Modelling the management of forest ecosystems: Importance of wood decomposition

Abstract

Scarce and uncertain data on woody debris decomposition rates are available for calibrating forest ecosystem models, owing to the difficulty of their empirical estimations.Using field data from three experimental sites which are part of the North American Long-Term Soil Productivity (LTSP) Study in south-eastern British Columbia (Canada), we developed probability distributions of standard wood stake mass loss of Populus tremuloides and Pinus contorta. Using a Monte Carlo approach, 50 synthetic decomposition rate values per debris type were used to calibrate the ecosystem-level forest model FORECAST. Significant effects of uncertainty of pine stake mass loss rates on estimated tree growth were found, especially in moderately managed forests, as estimations of available nitrogen were affected. Consequently, our work has shown that projections of tree growth under management conditions depend on accurate estimations of woody debris decomposition rates, and special effort should be done in create reliable databases of decomposition rates for their use in tree growth and yield modelling. Recommendations for Resource Managers• Maintaining woody debris on site, particularly large roots, should be favored. Significant influences of wood decomposition rates on tree growth were found, especially in moderately managed forests, because belowground woody debris became an important reservoir of Natural Resource Modeling. 2018;31:e12173. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/nrm

Coarse Woody Debris’ Invertebrate Community is Affected Directly by Canopy Type and Indirectly by Thinning in Mixed Scots Pine—European Beech Forests

“…In addition, modifying litterfall composition and production rate with thinning or changes in canopy type [20,56] could also modify CWD mesofauna communities, as they are also directly connected to litter communities and vice versa [57]. Under the current paradigm of moving from pure to mixed Scots pine-European beech forests in Europe [15,16], our results should be taken into account both from the biodiversity perspective and from the carbon and nutrient cycling perspective [2], as invertebrate communities influence CWD decay rates [9,[57][58][59]. Consequently, we recommend considering the ecological role of CWD mesofauna when planning silvicultural practices, particularly in mixed forests.…”

Labor off‐farm employment and household forest management investment in Jiangxi, China: A perspective from gender influence of rural labor

“…forest tenure reform, gender structure, household, off-farm employment, sustainable forest management 1 | INTRODUCTION Forestry is the basic industry, which produces tremendous economic, ecological, and social benefits (Fujii, Sato, & Managi, 2017;Mei & Clutter, 2012;Song, Ikei, Kagawa, & Miyazaki, 2019), and the benefit outputs mainly depend on continued forest management investment (Blanco et al, 2018;Robinson & Lokina, 2011;Widianingsih, Theilade, & Pouliot, 2016). Forest management is a typical traditional labor-intensive industry, and the labor force is regarded as the main productive factor of economic output and the major decision-making factor in forestry economic activities (Fisher, 2004;Peng, Deng, Zhang, Sun, & Xiong, 2019).…”

Introduction to the special issue on “vulnerability and resilience of socio‐ecological systems”

“…Blanco et al. () focus on ecological models for estimating tree growth; specifically, they tackle in depth woody debris decomposition as it is a process with high level of uncertainty that has a predominant role in tree growth prediction. Stein and Tolpekin () study forest vulnerability to fires, particularly focusing on vegetation patchiness after forest fires.…”