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Forests hold a significant proportion of global biodiversity and terrestrial carbon stocks and are at the forefront of human-induced global change. The dynamics and distribution of forest vegetation determines the habitat for other organisms, and regulates the delivery of ecosystem services, including carbon storage. Presenting recent research across temperate and tropical ecosystems, this volume synthesises the numerous ways that forests are responding to global change and includes perspectives on: the role of forests in the global carbon and energy budgets historical patterns of forest change and diversification contemporary mechanisms of community assembly and implications of underlying drivers of global change the ways in which forests supply ecosystem services that support human lives. The chapters represent case studies drawn from the authors' expertise, highlighting exciting new research and providing information that will be valuable to academics, students, researchers and practitioners with an interest in this field

This work was funded by the TRIBIONOR Project (Reference CTQ2013-45155-R) and the coal mining company HUNOSA GROUP supported by the HUNOSA CHAIR at the University of Oviedo (Project Reference SV-17-HUNOSA-1). The authors acknowledge the helpful co-operation of Hunosa staff in this study. The TRIBIONOR Project (CTQ2013-45155-R) is funded by the National Program for Research, Development and Innovation in Society Challenges, within the framework of the National Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2013–2016 from the State Research Agency (Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness), co-financed with FEDER Funds. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Government of the Principality of Asturias for supporting Ana Álvarez with a fellowship within the Severo Ochoa Program. ; Peer reviewed ; Publisher PDF

Logging and conversion of tropical forests in Southeast Asia have resulted in the expansion of landscapes containing a mosaic of habitats that may vary in their ability to sustain local biodiversity. However, the complexity of these landscapes makes it difficult to assess abundance and distribution of some species using ground-based surveys alone. Here, we deployed a combination of ground-transects and aerial surveys to determine drivers of the critically endangered Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus morio) distribution across a large multiple-use landscape in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Ground-transects and aerial surveys using drones were conducted for orangutan nests and hemi-epiphytic strangler fig trees (Ficus spp.) (an important food resource) in 48 survey areas across 76 km², within a study landscape of 261 km². Orangutan nest count data were fitted to models accounting for variation in land use, above-ground carbon density (ACD, a surrogate for forest quality), strangler fig density, and elevation (between 117 and 675 m). Orangutan nest counts were significantly higher in all land uses possessing natural forest cover, regardless of degradation status, than in monoculture plantations. Within these natural forests, nest counts increased with higher ACD and strangler fig density, but not with elevation. In logged forest (ACD 14–150 Mg ha⁻¹), strangler fig density had a significant, positive relationship with orangutan nest counts, but this relationship disappeared in a forest with higher carbon content (ACD 150–209 Mg ha⁻¹). Based on an area-to-area comparison, orangutan nest counts from ground transects were higher than from counts derived from aerial surveys, but this did not constitute a statistically significant difference. Although the difference in nest counts was not significantly different, this analysis indicates that both methods under-sample the total number of nests present within a given area. Aerial surveys are, therefore, a useful method for assessing the orangutan habitat use over large areas. However, the under-estimation of nest counts by both methods suggests that a small number of ground surveys should be retained in future surveys using this technique, particularly in areas with dense understory vegetation. This study shows that even highly degraded forests may be a suitable orangutan habitat as long as strangler fig trees remain intact after areas of forest are logged. Enrichment planting of strangler figs may, therefore, be a valuable tool for orangutan conservation in these landscapes. ; Published version ; This research was funded by the Government of Malaysia-UNDP-GEF project on biodiversity conservation in multiple-use forest landscapes in Sabah, Sub-Contract SC-6B.

Three types of forest stands (chestnut coppice, maritime pine stands, and poplar and willow short-rotation woody crops (SRWC)) were evaluated to determine their potential for energy production. The properties of the main aboveground biomass fractions (wood, bark and crown) and also the whole tree were analysed, thus providing data that could be used for management purposes and for evaluating potential forest, biomass energy yields and atmospheric emissions. Proximate, elemental and energetic analyses of the biomass provided important information for evaluating the fuel potential. The energetic value of the biomass derived from the maritime pine stands was higher than that of the poplar and willow clonal stands and chestnut coppice stands. The high ash content of the chestnut bark, relative to that of the wood and crown material, is also an important consideration in relation to energy production. The proportion of carbon concentration accumulated per tree was very similar in all types of material studied, although the N and S contents were higher in the maritime pine stands than in the other stands. For this reason, selection of species and fractions can help to improve fuel quality and the efficiency of the combustion processes, and to minimize atmospheric emissions. ; This work was funded by the TRIBIONOR Project (Reference CTQ2013-45155-R) and the coal mining company HUNOSA GROUP supported by the HUNOSA CHAIR at the University of Oviedo (Project Reference SV-17-HUNOSA-1). The authors acknowledge the helpful co-operation of Hunosa staff in this study. The TRIBIONOR Project (CTQ2013-45155-R) is funded by the National Program for Research, Development and Innovation in Society Challenges, within the framework of the National Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2013–2016 from the State Research Agency (Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness), co-financed with FEDER Funds. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Government of the Principality of Asturias for supporting Ana Álvarez ...

AbstractFormulating effective management plans for addressing the impacts of invasive non-native species (INNS) requires the definition of clear priorities and tangible targets, and the recognition of the plurality of societal values assigned to these species. These tasks require a multi-disciplinary approach and the involvement of stakeholders. Here, we describe procedures to integrate multiple sources of information to formulate management priorities, targets, and high-level actions for the management of INNS. We follow five good-practice criteria: justified, evidence-informed, actionable, quantifiable, and flexible. We used expert knowledge methods to compile 17 lists of ecological, social, and economic impacts of lodgepole pines (Pinus contorta) and American mink (Neovison vison) in Chile and Argentina, the privet (Ligustrum lucidum) in Argentina, the yellow-jacket wasp (Vespula germanica) in Chile, and grasses (Urochloa brizantha and Urochloa decumbens) in Brazil. INNS plants caused a greater number of impacts than INNS animals, although more socio-economic impacts were listed for INNS animals than for plants. These impacts were ranked according to their magnitude and level of confidence on the information used for the ranking to prioritise impacts and assign them one of four high-level actions—do nothing, monitor, research, and immediate active management. We showed that it is possible to formulate management priorities, targets, and high-level actions for a variety of INNS and with variable levels of available information. This is vital in a world where the problems caused by INNS continue to increase, and there is a parallel growth in the implementation of management plans to deal with them.

This paper is a product of the T-FORCES forest monitoring network (Tropical Forests in the Changing Earth System), supported by an ERC Advanced Grant to O.L.P. and by many institutions, NGOs, government agencies and local communities in Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. We are grateful for historical plot data contributed by the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS; two LAM plots and one BEL plot), the Global Ecosystem Monitoring network (GEM; two LAM plots), Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research, Universiti Brunei Darussalam (Brunei plots), Kagoshima University (KIS and KIU plots), Forest Department Sarawak (BKO, LAM, MER and GMU plots), Forest Research Centre, Sabah Forestry Department (SEP plots), the Tropenbos Kalimantan project (ITCI plots), Project Barito Ulu, supported by Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) (BUL plots), and the STREK project, supported by CIRAD, The Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia, and INHUTANI I (STR plots). We are indebted to a great many individuals who contributed to historical data collection. Contemporary fieldwork was supported by a grant from the ERC (T-FORCES) and from NERC (grants NER/A/S/2000/00532, NE/B503384/1, NE/N012542/1). L.Q. was supported by T-FORCES, CIFOR and NERC NE/P00363X/1. S.L.L. was supported by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, T-FORCES and a Phillip Leverhulme Prize. O.L.P. is supported by T-FORCES and a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. M.J.P.S. is supported by T-FORCES and NERC NE/N012542/1. L.F.B. was supported by a NERC studentship to the University of Leeds and a RGS-IBG Henrietta Hutton grant. R.H. was supported by a University of Brunei Darussalam Research Fellowship (2011) and a long-term research project RVO 67985939 from the Czech Academy of Sciences. S.L. received additional support from Primate Conservation Inc. M.S. was supported by a Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports grant of the Czech Republic INGO II LG15051. R.R.E.V. was supported by the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research (WOTRO, grant No. W76-217). We thank Forest Department Sarawak, Sabah Biodiversity Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, Forest Department Brunei, Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research, University of Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education for research permissions. We thank Bako National Park, Lambir Hills National Park, Gunung Mulu National Park, Kuala Belalong Field Study Centre (KBFSC), Glen Reynolds (SEARRP), Danum Valley Conservation Area, Rainforest Discovery Centre Sepilok, Sepilok Laut Reception Centre, Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF), Sungai Wain Protection Forest Management Unit, WWF East Kalimantan and PT. ITCIKU East Kalimantan for logistical support for fieldwork. We thank Timothy Baker, Roel Brienen, Emanuel Gloor, Adriane Esquivel Muelbert and Nicolas Labrière for comments on the manuscript. We thank our deceased colleagues, John Proctor and Suriantata, for their invaluable contributions to both historical work and our wider understanding of tropical forest ecology. ; Peer reviewed ; Publisher PDF