Effect of Exotic Tree Plantations on Plant Diversity and Biological Soil Fertility in the Congo Savanna: With Special Reference to Eucalypts

Effect of Exotic Tree Plantations on Plant Diversity and Biological Soil Fertility in the Congo Savanna: With Special Reference to Eucalypts
Author: F. Bernhard-Reversat
Publisher: CIFOR
Total Pages: 73
Release: 2001-01-01
Genre: Eucalyptus
ISBN: 9798764722

Improvement of biodiversity in plantations. Biological factors of fertility related to organic matter dynamics. Biological factors of fertility related to the diversity and density of soil biota. Asymbiotic nitrogen fixation in savanna and eucalypt plantations. Effect of exotic tree plantations on free living and plant parasitic soil nematodes and population changes with eucalypt hybrids and plantation age.

Degraded Forests in Eastern Africa

Degraded Forests in Eastern Africa
Author: Frans Bongers
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 378
Release: 2010-09-23
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1136532358

Forest degradation as a result of logging, shifting cultivation, agriculture and urban development is a major issue throughout the tropics. It leads to loss in soil fertility, water resources and biodiversity, as well as contributes to climate change. Efforts are therefore required to try to minimize further degradation and restore tropical forests in a sustainable way. This is the first research-based book to examine this problem in East Africa. The specific focus is on the forests of Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda, but the lessons learned are shown to be applicable to neighbouring countries and others in the tropics. A wide range of forest types are covered, from dry Miombo forest and afromontane forests, to forest-savannah mosaics and wet forest types. Current management practices are assessed and examples of good practice presented. The role of local people is also emphasized. The authors describe improved management and restoration through silviculture, plantation forestry and agroforestry, leading to improvements in timber production, biodiversity conservation and the livelihoods of local people.

Forest Ecology Research Horizons

Forest Ecology Research Horizons
Author: Nole C. Verne
Publisher: Nova Publishers
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2007
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9781600214905

Forest ecology includes within its scope the components and functions of forest ecosystems -- a community of organisms interacting with each other and with their physical environment. Forest ecosystems, which consist of bacteria, plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, soil, water and air, differ from other ecosystems in that they are dominated by trees and other woody vegetation. Each of these components plays an important role in the function and health of the forest. This book presents important research in the field.

Biodiversity Enrichment in a Diverse World

Biodiversity Enrichment in a Diverse World
Author: Gbolagade Akeem Lameed
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 522
Release: 2012-08-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9535107186

This book - Biodiversity Enrichment in a Diverse World - considered biodiversity (plants, animals, fungi, and microbes) from three different angles: genetics, species, and ecosystems. The relationships between them are complex and it looks at these aspects from different angles and also various interventions at different levels. The scientific approach of the book demonstrates that the three levels are closely inter-connected and action is therefore needed to conserve and protect the systems if the benefits provided to human life will continue to be available. However, conservation of the biological diversity is essentially an umbrella term for traditional species, relationship to human health, ecosystem conservation and the need to manage the human use of the species and ecosystems in a sustainable way.

Biology, Productivity and Bioenergy of Timber-Yielding Plants

Biology, Productivity and Bioenergy of Timber-Yielding Plants
Author: Maginot Ngangyo Heya
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2017-09-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319617982

Face to the current global energy crisis, there is an urgent necessity of searching for alternatives to fossil fuels, and this book shows how timber is a promising resource for sustainable energy production. Northeast Mexico represents an important forest resource to satisfy the needs of the population in these areas. In order to harness these forest resources, technology for exploring these valuable resources must be developed. These technologies (with special reference to biology and wood technologies) are available in scattered form in a few books but there is no central, comprehensive source for practical forest scientists for adopting efficient forest management, practice, and exploration. This book deals with the characterization of the vegetation, morphology, phenological development, biomass production (leaf, litter, wood), and bioenergy of some timber-yielding species of Northeast Mexico, which will serve as a guide to study timber-yielding plants in the native vegetation of Tamaulipan thornscrub and experimental plantations. This includes morphology, vegetation cover, biomass production in terms of volume leaf biomass, litter, and volume of fire wood and timber. Special emphasis is given to the estimation of bioenergy products and chemical composition (Ph, extractable lignin, and inorganic elements). Large variations exist in vegetation cover, morphology, phenological development, biomass production of leaf and litter, volume of wood and various variable of bioenergy products among the selected species. The maximum production was found in summer and the volume of the harvestable timber was obtained in experimental plantations. This book, therefore, will serve as a practical handbook to characterize timber-yielding plants, which will help to efficiently manage forestry resources.

Fast-wood Forestry: Myths and Realities

Fast-wood Forestry: Myths and Realities
Author: Christian Cossalter
Publisher: CIFOR
Total Pages: 66
Release: 2003-08-26
Genre:
ISBN: 9793361638

A brief history of plantations. Environmental issues. Plantations and biodiversity. Water matters. Plantations and the soil. Pests: plantations' achilles' heel? Genetically modified trees: opportunity or treath? Plantations and global warming. Social issues. Employement: a contested balance sheet. Land tenure and conflict. Economic issues. Spiralling demand. Incentives and subsidies. Economies of scale. Costing the earth.

Planted Forests

Planted Forests
Author: Julian Evans
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2009
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1845935640

Planted forests - despite being only seven per cent of the world's forest resources, have superseded naturally regenerating forests as the principal source of industrial wood products. Lessening the pressure for wood production, on natural forests, tree planting has released them to be managed for other purposes - carbon sinks, soil and water protection, conservation of biological diversity, recreation and amenity. Representing a complement, but not an alternative, to natural forests, planted forests have become increasingly important for reducing worldwide deforestation, loss of forest ecosystems and forest degradation. Examining the significance of this rapidly emerging world resource, chapters consider the strengths and weaknesses of planted forests, management objectives for their use and aspects of ownership and policy. Data from key production countries are used to evaluate the implications and sustainability of planted forests as a source of forest products as well as social and ecological issues.

Plantation Forests and Biodiversity: Oxymoron or Opportunity?

Plantation Forests and Biodiversity: Oxymoron or Opportunity?
Author: Eckehard G. Brockerhoff
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2010-07-23
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9048128072

1 Plantation forests and biodiversity: Oxymoron or opportunity? Forests form the natural vegetation over much of the Earth’s land, and they are critical for the survival of innumerable organisms. The ongoing loss of natural forests, which in some regions may have taken many millennia to develop, is one of the main reasons for the decline of biodiversity. Preventing the further destruction of forests and protecting species and ecosystems within forests have become central issues for environmental agencies, forest managers, and gove- ments. In this di?cult task science has an important role in informing policy and management as to how to go about this. So how do industrial and other pl- tation forests ?t into this? Plantation forests, comprised of rows of planted trees that may be destined for pulp or sawmills after only a few years of growth, appear to have little to c- tribute to the conservation of biodiversity. Yet there is more to this than meets the eye (of the casual observer), and there are indeed numerous opportunities, and often untapped potential, for biodiversity conservation in plantation forestry. With plantation forests expanding at a rate of approximately three million hectares per year, it is crucial to understand how plantations can make a positive contribution to biodiversity conservation and how the potentially negative impacts of this land use can be minimised. That is the topic of this book.