus), and Lamprophiidae (Malpolon insignitus). The suitable habitat for each species was modelled using the maximum entropy algorithm, combining presence field data (collected during 16 years: 2000–2015) with a set of seven environmental variables (mean annual precipitation, elevation, slope gradient, aspect, distance to watercourses, land surface temperature and normalized Differential Vegetation Index. The relative importance of these environmental variables was evaluated by jackknife tests and the predictive power of our models was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic. The main explicative variables of the species distribution were distance from streams and elevation, with contributions ranging from 60 to 77 and from 10 to 25%, respectively. Our study provided the first habitat suitability models for snakes in Kroumiria and this information can be used by conservation biologists and land managers concerned with preserving snakes in Kroumiria.

Volume variation is an uncertainty element which affects timber processing. We studied the volume variation of logs caused by quality defects in traditional timber processing and set up an optimization approach, using a robust optimization method. We used total number of acceptable boards produced to study the relationship between board thickness and raw material logs, using a heuristic search algorithm to control the variation of board volume to improve the output of boards, reduce the quantity of by-products, and lower production costs. The robust optimization method can effectively control the impact of volume variations in timber processing, reduce cutting waste as far as possible using incremental processing and increase profits, maximize the utilization ratio of timber, prevent waste in processing, cultivate the productive type of tree species and save forest resources.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the morphology, transmission route of photosynthetic products in the seed stalk of Caragana arborescens Lam. at various stages after flowering and evaluate the role of the seed stalk in seed maturation using scanning electron microscopy. We found that the mature seed stalk mainly consisted of vessels, sclerenchymatous cells and parenchymatous cells. Elongated cells formed a ring at the junction between the seed stalk and seed, and a large hollow was produced by two layers of sclerenchymatous cells in the interior seed, which functions to sustain seed growth. The opening in the center of the ring was closed during an early stage of seed development, and the opening enlarged as the seed matured. There were two routes for material transport, which started from the seed stalk: one from the seed coat to the embryo, and another directly entering the embryo. Vessels, which are abundant in the seed stalk, are the pathway for absorption of nutrients by the seeds. The vessels were densely packed in the seed stalk, and secondary thickening of the cell wall of the vessels was characterized by net thread thickening, while the secondary thickening of the cell wall of the vessels within the seed was characterized by screw thread thickening. The morphological characteristics of the vessels were adaptive to its functions.