The Forestry Authority, as the country's leading authority on forestry practice, has Design Guidelines which aim to offer designers sound relevant and appropriate advice on the theory, process and practice of forest landscape design. The guidelines therefore represent the FA's vision of how designed Britain's forest landscapes should appear. The aim of this study is to rigorously evaluate the advice offered in the FA's guidelines in relation to the FA's objective to offer an aid to design. A literature review and series of interviews with those responsible for the advice explores the motivation behind the introduction and development of the guidelines. The review concludes that the unusual circumstances surrounding the inception of guidelines are likely to have resulted in the advice having a strong forestry bias, a weak theoretical framework and to be offering advice that is divorced from other land-use interests. An analysis of the nature and contents of the guidelines and the subsequent critical discussion suggests that the advice is not always complete, consistent, logical or relevant. The concept of an alternative approach to offering forest landscape design guidelines is tested through both a postal questionnaire and a field survey. The findings for the postal questionnaire suggest that the FA's advice is generally well used and found useful but that it is at times limited and fails to respond to the needs of the current user group. The findings for the field survey show that enough evidence exists to support the concept and further investigation along these lines. The study concludes by making 20 recommendations for changes or additions to the FA's current advice, which address the issues raised by the research findings. These recommendations are offered as a framework within which alternative advice could be further developed.

No description available.

There has been little work done to investigate the importance of denitrification in forest soils. This has been caused by difficulties associated with measurement of the denitrification process and from the assumption that nitrification, and hence also denitrification, was insignificant in acid environments. Nitrification can, however, occur even in the acid conditions found in coniferous forest soils, and is especially important after clear-felling when levels of nitrate in soil and drainage waters are often observed to increase. A potential exists, therefore, for gaseous losses of N <i>via</i> denitrification from such soils. This thesis describes the establishment of a suitable method for measurement of denitrification using the acetylene block technique. This method was used to monitor denitrification losses of N, both as N<SUB>2</SUB> and N<SUB>2</SUB>O, from a peaty-gley soil at Kershope Forest. The total loss of N from the standing forest through denitrification was estimated to be 3.2 kg ha<SUP>-1</SUP> over the year studied. Of this loss, approximately 80% was produced as H<SUB>2</SUB>O. Gaseous loss of N through denitrification represents approximately the same order of magnitude as the N lost from the site <i>via</i> leaching. An adjacent site, clear-felled four years previously, was also monitored for denitrification losses. Although this site was denitrifying at only a slightly greater rate than the standing forest, examination of past records from the site revealed that an estimated 9-40 kg N ha<SUP>-1</SUP>y<SUP>-1</SUP> had been lost in the two years immediately after felling. To assess the factors which controlled denitrification in the field, sub-samples of the soils used for denitrification measurements were analysed for water content, extractable nitrate, and available carbon. None of these factors, however, were found to correlate clearly with the denitrification rate. Further experiments, using laboratory amendments of soil cores, indicated that nitrate concentrations had the greatest effect on denitrification rates, although both the availability of carbon and the aeration status of the soil also affected the rates measured.

Due to increased social demands for biodiversity and recreation, the proportion of border zones in the forest landscape has increased. The purpose of this thesis were to establish growth variables in new stand planted according to the rejuvenation model Smålandsmodellen developed to lower rejuvenation cost by planting fewer seedlings in the right place with the intention of maintaining production targets. The result showed that the number of main plants were less per hectare than requirements and that the rejuvenation cost were lower in avarage for planting and scarification in both Smålandsmodellen and outcome of the study, than traditional methods. The model as a forest management system has the potential to contribute to a sustainable and functional ecosystem in production stands but does require a certain degree of user knowledge when implementing.

The purpose of the investigation was to locate the plant population which had the greatest impact on soil nitrogen in a successional sequence from newly deposited alluvia to a mature streamside forest, and to evaluate the pioneer populations in terms of their annual nitrogen contribution.

Abstract This dissertation explored sustainable forest management from multiple perspectives: a literature-based investigation to define management practices that sustain ecological, economic, and social forest resources over time; a field-based research project to identify management practice differences between Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified, and uncertified properties in Maine; and a field-based research project to identify stand structural differences between FSC certified and uncertified properties in Vermont. Based on an extensive literature review, we developed an iterative decision-making framework of goal-setting/implementation/ monitoring/review that could assist forest owners in choosing management practices to sustain ecological, economic, and/or social capital over multiple time frames. Our unique contribution is the identification of six concrete management concepts at the implementation phase: (1) BMPs/RIL, (2) biodiversity conservation, (3) community forestry, (4) forest protection, (5) sustained forest product yield, and (6) triad forestry. Forest owners can implement practices under one or more of these concepts to achieve their sustainability goals. We illustrate a hypothetical application of our framework with a case study of an FSC certified managed natural forest in the lowland tropical region of Costa Rica. In the white pine forests of south-central Maine, we compared three FSC, SFI, and uncertified private properties against local scale Montreal criteria using triangulation of evidence from management documents, staff interviews, and field inspections. Certified properties were associated with improved internal management systems and improved practices for biodiversity conservation. However, our data suggest that certification does not necessarily involve fulfillment of all Montreal criteria, such as adherence to sustained timber yield, consideration of multiple social issues, or ecological monitoring at multiple temporal and spatial scales. In northern hardwood stands in central Vermont, we compared three FSC certified and three uncertified that were analogous in terms harvesting date, silvicultural treatment type, forest type, and general location. The uncertified sites were randomly selected to remove bias. We conducted stand structural analysis of both live trees and standing and downed coarse woody debris, and also developed 10-year growth projections using FVS/NE-TWIGS. Our data suggest that FSC certified stands had similar timber economic value, similar live tree structure, and similar tree carbon storage, but significantly greater residual coarse woody debris than comparable uncertified harvested stands.

The project was designed in conjunction with Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme Project No. 1 to provide scientific data on the effects of tropical forest clearance with a view to future long-term management of kerangas and mixed dipterocarp forest. Control plots from both forest types were described in detail together with secondary forest established for 35 years. Experimentally treated plots were clear-cut and burnt and the changes in soil and vegetation followed and described in detail for 1.5 years. The two initial forest types represented a range of forest formations in the tropics from poor to rich conditions. Fluctuations in the control plots were followed for 1 year. The whole process of recovery was different in the two forests: in the strategy of individual there species, the species composition and changes in soil nutrients. A variety of conclusions about the trees, saplings, seedlings, shrubs and herbs components, turn-over periods, biomass, natural regeneration and species composition of these forests are dealt with and further conclusions out with the scope of this thesis will be published later.

Low fertiliser recoveries are often found for temperate coniferous forests and appear to be associated with the 'locking-up' of residual fertiliser N in stable organic forms. This phenomenon may well be caused by strong microbial immobilisation, out competing uptake by tree roots. This thesis investigates root/microbe competition for fertiliser-derived N (FDN) in microcosms of coniferous forest soil (supporting Sitka spruce seedlings) as well as in re-seeded blanket peat (supporting a mixed grass pasture). Combinations of selective microbial inhibitors, both with and without either 15N-labelled urea or NH4NO3, were applied to microcosms to selectively inhibit target microbial groups which may be competing with roots for FDN and determine the role of microbial immobilisation as a mechanism controlling N flow to seedlings/herbage. The dynamics of FDN novement into microcosm N pools was also studied in microcosms to which 15N-labelled urea was applied alone. At harvest, plant and soil N pools were analysed for 15N and total N (15 N &'43 14N). The impact of biocide and fertiliser N treatments on concentrations of target and non-target soil organisms were also determined. Biocidal (benlate and to a lesser extent streptomycin) inhibition of soil micro-organisms (particularly fungi) increased the uptake of both urea-derived N and NH4O3 N by Sitka spruce seedlings. Increases were associated with reduced percentages of FDA active hyphae and concentrations of FDN immobilised in the microbial biomass of LFH layer and peaty mineral soil. The results suggest that roots were competing with soil microbes for both fertiliser N forms. In conclusion this study has demonstrated the role of microbial biomass, particularly the dominant fungal component as a major competitive sink for fertiliser N and a major factor contributing to the low efficiency of fertiliser N in temperate coniferous forests. The study also has identified selective biocidal manipulation as a powerful technique for characterising competition between roots and microbes for nutrients in soil.

Windthrow is a major influence on silvicultural practice in the UK. Profitability is reduced by the need to fell plantations prematurely. In recent years there has been much debate on the role of spacing and wide- spacing, or respacing has been advocated as a means of improving stability. This debate has lacked quantitative evidence. The purpose of this study was to assess the factors involved in tree stability and to use the results to. investigate the influence of spacing and stability. Using the approach of Petty and Worrell (1981) stability was first considered as a static model. The factors involved are the within canopy wind profile, the stem and crown weight distribution of the trees, the deflection curves assumed by the tree in response to wind loading and the maximum turning moment causing stem breakage or uprooting. Investigation of the influence of spacing on the resistance of Sitka spruce trees to stem breakage and uprooting showed that the maximum turning moment was positively related to the stem weight, dbh3 and dbh/wt. There was no evidence to suggest that the relationship between the maximum turning moment and the independent variables differed between spacings. Analysis of data from Forestry Commission tree pulling experiments revealed that on sites where stem breakage and uprooting occurred the turning moments causing stem breakage and uprooting were similar. The deflection curves of five Sitka spruce trees, growing on a brown earth site, were measured and compared with the theoretical deflection curves devised by Petty and Worrell (1981). The theoretical curves gave reasonable approximations to the actual curves for small deflections. Most of the experimental work was undertaken at the Forestry Commission's experimental area in Moffat Forest where equipment was installed for the monitoring of airflow above and within the forest canopy and of the tree response. Using Forestry Commission data the within canopy wind profile was obtained. Ten Sitka spruce trees were loaded until failure and the stem deflection curves, stem and crown weight distributions and the turning moments causing soil failure and uprooting were measured. The theoretical stem bending curves gave good approximations to the actual curves until soil breakage occurred. Following soil breakage two samples were released and repulled and, although the maximum resistance and the deflection at this point were unaltered, the initial force per unit deflection was halved. The critical wind speeds to cause uprooting were calculated using measured wind profiles and assuming static loading of the crown. Values obtained greatly exceeded the wind speeds recorded during a gale which caused damage. The damping ratios of the 3 trees bearing accelerometers were measured with and without crown contact. For the 2 dominants canopy contact had less effect on the damping ratio than the sway direction whereas for the subdominant the canopy treatment had the greater effect. Recalculation of the critical wind speeds of the ten tree pulling samples, using the damping ratios estimated for the accelerometer trees, and assuming a resonant response reduced the values to within the range of measured gusts recorded during a gale. Displacements of the 3 accelerometer trees, estimated from accelerometer data, were compared with simultaneous wind speed recordings. Perfect resonance was not observed but very large oscillations were noted to build up over a period of 2-3 cycles. The larger gusts (?10m m s-1) tended to produce a static response and to be responsible for the initial deflection whilst subsequent smaller gusts tended to cause the dynamic responses. In order to predict the critical wind speeds causing damage it is necessary to take this dynamic interaction into account. Theoretical stability calculations for unthinned plantations at spacings of 2.0m, 2.4m and 3.0m showed that for static loading the increase in the resistance to uprooting or breakage as a result of increasing mean tree size outweighed the greater drag force on the crown. The wide spaced stand retained its stability advantage even for resonant wind speeds. However, small changes in the within canopy wind profile and the resistance of the trees to uprooting/breakage removed the advantage gained by the wider spacing. More information is required on the influence of spacing on the dynamic response of trees to wind loading before increasing the spacing can be said to improve stability on wet soils.

Situations and behaviors can create conflicts between people and/or organizations based on a need of resources or a conflict of interest. Using activism in a conflict can be value based and is driven by a person's opinions and norms. The changed forest policy since the seventies has resulted in a greater interest in protecting forests, both from the authorities and from interest groups. The high proportion of privatelyowned forests and the increased interest have created several major conflicts over thepast ten years in Sweden, where the land owner has ended up between interest groups and authorities.The study aims to explain and create an understanding of how different sides reason in forest conflicts with activism, based on content, driving forces and experiences. Data-collection was done through 8 deep interviews. Respondents belonged to a government agency, three forest companies / forest owner associations, two individual forest owners and two nature conservation organizations. Thematic content analysis was performed on the collected material.There were differences in the value base where authorities and landowners did not value the ecological values as important to the same extent as forest companies/forest owner associations and interest groups, which in turn creates a risk of conflicts. About future activism, four respondents considered that it would increase, while three felt that it would decrease and one that it will be like today. In seven out of eight cases, it was an interest organization that initiated the conflict. Authorities, forestry companies / forest owner associations and landowners all considered that the information received from the interest groups was a good basis. A driving force that was identified was the need to assume responsibility, which originates from the driving force. The action in the conflicts was defined by the interest groups as a responsibility, while the parties who had experienced the activism defined the action as a high pressure. The experiences of activism that emerged were described by the landowners as an unpredictability and the interest groups as a vulnerability because of their deviant opinion. Authorities and forestrycompanies/forest owner associations described activism as a reluctance/ignorance. The negative and positive aspects of activism weigh in principle equally for all respondents. Authorities, interest groups and forestry companies/forest owner associations all mentioned a need for system change, as the political short-term and the inertia of the system was emphasized as a problem. From all sides a collaboration was desired, where a factual dialogue must be the basis. One can ask how important the interest organizations are for the development of forestry when the material produces by them is considered good quality? And is it the forest owners who must get run overwhen the policy is short-term? Forestry companies/forest owner associations and authorities report their responsibility towards the citizens and that there were information deficiencies. By improving the dialogue and the information there is an opportunity to find ways to reach each other. This is to get a better overall view of how the different sides reason and what everyone's values are. Based on this, conflicts can hopefully be fewer in the Swedish forests. / Situationer och beteenden kan skapa konflikter mellan människor och/ellerorganisationer utifrån ett resursbehov eller en motsättning. Att använda aktivism i en konflikt kan grundas i värdegrunden och styrs utifrån personens åsikter och normer. Den förändrade skogspolitiken sedan sjuttiotalets produktionsinriktning har resulterat i ett större intresse för att skydda skogar, både från myndighetshåll och från intresseorganisationer. Den höga andelen privatägda skogar samt det ökade intresset har skapat flera stora konflikter i Sverige under de senaste tio åren, där markägaren hamnat mellan intresseorganisationer och myndigheter. Studien syftar till att förklara och skapa en förståelse för hur olika parter resonerar i skogliga konflikter med aktivsminslag, utifrån konfliktens innehåll, drivkrafter och upplevelser. Datainsamling gjordes genom 8 djupintervjuer. Respondenterna tillhörde en statlig myndighet, tre skogsföretag/skogsägarföreningar, två enskilda skogsägare samt två intresseorganisationer för naturvård. Tematisk innehållsanalys genomfördes på det insamlade materialet. Det fanns skillnader i värdegrunden där myndigheter och markägare inte värderade de ekologiska värdena som viktiga i samma utsträckning som skogsbolag/skogsägarföreningar och intresseorganisationer, vilket i sin tur skapar risk för konflikter. Om aktivismen i framtiden ansåg fyra respondenter att den kommer att öka, medan tre ansåg att den kommer att minska och en att den kommer vara som idag. I sju av åtta fall var det en intresseorganisation som initierade konflikten. Myndigheter, skogsbolag/skogsägarföreningar och markägare ansågsamtliga att den information som mottagits från intresseorganisationerna var ett bra underlag.En drivkraft som identifierades var behovet att ta på sig ansvar vilket har sittursprung i värdegrunden. Agerandet i konflikterna definierades utifrånintresseorganisationernas sida som ett ansvar, medan de parter som fått uppleva aktivismen definierar agerandet som ett högt tryck. De upplevelser av aktivism som framkommit beskrevs av markägarna som en oförutsägbarhet och av intresseorganisationerna som en maktlöshet på grund av sin avvikande åsikt. Myndigheter och skogsbolag/skogsägarföreningar beskrev aktivismen som ovilja/okunnighet. De negativa och positiva aspekterna av aktivism vägde i princip lika för samtliga respondenter. Myndigheter, intresseorganisationer och skogsbolag/skogsägarföreningar påtalade alla ett behov av systemförändring då den politiska kortsiktigheten och trögheten i systemet framhölls som ett problem. Från alla sidor önskades en samverkan, där en saklig dialog måste ligga till grund. Man kan fråga sig hur viktiga intresseorganisationerna egentligen är för utvecklingen av skogsbruket när materialet som tas fram av dem anses bra? Och är det skogsägarna som ska komma i kläm när politiken är kortsiktig? Skogsbolag/skogsägarföreningar och myndigheter påtalade sitt ansvar ut mot medborgarna samt att det fanns informationsbrister. Genom att förbättra dialogen och informationen finns en möjlighet att finna vägar fram tillvarandra. Detta för att få en bättre samlad syn på hur de olika parterna resonerar och hur allas värdegrund ser ut. Utifrån detta kan förhoppningsvis konflikterna bli färre i de svenska skogarna.