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SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT CURRENT RESEARCH Edited by Jorge Martín García and Julio Javier Diez Casero SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT – CURRENT RESEARCH Edited by Jorge Martín García and Julio Javier Diez Casero Sustainable Forest Management – Current Research Edited by Jorge Martín García and Julio Javier Diez Casero Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2012 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. As for readers, this license allows users to download, copy and build upon published chapters even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. Publishing Process Manager Romina Skomersic Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer InTech Design Team First published May, 2012 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from [email protected] Sustainable Forest Management – Current Research, Edited by Jorge Martín García and Julio Javier Diez Casero p. cm. ISBN 978-953-51-0621-0 Contents Preface IX Section 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Sustainable Forest Management: An Introduction and Overview 3 Jorge Martín-García and Julio Javier Diez Section 2 Carbon and Forest Resources 17 Chapter 2 The Quality of Detailed Land Cover Maps in Highly Bio-Diverse Areas: Lessons Learned from the Mexican Experience 19 Stéphane Couturier Chapter 3 Sustainable Management of Lenga (Nothofagus pumilio) Forests Through Group Selection System 45 Pablo M. López Bernal, Guillermo E. Defossé, Pamela C. Quinteros and José O. Bava Chapter 4 Remote Monitoring for Forest Management in the Brazilian Amazon 67 André Monteiro and Carlos Souza Jr. Chapter 5 Case Study of the Effects of the Japanese Verified Emissions Reduction (J-VER) System on Joint Forest Production of Timber and Carbon Sequestration 87 Tohru Nakajima Section 3 Forest Health 109 Chapter 6 Cambial Cell Production and Structure of Xylem and Phloem as an Indicator of Tree Vitality: A Review 111 Jožica Gričar Chapter 7 Evaluating Abiotic Factors Related to Forest Diseases: Tool for Sustainable Forest Management 135 Ludmila La Manna Chapter 8 A Common-Pool Resource Approach to Forest Health: The Case of the Southern Pine Beetle 151 John Schelhas and Joseph Molnar Section 4 Protective and Productive Functions 165 Chapter 9 Ecological Consequences of Increased Biomass Removal for Bioenergy from Boreal Forests 167 Nicholas Clarke Chapter 10 Soil Compaction – Impact of Harvesters’ and Forwarders’ Passages on Plant Growth 179 Roman Gebauer, Jindřich Neruda, Radomír Ulrich and Milena Martinková Section 5 Biological Diversity 197 Chapter 11 Close-to-Nature Forest Management: The Danish Approach to Sustainable Forestry 199 Jørgen Bo Larsen Chapter 12 Ecological and Environmental Role of Deadwood in Managed and Unmanaged Forests 219 Alessandro Paletto, Fabrizio Ferretti, Isabella De Meo, Paolo Cantiani and Marco Focacci Section 6 Socioeconomic Functions 239 Chapter 13 Multiple Services from Alpine Forests and Policies for Local Development 241 Ilaria Goio, Geremia Gios, Rocco Scolozzi and Alessandro Gretter Chapter 14 Economic Valuation of Watershed Services for Sustainable Forest Management: Insights from Mexico 259 G. Perez-Verdin, J.J. Navar-Chaidez, Y-S. Kim and R. Silva-Flores Chapter 15 Market-Based Approaches Toward the Development of Urban Forest Carbon Projects in the United States 275 Neelam C. Poudyal, Jacek P. Siry and J. M. Bowker Chapter 16 Implementation of the U.S. Legal, Institutional, and Economic Criterion and Indicators for the 2010 Montreal Process for Sustainable Forest Management 287 Frederick Cubbage, Kathleen McGinley, Steverson Moffat, Liwei Lin and Guy Robertson Section 7 Decision Making Tools 305 Chapter 17 How Timber Harvesting and Biodiversity Are Managed in Uneven-Aged Forests: A Cluster-Sample Econometric Approach 307 Max Bruciamacchie, Serge Garcia and Anne Stenger Chapter 18 Models to Implement a Sustainable Forest Management – An Overview of the ModisPinaster Model 321 Teresa Fonseca, Bernard Parresol, Carlos Marques and François de Coligny Chapter 19 The Effect of Harvesting on Mangrove Forest Structure and the Use of Matrix Modelling to Determine Sustainable Harvesting Practices in South Africa 339 Anusha Rajkaran and Janine B. Adams Chapter 20 Individual-Based Models and Scaling Methods for Ecological Forestry: Implications of Tree Phenotypic Plasticity 359 Nikolay Strigul Chapter 21 Decision Support Systems for Forestry in Galicia (Spain): SaDDriade 385 Manuel Francisco Marey-Pérez, Luis Franco-Vázquez, and Carlos José Álvarez-López Chapter 22 Application of Multi-Criteria Methods in Natural Resource Management – A Focus on Forestry 404 Mario Šporčić Chapter 23 A Decision-Support Model for Regulating Black Spruce Site Occupancy Through Density Management 431 P. F. Newton Preface Sustainable forest management (SFM) is not a new concept. However, its popularity has increased in the last few decades because of public concern about the dramatic decrease in forest resources. SFM is generally implemented using criteria and indicators (C&I) that define forest management standards, and several countries have established their own sets of C&I within the framework of different international or regional processes. Nevertheless, none of the C&I systems have been universally accepted and future research should consider the current and future indicators. This book summarises some of the recent research carried out to test the current indicators, to search for new indicators and to develop new decision-making tools that can be used in forest management to assess and implement SFM. The book is divided into seven sections, including a brief introduction and six thematic blocks (carbon and forest resources, forest health, productive and protective functions, biological diversity, socioeconomic functions and decision making tools). The Introduction provides an overview of SFM and forest certification. A brief analysis of the current state of the World’s forests is presented, followed by a broad summary of the past and current situation of SFM, C&I and forest certification, concluding with future challenges. The section on carbon and forest resources includes four articles. In the first paper, Couturier describes the status of accuracy assessment of land use and land cover maps and National Forest Inventory maps, and considers the usefulness of such maps for implementing SFM in high biodiversity areas. The author also analyzes the accuracy assessment methods used for four regions of Mexico. López-Bernal et al. contribute with an interesting study of the evolution of Lenga forests in the Argentinean Patagonia and the applicability of a selective silvicultural system, the “Group Selection System”. These authors conclude that this system is a valid tool for making two key aspects of SFM compatible. These aspects are optimal regeneration and the current local production system, which is characterized by lack of financial and technological capacity. Probably the most important challenge as regards SFM is the deforestation and degradation of Amazon forests. Great efforts have been invested in deforestation monitoring programs, although the high costs make this system unviable. Monteiro and Souza Jr suggest the use of remote sensing techniques to detect, map and monitor X Preface logging activities at the scale of the Amazon, which would help improve forest management, reduce illegal logging and improve the quality of harvesting. In the final paper in this section, Nakajima discusses the effects of the Japanese carbon offsetting system, with respect to carbon price, on the regional carbon stock and timber production. The study uses simulations to investigate the effects of carbon price on timber production and carbon stock, and examines the consequences for harvesting strategies in the actual forest area formally identified in the Japanese Verified Emissions Reduction system. The section on forest health includes three papers. Gričar presents an interesting review of the potential of xylem, phloem and cambium parameters as indicators of tree vitality status. This author concludes that the ratio between xylem and phloem, and to a lesser extent the widths of xylem, phloem and dormant cambium, are related and indicate the health condition of a tree, and therefore may be used as indicators of forest health. Traditionally forest health has been assessed at stand level. However, entomologists and pathologists are conscious of the importance of landscape level for detecting and preventing the spread of pests and diseases. In this regard, La Manna describes some useful methods of evaluating the effects of abiotic factors on forest diseases at landscape level and of developing risk models as tools for forest management. The study by Schelhas and Molnar examines how sociological perspectives on collective action and common-pool resource theory can contribute to the health and management of Southern pine forests. Some implications for the motivation of non industrial private forest owners and communication between them are discussed. The fourth section combines protective and productive functions, because a good balance between the benefits of both is key to the success of SFM. This section comprises two papers that evaluate the effect of harvesting intensity on water and soil. Traditional forest management is changing due to a boom in renewable energy sources, particularly forest biomass. The review by Clarke addresses the current state of knowledge regarding sustainable removal of forest residues (branches and tops) for bioenergy purposes, and the author concludes that this practice may increase the risk of adverse effects on soil and water, among other effects. Soil compaction caused by forestry machines is the subject of a paper by Gebauer et al. These authors determine that the use of harvesters and forwarders without any prior site preparation is detrimental to soil properties and plant growth, and they propose some options to minimize such effects. In the section on biological diversity, Larsen describes the history of nature-based forest management, suggesting this as the best option for attaining the most natural conditions in European forests, and discusses the Danish experience. The subject of the paper by Paletto et al. is deadwood. These authors studied the effect of management strategies on quantitative and qualitative features of deadwood, and report some results that may be very useful in helping forest managers to meet SFM demands.