Exploring the Forest Cover Changes and Influential Factors of Dongsithouane National Production Forest Area, Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR

The Dongsithouane National Production Forest (DNPF) is one of the largest natural forest areas in Savannakhet, Lao PDR, which has been a vital support for the local community’s livelihood, Recently, significant changes in land use and land cover (LULC) have been observed in this area, leading to a reduction of natural forests. There were two separate methods of this study: firstly, to identify LULC changes across three different periods, spectral imagery from the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) for the years 2001 and 2011, and the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) for 2021 were used as the primary data sources. The satellite images were preprocessed for various forest classes, including pretreatment of the top of atmosphere reflectance by using QGIS software’s semi-automatic classification plug-in (SCP), and ArcGIS was used for post-classification. A supervised classification approach was applied to the satellite images from 2001, 2011, and 2021 to generate diverse maps of LULC. Secondly, a household survey dataset was used to investigate influential factors. Approximately 220 households were interviewed in order to collect socio-economic information (including data on population growth, increased business activities, location of the area, agriculture land expansion, and need for settlement land). Household survey data was analyzed by using SPSS. Descriptive statistics, including frequency distributions and percentages, were applied to observe characteristics. Additionally, a binary logistic regression model was used to analyze the socioeconomic factors related to LULC change in DNPF. Key findings indicated a decline in natural forest areas within the study site. Specifically, both dry dipterocarp forest (−11.35%) and mixed deciduous forest (−0.18%) decreased from 2001 to 2021. The overall accuracy of the LULC maps was 94%, 86%, and 89% for the years 2001, 2011, and 2021 respectively. In contrast, agricultural land increased significantly by 155.70%, while built-up land, and water bodies increased by 65.54% and 35.33%, respectively. The results also highlighted a significant increase in construction land, up to 65.54%. Furthermore, the study found a correlation between agricultural expansion and a reduction of forest areas, along with an increase in built-up land along the forest areas’ boundaries. Timber exploitation and charcoal production also contributed to the decline in forest cover. The logistic regression model identified significant determinants of LULC change, including the area’s location, agricultural land expansion, increased business activity, and the need for settlement land. These factors have influenced the management of DNPF. Urgent sustainable management practices and actions, including forest ecosystem protection, village agricultural zoning, water source and watershed protection and public awareness, are required to preserve the forest areas of DNPF.

Investigation of Macrofungi in Wula Mountain National Forest Park at Yinshan Mountains

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the fungi in Wula Mountain National Forest Park. [Method] More than 180 fungal specimens were collected from Wula Mountain National Forest Park from 2009 to 2012 for primarily studying the fungal species diversity. [Results] According to the classification system presented by Ainsworth et al. and with reference to the China catalogue of Macrofungi in species diversity catalogue of Fungi at Wula Mountain National Forest Park was written, involving in 80 species belonging to 43 genera, 22 families, 5 orders and 2 classes in the Basidiomycotina, and 6 species belonging to 2 genera, 2 families, 2 orders and2 classes in Ascomycotina, totally from 86 species, 45 genera, 7 orders, 24 families and 2 subdivisions. Among them, 49 species were edible and 22 species were medicinal, and 18 species were both edible and medicinal, and 7 species were poisonous, and 32 species were wood-rotting, and 5 species were mycorrhizal fungi,and 3 species were newly-recorded ones in Inner Mongolia. [Conclusion] There are still some specimens that have not been identified yet because of lack of literature,thus requiring further study for supplement.

Behavior Characteristics of Tourists and Detailed Classification of Tourist Source Market in Liuxihe National Forest Park

On the basis of questionnaires and field investigation,behavior characteristics of tourists in Liuxihe National Forest Park were analyzed,and the results showed that tourists in the study area mainly come from the Pearl River Delta for sightseeing,mostly 21-45 years old,with higher revisit rate but less residence time.And meanwhile,key tourist source markets of Liuxihe National Forest Park were classified on the basis of spatial distance features,social and economic features,and behavior characteristics of tourists,specifically,The Pearl River Delta Sightseeing Tourist Market,The Pearl River Delta Vacationing Tourist Market,The Pearl River Delta Business Tourist Market,and The Pearl River Delta Special-interest Tourist Market.Moreover,corresponding development strategies were proposed according to actual conditions of each market.

Tourism Image Plan for Wunvfeng National Forest Park

After the introduction of tourist resources in Wunvfeng National Forest Park, the paper had planed its overall image from the perspectives of concept design, visual identity, behavioral norms and audio identity. The slogan of Wunvfeng National Forest Park had been identified as "tour of nature and mythology-Wunvfeng", and the park's emblem, symbolic mascots, spokesman of tourism image and tourist souvenirs had been set, so as to better display tourist advantages of Wunvfeng National Forest Park and create more economic and social benefits.

A Pragmatic Analysis of Public Signs in Chinese-English Translation——Based on the Example of Shaoguan National Forest Park

With the rapid development of economy and close international exchanges, the English translation of public signs is in-creasingly important and cannot be ignored. This paper takes Shaoguan National Forest Park as an example to analyze its publicsigns translation and points out some pragmatic failures from two aspects:pragmatic language failures and social pragmatic failures.Also, the paper puts forward some suggestions based on the translation error analysis.

The national forest inventory in China:history-results-international context

Background： National forest resource assessments Inventories （NFI＇s）, constitute an important nationa and monitoring, commonly known as National Forest information infrastructure in many countries. Methods： This study presents details about developments of the NFI in China, including sampling and plot design and the uses of alternative data sources, and specifically · reviews the evolution of the national forest inventory in China through the 20th and 21st centuries, with some reference to Europe and the US; · highlights the emergence of some common international themes： consistency of measurement; sampling designs; implementation of improved technology; expansion of the variables monitored more efficient scientific transparency;· presents an example of how China＇s expanding NFI exemplifies these global trends. Results： Main results and important changes in China＇s NFI are documented, both to support continued trend analysis and to provide data users with historical perspective. Conclusions： New technologies and data needs ensure that the Chinese NFI, like the national inventories in other countries, will continue to evolve. Within the context of historical change and current conditions, likely directions for this evolution are suggested.

Carbon storage of a subtropical forest ecosystem: a case study of the Jinggang Mountain National Nature Reserve in south-eastern China

The carbon cycle of forest ecosystems plays a key role in regulating CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. Research on carbon storage estimation of forest ecosystems has become a major research topic. However, carbon budgets of subtropical forest ecosystems have received little attention. Reports of soil carbon storage and topographic heterogeneity of carbon storage are limited. This study focused on the Jinggang Mountain National Nature Reserve as an example of a mid-subtropical forest and evaluated soil and vegetation carbon storage by field sampling combined with GIS, RS and GPS technology. We classified the forest into nine forest types using ALOS high-resolution remote sensing images. The evergreen broad-leaved forest has the largest area, occupying 26.5% of the total area, followed by coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests and warm temperate coniferous forest, occupying 24.2 and 22.9%, respectively. The vegetation and soil carbon storage of the whole forest ecosystem were 1,692,344 and 5,514,707 t, with a carbon density of 7.4 and 24.2 kg/m^2, respectively, which suggests that the ecosystem has great carbon storage capacity. The topographic heterogeneity of the carbon storage was also analysed. The largest vegetation storage and soil storage is at 700–800 and 1000–1100 m, respectively. The vegetation carbon storage is highest in the southeast, south and southwest.

Quality Evaluation on Forest Resources in National Forest Park of Qingliang Mountain in China

Based on the deep survey, the paper had concluded basic conditions of National Forest Park of Qingliang Mountain including geological location, physiographic condition, climate and hydrologic condition. It had introduced forest resources from the aspects of biological landscape, physiographic landscape, hydrologic landscape and cultural landscape. At the same time, it had made a comprehensive evaluation on external transportation, tourism period, and tourist location condition of the Forest Park. On this basis, it has evaluated forest resources' quality, regional environment's quality and development condition in National Forest Park of Qingliang Mountain, beneficial to the identification of protection standards, utilization forms, development scale and service function of forest resources, providing effective guidance for development and construction of forest park.

Predicting upslope expansion of sub-alpine forest in the Makalu Barun National Park, Eastern Nepal, with a hybrid cartographic model

The natural upper boundary of a forest（forest line） in mountain environments is an indicator of climate conditions. An increase in global average temperatures has resulted in an upward advance of the forest line. This advance may result in fragmentation of the alpine ecosystem and a loss of biodiversity. Therefore, it is important to identify potential areas where current forests can advance under scenarios of future climate change. I used expert knowledge and cartographic modeling to create a hybrid cartographic model considering five topographic variables to predict areas where forest line can expand in the future.The prediction accuracy of the model is around 82%. The model is able to predict areas above the current forest line that are suitable or unsuitable for future forest advance.Further inclusion of high-resolution satellite imagery and digital elevation models, as well as field-based information into the model can help to improve the model accuracy.

Exploring Potential of REDD+ Readiness with Social Safeguard through Diverse Forest Use Practices in Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Implementation is expected to be a measure for sustainable forest management by providing benefit for forest users based on their efforts. Without careful attention for the social safeguard, the mechanism of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation with forest management (REDD+) might cause negative impact such as depriving of customary forest use rights under unclear tenure and forest use rights typical in Indonesia. This study aimed to explore how REDD+ Safeguard can be applied in readiness activities by analyzing practical forest use situations in a conservation forest, the Gunung Palung National Park as study site. From the results of the questionnaire survey and interviews, characteristics of forest users were identified and compared. The households, mostly Malays, practicing traditional durian collection, were recognized as main forest users depending on on-farm income especially from non-timber forest product (NTFP). Since the income structure is relatively low and unstable, some of them practice farming in forest area or sell their forest use rights to other households. They are inclined to be lack in legal farm land and certain forest use rights. Based on the findings, consideration for diverse forest users and potential readiness activities were discussed and proposed. For achieving REDD+ implementation with sustainable forest management and social safeguard, it will be necessary to respect for customary rights and take comprehensive measures as readiness efforts.

Using machine learning algorithms to estimate stand volume growth of Larix and Quercus forests based on national-scale Forest Inventory data in China

Estimating the volume growth of forest ecosystems accurately is important for understanding carbon sequestration and achieving carbon neutrality goals.However,the key environmental factors affecting volume growth differ across various scales and plant functional types.This study was,therefore,conducted to estimate the volume growth of Larix and Quercus forests based on national-scale forestry inventory data in China and its influencing factors using random forest algorithms.The results showed that the model performances of volume growth in natural forests(R^(2)=0.65 for Larix and 0.66 for Quercus,respectively)were better than those in planted forests(R^(2)=0.44 for Larix and 0.40 for Quercus,respectively).In both natural and planted forests,the stand age showed a strong relative importance for volume growth(8.6%–66.2%),while the edaphic and climatic variables had a limited relative importance(<6.0%).The relationship between stand age and volume growth was unimodal in natural forests and linear increase in planted Quercus forests.And the specific locations(i.e.,altitude and aspect)of sampling plots exhibited high relative importance for volume growth in planted forests(4.1%–18.2%).Altitude positively affected volume growth in planted Larix forests but controlled volume growth negatively in planted Quercus forests.Similarly,the effects of other environmental factors on volume growth also differed in both stand origins(planted versus natural)and plant functional types(Larix versus Quercus).These results highlighted that the stand age was the most important predictor for volume growth and there were diverse effects of environmental factors on volume growth among stand origins and plant functional types.Our findings will provide a good framework for site-specific recommendations regarding the management practices necessary to maintain the volume growth in China's forest ecosystems.

Tourism management in national parks:Sumava and Bayerischer Wald(Bavarian Forest)in the Czech-German borderland

Along the Czech-German border there are four national parks,two Czech and two German,arranged in cross-border‘pairs’.This article focuses on the southern‘pair’formed by the parks of?umava and Bayerischer Wald(Bavarian Forest).The aim is to evaluate and compare tourism organization in their areas,taking into account selected aspects of management:the network of hiking trails with its related infrastructure,transport accessibility,a typology of tourist centers,as well as directions and destinations of tourist movements.Based on the results,it can be concluded that the availability of geographical space for tourists is much greater in the German than in the Czech national park,and the tourism infrastructure is clearly more extensive there,including the network of tourist trails.This is mainly due to the longer and fairly uninterrupted development of tourism in this area.?umava National Park can be identified as a model in terms of how to adjust the directions of tourist movements and the layout of the tourist trail network to the needs of natural environment.On the basis of observations in both national parks,it is possible to indicate various solutions that,after appropriate adaptation,may bring benefits to other protected areas.

An Empirical Research on Satisfaction of Tourism Public Service in National Forest Park

In recent years,leisure individual travel has become a trend of tourism development.Visitors are highly dependent on the public service system of scenic spots.The educational circles at home and abroad are paying more and more attention to the study of tourism public services.Based on the theory of tourist satisfaction evaluation,this paper made an empirical study on the tourism public service system of Kunyu Mountain National Forest Park.It was found that there was a contradiction between the demand for tourism public services and the actual supply in Kunyu Mountain National Forest Park.Based on this,some measures were put forward,such as strengthening the construction of tourist information signs in scenic spots,strengthening the construction of communication facilities and convenient services for tourists,strengthening the training and supervision of service practitioners,and construction of organizations for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of tourists.

A Brief Analysis of the Non-commercial Forest Compensation System in China

The non-commercial forest is an important natural resource protecting the environment and contributing to the sustainable development of a nation. Due to its crucial positive external effects, it is inevitable policy that non-commercial forestry should be invested by government, thereby formulates the non-commercial forestry compensation system. This paper first discusses the theoretical basis of non-commercial forestry compensation system and the process of establishment of non-commercial forestry compensation system in China, and then analyzes the deficiency in the current compensation system.

Empirical Analysis of Factors Influencing Compensation for Non-commercial Forests under CVM

Based on non-commercial forests in Kunming City,this article conducts survey of 506 households in Kunming City to evaluate their willingness to pay ecological benefit of non-commercial forests,using Contingent Valuation Method(CVM);to analyze factors influencing their willingness to compensate for non-commercial forests,using multivariate statistical analysis method.The results show that income,educational level, housing ownership,outdoor exercise time,whether to be concerned about environmental problems,frequency of obtaining forest-related information monthly and whether understanding non-commercial forests or not,are the most principal factors influencing willingness to pay.

Contribution of non-timber forest products to the livelihoods of the forest-dependent communities around the Khadimnagar National Park in northeastern Bangladesh

Non-timber forest products(NTFPs)play a significant role in the improvement of the forest-dependent people’s livelihoodsaround the world,strengthening protection for the sustainable use of forests.The purpose of this research was to evaluate the influence of occupational category-wise(fuelwood collectors,farmers,small-scale businessmen,day labourers,and tea estate labourers)dependencyon NTFPsand the role of NTFPs on household income around the Khadimnagar National Park(KNP)in northeastern Bangladesh.In 2014,178purposively selected respondents from four villages(out of 22 villagesaround the KNP)were interviewed face-to-face using a semi-structured questionnaire.The study observed that these forest-dependent communities utilized resources of the KNP mainly for domestic energy supply,household income,and house construction.Results showed that income from NTFPs made a significant contribution to family income.Income data analysis indicated that small-scale businessmen earned relatively more income from NTFPs,followed by tea estate labourersand day labourers.The study revealed significant negative relationships of the distance of households from the forest with the amount of NTFPs collected(P<0.01)and monthly income from NTFPs(P<0.01).Positive significant relationships were found between the amount of NTFPs collected and the time spent in NTFP collection(P<0.001),as well as betweenmonthly income from NTFPs and family size(P<0.001).The fuelwood collectors and farmers collected significantly greater amounts of NTFPs per trip(P<0.001)than other occupational categories.The households that were moderately to highly dependent on NTFPs collected significantly higher amounts of NTFPs pertrip(P<0.01)than the households that were moderately dependent and less dependent on NTFPs.Community dependence on KNP’sresources,community’sappreciation of the KNP’s ecosystem services for villagers’livelihoods,and community’s high levels of concern for forest conservation provided a foundation for the sustainable management of the KNP.The study findings will be useful for designing an effective forest management plan and policy for NTFP management and forest conservation with the active involvement of the forest-dependent people in northeastern Bangladesh.

Sample Plot Change in the Seventh Review of Continuous National Forest Inventory in Zigui County

The following qualitative conclusions of forest resources in Zigui can be drawn by the research on 73 plots and 5 vegetation plots:forest area is increasing; forest growing stock is increasing; the adjustment of forest category structure is constantly improved; forest quality has been improving; stand structure is optimized continuously; biodiversity has initially appeared.

Plant Diversity of Maoershan National Forest Park

There are a wide variety of wild plants in Maoershan National Forest Park.According to a fiveyear survey,the plants are found to include 557 species belonging to 116 families and 335 genera.There are 10 dominant families,such as Asteraceae,Ranunculaceae,Rosaceae,Fabaceae,and Chenopodiaceae,including 251 species,accounting for 46.06% of the total.There are 9 dominant genera,such as Polygonum,Potentilla ,Viola ,Artemisia ,and Corydalis ,which include 82 species of plants,accounting for 14.72% of the total.This study statistically analyzed the diversity and function of plants in the park and classified useful plants to provide a basis for the conservation and development of plant resources in Maoershan National Forest Park.

Spatial Pattern Characteristics and Influencing Factors of National Forest Cities in China

In view of the deficiency of national forest cities in the exploration of spatial pattern and influencing factors,this paper adopted the methods of nearest neighbor analysis,kernel density analysis and unbalanced index calculation to analyze the spatial agglomeration pattern and spatial differentiation pattern of national forest cities.The factors affecting the selection and distribution of national forest cities were investigated by using the geographic detector and GWR model.The research results show that:① National forest cities show a spatial aggregation pattern of “east and west sparse,gradient change”,whose distribution is closely related to the climatic area;② The number of national garden cities,forest coverage rate,urbanization rate and local general budget income are four factors that have significant influence on the selection and distribution of national forest cities;③ The four significant influencing factors all have different degrees of spatial non-stationarity,and their two-factor and nonlinear enhancement effects can be generated after two interactions,among which the enhancement effect is the most obvious when the local general budget income interacts with other factors.

Touristic Ecological Footprint of Jiufeng National Forest Park in Beijing Based on Component Method

This paper,based on the ecological footprint component method,calculated the touristic ecological footprint of Jiufeng National Forest Park in Beijing.The results showed that in 2013,in Jiufeng National Forest Park,the total touristic ecological footprint was 183.08 hm2,the total ecological capacity was 225.16 hm2,the total touristic ecological surplus was 42.07 hm2,and the average touristic ecological surplus was 0.000 4 hm2 per capita,indicating that tourism in Jiufeng National Forest Park was in ecological surplus and ecological security.However,forest parks in Beijing at large were in ecological deficit.This paper suggested that the tourist flow volume of forest parks with a big ecological deficit should be moved to forest parks with an ecological surplus.Besides,forest parks are expected to strengthen the development and management,improve the availability of forest recreation resource,and promote the environmental protection awareness of tourists,so as to boost the sustainable development of forest park tourism.