Articles

Quantifying multiple-site compositional turnover in an Afrotemperate forest, using zeta diversity

Species turnover is typically measured by partitioning diversity components into alpha and pairwise beta diversity. However, alpha and beta components cannot express the full spectrum of multiple-site composit...

Authors: Cang Hui, Wessel Vermeulen and Graham Durrheim

Longitudinal height-diameter curves for Norway spruce, Scots pine and silver birch in Norway based on shape constraint additive regression models

Generalized height-diameter curves based on a re-parameterized version of the Korf function for Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) in ...

Authors: Matthias Schmidt, Johannes Breidenbach and Rasmus Astrup

Tree species richness enhances stand productivity while stand structure can have opposite effects, based on forest inventory data from Germany and the United States of America

In recent studies, mixed forests were found to be more productive than monocultures with everything else remaining the same.

Authors: Laura Zeller, Jingjing Liang and Hans Pretzsch

Key drivers of ecosystem recovery after disturbance in a neotropical forest

Natural disturbance is a fundamental component of the functioning of tropical rainforests let to natural dynamics, with tree mortality the driving force of forest renewal. With ongoing global (i.e. land-use an...

Authors: Bruno Hérault and Camille Piponiot

The enduring link between forest cover and rainfall: a historical perspective on science and policy discussions

This article traces the history of scientific ideas connecting forest cover with rainfall to inform ongoing debates about whether forests are net users or producers of water in the hydrological cycle. Scholars...

Authors: Brett M. Bennett and Gregory A. Barton

Classifying forest inventory data into species-based forest community types at broad extents: exploring tradeoffs among supervised and unsupervised approaches

Knowledge of the different kinds of tree communities that currently exist can provide a baseline for assessing the ecological attributes of forests and monitoring future changes. Forest inventory data can faci...

Authors: Jennifer K. Costanza, Don Faber-Langendoen, John W. Coulston and David N. Wear

Management breaks the natural productivity-biodiversity relationship in forests and grassland: an opinion

Two approaches mark the difference between the “ecological” and “agricultural” view of the biodiversity/growth relation. In ecology the trend is averaged by taking monocultures of all species as baseline to ev...

Authors: E. D. Schulze, O. Bouriaud, U. Weber, C. Roscher, D. Hessenmoeller, F. Kroiher and P. Schall

Using classification assignment rules to assess land-use change impacts on forest biodiversity at local-to-national scales

Ecosystem representation is one key component in assessing the biodiversity impacts of land-use changes that will irrevocably alter natural ecosystems. We show how detailed vegetation plot data can be used to ...

Authors: Kathrin Affeld, Susan K. Wiser, Ian J. Payton and Miquel DeCáceres

Big data of tree species distributions: how big and how good?

Trees play crucial roles in the biosphere and societies worldwide, with a total of 60,065 tree species currently identified. Increasingly, a large amount of data on tree species occurrences is being generated ...

Authors: Josep M. Serra-Diaz, Brian J. Enquist, Brian Maitner, Cory Merow and Jens-C. Svenning

Airborne laser scanning of natural forests in New Zealand reveals the influences of wind on forest carbon

Forests are a key component of the global carbon cycle, and research is needed into the effects of human-driven and natural processes on their carbon pools. Airborne laser s...

Authors: David A. Coomes, Daniel Šafka, James Shepherd, Michele Dalponte and Robert Holdaway

Tropical forest canopies and their relationships with climate and disturbance: results from a global dataset of consistent field-based measurements

Canopy structure, defined by leaf area index (LAI), fractional vegetation cover (FCover) and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR), regulates a wide range of forest functions and eco...

Authors: Marion Pfeifer, Alemu Gonsamo, William Woodgate, Luis Cayuela, Andrew R. Marshall, Alicia Ledo, Timothy C. E. Paine, Rob Marchant, Andrew Burt, Kim Calders, Colin Courtney-Mustaphi, Aida Cuni-Sanchez, Nicolas J. Deere, Dereje Denu, Jose Gonzalez de Tanago, Robin Hayward…

Plant diversity patterns and conservation status of eastern Himalayan forests in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India

The State of Arunachal Pradesh is part of the Himalaya biodiversity hotspots distributed over an area with the largest elevation gradients in the world, ranging from lowland tropical forests to alpine vegetation.

Authors: P. Saikia, J. Deka, S. Bharali, Amit Kumar, O. P. Tripathi, L. B. Singha, S. Dayanandan and M. L. Khan

Fujian cypress and two other threatened tree species in three conservation zones of a nature reserve in north-western Vietnam

Fujian cypress (Fokienia hodginsii) is a highly valued but endangered tree species. The Ta Xua Nature Reserve in Vietnam is one of its main conservation centers. This nature reserve consists of a fully protected ...

Authors: Thi Hoa Hong Dao and Dirk Hölscher

Tree diversity patterns along the latitudinal gradient in the northwestern Russia

One of the key forest characteristics is the biodiversity, particularly the diversity of trees which are forest ecosystem engineers. Nowadays the most worldwide common approach for assessment of forest conditi...

Authors: Elena Tikhonova, Gleb Tikhonov, Nikolay Shevchenko, Svetlana Knyazeva, Alexandra Plotnikova, Natalia Lukina and Maxim Shashkov

The relative roles of local climate adaptation and phylogeny in determining leaf-out timing of temperate tree species

Leaf out times of temperate forest trees are a prominent determinant of global carbon dynamics throughout the year. Abiotic cues of leaf emergence are well studied but investigation of the relative roles of sh...

Authors: Elsa Desnoues, Julie Ferreira de Carvalho, Constantin M. Zohner and Thomas W. Crowther

Adaptation of Colophospermum mopane to extra-seasonal drought conditions: site-vegetation relations in dry-deciduous forests of Zambezi region (Namibia)

The drought-tolerant tree species Colophospermum mopane is focussed at for an assessment of the impact of water stress, as well as for the specific adaptation potential of the species. Three differing sites (‘For...

Authors: Joachim H. A. Krug

Detecting the fingerprint of drought across Europe’s forests: do carbon isotope ratios and stem growth rates tell similar stories?

Understanding how trees respond to drought is critical to forecasting both short and long-term impacts of climate change on forests. The isotopic ratio of ¹³C to ¹²C stored in wood – referred to as δ¹³C – is wide...

Authors: Tommaso Jucker, Charlotte Grossiord, Damien Bonal, Olivier Bouriaud, Arthur Gessler and David A. Coomes

Climate-growth relationships and pointer year analysis of a Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) chronology from the Mongolian mountain forest steppe compared to white birch (Betula platyphylla Sukaczev)

Forest area, stand quality and growth of Siberian larch in Mongolia have decreased significantly over recent decades. This forest decline is frequently attributed to factors such as unregulated logging, increa...

Authors: Alexander Gradel, Batsaikhan Ganbaatar, Ochirragchaa Nadaldorj, Batdorj Dovdondemberel and Antonin Kusbach

Effects of long-term deforestation and remnant forests on rainfall and temperature in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Some evidence suggests that forests attract rain and that deforestation contributes to changes in rainfall and temperature. The evidence, however, is scant, particularly on smaller spatial scales. The specific...

Authors: Alemayehu Muluneh, Emiel van Loon, Woldeamlak Bewket, Saskia Keesstra, Leo Stroosnijder and Ashenafi Burka

Facilitating the recovery of natural evergreen forests in South Africa via invader plant stands

Contrary to general belief, planted and naturalized stands of introduced species facilitate the recovery of natural evergreen forests and their diversity. Forest rehabilitation actions are often performed at g...

Authors: Coert J. Geldenhuys, Angeline Atsame-Edda and Margaret W. Mugure

Climate change-associated trends in biomass dynamics are consistent across soil drainage classes in western boreal forests of Canada

Consistent long-term declines in net aboveground biomass change have been reported in some boreal and tropical forests. Global change-type drought (i.e., demands of increased evapotranspiration exceeding soil ...

Authors: Eric B. Searle and Han Y. H. Chen

Toward managing mixed-species stands: from parametrization to prescription

A better understanding and a more quantitative design of mixed-species stands will contribute to more integrative and goal-oriented research in mixed-species forests. Much recent work has indicated that the st...

Authors: Hans Pretzsch and Eric K. Zenner

Biomass and net primary productivity of mangrove communities along the Oligohaline zone of Sundarbans, Bangladesh

The article presents the first estimates of biomass and productivity for mangrove forests along the Oligohaline zone of the Sundarbans Reserve Forest (SRF), Bangladesh. This study was conducted overone year fr...

Authors: Md. Kamruzzaman, Shamim Ahmed and Akira Osawa

Tree water potentials supporting an explanation for the occurrence of Vachellia erioloba in the Namib Desert (Namibia)

Site-vegetation relations of Vachellia erioloba, Faidherbia albida, Euclea pseudebenus and Tamarix usneoides in two contrasting locations in the Namib Desert (Namibia) were evaluated with the goal to relate soil ...

Authors: Joachim H. A. Krug

Demographic trends and climate over 35 years in the Barro Colorado 50 ha plot

The first three censuses of the 50-ha plot at Barro Colorado Island spanned an unusually harsh dry season during the 1983 El Niño. By the early 1990s, we had documented increases in tree mortality, tree growth...

Authors: Richard Condit, Rolando Pérez, Suzanne Lao, Salomón Aguilar and Stephen P. Hubbell

An imputation/copula-based stochastic individual tree growth model for mixed species Acadian forests: a case study using the Nova Scotia permanent sample plot network

A novel approach to modelling individual tree growth dynamics is proposed. The approach combines multiple imputation and copula sampling to produce a stochastic individual tree growth and yield projection system.

Authors: John A. Kershaw Jr, Aaron R. Weiskittel, Michael B. Lavigne and Elizabeth McGarrigle

Development and evaluation of robust tree biomass equations for rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations in India

In India, rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations cover ~0.8 million ha of land, emphasizing its significant role in the Earth’s carbon dynamics. Therefore, it is important to estimate the biomass stocks of plant...

Authors: Biplab Brahma, Gudeta W. Sileshi, Arun Jyoti Nath and Ashesh Kumar Das

Climate change effects in the Western Himalayan ecosystems of India: evidence and strategies

The fragile landscapes of the Himalayan region are highly susceptible to natural hazards, and there is ongoing concern about current and potential climate change impacts. This study provides background informa...

Authors: Vindhya Prasad Tewari, Raj Kumar Verma and Klaus von Gadow

Dead standing pine trees in a boreal forest landscape in the Kalevala National Park, northern Fennoscandia: amount, population characteristics and spatial pattern

After their death, Scots pine trees can remain standing for decades and sometimes up to 200 years, forming long-lasting and ecologically important structures in boreal forest landscapes. Standing dead pines de...

Authors: Timo Kuuluvainen, Tuomas Aakala and Gergely Várkonyi

Small mammal community response to early meadow–forest succession

With farmland afforestation becoming common policy in many European Union countries, we studied how early forest succession (from meadow to young stand) influences small mammal species composition, diversity, ...

Authors: Linas Balčiauskas, Aušra Čepukienė and Laima Balčiauskienė

Stand dynamics of the drought-affected floodplain forests of Araguaia River, Brazilian Amazon

The floodplain forests of Araguaia River, a clear-water river in the southeastern Amazon (Tocantins State, Brazil), are characterized by seasonal flooding up to 3.5 m height, low nutrient levels in the water, ...

Authors: Jürgen Homeier, Dariusz Kurzatkowski and Christoph Leuschner

Tapping the tree-ring archive for studying effects of resin extraction on the growth and climate sensitivity of Scots pine

In the German Democratic Republic (GDR), resin tapping in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forests was a major economic activity, and resin-tapped stands are frequently found up until this day. In this study, we ...

Authors: Ernst van der Maaten, Annemarie Mehl, Martin Wilmking and Marieke van der Maaten-Theunissen

Tree species diversity and utilities in a contracting lowland hillside rainforest fragment in Central Vietnam

Within the highly bio-diverse ‘Northern Vietnam Lowland Rain Forests Ecoregion’ only small, and mostly highly modified forestlands persist within vast exotic-species plantations. The aim of this study was to e...

Authors: Yen Thi Van and Roland Cochard

Conspecific negative density dependence in American beech

One of the most important drivers of forest biodiversity is conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD), a reduction in performance when conspecific densities are high. While the majority of CNDD research h...

Authors: Benjamin S. Ramage and Isabel J. Mangana

The influence of canopy-layer composition on understory plant diversity in southern temperate forests

Understory plants represents the largest component of biodiversity in most forest ecosystems and plays a key role in forest functioning. Despite their importance, the influence of overstory-layer composition o...

Authors: Luciana Mestre, Mónica Toro-Manríquez, Rosina Soler, Alejandro Huertas-Herrera, Guillermo Martínez-Pastur and María Vanessa Lencinas

The carbon fluxes in different successional stages: modelling the dynamics of tropical montane forests in South Ecuador

Tropical forests play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle. However, tropical montane forests have been studied less than tropical lowland forests, and their role in carbon storage is not well unde...

Authors: Sebastian Paulick, Claudia Dislich, Jürgen Homeier, Rico Fischer and Andreas Huth

Estimating the carbon fluxes of forests with an individual-based forest model

Capturing the response of forest ecosystems to inter-annual climate variability is a great challenge. In this study, we tested the capability of an individual-based forest gap model to display carbon fluxes at...

Authors: Edna Rödig, Andreas Huth, Friedrich Bohn, Corinna Rebmann and Matthias Cuntz

Optimal nitrogen fertilization of boreal conifer forest

Forest fertilization offers a means to increase the production of renewable resources. Nitrogen is the most common fertilizer in boreal upland forests. There is plenty of research on the effect of nitrogen fer...

Authors: Timo Pukkala

Indicators and tools for assessing sustainability impacts of the forest bioeconomy

The sustainable use of renewable resources has become an important issue worldwide in the move towards a less fossil-fuel-intensive future. Mainstream method for fulfilling this aim is to increase the share of...

Authors: Jaakko Karvonen, Pradipta Halder, Jyrki Kangas and Pekka Leskinen

Response of understory vegetation over 10 years after thinning in an old-growth cedar and cypress plantation overgrazed by sika deer in eastern Japan

Forest management strategies such as thinning have long been used to enhance ecosystem functions, especially in plantations. Thinning in plantations with high deer density, however, may not yield a desired inc...

Authors: Atsushi Tamura and Masanobu Yamane

Improved allometric equations for tree aboveground biomass estimation in tropical dipterocarp forests of Kalimantan, Indonesia

Currently, the common and feasible way to estimate the most accurate forest biomass requires ground measurements and allometric models. Previous studies have been conducted on allometric equations development ...

Authors: Solichin Manuri, Cris Brack, Fatmi Noor’an, Teddy Rusolono, Shema Mukti Anggraini, Helmut Dotzauer and Indra Kumara

Erratum to: Adaptation of forest management to climate change as perceived by forest owners and managers in Belgium

Authors: Rita Sousa-Silva, Quentin Ponette, Kris Verheyen, Ann Van Herzele and Bart Muys

Development and evaluation of an individual tree growth and yield model for the mixed species forest of the Adirondacks Region of New York, USA

Growth and yield models are important tools for forest planning. Due to its geographic location, topology, and history of management, the forests of the Adirondacks Region of New York are unique and complex. H...

Authors: Aaron Weiskittel, Christian Kuehne, John Paul McTague and Mike Oppenheimer

Structure and dendroecology of Thuja occidentalis in disjunct stands south of its contiguous range in the central Appalachian Mountains, USA

Information on forest structure, growth, and disturbance history is essential for effective forest management in a dynamic landscape. Because most of our research concerning the ecology and growth of Thuja occide...

Authors: Joshua A. Kincaid

Drought sensitivity of beech on a shallow chalk soil in northeastern Germany – a comparative study

We compare the climate sensitivity of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in two forest nature reserves in northeastern Germany. The one reserve, Schlossberg, is characterized by shallow chalk soils, whereas in t...

Authors: Marieke van der Maaten-Theunissen, Hanna Bümmerstede, Janette Iwanowski, Tobias Scharnweber, Martin Wilmking and Ernst van der Maaten

Patterns of forest composition and their long term environmental drivers in the tropical dry forest transition zone of southern Africa

Tropical dry forests cover less than 13 % of the world’s tropical forests and their area and biodiversity are declining. In southern Africa, the major threat is increasing population pressure, while drought ca...

Authors: Vera De Cauwer, Coert J. Geldenhuys, Raf Aerts, Miya Kabajani and Bart Muys

Adaptation of forest management to climate change as perceived by forest owners and managers in Belgium

Climate change is likely to cause significant modifications in forests. Rising to this challenge may require adaptation of forest management, and therefore should trigger proactive measures by forest managers,...

Authors: Rita Sousa-Silva, Quentin Ponette, Kris Verheyen, Ann Van Herzele and Bart Muys

Life cycle cost and economic assessment of biochar-based bioenergy production and biochar land application in Northwestern Ontario, Canada

Replacement of fossil fuel based energy with biochar-based bioenergy production can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change and global warming. However, the ...

Authors: Krish Homagain, Chander Shahi, Nancy Luckai and Mahadev Sharma

Romanian legal management rules limit wood production in Norway spruce and beech forests

The quantitative impact of forest management on forests’ wood resource was evaluated for Picea and Fagus mixed forests. The effects on the productivity of tendering operations, thinnings and rotation length ha...

Authors: Olivier Bouriaud, Gheorghe Marin, Laura Bouriaud, Dominik Hessenmöller and Ernst-Detlef Schulze

Growth and yield of Solanum khasianum in Pinus roxburghii forest based silvi-medicinal system in mid hills of Indian Himalaya

In mid hills of Western Himalayas, Himachal Pradesh India, growth, yield and economics of Solanum khasianum as a potential medicinal herb under Pinus roxburghii (Chir pine) plantation has been studied for two con...

Authors: Chandra Shekher Sanwal, Raj Kumar, Raheel Anwar, Vijaysinha Kakade, Sushma Kerketta and S. D. Bhardwaj