Assessing vulnerability of forests to climate change in South Korea

This study demonstrated a framework to assess vulnerability of forests to climate change. We focused on how alterations of temperature and precipitation might affect forest type distributions and carbon-related functions. In particular, our framework considered three sectors of forest type distribution, net primary production, and soil carbon storage. Future projections were derived from mechanistic models for South Korean forests under the A1 B scenarios of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Forest type distributions were simulated by the Hydrological and thermal analogy group model, while the MAPSS and CENTURY1 models estimated forest carbon flux/storage. We quantified normalized vulnerability indices for each sector. Our results indicate that the overall vulnerability of forest type distribution is greater in the west central regions and southeastern inlands. The vulnerabilities of carbon flux/storage show that net primary production of South Korean forests is relatively less susceptible to climate change, but a highly vulnerable area of soil carbon storage mainly spreads from the west central to the south east region. The spatio-temporal vulnerability map with a synoptic overview from this study might be useful for policy makers in preparing adaptive measures and identifying management priorities.

Assessing forest sustainability trajectory with temporal changes in timber output and ecological reserve: the case of China

We classified forest resources into four modes：high timber output and high ecological reserve（Mode T-E）; high timber output and low ecological reserve（Mode T-e）; low timber output and low ecological reserve（Mode t-e）; and low timber output and high ecological reserve（Mode t-E）. Ecological reserve is stand volume per unit area of natural forests and total area of natural forests;timber output is defined as total area of timber forests and unit area of timber production. We used this classification system to examine forest development in China between1950 and 2013. Data were acquired mainly from forest inventory statistics published by China’s Forestry Administration between the 1970 s and 2013. I Information from the 1950 s was acquired from relevant literature. Our analysis suggests that China’s forest resources transitioned from Mode t-E to Mode T-e during the period between the early 1950 s and late 1970 s, resulting in the destruction of both ecological vigor and timber resources. During the following 20 years, strategies were implemented to improve the ecological reserve and increase timber supply,resulting in a decline in the rate of forest degradation. Over the past decade, China’s forest resources have reached Mode T-E as a result of improvements in both the ecological reserve and the timber supply. Currently, the total area of timber forests is relatively low, representing the limiting factor for improvement in overall forest functionality. Nevertheless, along with increased efforts to protect natural forests and develop fast-growing forest plantations, it is hopeful that China’s forest resources will achieve a sustainable state. The four-mode TOER（timber output, ecological reserve） method introduced in this paper is a simple but an effective approach for characterizing the overall quality and quantity of forest resources. The data used for this type of evaluation are typically easy to obtain and reliable. This methodology has potential to be applied to forests in various regions and countries.

A review of ecological mechanisms for management practices of protective forests

A protective forest,including shelterbelt,windbreak,and shelter forest as its synonyms,is characterized by the protective functions of various forest types distributed or planted on ecologically fragile areas or nearby the objects that need to be protected using the ecological effects of forests.Ecological mechanisms for management practices of protective forests is one of the disciplinary orientations in forest ecology and management.Most protective forest studies are dependent on forestry eco-engineering,such as the Great Plains Shelterbelt Project in the United States,the Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature in the Soviet Union,and the Three-North Afforestation Program in China.The development of sustainable management of protective forests has been given increasing attention by governments,scientists,and media due to their impacts on environment conservation and global change.We introduce forestry ecoengineering and provide a review of their main ecological mechanisms for management practices of protective forests.Ecological mechanisms for management systems currently applied are emphasized,i.e.,the theory of protection maturity and phase-directional management;the relationship between structure and protective functions and structural optimization measures;and,the decline mechanism and ecological restoration strategies.In addition,several unresolved problems in management practices of protective forests are discussed as well as the prospects for ecological mechanisms for management practices of protective forests in the future,which include:(1)theories and technologies for management practices of protective forests at the landscape or regional scale;(2)the decline mechanisms and corresponding ecological restoration approaches across multiple scales;and,(3)the comprehensive assessment of forestry eco-engineering at large-scales based on ecosystem principles.

Indicators and tools for assessing sustainability impacts of the forest bioeconomy

The sustainable use of renewable resources has become an important issue worldwide in the move towards a less fossil-fuel-intensive future.Mainstream method for fulfilling this aim is to increase the share of renewable energy and materials to substitute fossil fuels and to become fully independent from fossil fuels over the long-term.However, the environmental sustainability of this endeavor has been questioned.In addition,economic and social sustainability issues are also much debated topics in this particular context.Forest resources are often thought to contribute partially to achieving a so-called ＂carbon-neutral society＂.In this review, we discuss sustainability issues of using forest biomass.We present several sustainability indicators for ecological,economic and social dimensions and discuss the issues in applying them in sustainability impact assessments（SIAs）.We also present a number of tools and methods previously used in conducting SIAs.We approach our study from the perspective of the Finnish forestry; in addition, various aspects regarding the application of SIAs in a broader context are also presented.One of the key conclusions of the study is that although sufficient data are available to measure many indicators accurately, the impacts may be very difficult to assess（e.g.impact of greenhouse gases on biodiversity） for conducting a holistic SIA.Furthermore, some indicators, such as ＂biodiversity＂, are difficult to quantify in the first place.Therefore, a mix of different methods, such as Multi-criteria Assessment, Life-cycle Assessment or Cost-Benefit Analysis, as well as different approaches（e.g.thresholds and strong/weak sustainability） are needed in aggregating the results of the impacts.SIAs are important in supporting and improving the acceptability of decision-making, but a certain degree of uncertainty will always have to be tolerated.

Forest status assessment in China with SDG indicators based on high-resolution satellite data

To assess the status and change trend of forest in China,an indicator framework was developed using SDG sub-indicators.In this paper,we propose an improved methodology and a set of workflows for calculating SDG indicators.The main modification include the use of moderate and high spatial resolution satellite data,as well as state-of-the-art machine learning techniques for forest cover classification and estimation of forest above-ground biomass(AGB).This research employs GF-1 and GF-2 data with enhanced texture information to map forest cover,while time series Landsat data is used to estimate forest AGB across the whole territory of China.The study calculate two SDG sub-indicators:SDG_(15.1.1) for forest area and SDG_(15.2.1) for sustainable forest management.The evaluation results showed that the total forest area in China was approximately 219 million hectares at the end of 2021,accounting for about 23.51%of the land area.The average annual forest AGB from 2015 to 2021 was estimated to be 105.01Mg/ha,and the overall trend of forest AGB change in China was positive,albeit with some spatial differences.