Risto Päivinen

Comparison of beta and weibull functions for modelling basal area diameter distribution in stands of pinus sylvestris and picea abies

The purpose of this study was to compare beta and Weibull distributions in describing basal area diameter distributions in stands dominated by Scots pine and Norway spruce. The material of the study consisted of 535 stands located in eastern Finland. Parameters for both two‐ and three‐parameter approaches of the Weibull distribution were estimated using the method of maximum likelihood. Models for these parameters were derived using regression analysis. For the beta distribution, regression models were formed for the minimum, maximum and standard deviation of diameters within individual stands. These models were used when the exponents of the beta distribution were calculated analytically. Also, some parameter models for beta and Weibull distributions from previous studies were compared with the measured diameter distributions. The distributions obtained were compared using diameter sums and an estimate of the proportion of sawtimber. The results did not reveal any major differences between the suitabilit...

ASSESSMENT OF BIODIVERSITY FOR IMPROVED FOREST PLANNING

V. KAPOS AND S.F. IREMONGER World Conservation Monitoring Centre 219 Huntingdon Road Cambridge CB3 ODL U.K. Forests are arguably the single most important repository of global biodiversity, attracting the attention of conservation planners as well as foresters. Diversity is an essential factor in maintaining forest function, so its conservation and management are important issues in forest planning. Because species and ecosystems are no respecters of national boundaries, and international collaboration is required to ensure their preservation, conservation issues are increasingly being viewed on global and regional, as well as national scales. However, building reliable pictures of biodiversity resources at these scales is a complex task. Direct measures of species diversity over broad areas are neither possible nor meaningful. Instead, the issue may be addressed through indicators of species diversity such as ecosystem diversity, indicators of forest condition, and the identification of major centres of speciation and endemism. Even for these surrogates, problems arise in the process of scaling up from more local data sets because of the different definitions, classifications and data sources used by different agencies and groups of researchers. The broad scale data sets that are available for global and regional scale forest conservation planning include global forest cover, ecoregion distribution, protected areas coverages, endemic and important bird areas, distributions of endangered and threatened species, and information on deforestation and trade in endangered species. Information as yet unavailable which would contribute substantially to broad scale perspectives on conservation of forest systems includes: a) potential forest cover at global and regional scales, b) more complete information on plant and invertebrate species diversity and distribution, and c) measures of the relationships between people and the forest, e.g. use of forest products, and their impacts on forest ecosystems and biodiversity. Improvements in the understanding of issues and processes in global forest biodiversity and its conservation will be derived from global assessment exercises like the Forest Resources Assessment of the FAO, increasing global compatibility of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, forest certification processes, and national reporting exercises, e.g. for the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Harmonisation and standardisation in multi-national environmental statistics - mission impossible?

Multi-national statistics are frequently based on data, whichoriginate from national surveys. The systems of nomenclatureapplied for key attributes often show national differences.Different error sources which are incorporated in multi-nationalstatistics are discussed. The paper presents approaches forharmonisation and standardisation of multi-nationalenvironmental statistics and gives examples from the forestrysector. The effect of differences of national forest areaestimates on multi-national figures is quantified. An examplefrom forest health surveys is presented that shows the impact ofdifferent interpretation and application of the attribute “crown transparency” that is already harmonised on theEuropean level.

A concept for assessing sustainability impacts of forestry-wood chains

Due to the emerging importance of sustainable use of natural resources, and policies requiring actions towards sustainable development, there is a demand for methodologies and tools that are able to address these new challenges. In this paper, an approach to assess sustainability impacts of alternative production chains of the forest sector is presented. The approach, which is designed for both public and private decision-makers, describes the forest sector as a set of processes by which forest resources are used to (1) produce biomass which is routed through different value-adding production chains and converted to products and (2) provide other ecosystem services. It is suggested that each production process included in a production chain will be characterised by a set of indicators covering environmental, economic and social aspects of sustainable development. The approach is demonstrated by a numerical example, in which the indicator values are determined based on the volume of wood material flowing through the processes. Sustainability impacts of policy scenarios or technological changes result from changing from one production chain to another; the impacts accumulate along the production chains. Combined cost–benefit and multi-criteria analyses are proposed to evaluate overall impacts and to compare alternative chains.

Sustainable management regimes for Europe's forests - a projection with EFISCEN until 2050

Abstract In Europe, forest policy discussions are moving towards a European Union-wide strategy. This will further intensify the relations between European countries in the field of forests and forest management. European-wide forest planning and decision-making require that policy makers have insight into the long-term development of European forests under alternative regimes. The European Forest Information Scenario Model (EFISCEN) was used to make projections of the development of the European forests under four scenarios: (1) business as usual; (2) EFISCEN European timber trend studies (ETTS); (3) maximum sustainable production; and (4) multifunctional management. The simulations were carried out for 30 countries individually, i.e. harmonized scenarios were run, but the special circumstances and demands that play a role in each country were taken into account. The simulations covered 139.2 million ha increasing to 143 million ha in 2050. The initial year varied per country, but was mostly in the region of 1990. The average age of European forests was 57 years in 1990 with a mean growing stock of 142 m 3 ha −1 . The results showed that the future European total fellings may vary between a stable amount of 400 million m 3 year −1 in the ‘business as usual’ scenario to 647 million m 3 year −1 in the ‘maximum sustainable production’ scenario. The other two scenarios incorporated a 9% gradual increase in fellings over the first 30 years of the simulation period (i.e. 0.3% year −1 ). The average growing stock will rise to approximately 250 m 3 ha −1 in 2050, with the exception being the ‘maximum sustainable production’ scenario, in which the growing remains at approximately 137 m 3 ha −1 . The average net annual increment remains at approximately 5 m 3 ha −1 year −1 throughout the simulation period, almost irrespective of the scenario. In the multifunctional scenario, special attention was paid to nature values by increasing the area of strict reserves from 4 million ha in 1990 to 12.3 million ha in 2050 (8.6% of the total forest area). The assumed increase in fellings of 0.3% year −1 appeared possible in combination with this area of reserves. The simulations showed that growing stock development and increment development differed very much for each country separately per scenario. Therefore, the results show a strong need for maintaining the national diversity that constitutes European forestry within harmonized European-wide forest management strategies. In this article, we address what the consequences of each scenario are for wood production, biodiversity, and environmental functions of the forest. The results provide policy makers with a challenge on whether to intervene in the ongoing trend of build-up of growing stock and whether to choose for biodiversity, for increased use of domestically produced wood products, or a combination of these, but spatially separated.

Conducting sustainability impact assessments of forestry-wood chains: examples of ToSIA applications

Within the EFORWOOD project, new methodological approaches to assess the sustainability impacts of forestry-wood chains (FWC) were developed by using indicators of environmental, social and economic relevance. This paper introduces and discusses the developed approach and the two main products developed in the EFORWOOD project: the Database Client and the Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment (ToSIA), which hold, calculate and integrate the extensive information and data collected. Sustainability impact assessment (SIA) of FWCs is based on measuring and analysing environmental, economic and social indicators for all of the production processes along the value chain. The adoption of the method varies between applications and depends on the specification of the FWC in the assessment and what questions are studied. ToSIA is very flexible and can apply forest-, product-, industry- and consumer-defined perspectives. Each perspective influences the focus of the analysis and affects system boundaries. ToSIA can assess forest value chains in different geographical regions covering local, regional, national and up to the continental scale. Potential issues and scenarios can be analysed with the tool including, for example, the impacts of different forest policies on the sustainability of an FWC. This paper presents how ToSIA can be applied to solve such diverse problems and underlines this with examples from different case studies. Differences in chain set-up, system boundaries and data requirements are highlighted and experiences with the implementation of the sustainability impact assessment methods are discussed. The EFORWOOD case studies offer valuable reference data for future sustainability assessments.

Compilation of a European forest map from Portugal to the Ural mountains based on earth observation data and forest statistics

Abstract This article focuses on the approach of combining the information from both remote sensing and forest inventory statistics in order to produce a European forest proportion map covering the area from Portugal to the Ural mountains. For this purpose, a calibration method was developed, tested and applied to the pan-European area. The resulting forest map was analysed on a pixel-by-pixel basis and given to inventory and remote sensing experts for consultation. When comparing both the result of the calibrated forest map with that of the original AVHRR mosaic of the area it was found that the satellite-derived estimates of forest area closely matched the ground inventory statistics indicating the high accuracy obtained from the AVHRR mosaic alone. Most visible discrepancies were found in northern Europe where the inventory data showed less forest than the image data. In southern Europe, the inventory data displayed more forest than the AVHRR image. This project was carried out for the European Commission, Joint Research Centre in 1999/2000 (contract no. 17223-2000-12 F1SC ISP FI) mainly by the European Forest Institute and VTT Information Technology.

Site‐specific constraints in integrated forest planning

This study describes an approach for incorporating several forest products and functions into a mathematical programming for integrated forest planning. The method is based on the combined use of a geographic information system and a planning system that generates several treatment schedules for management units and selects optimal schedule combinations using linear programming. The geographic information system is used to create management zones based on the production potential of the area, the preferences of the decision‐maker and the external requirements set by society. In linear programming, constraints are specified to domains corresponding to zones. A case study is presented to illustrate the derivation of opportunity cost of multiple use.

European Forest Information System — EFIS. a Step towards Better Access to Forest Information

The 1989 EU regulation (EEC) No. 1615/89 stated that the European Commission should set up a European Forest Information and Communication System (EFICS) in order to address the need for sound forestry information at the European level. The main objective of EFICS is to collect, co-ordinate, standardise and process data concerning the forestry sector and its development. Existing data should be utilised and in particular, statistics compiled by the European Community’s statistical office and information from the Member States and other available and accessible data bases, both at the national and international level. The main objective of the European Forest Information System (EFIS) project is to design and build a fully operational prototype of a reliable forest information system. The functionalities of the system include the compilation, processing, analysis and dissemination of available forestry information from various data sources and of various data formats on an international, national and regional level. The challenge for EFIS lies within the creation of an information system that allows flexible analysis options addressing diverse user needs, access restrictions and rights, and adequate and appropriate technological possibilities for the creation and presentation of value-added products. This paper describes the present state of the project and the challenges in improving the access and distribution of forest related information available through the Internet.

Information Needs for Biodiversity Assessment Derived from International Forestry Discussions

International agreements, initiatives for developing criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management and the public discussion on certification commit all countries to preserve biodiversity and to develop a more balanced management of forest environment. To achieve these goals, most representative natural forests have been totally protected and production forests managed with more nature oriented principles. According to the historical forest use, human impact, forest ownership structure and natural forest development cycle, different forestry practices can be distinguished.