Forests - Science topic

Dear Colleagues, Forests are the largest terrestrial ecosystem on Earth, which play a vital role in conserving water resources, regulating the climate, purifying the air, preventing wind erosion and sand drift, and protecting biodiversity. However, in recent years, the rapid decline in global forest cover has attracted widespread attention. Therefo...

Ecological sensitivity or fragility refers to the permanent and irreparable loss of extant life forms or significant damage to the natural processes of evolution and speciation with the alterations in the ecological integrity of a region. The comprehensive knowledge of the ecological fragility of a region is quintessential for evolving strategies f...

UN-SDGs can be accomplished only by managing forests sustainably and restoring forest landscapes because forests have a significant positive impact on both people and the environment with their support of livelihoods, provision of clean air and water, preservation of biodiversity, and mitigation of climate change. It is imperative that land use pla...

One of the key steps in the roundwood supply chain is the precise calculation of harvested timber volume, which is essential for billing. Measuring timber stacks manually is a time-consuming task for foresters. Recently, integrating LiDAR sensors into iPad Pro cameras has been suggested for measuring stacked timber. This study aimed to assess the a...

Wild nature in cities can allow urban residents to experience and connect with nature close to their homes. Previous research has shown that wild nature areas (WNAs) can be found in various urban greenspaces, such as remnant vegetation in forests, wild corners in parks, or spontaneous vegetation on informal sites. However, little is known about the...

The spread of the invasive ascidian Didemnum vexillum represents a major ecological and economic threat in many parts of the world. Recorded for the first time in Norway in 2020, this species is now established in several localities, often characterized by busy port activities. The new detection and expansion of D. vexillum raise significant concer...

An important question in restoration ecology is whether restored ecological regimes are more vulnerable to transitions back to a degraded state. In woody-invaded grasslands, high-intensity fire can collapse woody plant communities and induce a shift back to a grass-dominated regime. Yet, legacies from woody-dominated regimes often persist and it re...

Aim Variation in community composition along environmental gradients provides crucial information for identifying zones where species turnover is rapid and to ascertain whether compositional changes occur gradually or rather abruptly. We examined changes in bird community composition along three bioclimatic transects in Australia to test whether dr...

Invasion of temperate riparian forests by Acacia dealbata affects macroinvertebrate community structure in streams. The riparian forest determines many of the stream characteristics such as physicochemical variables and the availability and quality of food resources for aquatic communities. In central Portugal, native mixed deciduous forests are be...

Assisted migration is a tree-planting method where tree species or populations are translocated with the aim of establishing more climate-resilient forests. However, this might potentially increase the susceptibility of translocated trees to herbivory. Stand diversification through planting trees in species or genotypic mixtures may reduce the amou...

Societal Impact Statement The physiological effects of increased atmospheric CO2 (CO2 fertilization) on intact forests are generally seen as a process that might buffer them against the impacts of climate change. However, CO2 fertilization can also cause adverse changes in forest conditions, such as alterations in species composition and reduced ec...

Church forests are crucial refuges for biodiversity, yet human activities pose significant threats to their survival in Ethiopia. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of woody species diversity and the effects of disturbances is necessary for effective conservation. This study aimed to investigate human disturbances and their effects on woody s...

The increasingly warm-wetting climate has gradually promoted vegetation greenness on the Tibetan Plateau and the surrounding region, yet the specific mechanisms driving this change in high-altitude mountainous areas remain unclear. This study, using Nepal as a case study, investigated the spatial and temporal impacts of hydro-climatic factors on le...

Tóm tắt / Abstract Sự phát triển của mạng lưới giao thông sẽ tạo ra sự phân mảnh của sinh cảnh. Nghiên cứu năm huyện miền núi tỉnh Quảng Nam, kết quả chỉ ra rằng chỉ số phân mảnh cảnh quan bởi đường giao thông (RLFI) năm 2010 có giá trị trung bình 1,05. Tuy nhiên, sự phân mảnh diễn ra không đồng đều trên toàn khu vực nghiên cứu. Khu vực giáp biên g...

Questions Can we reconcile regional and European classifications of anthropogenic plant communities at the biogeographical scale? How are these communities characterized by species origins, traits and ecological preferences? Location Atlantic territories in the NW Iberian Peninsula (a.k.a. Cantabrian Mixed Forests ecoregion); south‐western Europe....

The Dipterocarpus forests of the Indian East Himalayas are essential for biodiversity conservation, ecosystem health, and carbon sink management. However, anthropogenic activities and global climate change have posed significant threats to Dipterocarpus species. This study aimed to assess habitat suitability and identify key environmental variables...

Citation: Adiningrat, D.P.; Skidmore, A.; Schlund, M.; Wang, T.; Abdullah, H.; Heurich, M. Investigating LiDAR Metrics for Old-Growth Beech-and Spruce-Dominated Forest Identification in Central Europe. Abstract: Old-growth forests are essential for maintaining biodiversity, as they are formed by the complexity of diverse forest structures, such as...

A v a i l a b l e f r o m E x p l o r k e n. c o m o r h t t p s : / / a r c h a e o l o g y mu s e u m. c a / p r o d u c t-c a t e g o r y / b o o k s /

Throughout the centuries, the grassfields of Cameroon have been the site of the development of numerous social and cultural values associated with sacred forests. These values are deeply intertwined with the socio-cultural roles that local people have attributed to the forests, which serve as places of worship and ritual. Managed under chieftaincy,...

Vegetation is a crucial ecosystem component in the ecologically fragile and typically human-disturbed Loess Plateau. The Loess Plateau has undergone dramatic vegetation changes in the past few decades due to dramatic human activity and climate change. It is essential to clarify the characteristics and mechanism of vegetation variation for future ec...

Implementing thinning practices can enhance the growth of plantation forests and improve soil health. Nevertheless, the impacts of thinning applications on soil quality, large-diameter timber production of Castanopsis hystrix, and ecosystem multifunctionality are poorly understood. Therefore, we chose two sample plots, unthinned (control) and thinn...

SUMMARY. Jordanita graeca (Jordan, 1907) and Adscita albanica (Naufock, 1926) (Zygaenidae: Procridinae) are reported for the fauna of Saratov Province for the first time. New locality data for Rhagades pruni ([Denis et Schiffermüller], 1775), Jordanita subsolana (Staudinger, 1862) and Jordanita chloros (Hübner, [1813]) are also provided.

The profound effects of urbanization on groundwater recharge rates are investigated by conducting a comprehensive land use and land cover analysis in Arusha, Tanzania, using the WetSpass model. Between 1995 and 2016, the urban area has expanded from 14 to 45% within the study area. This rapid urbanization has resulted in the conversion of forested...

Optical remote sensing images are easily affected by atmospheric absorption and scattering, and the low contrast and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of aerial images as well as the different sensors of aerial and satellite images bring a great challenge to image matching. A tilted aerial image and satellite image matching algorithm based on edge cu...

Heterogeneous environments provide different daily and seasonal thermal conditions for snakes, resulting in temporal and spatial variations in body temperature (Tb). This study analyzes the Tb of Thamnophis eques in the forest and grassland of a Mexican locality through daily and seasonal profiling. The patterns were obtained from seminatural enclo...

Aims The Home-Field Advantage (HFA) suggests that litter decomposes faster in its "home" habitat (home-field) due to local decomposer communities being more adapted to decomposing "home" litter. Elevation-induced micro-environmental variations, may break down the relationship between litter and its associated decomposer communities, reducing decomp...

Forest fires cause extensive environmental damage, making early detection crucial for protecting both nature and communities. Advanced computer vision techniques can be used to detect smoke and fire. However, accurate detection of smoke and fire in forests is challenging due to different factors such as different smoke shapes, changing light, and s...

Members of the genus Heliconia L. (Heliconiaceae) have evolved complex interactions with both insect herbivores and hummingbird pollinators in tropical forests and secondary growth where they are abundant and diverse. Many of these same species have also been cultivated as ornamentals around the world for hundreds of years because of their extraord...

Biodiversity can foster mental well-being. Little is known, however, about mental well-being effects of acoustic diversity, and how natural soundscapes contribute to a sense of place. To test this, we conducted an experimental study with 195 German residents who listened to two forest soundscapes with low or high vocalising animal richness (actual...

The tropics possess a higher level of biodiversity compared to other climatic regions on the Earth. The tropics have diverse ecosystems such as forests, savannas, mountains, wetlands, and coral reefs, which provide habitat for thousands of species of fauna and flora. Tropical forests are one of the important tropical ecosystems with high biodiversi...

Masing, M. 2025. Nahkhiirte uuring Konati piirkonnas Saaremaal 2023. a suvel. Välitööde metoodika, tulemused, analüüs ja soovitused. [Study on bats in Konati region, Saaremaa, Estonia in the summer of 2023.] – Sicista PDF. Tartu, 58 lk. ..... Detector-based study on bats in Konati region, western Saaremaa, Estonia. 58 pages of text in Estonian plu...

The challenge of traversability estimation is a crucial aspect of autonomous navigation in unstructured outdoor environments such as forests. It involves determining whether certain areas are passable or risky for robots, taking into account factors like terrain irregularities, slopes, and potential obstacles. The majority of current methods for tr...

This report provides the results of a series of heteroptera and diptera surveys carried out on the Smithills Estate, owned and managed by the Woodland Trust. Eleven visits were made between September 2015 and May 2019, resulting in 1370 individual records of the presence of a species in a 100m grid square on a specific date. This was part of a wide...

Using hunting bags data, spatial and temporal changes in population densities of the mouflon in 1981–2020 in south-west Poland (29 358 km2, including 8411 km2 forests) have been analysed. In south-west Poland, the mouflon was introduced in 1902. The population increased from 5 to 134 individuals in 1925, reaching 1100 individuals in 1939. From the...

Quantifying basal area in terms of diameter classes is important for informing forest management decisions. It is commonly derived from stand diameter distributions using field measurements, LiDAR, and a distribution function. This study compares alternative methods for directly estimating basal area in three tree diameter classes that are relevant...

The biological characteristics of Ips hauseri in the coniferous mountain forests of Kazakhstan were studied during the period of depression of the bark beetle population in the windfall zone of 2011 in the high-mountain Medeu tract. It gives information on the spread of I. hauseri in the world. According to our observations, during the stages of de...

This essay explores the various types of spaces, primarily montane forested areas, where human access was restricted, either conditionally or entirely, during late imperial times. The range of restrictions always included felling trees, but often also encompassed other forms of extraction from local ecosystems. Based on the motivations for setting...

Research Highlights: We report a 45-year time-line of forest restoration after harvesting and responses of red-backed voles (Myodes gapperi), an indicator species of closed-canopy forests. Background and Objectives: We have a unique long-term window to test four hypotheses that evaluated the relationship of M. gapperi with old forest structural att...

As the clearcutting of peatland forests is known to cause harmful consequences especially for the water environment, there is increasing interest in alternative natural regeneration methods. We studied the regeneration stocking development on a southern Lapland site, where shelterwood cutting, heavy selection cutting, patch clearcutting (≤ 0.3 ha)...

Epiphytic bryophytes are an important component in terms of the diversity and functioning of montane forests known as biodiversity hotspots. Bryophytes are highly dependent on their external environments because they are sensitive to environmental changes related to disturbance, fragmentation, air pollution, and climate change. The richness and com...

The present study determined the current status of understorey invasive plant species (IPSs) and their impact on the forest composition and regeneration of Palamau Tiger Reserve, Eastern India. Tree diversity was sampled in 63 random belt transects (0.50 ha each), while shrubs and herbs in 9 random quadrats of 5 m \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \use...

In the face of forest fire emergencies, fast and efficient dispatching of rescue vehicles is an important means of mitigating the damage caused by forest fires, and is an effective method of avoiding secondary damage caused by forest fires, minimizing the damage caused by forest fires to the ecosystem, and mitigating the losses caused by economic d...

Habitat fragmentation and land use changes threaten neotropical habitats and alter patterns of diversity at forest edges. Like other arthropod assemblages, neotropical fruit-feeding butterfly communities show strong vertical stratification within forests, with some recent work showing its potential role in speciation. At forest edges, species consi...

LiDAR systems are being used increasingly widely and effectively in the field of forestry. They play an important role in many applications such as creating detailed maps of forests, obtaining high-precision elevation data, obtaining information about the height, density and distribution of trees, mapping the topography under the forest in detail,...

Whether specialist pests can cause more damage to their host plants than generalist pests is a critical issue in both basic biology and nonnative species management. To date, there is no consensus on how we define “specialist vs. generalist” pests and how we should assess forest damage or impacts (volume loss vs. mortality). Here, we comparatively...

Cloud forests are one of the most important ecosystems on a global scale, due to their biodiversity and the services they provide to human populations. Understanding the causal factors determining the structural variation and functioning of cloud forests continues to be one of the most relevant research challenges in these forests. In this study, w...

Snow cover plays a key role in determining the albedo and thus the shortwave radiation balance of a surface. The effect of snow on albedo is modulated by land use: tree canopies break the uniform snow layer and lower the albedo as compared to an open ground. This results in a higher fraction of shortwave radiation being absorbed in forests. At seas...

The Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) is Europe's most numerous and widespread owl species, including in Slovenia. It is present in its home range (territory) throughout the year. The species primarily nests in deciduous and mixed forests, such as silver fir-beech forests, and is much rarer in coniferous forests. It nests in tree cavities but readily occupie...

Climate change threatens smallholder agriculture and food security in the Global South. While cropland expansion is often used to counter adverse climate effects despite ecological trade-offs, the benefits for diets and nutrition remain unclear. This study quantitatively examines relationships between climate anomalies, forest loss from cropland ex...

The response of non-structural carbohydrates and stoichiometric characteristics of Ochroma lagopus to nitrogen addition is currently unclear. In this study, a 2-year-old O. lagopus was selected, and seven nitrogen addition treatments were set up to investigate the effects of nitrogen addition on the non-structural carbohydrates and stoichiometric c...

Aquatic and palustrine plants are a group of plants that have morphological and anatomical adaptations to occupy permanent or temporary aquatic environments. In this study, we carried out the first floristic survey of aquatic and palustrine plants in restingas (restinga swamps and swamp forests) of a Ramsar site in the municipality of Guimarães,...

The rapid development of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, particularly quadrotors, has led to their widespread use in small- to medium-sized applications. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of key flight control strategies for quadrotor UAVs, with a focus on their application in dynamic and complex environments, such as urban are...

The present study investigates the impact of emerging climate change on the risk of wildfires in the mountain forests of the Western Tatras. Analysis of long-term observed climatological data (1961-2023) revealed a significant increase in air temperature and decrease in relative air humidity, leading to aridization of the mountain environment. Eval...

Forestry is a profession in which employees have daily contact with a variety of natural environments, mainly the forest. Many studies indicate that contact with the forest has a positive effect on mental and physical health, helping to combat depression and stress, which are symptoms of occupational burnout. The purpose of this study was to assess...

The role of human activities in island biogeography is highlighted under the background of global changes, and humans interfere with the island biodiversity by introducing alien species, occupying natural habitats, and planting forests or crops. China’s islands are receiving increasing human interferences in different forms and intensities and prov...

Forests contain just under 58% of all known species globally, with approximately 61% of these found in countries with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified forests. Few studies have directly analyzed the association between biodiversity and certification, often focusing on limited geographical or temporal scopes. There is a lack of understandi...

Forests cover around one-third of the global land surface, store about half of the terrestrial carbon, and are the dominant contributors to terrestrial net primary production [...]

This increasing need for bike rentals has raised the importance of proper demand forecasting for better allocation of resources, improved customer satisfaction, and increased operational efficiencies. The purpose of this research is to predict the number of daily bike rental rentals based on historical counts collected by a open source data of bike...

Bamboo and broad-leaved mixed forest is a kind of forestry management that can effectively improve the ecology of bamboo forests. The aerial structure of the stand can reflect the growth status of the stand, as well as the spatial structure of the stand with respect to maintaining and improving the basis of the stand structure. However, the lack of...

Tectona grandis (Teak) community forests have the potential to produce wood products. The potential of teak community forest management is becoming increasingly important. Teak is the main choice for many forest farmers in Indonesia due to its high economic value, especially related to producing high-quality wood used for construction and furniture...

Tree diseases may cause the extirpation or functional extinction of a common tree species on large spatial scales. For example, ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) is expected to cause widespread loss of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior). This type of widespread loss of a tree species may have consequences for the ability of some insects to move...

A Dance of the Forests is a metaphysical play that integrates Yoruba ghost-summoning ritual, dirge, and forest dance into its textual creation. This integration transcends the opposition between the living and the dead, facilitating a reenactment of history and a critique of historical injustice. Although considered an obscure play, Soyinka’s A Dan...

Increased frequency and intensity of storms, sea level rise, and warming temperatures are affecting forests along the eastern coast of the United States. However, we lack a clear understanding of how the structure of coastal forests is being altered by climate change drivers. Here, we used data from the Forest Inventory and Analyses program of the...

The role of trait evolution in shaping the functional and ecological diversity of tropical forests remains poorly understood. Analyses of trait variation as a function of evolutionary history and environmental variables should reveal the drivers of species distributions, as well as generate insights valuable to conservation. Here, we focus on the D...