JournalTOCs

Forest Science
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.89

Citation Impact (citeScore): 2
Number of Followers: 8

Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
ISSN (Print) 0015-749X - ISSN (Online) 1938-3738
Published by Oxford University Press

[424 journals]

Stand Inventories as an Early Detection System for Forest Health Threats
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  Pages: 1 - 9
  Abstract: AbstractPest-specific inventories require substantial resources and are often infeasible, creating a need for alternative means of early pest detection. We examined the potential for stand inventories to detect forest health threats by using a unique dataset of mapped eastern spruce dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium pusillum Peck.) infestations in black spruce (Picea mariana Mill. B.S.P) stands of northern Minnesota, USA. We simulated stand inventories across a range of sampling intensities; that is, current standard (S) methods in Minnesota, adding one plot (S + 1), doubling the intensity (2S), and halving the intensity (S/2), using fixed-radius plots and transect buffers for detection. We categorized stands into low, moderate, and high infestation severity. We simulated detection at multiple viewing distances along S inventory transects in low severity infestation stands. Detection probability increased as sampling intensity increased. Plot-based detection averaged > 50% for moderate and high severity infestations except S/2 in moderate severity infestations. Notably, transect-based detection averaged ≥ 85% at viewing distances of 25 to 100 m. Results suggest stand inventories could provide opportunities to detect forest health threats with unique signatures when transect observations are included. Thus, forest health specialists may consider including pest-specific training for foresters in current inventory methods, requiring modest investment of time and effort.
  PubDate: Mon, 19 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxac046
  Issue No: Vol. 69, No. 1 (2022)
A Least-Cost Dynamic Optimization Approach for Obtaining a Desired
Balanced Uneven-Aged Structure
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  Pages: 10 - 23
  Abstract: AbstractThere has been increasing interest among foresters and landowners in modifying existing even-aged forest structures to multi-aged or uneven-aged structures. Maintaining a continuous forest structure often provides a wider array of forest values over the long term. The conversion process is challenging in regions of the Northeast United States characterized by forests composed of dense diseased beech thickets and low-vigor deformed overstory trees. Abundance of noncommercial beech may result in negative cash flows during the conversion process to achieve a desired balanced uneven-aged structure. The Forest Vegetation Simulator was used to model growth and yield. Given the possibility of negative cash flows, a least-cost dynamic program with a penalty function was used to determine least-cost time paths for two management scenarios, one characterized by the successful removal of beech and the other simulating the continued presence of beech. Incorporating a penalty function allowed creating a continuum of least-cost paths from a zero penalty with the greatest weight given to net revenue goals to the largest penalty with the greatest weight given to ecological goals. Sensitivity analyses revealed least-cost paths were more stable given changes in prices and wages when greater emphasis was placed on the ecological goals associated with the target structure.
  PubDate: Thu, 22 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxac042
  Issue No: Vol. 69, No. 1 (2022)
Spatial Analysis of Forest Product Manufacturers in North Carolina
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  Pages: 24 - 36
  Abstract: AbstractSpatial analysis of industrial locations is an important tool for cluster-based economic development that helps identify hot spots for attracting new businesses in a particular region. The forest product industry in North Carolina (NC) is the top employer among all manufacturing sectors, with a substantial contribution to the state economy. Using geographic information system tools, we examined the current spatial distribution of the primary and secondary forest product manufacturers (FPM) and available forest resources to identify major hot spots in NC. Additionally, by estimating count data models, this study evaluated factors influencing the location of FPMs across counties in NC. Our results suggested that primary FPMs exhibit a higher spatial dependency relative to secondary FPMs. Similarly, regression results suggested that the counties near cities with high population, hot spots of raw materials, and better county economy are more likely to host both primary and secondary FPMs in the counties of NC. The findings of this study shed light on how the clustering of forest product manufacturing firms may influence competition between FPMs, sustainable supply of raw materials, and supply-chain networks in forest-dependent rural regions.
  PubDate: Sat, 17 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxac045
  Issue No: Vol. 69, No. 1 (2022)
Mastication Fuels Did Not Alter Fire Severity or Stand Structure in an
Upland Oak Woodland
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  Pages: 37 - 49
  Abstract: AbstractIn the eastern deciduous forest region, open oak woodlands once occupied significant areas that are now closed-canopy forests, negatively affecting wildlife habitat and biodiversity. We superimposed midstory mastication and prescribed fire treatments onto sites with ice storm damage, subsequently subjected to sanitation thinning for management restoration. Mastication reduced stem density and basal area, created a variable cover of masticated material, and increased cover of forbs, graminoids, and tree regeneration. Prescribed fire was implemented two years after mastication treatment. We examined fuel changes and whether masticated fuels altered fire severity. Masticated duff depth decreased significantly two years after treatment; no change occurred on nonmasticated treatments. Masticated 1-hour fuels decreased 80% compared to 35% in nonmasticated treatments and masticated 10 h fuels decreased 45% compared to 9.6% in treatments without mastication. Prescribed fire reduced 1, 10, and 100 h fuels on the burn only treatment, and 10 h fuels on the mastication/burn treatment. Burn severity, measured by composite burn index, did not differ between treatments, nor did we measure significant effects of mastication on fire temperature or char height. Fire had no significant effect on stand structure but should be reexamined in three to five years. Repeated burning at three to five y intervals may also be beneficial.
  PubDate: Mon, 19 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxac048
  Issue No: Vol. 69, No. 1 (2022)
Subculture and Etiolation Treatment Promotes Rooting Ability of Upper
Branches of Black Locust Crown
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  Pages: 50 - 57
  Abstract: AbstractThe black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is an economically and ecologically important tree worldwide. However, maturation and position effects affect its asexual reproduction. Despite etiolation treatment and successive subcultures promoting the plant cutting’s rooting rate, whether the promoting effects of aging (upper) branches and young (lower) branches are consistent is unknown. Therefore, we evaluated the relevant rooting ability indicators of tree age effect and its location effect in 26-year-old R. pseudoacacia trees and the current-year branches of different parts. Branches of the upper and lower parts of these trees underwent accelerated germination to generate shoots as explants. We subjected the tissue culture–generated shoots to an etiolation treatment to investigate how the treatment and subculture time affected the rooting ability of the shoot explants induced by different parts of the black locust branch. Tissue culture shoots subjected to the etiolation treatment exhibited a 2–3 day shorter rooting time. Shoots from the upper crown organs achieved a rejuvenation effect, which manifested as enhanced rooting capacity. Our study results provide a theoretical basis for maintaining the juvenility and consistency of clones. Besides having theoretical and practical value, our study also guides the selection of suitable propagation materials for production.
  PubDate: Fri, 16 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxac041
  Issue No: Vol. 69, No. 1 (2022)
Table Mountain Pine (Pinus pungens): Genetic Diversity and Conservation of
an Imperiled Conifer
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  Pages: 58 - 72
  Abstract: AbstractTable Mountain pine (Pinus pungens Lamb.) is an imperiled tree species endemic to the southern and central Appalachian Mountains. Generally reliant on fire for regeneration, its fragmented but widespread distribution has declined in recent decades. We quantified the genetic diversity of 26 populations across the range of the species using data from seven highly polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci. The species was relatively inbred whereas differentiation among populations was relatively low. Differentiation was significantly but weakly associated with geographic distance among populations. We detected minor genetic differences between northern and southern seed collection zones established based on climate similarity. We conducted a series of simulations using SSR data from 498 seedlings, grown from seed collected from five natural stands of Table Mountain pine, to assess the genetic consequences of different strategies for deploying collected seed in ex situ conservation plantings. Results indicated that reducing the number of families in a planting would not substantially affect the conservation of common alleles but would affect the representation of rare alleles and overall allelic richness. These findings add to our limited knowledge of genetic variation across the distribution of this rare conifer and offer some guidance for its effective genetic conservation.
  PubDate: Mon, 12 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxac043
  Issue No: Vol. 69, No. 1 (2022)
Fine-Tuning LightGBM Using an Artificial Ecosystem-Based Optimizer for
Forest Fire Analysis
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  Pages: 73 - 82
  Abstract: AbstractThis study’s main objective is to propose a hybrid machine learning model based on a gradient boosting algorithm named LightGBM and an artificial ecosystem-based optimization to improve the accuracy of forest fire susceptibility assessment. Four hundred twenty-six historical forest fires from the NASA portal and thirteen conditional factors including elevation, aspect, slope, curvature, normalized difference vegetation index, normalized difference water index, distance to residence, distance to road, distance to river, temperature, rain, humidity, and wind were used to train the model. The model performance was evaluated and compared with other benchmark models using root mean square error, area under receiver operating characteristics (AUC), and overall accuracy. The results show that the proposed model (AUC = 0.9705) outperforms others, such as Random Forest (AUC = 0.958), AdaBoost (AUC = 0.905), Bagging (AUC = 0.945), and Random Subspace (AUC = 0.938), respectively. The final model was interpreted to better understand the most influential factors of forest fire hazards.
  PubDate: Mon, 10 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxac039
  Issue No: Vol. 69, No. 1 (2022)
Simulation of Forest Distribution in the Qilian Mountains of China with a
Terrain-based Logistic Regression Model
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  Pages: 83 - 93
  Abstract: AbstractPredicting vegetation distribution strengthens ecosystem management, protection, and restoration in arid and degraded areas. However, data quality and incomplete data coverage limit prediction accuracy for Picea crassifolia Kom. (Qinghai spruce) forest in the Qilian Mountains of China. Here, we used a logistic regression model combined with high-resolution vegetation distribution data for different sampling scales and digital elevation models (DEMs) to determine the potential distribution of P. crassifolia forest in the Dayekou catchment in the Qilian Mountains. We found that the model with the best simulation accuracy was based on data with a DEM scale of 30 m and a sampling accuracy of 90 m (Nagelkerke’s R2 = 0.48 and total prediction accuracy = 83.89%). The main factors affecting the distribution of P. crassifolia forest were elevation and potential solar radiation. We conclude that it is feasible to calculate the distribution of arid mountain forests based on terrain and that terrain data at 30 m spatial resolution can fully support the simulation of P. crassifolia forest distribution.
  PubDate: Tue, 11 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxac040
  Issue No: Vol. 69, No. 1 (2022)
Crown Lifting of Low-Density Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) Plantations on
Nonindustrial Private Forest Lands
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  Pages: 94 - 100
  Abstract: AbstractPruning or the physical removal of lower branches, in combination with wider tree spacing, offers an alternative management scheme for small nonindustrial private forest landowners in areas lacking markets for small diameter wood. A 5-year-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantation was thinned to 495 trees/ha (200 trees/ac). Four crown-lifting treatments of 35%, 40%, 45%, and 50% live crown ratio (LCR) were then implemented. An additional unmanaged plot was established in an unthinned, unpruned area. Two replications were established for all pruning treatments. The target LCR was maintained throughout the study with the additional crown-lifting activities in 2003, 2004, and 2008. At age 8, the average diameter of the unmanaged plot was 13.5 cm (5.3 in), and the diameter of the 50% LCR treatment, which had the greatest diameter growth of all the treatments, was 20.8 cm (8.2 in). The highest mortality rate (22%) was observed in the unmanaged plot, but it was not significantly greater than the other treatments. Low density plantings maintained with pruning could allow small nonindustrial private landowners to obtain a high value sawtimber product while eliminating the need for thinning practices commonly used in traditional pine plantation management.
  PubDate: Mon, 19 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxac047
  Issue No: Vol. 69, No. 1 (2022)
Developing a Roadmap to Define a Potential Ideotype for Drought Tolerance
in Eucalyptus
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  Pages: 101 - 114
  Abstract: AbstractClimate change is escalating the water crisis worldwide, leading to unpredictable water availability and water scarcity, which is among the main environmental factors affecting plant growth and yield, severely affecting the productivity of planted forests, most of them composed of Eucalyptus species. The selection of genotypes capable of growing and surviving under water scarcity is required for eucalypt cultivation in areas with seasonal or continuous drought episodes. To achieve this goal, there is the current need for the identification of potential drought tolerance bioindicators, which is a challenging task since plant responses to drought involve numerous genes and strategies. We posit that eco-physiological and morphoanatomical analyses in combination with molecular approaches could help fill the current knowledge gap. In this review, we summarize recent advances in the identification of potential indicators of drought tolerance in Eucalyptus and discuss the typical responses to drought stress, as well as their importance as bioindicators for the development of a drought-tolerant eucalypt ideotype.
  PubDate: Tue, 20 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxac044
  Issue No: Vol. 69, No. 1 (2022)
Erratum to: Hierarchical Effects of Tamarix aphylla Afforestation in a
Sand Dune Environment on Vegetation Structure and Plant Diversity
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  Abstract: Israel Ministry of Science and Technology
  PubDate: Mon, 24 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxaa025
  Issue No: Vol. 69, No. 1 (2020)
Multi-environment evaluation of Pinus pinaster provenances: evidence of
genetic 2 trade-offs between adaptation to optimal conditions and
resistance to the maritime 3 pine bast scale (Matsucoccus feytaudi)
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  Abstract: https://doi.org/10.5849/forsci.15-109
  PubDate: Thu, 04 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxz016
  Issue No: Vol. 69, No. 1 (2019)