Monthly Archive:: January 2021

28 Jan 2021

A comparison of ground-based count methods for quantifying seed production in temperate broadleaved tree species

Key message Litter trap is considered the most effective method to quantify seed production, but it is expensive and time-consuming. Counting fallen seeds using a quadrat placed on the ground yields comparable estimates to the litter traps.
28 Jan 2021

Ecological insights into the coexistence of dormancy and desiccation-sensitivity in Arecaceae species

Key message Mechanisms controlling germination of > 2600 Arecaceae species adapted to the tropical forests are not clearly understood. This contribution underpins the notion that the coexistence of dormancy and desiccation sensitivity in some Arecaceae species could significantly
27 Jan 2021

AFS is launching a new topical collection “Sustainable Policies for Wild Fire Management in Forests”

This special issue aims to focus on effective wildfire management in the future by managing long-term resilience and restoration approaches to balance the ecological instability due to wildfires in the forests. Researchers and scholars are welcomed to
26 Jan 2021

Recent increase in European forest harvests as based on area estimates (Ceccherini et al. 2020a) not confirmed in the French case

Key message A recent paper by Ceccherini et al.( 2020a ) reported an abrupt increase of 30% in the French harvested forest area in 2016–2018 compared to 2004–2015. A re-analysis of their data rather led us to
25 Jan 2021

Accurate estimation of log MOE from non-destructive standing tree measurements

Key message A novel non-destructive method has been developed to predict modulus of elasticity (MOE) of logs using measurements taken from cores extracted from discs. The trees were felled and cut into logs to allow validation of
21 Jan 2021

A multi-criteria analysis of forest restoration strategies to improve the ecosystem services supply: an application in Central Italy

Key message A multi-criteria analysis can be an interesting tool to assess the effects of silvicultural treatments on ecosystem services supply. In the degraded forests, thinning has a positive effect on the provision of ecosystem services such
20 Jan 2021

Short life–fast death: decomposition rates of woody plants leaf- and herb-litter

Key message Decomposition of forest herb species litter was not always completed in less than a year and was not always faster than decomposition of tree leaf litter in an oak-hornbeam forest in Western Poland. Litter decomposition
15 Jan 2021

Potential distributions of seven sympatric sclerophyllous oak species in Southwest China depend on climatic, non-climatic, and independent spatial drivers

Key message An ensemble modelling approach was performed to predict the distributions of seven sympatric sclerophyllous oak species in the Hengduan Mountains of Southwest China. Spatial eigenvector filters revealed missing factors in addition to commonly used environmental
14 Jan 2021

Analysis of plot-level volume increment models developed from machine learning methods applied to an uneven-aged mixed forest

Key message We modeled 10-year net stand volume growth with four machine learning (ML) methods, i.e., artificial neural networks (ANN), support vector machines (SVM), random forests (RF), and nearest neighbor analysis (NN), and with linear regression analysis.
13 Jan 2021

Modeling size-density trajectories of even-aged ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) stands in France. A baseline to assess the impact of Chalara ash dieback

Key message A piecewise polynomial function already used to represent the size-density trajectories of pure even-aged stands of beech, oak, and Douglas-fir proved its ability to represent the size-density trajectories of a new species, ash. The widespread