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PubMed2002

Evaluation of metric precision for a riparian forest survey.

This article evaluates the performance of a protocol to monitor riparian forests in western Oregon, United States based on the quality of the data obtained from a field survey. Precision is the criteria used to determine the quality of 19 field and 6 derived metrics. The derived metrics were calculated from the field data. The survey consisted of 110 riparian sites on public and private lands that were sampled during the summers of 1996 and 1997. In order to calculate metric precision, some of the field plots were re-measured. Metric precision was defined in terms of the coefficient of variability (CV) and standard deviation and then compared with a pre-defined data quality objective (DQO). A metric was considered precise if the CV met or exceeded the DQO. The geomorphology metrics were not precise while the forest stand inventory metrics and forest cover metrics, with some exceptions, were precise. The precision for many of the field and derived metrics compared favorably with the level of precision for similar metrics reported in the literature. Recommendations are made to improve the precision for some metrics and they include changing the way precision is calculated, re-defining the field protocol, or improving field training.

Calibration↗
PubMed2002

An ecosystem report on the Panama Canal: monitoring the status of the forest communities and the watershed.

In 1996, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Republic of Panama's Environmental Authority, with support from the United States Agency for International Development, undertook a comprehensive program to monitor the ecosystem of the Panama Canal watershed. The goals were to establish baseline indicators for the integrity of forest communities and rivers. Based on satellite image classification and ground surveys, the 2790 km2 watershed had 1570 km2 of forest in 1997, 1080 km2 of which was in national parks and nature monuments. Most of the 490 km2 of forest not currently in protected areas lies along the west bank of the Canal, and its management status after the year 2000 turnover of the Canal from the U.S. to Panama remains uncertain. In forest plots designed to monitor forest diversity and change, a total of 963 woody plant species were identified and mapped. We estimate there are a total of 850-1000 woody species in forests of the Canal corridor. Forests of the wetter upper reaches of the watershed are distinct in species composition from the Canal corridor, and have considerably higher diversity and many unknown species. These remote areas are extensively forested, poorly explored, and harbor an estimated 1400-2200 woody species. Vertebrate monitoring programs were also initiated, focusing on species threatened by hunting and forest fragmentation. Large mammals are heavily hunted in most forests of Canal corridor, and there was clear evidence that mammal density is greatly reduced in hunted areas and that this affects seed predation and dispersal. The human population of the watershed was 113 000 in 1990, and grew by nearly 4% per year from 1980 to 1990. Much of this growth was in a small region of the watershed on the outskirts of Panama City, but even rural areas, including villages near and within national parks, grew by 2% per year. There is no sewage treatment in the watershed, and many towns have no trash collection, thus streams near large towns are heavily polluted. Analyses of sediment loads in rivers throughout the watershed did not indicate that erosion has been increasing as a result of deforestation, rather, erosion seems to be driven largely by total rainfall and heavy rainfall events that cause landslides. Still, models suggest that large-scale deforestation would increase landslide frequency, and failure to detect increases in erosion could be due to the gradual deforestation rate and the short time period over which data are available. A study of runoff showed deforestation increased the amount of water from rainfall that passed directly into streams. As a result, dry season flow was reduced in a deforested catchment relative to a forested one. Currently, the Panama Canal watershed has extensive forest areas and streams relatively unaffected by humans. But impacts of hunting and pollution near towns are clear, and the burgeoning population will exacerbate these impacts in the next few decades. Changes in policies regarding forest protection and pollution control are necessary.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Natural capital in ecology and economics: an overview.

The Brundtland Commission report, Our Common Future, defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Although the idea of sustainable development has been widely accepted, it has proved difficult to identify and implement policies and practices that promote sustainable economic growth. Some economists, environmental scientists and policy analysts believe that they can transform the consensus about sustainability into manageable practices. They propose to accomplish this feat with a set of new ideas about the relationships between the economy and the environment offered under the banner of 'natural capital'. An ideal account of natural capital would be one or more standard measures or models that would allow the direct comparison of environmental goods, like forests, fresh water and clean air, with economic goods, like money, capital and productivity. By bringing economic science and environmental science to an objective common ground, a natural capital model has the potential to provide a concrete means of comparing the economic and ecological costs and benefits of particular policies and programmes. This paper offers a survey and analysis of several new contributions to the formation of the natural capital concept from economists, ecologists, policy analysts, biometricians, foresters and a philosopher. The paper concludes that existing microeconomic theory may be 'ungreenable', if it is not reformulated. While macroeconomic approaches to natural capital have beenmore successful, they share the limitation that ecosystems and species are valued solely in monetary terms. These problems are taken to suggest that the development of a successful natural capital model may require economic theory to be recast to include non-monetary social preferences and values.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2004

Applications of free living plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria.

Free-living plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can be used in a variety of ways when plant growth enhancements are required. The most intensively researched use of PGPR has been in agriculture and horticulture. Several PGPR formulations are currently available as commercial products for agricultural production. Recently developing areas of PGPR usage include forest regeneration and phytoremediation of contaminated soils. As the mechanisms of plant growth promotion by these bacteria are unravelled, the possibility of more efficient plant-bacteria pairings for novel and practical uses will follow. The progress to date in using PGPR in a variety of applications with different plants is summarized and discussed here.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2004

Ethnobotanical study of fuelwood and timber wood consumption and replenishment in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria.

A survey of both urban and rural communities in five Local Government Areas (LGA) of Oyo State in Nigeria showed that 76% of households depend on fuelwood for cooking. The total annual wood consumption for fuelling by bread bakers, food sellers and in domestic cooking was 5984 metric tons for the region. The sawmills in the study area also convert 79 889 metric tons of wood yearly into boards of different grades. Total wood consumption outstrips the quantity of wood extracted from the forests. The balance of over 60 000 metric tons of wood is sourced from neighbouring forest locations. The quantity of wood harvested for various purposes did not show a significant difference (p < 0.05) among the five LGAs. However, a significant difference at p > 0.05 existed in the quantity of wood actually consumed in the various LGAs. Moreover. the number of trees cut down outstrips the number of trees planted with a significant difference (p > 0.05) between the mean quantity of wood removed from the forests and the mean quantity replaced by reforestation. The practice in the study area was that of 'cut-eight-plant-one' which is at variance to the much publicized operation 'cut-one-plant-one'. The study concludes that residents of Ogbomoso in Nigeria have not shown positive disposition to tree planting. It therefore suggests scientific tree conservation strategies aimed at improved burning of fuel wood and maximized use of timber products as complementary efforts to enforced tree planting for conservation of our forests.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2004

A preliminary assessment of Montréal process indicators of forest fragmentation for the United States.

As part of the U.S. 2003 National Report on Sustainable Forests, four metrics of forest fragmentation--patch size, edge amount, inter-patch distance, and patch contrast--were measured within 137744 non-overlapping 5625 ha analysis units on land-cover maps derived from satellite imagery for the 48 conterminous States. The perimeter of a typical forest patch is about 100 m from the perimeter of its nearest neighbor, except when there is not much forest, in which case that distance is 200 to 300 m. A typical analysis unit has from 10 to 40% as much forest edge as it could possibly have, given the amount of forest present. Most analysis units contain a large number of patches that are less than one hectare in size, and about 10% contain one or more 2000 to 5000 ha patches. Forest often defines the background landscape, and patch contrast is generally either very high or very low in eastern regions and intermediate in western regions. Many research needs were identified by this experimental analysis of available data and metrics.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2004

Vulnerability of Mid-Atlantic forested watersheds to timber harvest disturbance.

Forested watersheds of the Mid-Atlantic Region are an important economic resource. They are also critical for maintaining water quality, sustaining important ecological services, and providing habitat to many animal and plant species of conservation concern. These forests are vulnerable to disturbance and fragmentation from changing patterns of land use in the Mid-Atlantic Region, and from harvests of commercially mature and relatively inexpensive timber. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USDA-FS) Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) compiles data on forest condition by state and county. We have transformed these FIA data to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 6-digithdrologic unit code (HUC 6) watershed base, and projected trends in timber growth, inventory, and harvest to 2025 using a timber economics forecasting model (SRTS). We consider forest sustainability from the perspective of timber production, and from the perspective of landscape stability important to conservation values. Simulation data is combined with FIA planted pine acreage data to form a more complete picture of forest extent, composition, and silvicultural practice. Early recognition of prevailing economic trends which encourage the fragmentation of mature forests due to increasing timber harvests may provide managers and policy makers with a planning tool to mitigate undesirable impacts.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2000

Pine processionary caterpillar as a new cause of immunologic contact urticaria.

Nowadays, caterpillars are included among the agents that elicit contact urticaria by a non-immunologic mechanism. Our objective was to find the rôle that an IgE-mediated mechanism could have among patients with suspected contact urticaria from pine processionary caterpillars. 16 patients with suspected contact urticaria from this caterpillar were studied by prick testing and specific IgE detection by immunoblotting. 87% of the patients had a positive prick test and immunoblotting for caterpillar extract. In these allergic patients, the symptoms associated with urticaria were: angioedema (79%), conjunctivitis (36%) and severe anaphylaxis (14%). The most frequent localizations of the wheals were the neck (100%) and forearms (93%). Angioedema was more frequent on the eyelids (79%). The IgE-immunoblot detected in the caterpillar extract several reactive bands, with apparent MWs from to 45 to 4kDa. A total of 5 major allergens were identified, but a band around 14kDa proved to be the dominant allergen. Sensitization to Thaumetopoea pityocampa was found to be the most important mechanism of airborne contact urticaria from this caterpillar. Low-MW proteins are the main IgE binding components of crude caterpillar extract.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Physical exercise and musculoskeletal pain among forest industry workers.

The study investigated the relations between physical exercise and musculoskeletal pain among forest industry workers. We studied a population of 3312 Finnish forest industry workers, who replied to a questionnaire survey in 1994 (response rate 77%). The outcome variables in this cross-sectional study were the number of days with pain in the low back, neck, shoulder and knee during the preceding 12 months. Multivariable logistic regression models were used in statistical analyses. Active walkers had more sciatic pain, active volleyball players had more shoulder pain and those who practiced trekking actively had more knee pain than those who practiced these activities less. The risk of shoulder pain was more than three times higher for those who played volleyball actively compared to those who played less. In addition, age, mental stress and work-related physical loading were strongly associated with musculoskeletal pain. When studying the relations between physical exercise and musculoskeletal pain in a working population, it is important to not only detect the general physical activity but also to specify the different modes of exercise. In addition, the other factors which are strongly related to pain (such as mental stress and work-related physical loading) should be taken into account.

Adult↗