Owner-driven decision support in holding-specific forest planning

Socio-economic and demographic changes among family forest owners and demands for versatile forestry decision aid motivated this study, which sought grounds for owner-driven forest planning. Finnish family forest owners’ forest-related decision making was analyzed in two interview-based qualitative studies, the main findings of which were surveyed quantitatively. Thereafter, a scheme for adaptively mixing methods in individually tailored decision support processes was constructed. The first study assessed owners’ decision-making strategies by examining varying levels of the sharing of decision-making power and the desire to learn. Five decision-making modes – trusting, learning, managing, pondering, and decisive – were discerned and discussed against conformable decision-aid approaches. The second study conceptualized smooth communication and assessed emotional, practical, and institutional boosters of and barriers to such smoothness in communicative decision support. The results emphasize the roles of trust, comprehension, and contextual services in owners’ communicative decision making. In the third study, a questionnaire tool to measure owners’ attitudes towards communicative planning was constructed by using trusting, learning, and decisive dimensions. Through a multivariate analysis of survey data, three owner groups were identified as fusions of the original decision-making modes: trusting learners (53%), decisive learners (27%), and decisive managers (20%). Differently weighted communicative services are recommended for these compound wishes. The findings of the studies above were synthesized in a form of adaptive decision analysis (ADA), which allows and encourages the decision-maker (owner) to make deliberate choices concerning the phases of a decision aid (planning) process. The ADA model relies on adaptability and feedback management, which foster smooth communication with the owner and (inter-)organizational learning of the planning institution(s). The summarized results indicate that recognizing the communication-related amenity values of family forest owners may be crucial in developing planning and extension services. It is therefore recommended that owners, root-level planners, consultation professionals, and pragmatic researchers collaboratively continue to seek stable change.

Phosphorus retention in forest soils and the functioning of buffer zones used in forestry

Phosphorus (P) retention properties of soils typical for boreal forest, i.e. podzolic soil and peat soils, vary significantly, but the range of this variation has not been sufficiently documented. To assess the usefulness of buffer zones used in forestry in removing P from the discharge by chemical sorption in soil, and to estimate the risk of P leaching after forestry operations, more data is needed on soil P retention properties. P retention properties of soils were studied at clear-cut areas, unharvested buffer zones adjoining the clear-cut and at peatland buffer zone areas. Desorption-sorption isotherms were determined for the humus layer, the mineral soil horizons E, B and C of the Podzol profile and for the surface layer peat (0-15 cm) and the subsurface layer peat (15-30 cm). The efficiency of buffer zones in retaining P was studied at six peatland buffer zone areas by adding P-containing solute in the inflow. A tracer study was conducted at one of the buffer zone areas to determine the allocation of the added P in soil and vegetation. Measured sorption or desorption rather than parameter values of fitted sorption equations described P desorption and sorption behaviour in soil. The highest P retention efficiency was in the B horizon and consequently, if contact occurred or was established between the soluble P in the water and the soil B horizon, the risk of P leaching was low. Humus layer was completely incapable of retaining P after clear-cutting. In the buffer zones, the decrease in P retention properties in the humus layer and the low amount of P sorbed by it indicated that the importance of the layer in the functioning of buffer zones is low. The peatland buffer zone areas were efficient in retaining soluble P from inflow. P sorption properties of the peat soil at the buffer zone areas varied largely but the contribution of P sorption in the peat was particularly important during high flow in spring, when the vegetation was not fully developed. Factors contributing to efficient P retention were large buffer size and low hydrological load whereas high hydrological load combined with the formation of preferential flow paths, especially during early spring or late autumn was disadvantageous. However, small buffer zone areas, too, may be efficient in reducing P load.

Plant species diversity of buffer zones in agricultural landscapes: in search of determinants from the local to regional scale

Buffer zones are vegetated strip-edges of agricultural fields along watercourses. As linear habitats in agricultural ecosystems, buffer strips dominate and play a leading ecological role in many areas. This thesis focuses on the plant species diversity of the buffer zones in a Finnish agricultural landscape. The main objective of the present study is to identify the determinants of floral species diversity in arable buffer zones from local to regional levels. This study was conducted in a watershed area of a farmland landscape of southern Finland. The study area, Lepsämänjoki, is situated in the Nurmijärvi commune 30 km to the north of Helsinki, Finland. The biotope mosaics were mapped in GIS. A total of 59 buffer zones were surveyed, of which 29 buffer strips surveyed were also sampled by plot. Firstly, two diversity components (species richness and evenness) were investigated to determine whether the relationship between the two is equal and predictable. I found no correlation between species richness and evenness. The relationship between richness and evenness is unpredictable in a small-scale human-shaped ecosystem. Ordination and correlation analyses show that richness and evenness may result from different ecological processes, and thus should be considered separately. Species richness correlated negatively with phosphorus content, and species evenness correlated negatively with the ratio of organic carbon to total nitrogen in soil. The lack of a consistent pattern in the relationship between these two components may be due to site-specific variation in resource utilization by plant species. Within-habitat configuration (width, length, and area) were investigated to determine which is more effective for predicting species richness. More species per unit area increment could be obtained from widening the buffer strip than from lengthening it. The width of the strips is an effective determinant of plant species richness. The increase in species diversity with an increase in the width of buffer strips may be due to cross-sectional habitat gradients within the linear patches. This result can serve as a reference for policy makers, and has application value in agricultural management. In the framework of metacommunity theory, I found that both mass effect(connectivity) and species sorting (resource heterogeneity) were likely to explain species composition and diversity on a local and regional scale. The local and regional processes were interactively dominated by the degree to which dispersal perturbs local communities. In the lowly and intermediately connected regions, species sorting was of primary importance to explain species diversity, while the mass effect surpassed species sorting in the highly connected region. Increasing connectivity in communities containing high habitat heterogeneity can lead to the homogenization of local communities, and consequently, to lower regional diversity, while local species richness was unrelated to the habitat connectivity. Of all species found, Anthriscus sylvestris, Phalaris arundinacea, and Phleum pretense significantly responded to connectivity, and showed high abundance in the highly connected region. We suggest that these species may play a role in switching the force from local resources to regional connectivity shaping the community structure. On the landscape context level, the different responses of local species richness and evenness to landscape context were investigated. Seven landscape structural parameters served to indicate landscape context on five scales. On all scales but the smallest scales, the Shannon-Wiener diversity of land covers (H') correlated positively with the local richness. The factor (H') showed the highest correlation coefficients in species richness on the second largest scale. The edge density of arable field was the only predictor that correlated with species evenness on all scales, which showed the highest predictive power on the second smallest scale. The different predictive power of the factors on different scales showed a scaledependent relationship between the landscape context and local plant species diversity, and indicated that different ecological processes determine species richness and evenness. The local richness of species depends on a regional process on large scales, which may relate to the regional species pool, while species evenness depends on a fine- or coarse-grained farming system, which may relate to the patch quality of the habitats of field edges near the buffer strips. My results suggested some guidelines of species diversity conservation in the agricultural ecosystem. To maintain a high level of species diversity in the strips, a high level of phosphorus in strip soil should be avoided. Widening the strips is the most effective mean to improve species richness. Habitat connectivity is not always favorable to species diversity because increasing connectivity in communities containing high habitat heterogeneity can lead to the homogenization of local communities (beta diversity) and, consequently, to lower regional diversity. Overall, a synthesis of local and regional factors emerged as the model that best explain variations in plant species diversity. The studies also suggest that the effects of determinants on species diversity have a complex relationship with scale.

The potential for monitoring and control of insect pests in Southern Hemisphere forestry plantations using semiochemicals

Southern Hemisphere plantation forestry has grown substantially over the past few decades and will play an increasing role in fibre production and carbon sequestration in future. The sustainability of these plantations is, however, increasingly under pressure from introduced pests. This pressure requires an urgent and matching increase in the speed and efficiency at which tools are developed to monitor and control these pests. To consider the potential role of semiochemicals to address the need for more efficient pest control in Southern Hemisphere plantations, particularly by drawing from research in other parts of the world. Semiochemical research in forestry has grown exponentially over the last 40 years but has been almost exclusively focussed on Northern Hemisphere forests. In these forests, semiochemicals have played an important role to enhance the efficiency of integrated pest management programmes. An analysis of semiochemical research from 1970 to 2010 showed a rapid increase over time. It also indicated that pheromones have been the most extensively studied type of semiochemical in forestry, contributing to 92% of the semiochemical literature over this period, compared with research on plant kairomones. This research has led to numerous applications in detection of new invasions, monitoring population levels and spread, in addition to controlling pests by mass trapping or disrupting of aggregation and mating signals. The value of semiochemicals as an environmentally benign and efficient approach to managing forest plantation pests in the Southern Hemisphere seems obvious. There is, however, a lack of research capacity and focus to optimally capture this opportunity. Given the pressure from increasing numbers of pests and reduced opportunities to use pesticides, there is some urgency to develop semiochemical research capacity.

Insect pests in tropical forestry

The layout of this second edition follows that of the first, though the content has been substantially rewritten to reflect 10 years of research and development, as well as the emergence of new pest species. Chapter 1 presents an overview, from a somewhat entomological perspective, of tropical forestry in its many guises. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 then discuss the 'pure' biology and ecology of tropical insects and their co-evolved relationships with the trees and forests in which they live. Chapter 5 is necessarily the largest chapter in the book, looking in detail at a selection of major pest species from all over the tropical world. Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9 then discuss the theory and practice of insect pest management, starting at the fundamental planning stage, before any seeds hit the soil. Nursery management and stand management were considered in Chapters 7 and 8. Chapter 9 covers the topics of forest health surveillance, quarantine and forest invasive species, topics which again have significance at all stages of forestry but for convenience are presented after nursery and forest management. This, in fact, we attempt to do in the final chapter, Chapter 10, which combines most of the previous nine chapters in examples illustrating the concept of integrated pest management. ©CABI Publishing CABI Publishing

Reciprocal and advanced generation hybrids between Corymbia citriodora and C-torelliana: forestry breeding and the risk of gene flow

Corymbia F1 hybrids have high potential for plantation forestry; however, little is known of their reproductive biology and potential for genetic pollution of native Corymbia populations. This study aims to quantify the influence of reproductive isolating barriers on the success of novel reciprocal and advanced generation Corymbia hybrids. Two maternal taxa, Corymbia citriodora subsp. citriodora and Corymbia torelliana, were pollinated using five paternal taxa, C. citriodora subsp. citriodora, C. torelliana, one C. torelliana x C. citriodora subsp. citriodora hybrid and two C. torelliana x C. citriodora subsp. variegata hybrids. Pollen tube, embryo and seed development were assessed. Reciprocal hybridisation between C. citriodora subsp. citriodora and C. torelliana was successful. Advanced generation hybrids were also created when C. citriodora subsp. citriodora or C. torelliana females were backcrossed with F1 hybrid taxa. Prezygotic reproductive isolation was identified via reduced pollen tube numbers in the style and reduced numbers of ovules penetrated by pollen tubes. Reproductive isolation was weakest within the C. citriodora subsp. citriodora maternal taxon, with two hybrid backcrosses producing equivalent capsule and seed yields to the intraspecific cross. High hybridising potential was identified between all Corymbia species and F1 taxa studied. This provides opportunities for advanced generation hybrid breeding, allowing desirable traits to be amplified. It also indicates risks of gene flow between plantation and native Corymbia populations.

Poverty and the Environment : Investment Poverty and the Role of Assets in Generating Welfare for Farmer Households in the Province of Herrera, Panama

Köyhiä maanviljelijöitä on usein syytetty kehitysmaiden ympäristöongelmista. On väitetty, että eloonjäämistaistelu pakottaa heidät käyttämään maata ja muita luonnonvaroja lyhytnäköisesti. Harva asiaa koskeva tutkimus on kuitenkaan tukenut tätä väitettä; perheiden köyhyyden astetta ja heidän aiheuttamaansa ympäristövaikutusta ei ole kyetty kytkemään toisiinsa. Selkeyttääkseen köyhyys-ympäristö –keskustelua, Thomas Reardon ja Steven Vosti kehittivät investointiköyhyyden käsitteen. Se tunnistaa sen kenties suuren joukon maanviljelijäperheitä, jotka eivät ole köyhiä perinteisten köyhyysmittareiden mukaan, mutta joiden hyvinvointi ei ole riittävästi köyhyysrajojen yläpuolella salliakseen perheen investoida kestävämpään maankäyttöön. Reardon ja Vosti korostivat myös omaisuuden vaikutusta perheiden hyvinvointiin, ja uskoivat sen vaikuttavan tuotanto- ja investointipäätöksiin. Tässä tutkimuksessa pyritään vastaamaan kahteen kysymykseen: Miten investointiköyhyyttä voidaan ymmärtää ja mitata? Ja, mikä on viljelijäperheiden omaisuuden hyvinvointia lisäävä vaikutus? Tätä tutkimusta varten haastateltiin 402 maanviljelijäperhettä Väli-Amerikassa, Panaman tasavallan Herreran läänissä. Näiden perheiden hyvinvointia mitattiin heidän kulutuksensa mukaan, ja paikalliset köyhyysrajat laskettiin paikallisen ruoan hinnan mukaan. Herrerassa ihminen tarvitsee keskimäärin 494 dollaria vuodessa saadakseen riittävän ravinnon, tai 876 dollaria vuodessa voidakseen ravinnon lisäksi kattaa muitakin välttämättömiä menoja. Ruoka- eli äärimmäisen köyhyyden rajan alle jäi 15,4% tutkituista perheistä, ja 33,6% oli jokseenkin köyhiä, eli saavutti kyllä riittävän ravitsemuksen, muttei kyennyt kustantamaan muita perustarpeitaan. Molempien köyhyysrajojen yläpuolelle ylsi siis 51% tutkituista perheistä. Näiden köyhyysryhmien välillä on merkittäviä eroavaisuuksia ei vain perheiden varallisuuden, tulojen ja investointistrategioiden välillä, mutta myös perheiden rakenteessa, elinympäristössä ja mahdollisuuksissa saada palveluja. Investointiköyhyyden mittaaminen osoittautui haastavaksi. Herrerassa viljelijät eivät tee investointeja puhtaasti ympäristönsuojeluun, eikä maankäytön kestävyyttä muutenkaan pystytty yhdistämään perheiden hyvinvoinnin tasoon. Siksi investointiköyhyyttä etsittiin sellaisena hyvinvoinnin tasona, jonka alapuolella elävien perheiden parissa tuottavat maanparannusinvestoinnit eivät enää ole suorassa suhteessa hyvinvointiin. Tällaisia investointeja ovat mm. istutetut aidat, lannoitus ja paranneltujen laiduntyyppien viljely. Havaittiin, että jos perheen hyvinvointi putoaa alle 1000 dollarin/henkilö/vuosi, tällaiset tuottavat maanparannusinvestoinnit muuttuvat erittäin harvinaisiksi. Investointiköyhyyden raja on siis noin kaksi kertaa riittävän ravitsemuksen hinta, ja sen ylitti 42,3% tutkituista perheistä. Heille on tyypillistä, että molemmat puolisot käyvät työssä, ovat korkeasti koulutettuja ja yhteisössään aktiivisia, maatila tuottaa paremmin, tilalla kasvatetaan vaativampia kasveja, ja että he ovat kerryttäneet enemmän omaisuutta kuin investointi-köyhyyden rajan alla elävät perheet. Tässä tutkimuksessa kyseenalaistettiin yleinen oletus, että omaisuudesta olisi poikkeuksetta hyötyä viljelijäperheelle. Niinpä omaisuuden vaikutusta perheiden hyvinvointiin tutkittiin selvittämällä, mitä reittejä pitkin perheiden omistama maa, karja, koulutus ja työikäiset perheenjäsenet voisivat lisätä perheen hyvinvointia. Näiden hyvinvointi-mekanismien ajateltiin myös riippuvan monista väliin tulevista tekijöistä. Esimerkiksi koulutus voisi lisätä hyvinvointia, jos sen avulla saataisiin paremmin palkattuja töitä tai perustettaisiin yritys; mutta näihin mekanismeihin saattaa vaikuttaa vaikkapa etäisyys kaupungeista tai se, omistaako perhe ajoneuvon. Köyhimpien perheiden parissa nimenomaan koulutus olikin ainoa tutkittu omaisuuden muoto, joka edisti perheen hyvinvointia, kun taas maasta, karjasta tai työvoimasta ei ollut apua köyhyydestä nousemiseen. Varakkaampien perheiden parissa sen sijaan korkeampaa hyvinvointia tuottivat koulutuksen lisäksi myös maa ja työvoima, joskin monesta väliin tulevasta muuttujasta, kuten tuotantopanoksista riippuen. Ei siis ole automaatiota, jolla omaisuus parantaisi perheiden hyvinvointia. Vaikka rikkailla onkin yleensä enemmän karjaa kuin köyhemmillä, ei tässä aineistossa löydetty yhtään mekanismia, jota kautta karjan määrä tuottaisi korkeampaa hyvinvointia viljelijäperheille. Omaisuuden keräämisen ja hyödyntämisen strategiat myös muuttuvat hyvinvoinnin kasvaessa ja niihin vaikuttavat monet ulkoiset tekijät. Ympäristön ja köyhyyden suhde on siis edelleen epäselvä. Köyhyyden voittaminen vaatii pitkällä tähtäimellä sitä, että viljelijäperheet nousisivat investointiköyhyyden rajan yläpuolelle. Näin heillä olisi varaa alkaa kartuttaa omaisuutta ja investoida kestävämpään maankäyttöön. Tällä hetkellä kuitenkin isolle osalle herreralaisia perheitä tuo raja on kaukana tavoittamattomissa. Miten päästä yli tuhannen dollarin kulutukseen perheenjäsentä kohden, mikäli elintaso ei yllä edes riittävään ravitsemukseen? Ja sittenkin, vaikka hyvinvointi kohenisi, ei ympäristön kannalta parannuksia ole välttämättä odotettavissa, mikäli karjalaumat kasvavat ja eroosioalttiit laitumet leviävät.

Evaluating the role of extension in helping to improve water quality in the Great Barrier Reef

From 2012-2014 the Queensland Government delivered an extension project to help sugarcane growers adopt best management practices to reduce pollutant loss to the Great Barrier Reef. Coutts J&R were engaged to measure progress towards the project's engagement, capacity gain and practice change targets. The monitoring and evaluation program comprised a database, post-workshop evaluations and grower and advisor surveys. Coutts J&R conducted an independent phone survey with 97 growers, a subset of the 900 growers engaged in extension activities. Of those surveyed 64% stated they had made practice changes. There was higher (74%) adoption by growers engaged in one-on-one extension than those growers only involved in group-based activities (36%). Overall, the project reported 41% (+/-10%, 95% confidence) of growers engaged made a practice change. The structured monitoring and evaluation program, including independent surveys, was essential to quantify practice change and demonstrate the effectiveness of extension in contributing to water quality improvement.

Moral expansiveness: Examining variability in the extension of the moral world

The nature of our moral judgments—and the extent to which we treat others with care—depend in part on the distinctions we make between entities deemed worthy or unworthy of moral consideration— our moral boundaries. Philosophers, historians, and social scientists have noted that people’s moral boundaries have expanded over the last few centuries, but the notion of moral expansiveness has received limited empirical attention in psychology. This research explores variations in the size of individuals’ moral boundaries using the psychological construct of moral expansiveness and introduces the Moral Expansiveness Scale (MES), designed to capture this variation. Across 6 studies, we established the reliability, convergent validity, and predictive validity of the MES. Moral expansiveness was related (but not reducible) to existing moral constructs (moral foundations, moral identity, “moral” universalism values), predictors of moral standing (moral patiency and warmth), and other constructs associated with concern for others (empathy, identification with humanity, connectedness to nature, and social responsibility). Importantly, the MES uniquely predicted willingness to engage in prosocial intentions and behaviors at personal cost independently of these established constructs. Specifically, the MES uniquely predicted willingness to prioritize humanitarian and environmental concerns over personal and national self-interest, willingness to sacrifice one’s life to save others (ranging from human out-groups to animals and plants), and volunteering behavior. Results demonstrate that moral expansiveness is a distinct and important factor in understanding moral judgments and their consequences.