Forests provide important ecosystem services and play a dominant role in the global carbon and hydrologic cycles. These ecosystems are becoming more vulnerable to climate change-related threats such as extreme temperature and precipitation events, drought and wildfires. In addition, forest ecosystems have also undergone land use changes and a significant reduction in cover area, specifically in North America. There has been renewed realization to restore and rehabilitate forest ecosystems because they are a major carbon sink and play a key role in sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide. In response, plantation forests are being widely established to sequester carbon, increase biodiversity, secure water resources and generate economic revenue when harvested. Forest managers employ different management practices such as thinning or retention harvesting to enhance growth, plant structural and species diversity within forest plantations, with the ultimate goal of emulating the characteristics and benefits of natural forests. However, the influence of these forest management practices on the growth, productivity and specifically water cycling in plantation forests is not well studied and reported in the literature. This experimental study investigated the effect of four different variable retention harvesting (VRH) treatments on evapotranspiration and water balance in an 83-year-old red pine (Pinus resinosa) plantation forest in the Great Lakes region in Canada. These VRH treatments included 55% aggregated crown retention (55A), 55% dispersed crown retention (55D), 33% aggregated crown retention (33A), 33% dispersed crown retention (33D) and unharvested control (CN) plot. Tree-level experimental work was conducted in the control plot and showed that most of the water transport (65%) occurred in the outermost sapwood, while only 26% and 9% of water was transported in the middle and innermost depths of sapwood, respectively. These results help to avoid overestimation of transpiration, which may cause large uncertainties in water budgets in pine forests. Study results further showed that the 55D treatment had the highest tree-level transpiration followed by 33D, 55A, 33A and CN plots. During periods of low precipitation, vapor pressure deficit (VPD) was the main driver or control on transpiration in VRH treatments. However, transpiration was more closely coupled with photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) in the control plot. Moreover, the 55D treatment resulted in on average 58% of total water loss from canopy as transpiration and 42% from the understory and ground surface as evapotranspiration. These findings suggest that dispersed or distributed retention of 55% basal area (55D) provides the optimal environmental conditions for forest growth with reduced competition of trees for water as shown by enhanced transpiration. This study will help researchers, forest managers and decision-makers to improve their understanding of thinning impacts on water and carbon exchanges in forest ecosystems and select and adopt viable forest management practices to enhance their carbon sequestration capabilities, water use efficiency and resilience to climate change. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1971. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

A floresta e a água guardam uma forte relação multifuncional, evidenciada especialmente no ciclo hidrológico. A presença da floresta atenua os picos de vazão e influencia na qualidade da água, na ciclagem dos nutrientes e na proteção dos corpos hídricos. Por sua vez, a água propicia a exuberância da floresta, contribuindo para que a mesma conserve a sua biodiversidade e gere diferentes serviços ambientais. Água e floresta podem e devem ser usadas como recurso econômico, desde que se assegurem as condições de renovabilidade, de respeito à capacidade de suporte dos ecossistemas e em determinados casos, assegurem também os processos evolutivos naturais. Isto leva à necessidade de estratégias de conservação integrada floresta-água, na perspectiva do desenvolvimento sustentável da bacia hidrográfica. Porém, verifica-se destruição das florestas naturais e simultânea redução da disponibilidade per capita de água, em conseqüência do desmatamento em áreas de proteção de mananciais, da poluição e do aumento da demanda para consumo humano, agrícola e industrial. Atualmente algumas bacias já apresentam balanço hídrico negativo, precisando importar água para atender às necessidades humanas. A despeito disso, tanto no Brasil, quanto em São Paulo em particular, existe uma legislação avançada e órgãos governamentais que deveriam evitar tal situação. Isto conduz à hipótese de que os atuais instrumentos de políticas públicas são mal utilizados ou insuficientes para possibilitar uma melhoria na qualidade ambiental. Para testá-la foram identificados e caracterizados 13 instrumentos, agrupados em 3 tipologias. De ordenamento territorial: plano diretor, zoneamento ambiental e áreas legalmente protegidas; de comando e controle; licenciamento ambiental, fiscalização ambiental, outorga de uso da água e compensação ambiental; e de tomada de decisão: enquadramento dos corpos de água, monitoramento ambiental, sistemas de informação, educação ambiental e instâncias de decisão colegiada. A avaliação dos instrumentos se deu na bacia do rio Corumbataí, afluente do rio Piracicaba e inserido na região centro-oeste de São Paulo. Os resultados identificaram as limitações de cada instrumento e de seus meios de operacionalização, evidenciando ineficácia no papel de promover a recuperação e conservação dos recursos hídricos e florestais. Como condições para promover a eficácia dos instrumentos considera-se indispensável a construção compartilhada do futuro cenário ambiental da bacia, políticas públicas que se orientem por este cenário, legislação e arcabouço institucional que dê suporte às políticas, procedimentos claros e desburocratizadas, além de participação e controle social. Neste contexto é fundamental, entre outros, formar lideranças locais, resgatar o papel dos municípios e incorporar mecanismos econômicos na gestão ambiental. Por fim, é proposto um novo arcabouço institucional na bacia do Corumbataí, que contemple o sub-comitê de bacia e o consórcio intermunicipal, a rede de articulação regional, o plano diretor de desenvolvimento sustentável, o sistema de áreas protegidas, o programa permanente de comunicação e educação ambiental e o programa de desenvolvimento tecnológico e de suporte à decisão. / Forest and water keep a strong relationship in several hydrological functions. Catchments with forests have lower flow peaks, have better water quality and the forests also contribute for nutrients cycling and river protection. In addiction water provides forest vitality and contributes for its biodiversity and several environmental tasks. Water and forests can be used as economic resources, provided there are conditions of renewability, attention to ecosystem support capacity and assurance of natural development process. This requires comprehensive strategy for water and forest conservation for a catchment sustainability. Deforestation induces reduction of water availability for agriculture, industry and human consumption. Nowadays several river basins present lack of water and need import water from neighboring basins to attend man necessities, despite Brazil and São Paulo state legislation and institutions that should avoid that situation. This fact leads to the hypothesis that the public policy is insufficient or wrongly used to improve environmental quality. To test the hypothesis, 13 instruments have been identified and grouped in 3 categories. For land regulation: master plan, environmental zoning and legally protected areas; for environmental control: environmental licensing, environmental surveillance, water use grant and environmental compensation; for decision making: river water quality classification, environmental monitoring, information system, environmental education and instances of colegiate decision. The above instruments have been evaluated at Corumbatai river basin (tributary to Piracicaba river) in middle west of São Paulo state. Results have shown limitations of each instrument and its implementation means with consequent non effectiveness for water and forest conservation and recuperation. For instruments effectiveness it is necessary a joint elaboration of catchment future environmental scenario, including public policy towards this scenario, legislation, institutional configuration, clear and simplified procedures beyond social participation and control. To achieve this aim it is necessary to train local leaders, rescue municipality role and incorporate economical mechanisms for environmental management. Last, a new institutional configuration is proposed for Corumbatai river basin including a basin subcommittee, a multi municipality partnership, a regional articulation net, a water plan for sustainable development, a protected area system, a steady communication program, environmental education and support decision and technological development system.

A floresta e a água guardam uma forte relação multifuncional, evidenciada especialmente no ciclo hidrológico. A presença da floresta atenua os picos de vazão e influencia na qualidade da água, na ciclagem dos nutrientes e na proteção dos corpos hídricos. Por sua vez, a água propicia a exuberância da floresta, contribuindo para que a mesma conserve a sua biodiversidade e gere diferentes serviços ambientais. Água e floresta podem e devem ser usadas como recurso econômico, desde que se assegurem as condições de renovabilidade, de respeito à capacidade de suporte dos ecossistemas e em determinados casos, assegurem também os processos evolutivos naturais. Isto leva à necessidade de estratégias de conservação integrada floresta-água, na perspectiva do desenvolvimento sustentável da bacia hidrográfica. Porém, verifica-se destruição das florestas naturais e simultânea redução da disponibilidade per capita de água, em conseqüência do desmatamento em áreas de proteção de mananciais, da poluição e do aumento da demanda para consumo humano, agrícola e industrial. Atualmente algumas bacias já apresentam balanço hídrico negativo, precisando importar água para atender às necessidades humanas. A despeito disso, tanto no Brasil, quanto em São Paulo em particular, existe uma legislação avançada e órgãos governamentais que deveriam evitar tal situação. Isto conduz à hipótese de que os atuais instrumentos de políticas públicas são mal utilizados ou insuficientes para possibilitar uma melhoria na qualidade ambiental. Para testá-la foram identificados e caracterizados 13 instrumentos, agrupados em 3 tipologias. De ordenamento territorial: plano diretor, zoneamento ambiental e áreas legalmente protegidas; de comando e controle; licenciamento ambiental, fiscalização ambiental, outorga de uso da água e compensação ambiental; e de tomada de decisão: enquadramento dos corpos de água, monitoramento ambiental, sistemas de informação, educação ambiental e instâncias de decisão colegiada. A avaliação dos instrumentos se deu na bacia do rio Corumbataí, afluente do rio Piracicaba e inserido na região centro-oeste de São Paulo. Os resultados identificaram as limitações de cada instrumento e de seus meios de operacionalização, evidenciando ineficácia no papel de promover a recuperação e conservação dos recursos hídricos e florestais. Como condições para promover a eficácia dos instrumentos considera-se indispensável a construção compartilhada do futuro cenário ambiental da bacia, políticas públicas que se orientem por este cenário, legislação e arcabouço institucional que dê suporte às políticas, procedimentos claros e desburocratizadas, além de participação e controle social. Neste contexto é fundamental, entre outros, formar lideranças locais, resgatar o papel dos municípios e incorporar mecanismos econômicos na gestão ambiental. Por fim, é proposto um novo arcabouço institucional na bacia do Corumbataí, que contemple o sub-comitê de bacia e o consórcio intermunicipal, a rede de articulação regional, o plano diretor de desenvolvimento sustentável, o sistema de áreas protegidas, o programa permanente de comunicação e educação ambiental e o programa de desenvolvimento tecnológico e de suporte à decisão. / Forest and water keep a strong relationship in several hydrological functions. Catchments with forests have lower flow peaks, have better water quality and the forests also contribute for nutrients cycling and river protection. In addiction water provides forest vitality and contributes for its biodiversity and several environmental tasks. Water and forests can be used as economic resources, provided there are conditions of renewability, attention to ecosystem support capacity and assurance of natural development process. This requires comprehensive strategy for water and forest conservation for a catchment sustainability. Deforestation induces reduction of water availability for agriculture, industry and human consumption. Nowadays several river basins present lack of water and need import water from neighboring basins to attend man necessities, despite Brazil and São Paulo state legislation and institutions that should avoid that situation. This fact leads to the hypothesis that the public policy is insufficient or wrongly used to improve environmental quality. To test the hypothesis, 13 instruments have been identified and grouped in 3 categories. For land regulation: master plan, environmental zoning and legally protected areas; for environmental control: environmental licensing, environmental surveillance, water use grant and environmental compensation; for decision making: river water quality classification, environmental monitoring, information system, environmental education and instances of colegiate decision. The above instruments have been evaluated at Corumbatai river basin (tributary to Piracicaba river) in middle west of São Paulo state. Results have shown limitations of each instrument and its implementation means with consequent non effectiveness for water and forest conservation and recuperation. For instruments effectiveness it is necessary a joint elaboration of catchment future environmental scenario, including public policy towards this scenario, legislation, institutional configuration, clear and simplified procedures beyond social participation and control. To achieve this aim it is necessary to train local leaders, rescue municipality role and incorporate economical mechanisms for environmental management. Last, a new institutional configuration is proposed for Corumbatai river basin including a basin subcommittee, a multi municipality partnership, a regional articulation net, a water plan for sustainable development, a protected area system, a steady communication program, environmental education and support decision and technological development system.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Exotic pine plantations are a major landuse within the coastal lowlands of southeast Queensland, extending from close to the shoreline to the hinterland ranges. These plantations are within a sub-tropical climatic zone, and in most years, the summers are appreciably wetter than the winters. This terrain, in general, has been highly weathered and the soils are poor in nutrients. Environmental factors such as the climate, topography and weathering profile (including soil) are found to be important controls on vadose zone hydrology, which, in turn, has a great impact on tree growth and consequently on the design of management practices. This research project takes a holistic approach to investigate the influence of these environmental factors at different scales, and is designed to fulfil the following objectives: (1) To build a spatial model of forest productivity for the entire Tuan Toolara State Forest (TTSF), southeast Queensland, by analysing the spatial patterns of many environmental variables that may have controls on soil water distribution. (2) To determine how some of these environmental factors are responsible for the development of water-logging and soil salinisation by examining in detail an area of low site index that is severely affected by these two processes. (3) To develop a model to assess the risks of water-logging spatially and temporally. A multiple regression model was constructed to predict the forest productivity (measured by the value of site index, the average dominant tree height at 25 years of age). The independent variables were derived from a digital elevation model (elevation, slope, curvature, hillshade, flow accumulation and distance to streams), γ-ray spectrometry (potassium, thorium and uranium), and interpolated rainfall. The model explained up to 60% of the variance in the site indices and produced predictive maps of site index for two species: P. elliottii Engelm. and Queensland hybrid, a P. elliottii × P. caribaea Morelet hybrid. The model also identified the lowest site index area at the northern Tuan State Forest (NTSF), likely due to a greater risk of water-logging and salinisation. The NTSF area is of low relief and, therefore, the focus has been on the vertical controls of deep weathering profile. The methodology included setting up a network of groundwater bores screened at different depths within the weathering profile, characterising the profile (mineralogy, EC, and pH) and the groundwaters within it (water levels, physico-chemical parameters, major and minor ions). It is found that water-logging is caused by perched groundwater formed on top of the ferricrete or mottled saprolite after prolonged rainfall. Localised salinisation is related to the discharge of brackish groundwater occurring within the mottled saprolite. The deep aquifer within the coarse saprolite is fresh and not responsible for salinisation, a situation that differs from many other settings in Australia. The ability of using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) computer model to simulate soil water balance and to assess the risks of water-logging was tested in a selected catchment in the TTSF. The model successfully simulated stream flow at 2 weirs for a period of 6 years; the achieved R2 were 0.752 and 0.858, respectively. Long-term simulation for a 30-year period showed that there are pronounced seasonal patterns in rainfall and evapotranspiration as well as in soil water. For mature plantation with slopes of 3-15%, the mean annual duration of water-logging ranged from 161 days in the humus podzols, to 110 days in the gleyed podzolic, and to 90 days in the yellow podzolics. The outcomes of this research suggest that forest management can be strongly supported by understanding the impacts of these environmental factors (e.g. climate, topography and weathering profile) on vadose zone hydrological processes; the selection of optimum approach will depend on the research objective or purpose. The models and analytical tools that were developed or tested here have the potential to be successfully applied elsewhere if the input data are available.

I många år har linjär ekonomi tillämpats i samhället men det börjar ske en förändring. Nu börjar det bli intressant att skapa ett ekonomiskt värde i restprodukter genom att bilda cirkulära ekonomier, som dessutom minskar utarmningen av jordens resurser och skapar hållbarhet. En kritisk ändlig naturresurs för alla levande organismer är mackronäringsämnet fosfor. Den bryts i stora dagbrott men börjar bli mer svåråtkomlig och utspädd vilket kan leda till att det blir en resursbrist i framtiden. De skogsindustriella reningsverken behöver näringsämnen för att kunna rena avloppsvatten från organiskt material. Där tillsätts bland annat kväve och fosfor vars utvinning är energikrävande och bidrar till miljöföroreningar. Inne i reningsverket sker många biologiska processer som är beroende av flera faktorer för att uppnå en hög reningsgrad. En faktor är temperatur. Pappers och massabruken har ofta varma flöden som behöver kylas ner innan de går till reningsverket, därav fås ett stort överskott av lågvärdig energi som ej används (spillvärme). Under de senaste åren har både ett politiskt och privat driv uppstått att utöka det svenska vattenbruket med akvatiska produkter, exempelvis fisk. Fiskar kan odlas i öppna kassar i sjöar/hav men det finns risker så som övergödning och spridning av sjukdomar. Därav är intresset stort för landbaserade fiskodlingar med Recirculating Aquaculture Systems. En landbaserad fiskodling har dock ett stort värmebehov för att bibehålla rätt vattentemperatur för fisken. Avloppsvattnet har även ett högt innehåll av kväve och fosfor som behöver renas innan det släpps ut. Med hjälp av programmet Simulink byggdes en simuleringsmodell över ett skogsindustriellt reningsverk i symbios med en fiskodling. Syftet var att undersöka möjligheter och begränsningar för symbiosen med ett extra fokus på reningsverket. Målen var att ta reda på hur mycket mindre kväve och fosfor som behövs i reningsverket, utföra en miljöanalys av symbiosen, identifiera begränsande faktorer och hitta lösningar samt ta reda på om spillvärmen räcker för att värma fiskodlingen De erhållna resultaten var att reningsverket kan spara 82 ton fosforsyra och upp till 817 ton ammoniak per år. Reningsverket klarar belastningen från en fiskodling med en årlig produktion på 2200 ton fisk utan överskrida sin dåvarande utsläpp år 2021, vilket motsvarar 2,9 kg odlad fisk per ton producerad massa. Det kan reducera reningsverkets och fiskodlingen koldioxidutsläpp med 471,1 ton respektive 485,7 ton per år. Under året infaller ett processtop i pappers och massaindustrin. Det leder till strypt värmetillförsel för fiskodlingen som resulterar i för kall fiskvattentemperatur samt för höga utsläpp närsalter vid uppstart av reningsverket. En lösning är att lägga på fem centimeters isolering på fiskpoolerna. För att minimera närsaltsutsläppen kan fasta närsalter ur fiskavloppsvattnet filtreras bort och en kolkälla tillsättas. För att maximera användningen av spillvärme kan en icke isolerad 3000 ton fiskodling byggas. Värmningsbehovet per år blir då runt 16000 MWh vilket motsvarar cirka 4,7 % av spillvärmen. / For many years, linear economics has been applied in society, but it is changing. Instead, it is now interesting to create an economic value in residual products by forming circular economies, which also reduces the depletion of the earth's resources and promote sustainability. A critical finite natural resources for all living organisms is the macronutrient phosphorus. It is mined in large open pits but is becoming diluted and difficult to access, which may lead to a lack of resource in the future. The forest industry wastewater treatment plants need nutrients to be able to treat wastewater from organic material. Among other things, nitrogen and phosphorus are added, the extraction of which is energy-intensive and contributes to environmental pollution. Inside the treatment plant, many biological processes take place that depend on several factors to achieve a high degree of treatment. One factor is temperature. Paper and pulp mills often have warm streams of water that needs to be cooled down before being sent to the treatment plant, which results in a large surplus of waste heat that is not used. In recent years, both a political and private drive has arisen to expand Swedish aquaculture with aquatic products such as fish. Fish can be grown in open net pens in lakes / seas, but there are risks such as eutrophication and the spread of diseases. As a result, there is great interest in land-based fish farms with Recirculating Aquaculture Systems. However, a land-based fish farm has a great need for heat to maintain the right water temperature for the fish. The wastewater also has a high content of nitrogen and phosphorus that needs to be treated before it is discharged. With the help of the program Simulink, a simulation model was built describing a forest industry treatment plant in symbiosis with a fish farm. The purpose was to investigate possibilities and limitations for the symbiosis with an extra focus on the treatment plant. The goals were to investigate how much less nitrogen and phosphorus is needed in the treatment plant, perform an environmental analysis of the symbiosis, identify limiting factors, find solutions and find out if there is enough waste heat to heat the fish farm The results obtained were that the treatment plant can save 82 tonnes of phosphoric acid and up to 817 tonnes of ammonia per year. The treatment plant manages the load from a fish farm with an annual production of 2200 tonnes of fish without exceeding its equivalent discharge pollution levels of 2021, which is equal to 2,9 kg farmed fish per tonne produced pulp. It can reduce the treatment plant's and fish farm's carbon dioxide emissions by 471.1 tonnes and 485.7 tonnes per year, respectively During the year, a process stop occurs in the paper and pulp industry. This leads to a restricted heat supply for the fish farm, which results in a too cold water temperature for the fish and too high discharges of nutrients in to receiving lake at the start-up of the treatment plant. One solution to this issue is to put five centimetres of insulation on the fish pools. To minimize nutrient discharges, the solid nutrients from the fish wastewater can be filtered out and a carbon source added. To maximize the use of waste heat, a non-insulated 3000 ton fish farm can be built. The heating demand per year will then be around 16,000 MWh, which corresponds to approximately 4.7% of the waste heat.