Are you a student at a higher institution or an early-career researcher who is striving to understand and master the peer review process so to increase the odds of getting a paper published in the Journal of Forestry Research or another reputable, peer-reviewed, scientific journal? In this paper, a young, senior editor provides a handbook of the peer review process based on his decadal experience in scientific publishing. He covers major information you need to know during the entire process, from selecting journals to completing the proofing of your accepted paper. He introduces key points for consideration, such as avoidance of predatory journals, dubious research practices and ethics, interaction with peers, reviewers, and editors, and the pursuit of aretê. Finally, he points out some common statistical errors and misconceptions, such as P hacking and incorrect effect size inference. He hopes that this paper will enhance your understanding and knowledge of the peer-review process.

Sustainable forest management is essential to confront the detrimental impacts of diseases on forest ecosystems. This review highlights the potential of vegetation spectroscopy in improving the feasibility of assessing forest disturbances induced by diseases in a timely and cost-effective manner. The basic concepts of vegetation spectroscopy and its application in phytopathology are first outlined then the literature on the topic is discussed. Using several optical sensors from leaf to landscape-level, a number of forest diseases characterized by variable pathogenic processes have been detected, identified and quantified in many country sites worldwide. Overall, these reviewed studies have pointed out the green and red regions of the visible spectrum, the red-edge and the early near-infrared as the spectral regions most sensitive to the disease development as they are mostly related to chlorophyll changes and symptom development. Late disease conditions particularly affect the shortwave-infrared region, mostly related to water content. This review also highlights some major issues to be addressed such as the need to explore other major forest diseases and geographic areas, to further develop hyperspectral sensors for early detection and discrimination of forest disturbances, to improve devices for remote sensing, to implement long-term monitoring, and to advance algorithms for exploitation of spectral data. Achieving of these goals will enhance the capability of vegetation spectroscopy in early detection of forest stress and in managing forest diseases.

Implications of the differences in leaf life span are still subject to debate in the field of ecophysiology. Since leaf traits associated with these differences may be decisive for determining the distribution of tree species, this topic is particularly relevant in the context of climate change. This study analyzes the effects of the differences in leaf life span on premature losses of leaf area owing to insect herbivory and to abiotic stress. Loss of leaf area may be an important determinant of total leaf carbon assimilation. Seven Mediterranean tree species, distributed on four sites with different climates were studied. The species exhibited strong differences in leaf life span and in leaf traits, especially leaf mass per unit area. Premature leaf area losses were estimated in response to insect herbivory and summer drought over two years. The results revealed that, despite having older leaf cohorts with more damage, species with longer leaf duration had lower area lost to herbivores and less damage due to accelerated senescence during the summer drought. With respect to the predicted increase in water stress, deciduous species are at a disadvantage due to their high premature loss of leaf area and thus loss of photosynthetic capacity.

It is important to evaluate nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen tolerance of trees in order to improve their productivity. In this study, both were evaluated for 338 Populus deltoides genotypes from six provenances. The plants were cultured under normal nitrogen (750 μM NH₄NO₃) and low nitrogen (5 μM NH₄NO₃) conditions for 3 months. Growth, chlorophyll content and glutamine synthetase activity of each genotype were measured. Under low nitrogen, heights, ground diameter, leaf area, leaf and root biomass, and chlorophyll contents were significantly lower than those under normal nitrogen level. Correlation analysis showed that nutrient distribution changed under different nitrogen treatments. There was a negative correlation between leaf traits and root biomass under normal nitrogen level, however, the correlation became positive in low nitrogen treatment. Moreover, with the decrease of nitrogen level, the negative correlation between leaf morphology and chlorophyll levels became weakened. The growth of the genotypes under the two treatments was evaluated by combining principal component analysis with a fuzzy mathematical membership function; the results showed that leaf traits accounted for a large proportion of the variation in the evaluation model. According to the results of comprehensive evaluation of plants under the two treatments, the 338 P. deltoides genotypes could be divided into nine categories, with wide genotypic diversity in nitrogen use efficiency and low nitrogen tolerance. As a result, 26 N-efficient genotypes and 24 N-inefficient genotypes were selected. By comparative analysis of their morphological and physiological traits under the two treatments, leaf traits could be significant indicators for nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen tolerance, which is of considerable significance for breeding poplar varieties with high nitrogen use efficiencies.

Pinus elliottii ×  P. caribaea is a widely planted commercial tree hybrid in South China. To investigate the potential of physiological parameters for clonal selection, cuttings of three clones (EH3, EH4 and EH5) and a control were grown in phosphorus treated pots. Significant variations to phosphorous, photosystem II activity and polar metabolite abundance in needles were noted among clones. Clone EH5 was the most P-responsive and had maximum height growth. The highest maximum quantum yield of PSII in the dark (F _v/F _m), maximum quantum yield of PSII in the light (F _vʹ/F _mʹ) and the actual PSII efficiency (Φ_PSII) values were also found in EH5. A total of 64 polar metabolites were identified, 21 were regulated by phosphorous, while 28 accumulated differentially among the three clones. There were few overlapping responsive metabolites to phosphorous fertilization. In EH5, the abundance of maltotriitol, neohesperidin and raffinose were highest, whereas galactinol and shikimic acid were lower compared with EH3 and EH4. The results reveal that physiological traits were genetically controlled and might be useful for selecting clones with high phosphorous utilization efficiency.

Thailand rosewood (Dalbergia cochinchinensis) is a vulnerable high value tree species in subtropical and tropical Southeast Asia. The demand for the rehabilitation of the natural habitat of the species requires high-quality seedlings. However, current fertilizer regimes tend to deliver a coarse rate of fertilizers that result in a low uptake efficiency and a high risk of nutrient excess. Exponential fertilization is an effective approach to promote seedling quality through identifying an optimum dose out of a range of applications. In this study, Thailand rosewood seedlings were cultured in a mixed substrate of perlite, vermiculite, and peat (2:2:3, v/v/v) and received exponential fertilization from 0 (control), through 100, 200, 300, 400, and 600 mg nitrogen (N) per plant over a four-month cultural rotation. Height, diameter, and shoot biomass increased with fertilizer rate and were maximized at 300 mg N per plant. This application also reduced nutrient deficiencies and avoided excess supply compared to higher rates. Polysaccharide, proline, and anti-oxidation enzyme activities tended to be greater in unfertilized controls or in over-fertilized high dosages, with lower activities around 100–300 mg N plant⁻¹. Application of 300 mg N per plant was identified as the optimum dosage as it maximized nutrient reserves, polysaccharide and proline contents, and anti-oxidants without causing any symptoms from excess fertilizer toxicity. Future work is required to identify the effects of N-fixation on the formation of nutritional reserves in Thailand rosewood seedlings subjected to exponential fertilization.

The distribution of many plant species has been shaped by climate changes, and their current phenotypic and genetic variability reflect microclimatically suitable habitats. This study relates contemporary climate to variability patterns of phenotypic traits and molecular markers in the Argentinean distribution of Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil, as well as to identify the most relevant phenotypic trait or molecular marker associated with those patterns. Individuals from four populations in both biogeographic provinces, Paranaense and Yungas, were investigated. Multivariate analyses and multiple linear regressions were carried out to determine relationships among phenotypic traits and nuclear microsatellites, respectively, to climatic variables, and to identify the phenotypic traits as well as nuclear microsatellite loci most sensitive to climate. Two and three clusters of individuals were detected based on genetic and phenotypic data, respectively. Only clusters based on genetic data reflected the biogeographic origin of individuals. Reproductive traits were the most relevant indicators of climatic effects. One microsatellite locus Ac41.1 appeared to be non-neutral presenting a strong correlation with climate variable temperature seasonality. Our findings show complex patterns of genetic and phenotypic variability in the Argentinean distribution of A. colubrina var. cebil related to the present or contemporary climate, and provides an example for an integrative approach to better understand climate impact on contemporary genetic and phenotypic variability in light of global climate change.

Understanding how soil fertility changes due to environmental conditions and stand-age-dependent forest attributes is important for local-scale forest restoration. We evaluated the effects of stand-age-dependent forest attributes (plant community composition and litter stock) on soil and technosol fertility across two second-growth Atlantic forests (SGF) after the deposition of mining tailings in Mariana, southeastern Brazil. We hypothesized that technosol fertility in the SGF tailings is positively affected by plant community composition variability, stand age, and litter stock. We used total exchangeable bases and organic matter as fertility indicators for technosol and soil, and species composition and litter stock as stand-age-dependent forest attributes. Our results showed significant differences in the stand-age-dependent forest attributes and soil chemical properties between the two forest patches (SGF tailing and SGF non-tailing) evaluated. Thus, there was a marked gradient of litter storage and fertility between soil and technosol that can be important forest recovery indicators for the affected plant communities. Furthermore, according to the tested models, we corroborated the hypothesis that technosol fertility is positively affected by stand age, plant community composition variability, and litter stock, which may contribute considerably to forest recovery on tailings. Our results demonstrate that the fertility predictors analyzed to explain the forest recovery on tailings can also be considered as ecological indicators for assessing forest restoration in areas impacted by mining tailings in Mariana.

Ground-level ozone (O₃) pollution is a persistent environmental issue that can lead to adverse effects on trees and wood production, thus indicating a need for forestry interventions to mediate O₃ effects. We treated hybrid larch (Larix gmelinii var. japonica ×  L. kaempferi) saplings grown in nutrient-poor soils with 0 or 400 mg L⁻¹ water solutions of the antiozonant ethylenediurea (EDU0, EDU400) and exposed them to ambient O₃ (AOZ; 08:00 − 18:00 ≈ 30 nmol mol⁻¹) or elevated O₃ (EOZ; 08:00 − 18:00 ≈ 60 nmol mol⁻¹) over three growing seasons. We found that EDU400 protected saplings against most effects of EOZ, which included extensive visible foliar injury, premature senescence, decreased photosynthetic pigment contents and altered balance between pigments, suppressed gas exchange and biomass production, and impaired leaf litter decay. While EOZ had limited effects on plant growth (suppressed stem diameter), it decreased the total number of buds per plant, an effect that was not observed in the first growing season. These results indicate that responses to EOZ might have implications to plant competitiveness, in the long term, as a result of decreased potential for vegetative growth. However, when buds were standardized per unit of branches biomass, EOZ significantly increased the number of buds per unit of biomass, suggesting a potentially increased investment to bud development, in an effort to enhance growth potential and competitiveness in the next growing season. EDU400 minimized most of these effects of EOZ, significantly enhancing plant health under O₃-induced stress. The effect of EDU was attributed mainly to a biochemical mode of action. Therefore, hybrid larch, which is superior to its parents, can be significantly improved by EDU under long-term elevated O₃ exposure, providing a perspective for enhancing afforestation practices.

Species composition, structure, regeneration, and management status of Jorgo-Wato Forest (JWF) was studied. Number of individuals, diameter at breast height (dbh) and height of woody species (dbh ≥ 2.5 cm) were counted and measured in each plot. Group discussions with local farmers residing around JWF were carried out to understand the management of the JWF. Forest structural attributes were computed using descriptive statistics; correlation was used to assess relationships between the structural variables. A total of 4313 individuals (dbh ≥ 2.5 cm) with a density of 1477 ha⁻¹ were recorded, the number of species and individuals decreasing with increasing dbh classes. Species with the highest Importance Value Index (IVI) were Pouteria adolfi-friedericii (37.7), Syzygium guineense subsp. afromontanum (23.6), Dracaena afromontana (20.5), Chionanthus mildbraedii (15.9), and Croton macrostachyus (12.3). Overall distribution of woody plants across size classes exhibited a reverse J-pattern, suggesting a healthy population structure and good regeneration. Nevertheless, some species were not represented in smaller diameter classes, including juvenile phases, which indicate a lack of regeneration. For these species, monitoring and enrichment planting would be necessary, along with curbing illegal cutting and coffee farming in the natural forest. Management interventions in the JWF need to consider livelihood options and to respect the rights of local communities

Forests are important ecosystems for economic and social development. However, the response of tree radial growth to climate has produced ‘divergent problems’ at high latitudes under global warming. In this study, the response stability and trend of Picea schrenkiana radial growth to variability in climate factors were analyzed in the mid-latitudes of the western Tien Shan Mountains. Radial growth of P. schrenkiana was mainly limited by minimum and mean temperatures. The divergent responses of radial growth occurred in response to the minimum and mean temperatures at the beginning of the growing season (April–May) of the current year, but responses to drought occurred in July–September of the previous year. And the mean and minimum temperatures in June–September of the current year were both stable. Radial growth first increased and then decreased according to the basal area increment, with a gradual increase in temperature. Therefore, forest ecosystems in mountainous arid areas will be increasingly affected by future climate warming.

Natural forces and anthropogenic activities greatly alter land cover, deteriorate or alleviate forest fragmentation and affect biodiversity. Thus land cover and forest fragmentation dynamics have become a focus of concern for natural resource management agencies and biodiversity conservation communities. However, there are few land cover datasets and forest fragmentation information available for the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve (DHR) of Nepal to develop targeted biodiversity conservation plans. In this study, these gaps were filled by characterizing land cover and forest fragmentation trends in the DHR. Using five Landsat images between 1993 and 2018, a support vector machine algorithm was applied to classify six land cover classes: forest, grasslands, barren lands, agricultural and built-up areas, water bodies, and snow and glaciers. Subsequently, two landscape process models and four landscape metrics were used to depict the forest fragmentation situations. Results showed that forest cover increased from 39.4% in 1993 to 39.8% in 2018. Conversely, grasslands decreased from 38.2% in 1993 to 36.9% in 2018. The forest shrinkage was responsible for forest loss during the period, suggesting that the loss of forest cover reduced the connectivity between forest and non-forested areas. Expansion was the dominant component of the forest restoration process, implying that it avoided the occurrence of isolated forests. The maximum value of edge density and perimeter area fractal dimension metrics and the minimum value of aggregation index were observed in 2011, revealing that forests in this year were most fragmented. These specific observations from the current analysis can help local authorities and local communities, who are highly dependent on forest resources, to better develop local forest management and biodiversity conservation plans.

Spot fire increase the difficulty of fire-fighting and threaten public safety, and therefore it is important to study ignition probabilities of fuel bed by different firebrands, in order to understand ignition mechanisms and analyze the formation of spot fires. This will provide an important basis for further study to improve the fire-fighting efficiency and reduce casualties. In this study, the ignition probabilities of larch (Larix gmelinii) fuel beds with different moisture levels and packing ratios by diffreent firebrands, including cones and twigs of different sizes, was investigated. Ignition experiments were conducted at different wind speeds generated by fans. The results show that, regardless of moisture content and packing ratio, ignition probability is zero when there is no wind. Both moisture content and wind speed significantly influence ignition probability, while packing ratio has almost no effect. The maximum moisture content at which firebrand ignition occurred was 50%, and ignition probability increased with wind speed and decreased with moisture content. Cones have the highest ignition probability, followed by large twigs and by small twigs. Ignition probability is also affected by firebrand shapes and sizes that determine their potential heat and contact area to the fuel bed. Two empirical models were established to link ignition probability with fuel properties and wind speed. This study will help clarify the mechanism of spot ignition and reduce corresponding losses.

Most forest fires in the Margalla Hills are related to human activities and socioeconomic factors are essential to assess their likelihood of occurrence. This study considers both environmental (altitude, precipitation, forest type, terrain and humidity index) and socioeconomic (population density, distance from roads and urban areas) factors to analyze how human behavior affects the risk of forest fires. Maximum entropy (Maxent) modelling and random forest (RF) machine learning methods were used to predict the probability and spatial diffusion patterns of forest fires in the Margalla Hills. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) were used to compare the models. We studied the fire history from 1990 to 2019 to establish the relationship between the probability of forest fire and environmental and socioeconomic changes. Using Maxent, the AUC fire probability values for the 1999s, 2009s, and 2019s were 0.532, 0.569, and 0.518, respectively; using RF, they were 0.782, 0.825, and 0.789, respectively. Fires were mainly distributed in urban areas and their probability of occurrence was related to accessibility and human behaviour/activity. AUC principles for validation were greater in the random forest models than in the Maxent models. Our results can be used to establish preventive measures to reduce risks of forest fires by considering socio-economic and environmental conditions.

Underground fires are characterized by smouldering combustion with a slow rate of spread rate and without flames. Although smouldering combustion releases large amounts of gaseous pollutants, it is difficult to discover by today’s forest fire monitoring technologies. Carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) were identified as high concentration marker gases of smouldering combustion-easily-be monitored. According to a two-way ANOVA, combustion time had a significant impact on CO and NO_x emissions; smoldering -depth also had a significant impact on NO_x emissions but not on CO emissions. Gas emission equations were established by multiple linear regression, C _co = 156.989 − 16.626 t and C _NOx = 3.637 − 0.252 t − 0.039 h.

Sapindus L. species are widely cultivated for biodiesel, biomedical, and biochemical raw materials in southern China. However, yields fluctuate widely due to the lack of high-yielding, high-quality, stable cultivars. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to evaluate three species and one variety among 149 nationwide Sapindus species and screen for elite accessions which would serve as Sapindus breeding materials. Accessions were evaluated on 19 agro-morphological traits by correlation analysis and principal component analysis. These displayed substantial diversity and a broad range of economic traits. In particular, accessions of Sapindus mukorossi and Sapindus rarak had more variation in economic traits than Sapindus delavayi and Sapindus rarak var. velutinus. Increased saponin accumulation may be achieved at the cost of seed oil production. Thirty elite accessions for oil and saponin production, and for comprehensive utilization were screened and accessions no. 80, 110, and 112 had significant potential to produce high yields. These elite accessions will facilitate the identification of genetic determinants of valuable traits and the effective utilization of trait variability in Sapindus breeding.

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) has been widely applied to estimate tree and forest attributes, but it can also drive the segmentation of forest areas. Clustering algorithms are the dominant technique in segmentation but spatial optimization using exact methods remains untested. This study presents a novel approach to segmentation based on mixed integer programming to create forest management units (FMUs). This investigation focuses on using raster information derived from ALS surveys. Two mainstream clustering algorithms were compared to the new MIP formula that simultaneously accounts for area and adjacency restrictions, FMUs size and homogeneity in terms of vegetation height. The optimal problem solution was found when using less than 150 cells, showing the problem formulation is solvable. The results for MIP were better than for the clustering algorithms; FMUs were more compact based on the intra-variation of canopy height and the variability in size was lower. The MIP model allows the user to strictly control the size of FMUs, which is not possible in heuristic optimization and in the clustering algorithms tested. The definition of forest management units based on remote sensing data is an important operation and our study pioneers the use of MIP ALS-based optimal segmentation.

In modeling forest stand growth and yield, crown width, a measure for stand density, is among the parameters that allows for estimating stand timber volumes. However, accurately measuring tree crown size in the field, in particular for mature trees, is challenging. This study demonstrated a novel method of applying machine learning algorithms to aerial imagery acquired by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to identify tree crowns and their widths in two loblolly pine plantations in eastern Texas, USA. An ortho mosaic image derived from UAV-captured aerial photos was acquired for each plantation (a young stand before canopy closure, a mature stand with a closed canopy). For each site, the images were split into two subsets: one for training and one for validation purposes. Three widely used object detection methods in deep learning, the Faster region-based convolutional neural network (Faster R-CNN), You Only Look Once version 3 (YOLOv3), and single shot detection (SSD), were applied to the training data, respectively. Each was used to train the model for performing crown recognition and crown extraction. Each model output was evaluated using an independent test data set. All three models were successful in detecting tree crowns with an accuracy greater than 93%, except the Faster R-CNN model that failed on the mature site. On the young site, the SSD model performed the best for crown extraction with a coefficient of determination (R ²) of 0.92, followed by Faster R-CNN (0.88) and YOLOv3 (0.62). As to the mature site, the SSD model achieved a R ² as high as 0.94, follow by YOLOv3 (0.69). These deep leaning algorithms, in particular the SSD model, proved to be successfully in identifying tree crowns and estimating crown widths with satisfactory accuracy. For the purpose of forest inventory on loblolly pine plantations, using UAV-captured imagery paired with the SSD object detention application is a cost-effective alternative to traditional ground measurement.

Both climate and land-use changes, including the introduction and spread of allochthonous species, are forecast to affect forest ecosystems. Accordingly, forests will be affected in terms of species composition as well as their soil chemical and biological characteristics. The possible changes in both tree cover and soil system might impact the amount of carbon that is stored in living plants and dead biomass and within the soil itself. Additionally, such alterations can have a strong impact on the detrital food web that is linked to litter decomposition. Although there are studies on the influence of plant diversity on soil physical and chemical characteristics, the effects on soil biological activity and carbon storage processes remain largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare chemical and biological variables in covariation with plant communities in an autochthonous beech forest (Fagus sylvatica L.) and a black pine plantation (Pinus nigra J.F. Arnold subsp. nigra). Our results confirmed that the two communities were considerably different, with the old-growth beech community having a lower number of plant species and the pine community was in development as a consequence of anthropogenic activities. These aspects of the two communities were also reflected in the soil, with the beech soil having higher nitrogen levels and a more specialized microbial community compared to the pine soil, with most extracellular enzymes (such as peroxidase and chitinase) showing lower activity in the pine soil.

To assess phosphorus (P) status of forest soil under naturally restored vegetation, P fractions in the 10-cm soil layer were quantified at different successional stages on the clear-cut site of mixed broadleaved and Korean pine forest. Four communities of shrub, softwood broad-leaved forest, softwood and hardwood broad-leaved forest, and hardwood broad-leaved forest represented different successional stages. A soil sample from a primary broad-leaved and Korean pine stand was the control. A sequential P fractionation scheme extracted empirically defined pools of P and path analysis used to partition the direct and indirect contribution of soil P fractions to available P. The results show that available P increased significantly with long-term succession, while both sodium bicarbonate-extractable P (NaHCO₃-P) and sodium hydroxide-extractable P (NaOH-P) fractions were reduced in early successional stages and increased in late stages. Compared to the primary forest, concentrations of P fractions in the four stages significantly decreased except for HCl-P, indicating that soil P supplements over the long-term did not return to primary forest levels. The results of related analysis also showed that NaHCO₃-P_i levels were significantly related to available phosphorus. According to the path analysis coefficient, NaHCO₃-P_i exhibited the highest effect on available P among eight P fractions; the indirect effects of other P fractions via NaHCO₃-P_i were larger than those with other P fractions. Overall, this study suggests that soil P bioavailability gradually improved during natural vegetation restoration on clear-cut sites mainly through the increase of NaHCO₃-P, where phosphorous is immediately available, and subsequently available phosphorus NaOH-P.

Forests play a central role in the global carbon cycle. China's forests have a high carbon sequestration potential owing to their wide distribution, young age and relatively low carbon density. Forest biomass is an essential variable for assessing carbon sequestration capacity, thus determining the spatio-temporal changes of forest biomass is critical to the national carbon budget and to contribute to sustainable forest management. Based on Chinese forest inventory data (1999–2013), this study explored spatial patterns of forest biomass at a grid resolution of 1 km by applying a downscaling method and further analyzed spatio-temporal changes of biomass at different spatial scales. The main findings are: (1) the regression relationship between forest biomass and the associated influencing factors at a provincial scale can be applied to estimate biomass at a pixel scale by employing a downscaling method; (2) forest biomass had a distinct spatial pattern with the greatest biomass occurring in the major mountain ranges; (3) forest biomass changes had a notable spatial distribution pattern; increase (i.e., carbon sinks) occurred in east and southeast China, decreases (i.e., carbon sources) were observed in the northeast to southwest, with the largest biomass losses in the Hengduan Mountains, Southern Hainan and Northern Da Hinggan Mountains; and, (4) forest vegetation functioned as a carbon sink during 1999–2013 with a net increase in biomass of 3.71 Pg.

Emissions trading schemes (ETSs) have been a central component of international climate change policies, as a carbon pricing tool to achieve emissions reduction targets. Forest carbon offset credits have been leveraged in many ETSs to efficiently meet emission reduction targets, yet there is little knowledge about the perceptions, experiences, and challenges associated with the forest carbon offsetting in existing and pilot ETS. Given that the future inclusion of forest carbon offset in ETS management activities and policies will require strong support and acceptability among the institutions and experts involved in ETS, this study explores the experiences and lessons learned with 16 globally engaging experts representing major existing ETSs (North America, Europe, and New Zealand) and Chinese pilot ETSs towards the inclusion of forestry offsets, major concerns and challenges with existing implementation models. Findings revealed that many respondents particularly from North America, New Zealand, and Chinese pilot systems portrayed positive attitudes toward the inclusion of forestry carbon offsets and its role in contributing to a viable ETS, while European experts were not supportive. Respondents cited leakage, permanence, additionality, and monitoring design features as the major challenges and concerns that inhibit the expansion and inclusion of forest carbon offsetting. Respondents from Chinese pilot schemes referenced a unique set of challenges related to implementation, including the increasing cost of afforestation and reforestation projects, the uncertainty in the future supply and demand for their national Certified Emissions Reduction (CER) scheme and landowner engagement. Existing and future ETSs should learn from and address the challenges experienced by global experts and carbon pricing mechanisms to design, evaluate, or enhance their forest carbon offset programs for an effective and viable system that successfully contributes to GHG mitigation practices globally. We recommend inclusion of forest carbon offsets at the early stages of ETS improves the perceptions and experience of policy makers and practitioners toward the success and potential of forestry offsets in ETS ensuring familiarity and confidence in the mechanism.

Investment in silvicultural techniques is noticeably lacking, especially in breeding programs for non-conventional wood species. Studying genotype × environment interaction (G × E) is essential to the development of breeding programs. Thus, this study aimed to estimate genetic diversity of and the effects of G × E interaction on two progeny tests of Cordia trichotoma, including the estimation of genetic gain and genetic diversity after selection. For the experiment, 30 progenies of C. trichotoma were tested at two sites with differing soil textures. Diameter at breast height (1.30 m above soil surface, dbh-cm), total height, diameter at 30 cm from the soil, first branch height, and survival were all monitored for four years. Statistical deviance, best linear unbiased estimator, and harmonic mean of relative performance of genetic values (MHPRVG) were all calculated to predict breeding values, estimate genetic parameters, and analyze deviance. All quantified traits varied significantly among progenies by soil type, with greatest variation recorded for genetic variability. Heritability of the progenies led to predictions of genetic gain, ranging from 7.73 to 15.45%, for dbh at four years of age. The calculated decrease in genetic diversity after selection showed that this parameter should be monitored in subsequent breeding cycles. G × E was low for all tests. The best-performing progenies proved most stable and best adapted to the different environmental conditions tested.

To promote the application of Trichoderma, many countries have collected Trichoderma resources. In the present study, nine isolates were isolated from a rhizosphere soil of Phellodendron amurense and were identified as three species: Trichoderma brevicompactum (one isolate), T. asperellum (two isolates), T. atroviride (six isolates). Dual culture experiments showed that T. asperellum T-Pa2 grew fast and produced the best inhibition rates against six tested pathogens (80.25–91.65%) via competition and mycoparasitism. Populus davidiana ×  P. alba var. pyramidalis Louche (PdPap poplar) was treated with T-Pa2, which increased the catalase activity, nitrate reductase activity, and content of osmosis molecules significantly (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, induction by T-Pa2 increased the resistance of PdPap poplar against Alternaria alternata via modulating the expression of salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, and auxin transduction pathway genes. The results will form the basis for the collection and application of biocontrol agents in forestry.

Carabid beetles, predatory insects, are abundant in forests and sensitive to environmental changes. The distribution patterns and diversity of carabid beetles in several natural forests were studied to provide a basis for evaluating the importance of a forest in the protection of carabid beetle diversity. Carabids were captured by pitfall traps during their seasonal activity from 2012 to 2013 in a poplar-birch forest, ash-walnut forest and broad-leaved Korean pine forest. A total of 5252 individuals, representing 21 species, were collected. Carabid abundance was highest in the broad-leaved Korean pine forest and lowest in the ash-walnut forest. Carabus billbergi Mannerheim and Pterostichus pertinax (Tschitscherine) were the dominant beetle species in each stand. Carabus canaliculatus Adams was dominant in the poplar-birch and ash-walnut forests, and Leistus niger Gebler was dominant in the ash-walnut forest. The carabids were affected differently by stand factors. C. billbergi and P. pertinax was positively correlated with mean DBH. C. canaliculatus and L. niger were not positively correlated with any stand factors. The broad-leaved Korean pine forest with greater age, large DBH and thick leaf litter fostered a high diversity of carabid species. The main yearly activity period for most carabids was during July. Different carabid species responded differently to seasonality, and the activity period of several species was relatively late (August) in the year.

The biodiversity of natural or semi-natural native, old oak woodlands have high conservation importance, especially in landscapes of monocultural forest plantations and arable fields. With a wider variety of microhabitats and foraging sources, such old oak forests can provide essential habitat for native forest bird communities. We conducted a study using bird point counts to compare the forest bird communities of old pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) remnants with native and non-native plantations in central Hungary in a landscape of mostly arable fields, settlements, and monocultural plantations. Avian surveys were carried out in old oak forest remnants, middle-aged oak, white poplar (Populus alba), hybrid poplar (Populus ×  euramericana), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), and pine (Pinus spp.) plantations. Fieldwork has been carried out in nine study sites, where all six habitat types were represented (with a few exceptions), to determine total abundance, species richness, Shannon–Wiener diversity, species evenness, dominant and indicator species, and guild abundances. We found that old oak forest remnants were the most diverse habitats among the studied forest types, while hybrid poplar and pine plantations exhibited the lowest avian biodiversity. The avian guilds most sensitive to the loss of old oak forest remnants were ground foragers, bark foragers, cavity-nesters, residents, and Mediterranean migratory birds. Native habitats were more diverse than non-native plantations. Our results suggest that it is important to conserve all remaining high biodiversity old oak stands and to avoid clear-cutting of monocultural plantations in favour of practices such as mixed-species plantations, longer rotation lengths, or retention forestry.

We analyzed the generation and dissemination of relevant information on wildlife utilization based on the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana Blumenbach.), the tiger (Panthera tigris L.) and the totoaba, a species of marine fish, (Totoaba macdonaldi Gilbert) as examples, whose populations are more threatened by the illegal wildlife trade. We compared the illegal trade in wildlife with related information in order to find possible associations, searched for relevant information on major international websites to summarize similarities in information production and dissemination, and used a “Zhiwei” dissemination analysis platform to analyze the dissemination of information circulated at Microblog. The results show that the most influential information related to the trade in wildlife is mainly generated from news media websites and new self-media platforms, usually from non-governmental organizations concerned with wildlife protection. The main factors that affect the depth and breadth of disseminating relevant information on wildlife utilization include the participation of relatively influential opinion leaders, the verification ratio of forwarding users, the number of followers, and affective identification. Misleading information can stimulate and promote poaching and smuggling, regardless of their real market demand or their products. Therefore, all links in the course of information dissemination should be carefully examined in order to purify the information environment and reduce adverse effects of misleading information on wildlife protection.

The identification of timber properties is important for safe application. Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) technology is widely-used because of its simplicity, efficiency, and positive environmental attributes. However, in its application, weak signals are extracted from complex, overlapping and changing information. This study focused on the stability of NIR modeling. The Orthogonal Partial Least Squares(OPLS) and Successive Projections Algorithm (SPA) eliminates noise and extracts effective spectra, and an ensemble learning method MIX-PLS, is applied to establish the model. The elastic modulus of timber is taken as an example, and 201 wood samples of three species, Xylosma-congesta (Lour.) Merr., Acer pictum subsp. mono, and Betula pendula, samples were divided into three groups to investigate modelling performance. The results show that OPLS can preprocess the near-infrared spectroscopy information according to the target object in the face of the system error and reduce errors to minimum. SPA finally selects 13 spectral bands, simplifies the NIR spectral data and improves model accuracy.The Pearson's correlation coefficient of Calibration (R_c) and the Pearson's correlation coefficient of Prediction (R_p) of Mix Partial Least Squares (MIX-PLS) were 0.95 and 0.90, and Root Mean Square Error of Calibration (RMSEC) and Root Mean Square Error of Prediction (RMSEP) are 2.075 and 6.001, respectively, which shows the model has good generalization abilities.