BESC 201 11 1 2013 Lecture 26 Outline of Last Lecture I Conservation biology The Search for Solutions Outline of Current Lecture II Chapter 9 Central Case Study III Forest Ecosystems and Forest Resources IV Forest Loss V Forest Management Current Lecture 11 1 2013 Forests Forest Management and Protected Areas Central Case Study Certified Sustainable Paper in Your Textbook The trees cut to make this textbook s paper were selected for harvest based on a sustainable management plan designed to avoid depleting the forest of its mature trees or degrading the ecological functions the forest performs The paper mill at Escanaba Michigan recycles chemicals and water used in the process and it combusts discarded waste to help power the mill Independent third party inspectors from the Forest Stewardship Council FSC examine the practices being used to ensure that they meet the FSC s strict criteria for sustainable forest management and paper production The Forest Stewardship Council is an organization that officially certifies forests companies and products that meet sustainability standards Forest Ecosystems and Forest Resources Many kinds of forests exist Forest any ecosystem with a high density of trees Most of the world s forests occur as a boreal forest Forest Type categories defined by their predominant tree species Forests are ecologically complex Forests with a greater diversity of plants tend to host a greater diversity overall These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Old growth forests host more biodiversity than younger forests because older forests contain more structural diversity and thus more microhabitats and resources for more species Forests provide ecosystem services Of all the services that forests provide their storage of carbon has elicited great interest as nations debate how to control global climate change Forest Loss Deforestation the clearing and loss of forests Agriculture and demand for wood puts pressure on forests Global Forest Resources Assessment a report based on remote sensing data from satellites analysis from forest experts questionnaire responses and statistical modeling Forests are being felled more quickly in the tropical rainforests of Latin America and Africa We deforested much of North America Primary Forest natural forest uncut by people Second Growth Trees trees that sprouted after old growth timbers was cut secondary forest Forests are being lost rapidly in developing nations Today s advanced technology allow these countries to exploit these resources and push back their frontiers even faster than occurred in North America Concession right to extract the resource The palm oil boom represents a conundrum for environmental advocates Many people eager to fight climate change had urged the development of biofuels to replace fossil fuels Yet grown at the large scale that our society is demanding monocultural plantations of biofuel crops such as oil palms are causing severe environmental impacts by displacing natural forests Solutions are emerging Some conservation organizations are buying concessions and using them to preserve forest rather than cut it down Others are pursuing community based conservation Carbon offsets are central to emerging international plans to curb deforestation and climate change together Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation REDD wealthy industrialized nations would pay poorer developing nations to conserve forest Forest Management Foresters professionals who manage forests through the practice of forestry Resource Management use of strategies to manage and regulate the harvest of potentially renewable resources Resource managers follow several strategies Maximum sustainable yield to achieve the maximum amount of resource extraction without depleting the resource from one harvest to the next A fisheries manager aiming for maximum sustainable yield will prefer to keep fish populations are intermediate levels so that they rebound quickly after each harvest Reducing a population this way will likely affect other species and alter the food web dynamics of the community In forestry maximum sustainable yield argues for cutting trees shortly after they go through their fastest stage of growth Ecosystem based management aims to minimize impact on the ecological processes that provide the resource Adaptive management involves systematically testing different approaches and aiming to improve methods through time We extract timber from public and private lands Most timber harvesting in the United States takes place on private land owned by the timber industry or by small landowners Even when regrowth outpaces removal the character of forests may change We harvest timber by several methods Clear cutting all trees in an area are cut at once Selection systems preserve much of a forest s structural diversity North America s timber industry focuses on production from plantations of fast growing tree species planted in single species monocultures When a plantation replaces a natural forest the community undergoes simplification Because there are few tree species and little variation in tree age plantations do not offer many forest organisms the habitat they need Uneven Aged Stands a mix of ages and often a mix of tree species makes the stand more similar to a natural forest Public forests may be managed for recreation and ecosystems National Forest Management Act mandated that every national forest draw up plans for renewable resource management subject to public input under the National Environmental Policy Act Roadless Rule put 23 7 million ha off limits to road construction or maintenance Fire can hurt or help forests Scientific research shows that many species and ecological communities depend on fire Ecosystems dependent on fire are adversely affected when fire is suppressed In the long term suppressing frequent fires leads to occasional catastrophic fires that damage forests destroy property and threaten human lives Wildland Urban Interface residential development on the edges of forested land Prescribed Burns clear away fuel loads nourish the soil with ash and encourage the vigorous growth of new vegetation Salvage Logging the removal of dead trees or snags by timber companies following a natural disturbance Removing timber from recently burned land can also cause erosion and soil damage Climate change