Frontiers in Forests and Global Change

Journal: Frontiers in Forests and Global Change

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Frontiers Media

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2624-893X

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Publications 1 - 10 of 31

TreeNet–The Biological Drought and Growth Indicator Network
Zweifel, Roman; Etzold, Sophia; Basler, David; et al. (2021)
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
The TreeNet research and monitoring network has been continuously collecting data from point dendrometers and air and soil microclimate using an automated system since 2011. The goal of TreeNet is to generate high temporal resolution datasets of tree growth and tree water dynamics for research and to provide near real-time indicators of forest growth performance and drought stress to a wide audience. This paper explains the key working steps from the installation of sensors in the field to data acquisition, data transmission, data processing, and online visualization. Moreover, we discuss the underlying premises to convert dynamic stem size changes into relevant biological information. Every 10 min, the stem radii of about 420 trees from 13 species at 61 sites in Switzerland are measured electronically with micrometer precision, in parallel with the environmental conditions above and below ground. The data are automatically transmitted, processed and stored on a central server. Automated data processing (R-based functions) includes screening of outliers, interpolation of data gaps, and extraction of radial stem growth and water deficit for each tree. These long-term data are used for scientific investigations as well as to calculate and display daily indicators of growth trends and drought levels in Switzerland based on historical and current data. The current collection of over 100 million data points forms the basis for identifying dynamics of tree-, site- and species-specific processes along environmental gradients. TreeNet is one of the few forest networks capable of tracking the diurnal and seasonal cycles of tree physiology in near real-time, covering a wide range of temperate forest species and their respective environmental conditions.
The Dilemma of Maintaining Intact Forest Through Certification
Kleinschroth, Fritz; Rayden, Tim; Ghazoul, Jaboury (2019)
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Intact forests are natural and often extensive forests free from apparent anthropogenic degradation. Intact forests have important intrinsic and societal values, making their protection a high conservation priority. They are, however, vulnerable to being lost and degraded due to high opportunity costs and a lack of positive incentives to their preservation. Market-based mechanisms, such as voluntary certification, might provide a means to conserve intact forests while maintaining income through sustainable forest uses. Yet possibilities to ensure strict protection of large areas of intact forests through certification remain limited as long as premiums from certification are bound to the units of forest products that are sold. We explore challenges for incorporating intact forests into certification processes, and of maintaining intact forests within forest management units. To circumvent these challenges, it might be necessary to create a form of compensation payment scheme to overcome the foregone costs of intact forest preservation. Alternatively, certification systems might need to consider permitting some degree of regulated extraction in exchange for recognition and implementation of stringent forest preservation. This will require a re-evaluation of the way intactness is treated within current certification standards and the requirements for forestry within intact forests. Eventually, intact forest conservation and socially and economically viable forest management can only be reconciled on the landscape scale.
Effects of Climate and Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition on Early to Mid-Term Stage Litter Decomposition Across Biomes
Kwon, TaeOh; Shibata, Hideaki; Kepfer-Rojas, Sebastian; et al. (2021)
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Litter decomposition is a key process for carbon and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems and is mainly controlled by environmental conditions, substrate quantity and quality as well as microbial community abundance and composition. In particular, the effects of climate and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition on litter decomposition and its temporal dynamics are of significant importance, since their effects might change over the course of the decomposition process. Within the TeaComposition initiative, we incubated Green and Rooibos teas at 524 sites across nine biomes. We assessed how macroclimate and atmospheric inorganic N deposition under current and predicted scenarios (RCP 2.6, RCP 8.5) might affect litter mass loss measured after 3 and 12 months. Our study shows that the early to mid-term mass loss at the global scale was affected predominantly by litter quality (explaining 73% and 62% of the total variance after 3 and 12 months, respectively) followed by climate and N deposition. The effects of climate were not litter-specific and became increasingly significant as decomposition progressed, with MAP explaining 2% and MAT 4% of the variation after 12 months of incubation. The effect of N deposition was litter-specific, and significant only for 12-month decomposition of Rooibos tea at the global scale. However, in the temperate biome where atmospheric N deposition rates are relatively high, the 12-month mass loss of Green and Rooibos teas decreased significantly with increasing N deposition, explaining 9.5% and 1.1% of the variance, respectively. The expected changes in macroclimate and N deposition at the global scale by the end of this century are estimated to increase the 12-month mass loss of easily decomposable litter by 1.1–3.5% and of the more stable substrates by 3.8–10.6%, relative to current mass loss. In contrast, expected changes in atmospheric N deposition will decrease the mid-term mass loss of high-quality litter by 1.4–2.2% and that of low-quality litter by 0.9–1.5% in the temperate biome. Our results suggest that projected increases in N deposition may have the capacity to dampen the climate-driven increases in litter decomposition depending on the biome and decomposition stage of substrate.
Editorial: Fungi in a Changing World
Anthony, Mark A.; Romero-Olivares, Adriana L.; Truong, Camille (2022)
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Soil carbon dynamics are linked to tree species growth strategy in a naturally regenerating tropical fores
Wallwork, Abby; Castro-Trujillo, Biancolino; Banin, Lindsay F.; et al. (2023)
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Secondary tropical forests are increasingly important for their role in the global carbon (C) balance as they can rapidly accumulate aboveground biomass C during regrowth. Substantial amounts of plant-derived carbon are also incorporated into the soil through decomposition processes, but our understanding of soil C dynamics during forest regrowth is limited. Secondary succession is characterised by a shift in tree functional groups from light-demanding to shade-tolerant species over time, which can influence rates of C turnover via differences in litter quality and by modifying the decomposition environment. Changes in decomposition processes in turn affect the amount of organic C stored in the soil or released to the atmosphere as CO₂. Consequently, understanding how tree functional composition influences C turnover during decomposition could help us predict soil C storage during tropical forest regrowth. We experimentally explored the relationship between tree functional groups and soil C dynamics (decomposition and respiration) by conducting a litter decomposition experiment across a successional gradient of naturally regenerating tropical forest. We created litter mixtures representing tree communities differing in their shade tolerance, as well as a functionally diverse litter mixture, and observed litter mass loss and soil respiration as measures of C turnover over a 6 month period. Litter from light-demanding species decomposed faster than litter from shade-tolerant species, which was reflected in the pattern of soil respiration. There were no clear patterns of increasing or decreasing rates of litter decay or soil respiration with increasing forest age, but there was an interaction between stand age and litter type which influenced both decomposition and soil respiration rates. Interestingly, soil respiration from the functionally diverse litter mixture was significantly higher in the younger than older forest stands, and the functionally diverse litter mixture decayed more rapidly than expected in one of the younger stands. Our findings highlight the potential importance of functionally diverse plant inputs, as well as the interaction between local environmental attributes and litter type, for soil C dynamics in tropical forests.
Vertical Stratification of Insect Species Developing in Water-Filled Tree Holes
Gossner, Martin M.; Petermann, Jana S. (2022)
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Forest ecosystems have a distinct vertical dimension, but the structuring of communities in this three-dimensional space is not well understood. Water-filled tree holes are natural microcosms structured in metacommunities. Here, we used these microcosms as model systems to analyze how insect communities and the occurrence and abundance of individual species are influenced by biotic and abiotic microhabitat characteristics, the vertical position of the tree hole, and stand-scale habitat availability. We found that both the characteristics of water-filled tree holes and their insect communities differ significantly between canopy and ground level. Individual insect species showed contrasting responses to the vertical position of the tree holes when important environmental factors at the stand and the tree-hole scale were considered. While some species, such as the mosquito Aedes geniculatus and the beetle Prionocyphon serricornis, decreased in abundance with increasing tree-hole height, the biting midge Dasyhelea sp., the non-biting midge Metriocnemus cavicola and the hoverfly Myiatropa florea increased in abundance. Our results suggest that vertical stratification in forests is most likely driven not only by variation in tree-hole microhabitat properties, i.e., niche separation, but also by individual species traits, such as adult dispersal propensity, food preferences and mating behavior of adult stages, and interspecific competition of larval stages. Therefore, communities of insect species developing in tree holes are likely structured by competition–colonization trade-offs predicted by metacommunity theory.
Editorial: Achieving sustainable development goal 13: resilience and adaptive capacity of temperate and boreal forests under climate change
Zhang, Xianliang; Manzanedo, Ruben; Xu, Guobao; et al. (2024)
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Editorial: Forest monitoring to assess forest functioning under air pollution and climate change
Gessler, Arthur; Ferretti, Marco; Schaub, Marcus (2022)
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Novel twig sampling method by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
Käslin, Florian; Baur, Thomas; Meier, Philip; et al. (2018)
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Biophysical and biochemical traits of foliage and twigs at the top of tree canopies provide essential information on trees' ecophysiology. Conventional methods used for canopy sampling are typically time consuming and costly, while the very canopy tops are still out of reach unless a canopy crane is used. Thus, we developed a novel twig sampling method using a device attached to a drone that allows to grasp and cut small twigs and bring them to the ground for immediate analysis. This “Flying Tree Top Sampler” (FTTS) complements existing methods used in tree canopy research. This paper describes the method to make it openly available to interested users, provides the necessary technical details, and reports on a proof-of-concept application by probing a single tree during senescence. In this demonstration example we show that the ability to investigate the top part of the tree leads to the clear finding that chlorophyll content of the top leaves is significantly lower than that of leaves in the lower canopy. Without the samples collected by the FTTS, the decrease of chlorophyll content with height would not have been of statistical significance using a p = 0.05 significance threshold. Besides its advantages, the existing limitations of the FTTS are discussed, and suggestions for future developments are provided.
Beyond oil palm: perceptions of local communities of environmental change
Ghazoul, Jaboury; Hasanah, Nur; Komarudin, Heru; et al. (2019)
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Involving local communities in ecosystem service research can improve the relevance, quality and, ultimately, the outcomes of natural resource management. Local engagement can also contribute to solutions to ecosystem management challenges by diversifying the range of options and contextualizing their applicability. The benefits to local communities of ecosystem service-based policies relative to other interventions, such as oil palm development, are, therefore, best understood from the perspectives of the local communities themselves. We used observations, focus group discussions, and interviews in four villages along the Belayan River, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, to explore how local communities in different oil palm development contexts perceive Ecosystem Services (ES). The main livelihood activity differed across these villages, which were either fishing, oil palm smallholder communities, or forest-dependent communities. Perceptions about ES varied across villages, though three services were perceived to be crucial in all four villages, namely fish provision, water quality, and land availability. These services can be a common concern entry point for discussions on landscape management. Despite common recognition of the negative impacts of oil palm development on these crucial services, all communities are nevertheless choosing to expand oil palm. Communities identified a wide array of direct and indirect drivers underlying this trend, including social influence, financial capital, ecological factors, and subsidies from local government. Early engagement of local policymakers, oil palm companies, and local communities is essential to the maintenance of crucial and widely recognized ecosystem services in oil palm landscapes.

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Journal: Frontiers in Forests and Global Change

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