Factors Affecting Tree Husbandry and Woodlots Establishment in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania

The study on assessment of factors affecting tree husbandry and woodlots establishment was carried out between September and November 2014 in all seven districts of Kilimanjaro region, namely Hai, Siha Rombo, Mwanga, Same, Moshi Rural and Moshi Municipal Council (MMC). A purposive sampling design was employed whereby two wards per district were selected for the study. Household questionnaire survey was used in data collection. Results show that, factors affecting tree husbandry and woodlots establishment in Kilimanjaro region are gender, livelihood activities, access and ownership/land tenure, cultural factors, legal issues and by-laws insisting people to plant trees. About 32.4%, 32.4% and 30% of all respondents own land with size of 1.0 acre and below, 1.1 - 2.0 and 2.1 - 5.0 acres respectively. Respondents from Hai (55.3%), Same (26.3%), Rombo (11%) and MMC (8%) agreed that cultural issues affect tree husbandry. About 1%, 23%, 30% and 40.8% of respondents in Siha, Same, Hai and Rombo districts respectively agreed that some of by-laws insist people to plant trees on their environments. None of the respondents from any district reported labour availability to be one of the factors affecting tree husbandry. Other factors reported to affect tree husbandry in Kilimanjaro region were capacity building in tree planting and tending, insect pests, diseases and climate change. Formulation of by-laws which insist on tree planting and limit land degradation is recommended at village level. Every piece of land should be planned and used sustainably including area for tree planting. Custom and norms which inhibit women to plant trees should be prohibited through capacity building.

Forest Management Plans in Los Planes de La Palma, El Salvador

Fourteen farmers with small woodlots were interviewed about the forest management plans promoted by the government of El Salvador. As expected, farmers managed for many utilitarian products such as firewood and timber, but the farmers also expressed a strong set of environmental concerns revolved around the ecological value of their woodlots. Farmers generally approved of forest management plans as they saw how plans contributed to sustainable forestry on their woodlots. Farmers had concerns about specific silvicultural practices and about transportation of harvested timber.

Assessment of Variability in the Quality of an Acrisol under Different Land Use Systems in Ghana

Three land use types (natural fallow, Leucaena leucocephala woodlot and cultivated plots) on a Ferric Acrisol in a semi-arid tropical zone of Ghana were compared to assess their effects on variability in selected soil properties and plant biomass accumulation. Organic carbon accumulation in the representative natural fallow profile was 22.7 g/kg, followed by 16.5 g/kg for the Leucaena woodlot and lastly 11.8 g/kg for the cultivated site. The mean bulk density of the natural fallow, Leucaena woodlot and cultivated sites were from 1.36 Mg/m3, 0.92 Mg/m3 and 1.33 Mg/m3 with corresponding range in mean weight diameter of 0.5 mm - 1.2 mm, 0.6 mm - 1.2 mm and 1.0 mm - 1.2 mm, respectively. The lower bulk density observed for the woodlot corresponds to increased total porosity, aeration, and root proliferation due to the stronger and extensive rooting system. Significant differences (P >36%). For the surface soils, exchangeable Na was very variable in the natural fallow. Exchangeable Na, Ca and K and total nitrogen were very variable in the Leucaena woodlot and the cultivated sites. Variability in clay content was very high in the cultivated soils only. The order cultivated land > Leucaena woodlot > natural fallow was noted for properties with high variability (CV > 36%). Plant biomass accumulation was 1834 kg/ha (natural fallow) and 830 kg/ha (Leucaena woodlot) indicating that natural fallows do not only maintain soil quality but they also decrease variability in soil properties which is desirable for soil productivity and quality.

Mushrooms on the Move High-speed trains get fresh produce from isolated parts of Yunnan Province to market quickly

At the crack of dawn,Chen Xiaochong is up and about to head for his woodlot in Chengjiang County in Yuxi City at the central part of Yunnan Province. Every morning at this time of year, Chen ventures deep into the forests at first light, looking for wild edible mushrooms, one of the hidden treasures of the province in southwest China.

Bird community patterns in response to the island features of urban woodlots in eastern China

Many studies have demonstrated the changes in the spatial patterns of plant and animal communities with respect to habitat fragmentation.Insular communities tend to exhibit some special patterns in connection with the characteristics of island habitats.In this paper,the relationships between richness,assemblage,and abundance of bird communities with respect to island features were analyzed in 20 urban woodlots in Hangzhou,China.Field investigations of bird communities,using the line transect method,were conducted from January to December,1997.Each woodlot was surveyed 16 times during the year.Results indicated that bird richness was higher,per unit area,in the smaller woodlots than the larger ones,and overall bird density decreased with the increase in the size of woodlot.However,the evenness of species abundance increased with the area,and small woodlots were usually dominated by higher density species and large woodlots by medium density species.Most species occurring in the small woodlots also occurred in larger woodlots.Also,bird communities among urban woodlots showed a nestedness pattern in assemblage.These patterns implied that the main impacts of woodland habitat fragmentation are:(1)species are constricted and thus species number will increase at a given sample size;(2)as surface area decreases,the proportion of forest edge species as to interior species will increase;(3)community abundance will therefore increase per unit area but most individuals will be from a few dominant species;and(4)overall species diversity will decrease at a habitat level as well as at a region level.These patterns of community in response to the island features were therefore summarized as“island effects in community”.The underlying processes of such observations were also examined in this paper.Woodlot area,edge ratio,isolation,and habitat nestedness were considered as the important factors forming the island effects in community.High heterogeneity between habitats usually contributed most to the maintenance of regional biodiversity,especially in urban woodlots.

The seasonal role of field characteristics on seed-eating bird abundances in agricultural landscapes

In temperate agroecosystems, avian responses in abundance and distribution to landscape attributes may be exacerbated by the coupling of natural seasons and farming practices. We assessed the sea- sonal roles of field type, field use in the surroundings, and distance from a field to the nearest woodlot on the abundance of seed-eating birds in a 225,000 km2 study area in the Pampas of central Argentina. During spring-summer and autumn of 2011-2013, we randomly selected 392 fields and used transect samples to collect data on abundance and presence of seed-eating bird species. We recorded a total of 11,579 individuals belonging to 15 seed-eating bird species. We used generalized lineal mixed models to relate bird abundance to field type, field use in the surroundings, and distance to the nearest woodlot. In spring-summer （breeding season） most bird responses were associated with their nesting requirements. Species that build their nests in trees, such as eared doves Zenaida auriculata, picazuro pigeons Patagioenas picazuro, and monk parakeets Myiopsitta monachus, were more abundant in fields closer to woodlots, whereas grassland yellow-finches Sicalis luteola, which nest at areas with tall grasses, were more abundant in fields with livestock use patches in the field surroundings. In au- tumn （non-breeding season）, most bird responses were associated with foraging and refuge needs. The high abundance of eared doves in crop stubbles and the association of pigeons at field surroundings dominated by croplands or at crop stubbles surrounded by livestock use fields revealed the intimate association of these species to sites with high availability of food resources. In addition, both picazuro pigeons and spot-winged pigeons Patagioenas maculosa were associated with woodlots, which provide suitable roosting sites. Our results show that in temperate agroecosystems, the relationships between field characteristics and seed-eating bird abundances vary with season.

Local people’s knowledge on the adverse impacts and their attitudes towards growing Eucalyptus woodlot in Gudo Beret Kebele, Basona Worena district, Ethiopia

Introduction:Growing Eucalyptus at a farm level in the form of woodlot has become popular among rural households in Ethiopia.For example,rural households mainly establish Eucalyptus woodlot as a component of livelihood improvement and diversification to meet household wood demand and generating cash income.However,there is lack of information on the growth parmeters of Eucalyptus woodlot and the factors influencing the household decision on their establishment at the individual farmland level.The objective of this study was to examine local people’s knowledge on the adverse impacts and their attitudes towards growing Eucalyptus woodlot in Gudo Beret Kebele.We hypothesized that local people’s knowledge on the adverse impacts and their attitudes towards growing Eucalyptus woodlot in Gudo Beret Kebele is affected by socioeconomic and cognitive variables.Methods:A structured questionnaire comprising closed-and open-ended questions was developed and administered to a total of n=94 households to collect information on local people’s knowledge on the adverse impacts and their attitudes towards growing Eucalyptus woodlot.The households were randomly selected through a lottery system based on their house identification numbers.Descriptive statistics,binary logit,and multiple linear regression were used to analyze and interpret the data.Results:The results revealed that about 92%of the respondents noted that growing Eucalyptus woodlot had positive impacts on the socioeconomic situation of the community considering that it contributes to economic benefits through the sale of wood products,such as poles,construction materials,and fuelwood.However,only 8%of the respondents noted that the negative impacts of Eucalyptus woodlot were attributed to the decline in crop and forage production due to its allelopatic effect,and the reduction in ground water availability.Majority of the respondents(about 68%)preferred to grow Eucalyptus woodlot in Gudo Beret Kebele.Thus,most of the respondents(about 69%)had strongly agreed to have a positive attitude towards growing Eucalyptus woodlot.On the other hand,the binary logit regression model explained about 70.6%of the variance of local people’s knowledge on the adverse impacts of Eucalyptus woodlot.Overall,the multiple linear regression model revealed that socioeconomic and cognitive variables had significant effect on local people’s attitudes towards growing Eucalyptus woodlot(39.5%variance explained).Conclusions:We recommended that foresters,natural resource experts and managers,environmentalists,land use planners,and policy-makers should take the right and careful decision by assessing the overall socioeconomic and ecological aspects of Eucalyptus woodlot based on the interests of various stakeholders including local communities.