Fast grwoing tree species have been used in many tropical countries for a variety of production purposes, including timber wood (as monoculture and as mixture of various species), silvopastoril (combined with cattle), agroforestry (combined with coffee culture mainly), and with other purposes such as soil enrichment, livingfences (wind breakers), erosion mitigation, etc. Several studies have been carried out on native and excotic multipurpose species, including adaptability tests, nursery production – genetic improvement, plantation management, stand growth and yield etc. Procedures for developing and evaluating stand density indicators, competition indices, merchantable volume equations, prunning and thinning methodologies, among others, are discussed on this paper, aiming at facilitating silvicultural management tools for the intensive culture of fast growing tree species. Experiences developing management guidelines for Tectona grandis, Bombacopsis quianta, and Terminalia amazonia under different scenarios are discussed in this paper, based on several case studies carried out during the last 10 years on private farms and companies of small (10 ha) and large (3000 ha) size in different regions of Costa Rica.
Tag: conferences
A general allometric equation for estimating biomass in Acacia mangium plantations
Acacia Mangium Willd. is one of the most important tree species grown in commercial plantation in Monsoon Asia. Recently, the need for accurate information in the biomass in plantations has become more urgent, especially since the amount of carbon sequestered in afforestation/reforestation Clean Development Mechanism (AR-CDM) projects in developing countries can be included under the Kyoto Protocol. We present here a general allometric equation for estimating aboveground biomass (AGB) of A. mangium plantations from the diameter of the trees recorded at the respectives sites. Destructive samplings were conducted in Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, and Indonesia. At each site, 4-12 trees were felled, their trunks, branches and leaves were separately weighed, and allometric models for estimating AGB was determined. A general allometric equation (A log-log model) was developed from an overall total of 26 sample trees from sampled sites. No significant differences were found between the biomass estimations derived from the site-specific and the general allometric equations. The general allometric equation may allow us to estimate AGB of A. mangium plantations in Monsoon Asia without destructive sampling.
Proceedings of the Workshop Cultivating (in) Tropical Forests?: the Evolution and Sustainability of Systems of Management between Extractivism and Plantations, 28 June – 1 July 2000, Kraemmervika, Lofoten, Norway
Biomass and potential nutrient removal by harvesting in short-rotation plantations
Data on standing biomass, mean annual increment of carbon stock, and nutrient accumulation in 40 industrial plantations at 21 sites in 11 countries are summarised. Aboveground biomass and mean annual increment of carbon near the harvest age, of these plantations ranged from 44 to 324 t ha-1 and from 3.1 to 22.9 tC ha-1 yr-1, respectively. Plantations managed on a short rotation are expected to accumulate carbon rapidly. However, there are large variations of biomass accumulation depending on site conditions. There is concern about the potential decrease of productivity caused by nutrient loss by intensive and repeated harvesting. It is important to determine the nutrients removed and conserve them as much as possible to prevent productivity loss and for sustainable management of industrial plantations. Careful management of the nutrient cycle through residue retention and fertiliser application is necessary to maintain high productivity.
Annex 3: Roles of global and regional networks and consortia in strengthening forestry research
Collaborative institutional arrangements such as networks and consortia are becoming significant in the provision of goods and services in situations where such collaborations can improve the overall comparative advantage of the alliance. Economic globalisation, rapid development of communication technologies and increasing problem complexity have enhanced the relevance of these networks. While networks and strategic alliances are playing an increasingly important role in national and international agricultural research they have been less widely used in forestry for collaborative research. Forestry research networks foster the exchange of information among scientists and to a lesser extent, users and beneficiaries of forestry research. Recent developments in forestry suggest that by broadening the scope of their activities, these networks could contribute much more to forestry research. Many research problems could be handled more effectively through networking than by individual research institutes. In this paper a selection of issues relating to collaboration in forestry research through networks and consortia at the regional and global levels is examined. It is not a comprehensive overview of the subject but rather an attempt to catalogue the many existing forestry research networks and collaborative arrangements. The aim is to raise issues for discussion.
Mechanism to identify, define and prioritize interdisciplinary forest research themes at national, regional and global levels
This paper describes how to sets of factors-the economic characteristics of the benefits of research, and the policy network of diverse actors and their interests-determine not only the priorities for (interdisciplinary) forest research themes but also the choice of mechanisms for the decision-making process itself. The paper extends the literature in organisation theory and political science, to propose a theoretical framework to guide the identification, definition, and prioritisation of interdisciplinary forest research themes at the global level. Such a framework seems necessary if proposals before the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests for supporting and coordinating international forestry research, are to succeed. The paper leads to the conclusion that international deliberations on forests would benefit substantially from a new kind of formal arrangement for providing scientific input. For example, a scientific advisory body could help to bridge the gap between the information needs of negotiators and policy makers and the scientific and research community
Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management: a global overview
Landscape rehabilitation of degraded tropical forest ecosystems: case study of CIFOR/Japan Project in Indonesia and Peru
Tropical forests are decreasing at the rate of 16.9 million hectares per year due mainly to clearing for agriculture and shifting cultivation. Timber harvesting results for more than 5 million hectares of tropical forest becoming degraded looged-over forests every year without any adequate management. The decrease and degradation of tropical forests caused by anthropological activities affect not only the sustainable production of timber but also global environments. The clarified scientific information on the rehabilitation of degraded tropical forest ecosystems enables managers to devise silvicultural systems which enhance soil properties and forest resources important to sustainable production and minimise deleterious effects associated with harvesting impacts and short rotation of plantation. Rehabilitation is aimed to improve biological diversity, increasing commercial value for timber and non-timber products, increasing forest functions, improve soil fertility. Technically developments are expected for reducing logging impacts, accelerating natural regeneration, species selection, enrichment, sustainable site management, catalytic plantation, site evaluation and classification. Socioeconomic developments are also expected for local community participation and socio-economic acceptability. Following research activities have been considered (1) evaluation of forest harvesting impacts on the forest ecosystems: (i) evaluate logging and yarding methods on disturbance of forest ecosystems, (ii) analyse the demography of regenerated tree population, (iii) model a/de-gradation processes in forest ecosystems, (2) development of methods to rehabilitate logged-over forests and degraded forest lands: (i) treatments accelerating natural regeneration, (ii) development of enrichment planting methods, (3) development of silvicultural techniques on degraded forest lands: (i) development of species-site matching methods, (ii) management options for sustained productivity, (iii) social and economic acceptability of management options. In Indonesia, CIFOR co-operates with Universitas Mulawarman, and looks at (a) evaluation of forest harvesting impacts on the forest ecosystems, and (b) evaluation of forest harvesting and fire impacts on the forest ecosystems and development of methods to rehabilitate logged-over forest and degraded lands. The site is Bukit Soeharto Education Forest, a mixed Dipterocarp forest logged by INHUTANI I in 1976. The forest has been heavily burnt in 1998 after experimental treatment. The approach to rehabilitation has been through the “taungya system” whereby farmers are allowed to grow annual crops among the newly-planted trees. With the Instituto Nacional de Investigacion Agraria (INIA), Peru, the project is trying out re-vegetation of abandoned fallow fields after agricultural use. There is specific interest to select tree species having high economic value that can adapt and grow rapidly in abandoned agricultural land and on infertile soils. Sites are all located in the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon. After the first two years, results are pointing to specific promising species that can be recommended. The project involves small farmers in silvicultural activities and even species choice takes into account their preferences.
Effects of forest fire on wood: a biological (anatomical study)
The effects of forest fire on wood were studied on fifteen dead and living trees of various tropical species. The wood reacted in the following ways: (1) creating smaller but denser pores than normal in a concentric pattern, (2) changing dimension and numbers of axial parenchyma, (3) producing more axial intercellular canals, (4) forming decay spots in the wood, (5) creating the concentric area of fibres area or forming the vessels late, (6) creating new calluses and the bole losing its cylindrical form, (7) producing abnormal gums in the wood and (8) the bole becoming hollow. These abnormalities decrease physical or mechanical properties depending on how serious the defect is in the wood. Wood deterioration was more strongly influenced by the conditions caused by the forest fire and subsequent attacks by fungus, bacteria and insects than by fire itself. There were various effects depending on the durability and other properties of the wood. The wood was classified into four groups: “merkubung/sengon”, “akasia/medang”, “ulin” and “leda”, according to condition in the field.
Rehabilitation of degraded tropical forest ecosystems: workshop proceedings, 2-4 November 1999, Bogor, Indonesia
This conference proceedings contains 26 papers based on the activities of partner institutions that the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has facilitated. There are 4 sections: (i) evaluation of forest harvesting and fire impacts on forest ecosystems; (ii) development of methods to rehabilitate logged-over forests and degraded forest lands; (iii) development of silvicultural techniques on degraded forest lands; and (iv) network of the rehabilitation of degraded forest ecosystems.