Download or read book Ecology and Recovery of Eastern Old Growth Forests written by Andrew M. Barton and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2018-11-08 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The landscapes of North America, including eastern forests, have been shaped by humans for millennia, through fire, agriculture, hunting, and other means. But the arrival of Europeans on America’s eastern shores several centuries ago ushered in the rapid conversion of forests and woodlands to other land uses. By the twentieth century, it appeared that old-growth forests in the eastern United States were gone, replaced by cities, farms, transportation networks, and second-growth forests. Since that time, however, numerous remnants of eastern old growth have been discovered, meticulously mapped, and studied. Many of these ancient stands retain surprisingly robust complexity and vigor, and forest ecologists are eager to develop strategies for their restoration and for nurturing additional stands of old growth that will foster biological diversity, reduce impacts of climate change, and serve as benchmarks for how natural systems operate. Forest ecologists William Keeton and Andrew Barton bring together a volume that breaks new ground in our understanding of ecological systems and their importance for forest resilience in an age of rapid environmental change. This edited volume covers a broad geographic canvas, from eastern Canada and the Upper Great Lakes states to the deep South. It looks at a wide diversity of ecosystems, including spruce-fir, northern deciduous, southern Appalachian deciduous, southern swamp hardwoods, and longleaf pine. Chapters authored by leading old-growth experts examine topics of contemporary forest ecology including forest structure and dynamics, below-ground soil processes, biological diversity, differences between historical and modern forests, carbon and climate change mitigation, management of old growth, and more. This thoughtful treatise broadly communicates important new discoveries to scientists, land managers, and students and breathes fresh life into the hope for sensible, effective management of old-growth stands in eastern forests.
Download or read book Ontario s Old growth Forests written by Michael Henry and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Ontario's Old- Growth Forests, with its atlas of over 50 old-growth forests, and over 100 photographs, is an invaluable discovery guide for anyone fascinated with the history, ecology, and the wonder of trees."--
Download or read book Nature s Temples written by Joan Maloof and published by Timber Press. This book was released on 2016-11-16 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Maloof eloquently urges us to cherish the wildness of what little old-growth woodlands we have left. . . . Not only are they home to the richest diversity of creatures, but they work hard for humans too.” —New York Times Book Review An old-growth forest is one that has formed naturally over a long period of time with little or no disturbance from humankind. They are increasingly rare and largely misunderstood. In Nature’s Temples, Joan Maloof, the director of the Old-Growth Forest Network, makes a heartfelt and passionate case for their importance. This evocative and accessible narrative defines old-growth and provides a brief history of forests. It offers a rare view into how the life-forms in an ancient, undisturbed forest—including not only its majestic trees but also its insects, plant life, fungi, and mammals—differ from the life-forms in a forest manipulated by humans. What emerges is a portrait of a beautiful, intricate, and fragile ecosystem that now exists only in scattered fragments. Black-and-white illustrations by Andrew Joslin help clarify scientific concepts and capture the beauty of ancient trees.
Download or read book Old Growth in a New World written by Thomas A. Spies and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2012-09-26 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Old-growth forests represent a lofty ideal as much as an ecosystem—an icon of unspoiled nature, ecological stability, and pristine habitat. These iconic notions have actively altered the way society relates to old-growth forests, catalyzing major changes in policy and management. But how appropriate are those changes and how well do they really serve in reaching conservation goals? Old Growth in a New World untangles the complexities of the old growth concept and the parallel complexity of old-growth policy and management. It brings together more than two dozen contributors—ecologists, economists, sociologists, managers, historians, silviculturists, environmentalists, timber producers, and philosophers—to offer a broad suite of perspectives on changes that have occurred in the valuing and management of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest over the past thirty years. The book • introduces the issues and history of old-growth values and conservation in the Pacific Northwest; • explores old growth through the ideas of leading ecologists and social scientists; • addresses the implications for the future management of old-growth forests and considers how evolving science and social knowledge might be used to increase conservation effectiveness. By confronting the complexity of the old-growth concept and associated policy and management challenges, Old Growth in a New World encourages productive discussion on the future of old growth in the Pacific Northwest and offers options for more effective approaches to conserving forest biodiversity.
Download or read book Old Growth Forests written by Christian Wirth and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-07-07 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many terms often used to describe old-growth forests imply that these forests are less vigorous, less productive and less stable than younger forests. But research in the last two decades has yielded results that challenge the view of old-growth forests being in decline. Given the importance of forests in battling climate change and the fact that old-growth forests are shrinking at a rate of 0.5% per year, these new results have come not a moment too soon. This book is the first ever to focus on the ecosystem functioning of old-growth forests. It is an exhaustive compendium of information that contains original work conducted by the authors. In addition, it is truly global in scope as it studies boreal forests in Canada, temperate old-growth forests in Europe and the Americas, and global tropical forests. Written in part to affect future policy, this eminently readable book is as useful for the scientist and student as it is for the politician and politically-interested layman.
Download or read book Ecological Forest Management written by Jerry F. Franklin and published by Waveland Press. This book was released on 2018-03-19 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fundamental changes have occurred in all aspects of forestry over the last 50 years, including the underlying science, societal expectations of forests and their management, and the evolution of a globalized economy. This textbook is an effort to comprehensively integrate this new knowledge of forest ecosystems and human concerns and needs into a management philosophy that is applicable to the vast majority of global forest lands. Ecological forest management (EFM) is focused on policies and practices that maintain the integrity of forest ecosystems while achieving environmental, economic, and cultural goals of human societies. EFM uses natural ecological models as its basis contrasting it with modern production forestry, which is based on agronomic models and constrained by required return-on-investment. Sections of the book consider: 1) Basic concepts related to forest ecosystems and silviculture based on natural models; 2) Social and political foundations of forestry, including law, economics, and social acceptability; 3) Important current topics including wildfire, biological diversity, and climate change; and 4) Forest planning in an uncertain world from small privately-owned lands to large public ownerships. The book concludes with an overview of how EFM can contribute to resolving major 21st century issues in forestry, including sustaining forest dependent societies.
Download or read book Forest Dreams Forest Nightmares written by Nancy Langston and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2009-11-23 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Across the inland West, forests that once seemed like paradise have turned into an ecological nightmare. Fires, insect epidemics, and disease now threaten millions of acres of once-bountiful forests. Yet no one can agree what went wrong. Was it too much management—or not enough—that forced the forests of the inland West to the verge of collapse? Is the solution more logging, or no logging at all? In this gripping work of scientific and historical detection, Nancy Langston unravels the disturbing history of what went wrong with the western forests, despite the best intentions of those involved. Focusing on the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington, she explores how the complex landscapes that so impressed settlers in the nineteenth century became an ecological disaster in the late twentieth. Federal foresters, intent on using their scientific training to stop exploitation and waste, suppressed light fires in the ponderosa pinelands. Hoping to save the forests, they could not foresee that their policies would instead destroy what they loved. When light fires were kept out, a series of ecological changes began. Firs grew thickly in forests once dominated by ponderosa pines, and when droughts hit, those firs succumbed to insects, diseases, and eventually catastrophic fires. Nancy Langston combines remarkable skills as both scientist and writer of history to tell this story. Her ability to understand and bring to life the complex biological processes of the forest is matched by her grasp of the human forces at work—from Indians, white settlers, missionaries, fur trappers, cattle ranchers, sheep herders, and railroad builders to timber industry and federal forestry managers. The book will be of interest to a wide audience of environmentalists, historians, ecologists, foresters, ranchers, and loggers—and all people who want to understand the changing lands of the West.
Download or read book Second Growth written by Robin L. Chazdon and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-05-23 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For decades, conservation and research initiatives in tropical forests have focused almost exclusively on old-growth forests because scientists believed that these “pristine” ecosystems housed superior levels of biodiversity. With Second Growth, Robin L. Chazdon reveals those assumptions to be largely false, bringing to the fore the previously overlooked counterpart to old-growth forest: second growth. Even as human activities result in extensive fragmentation and deforestation, tropical forests demonstrate a great capacity for natural and human-aided regeneration. Although these damaged landscapes can take centuries to regain the characteristics of old growth, Chazdon shows here that regenerating—or second-growth—forests are vital, dynamic reservoirs of biodiversity and environmental services. What is more, they always have been. With chapters on the roles these forests play in carbon and nutrient cycling, sustaining biodiversity, providing timber and non-timber products, and integrated agriculture, Second Growth not only offers a thorough and wide-ranging overview of successional and restoration pathways, but also underscores the need to conserve, and further study, regenerating tropical forests in an attempt to inspire a new age of local and global stewardship.
Download or read book Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World written by Dominick A. DellaSala and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Temperate rainforests are biogeographically unique. Compared to their tropical counterparts, temperate rainforests are rarer and are found disproportionately along coastlines. Because most temperate rainforests are marked by the intersection of marine, terrestrial, and freshwater systems, these rich ecotones are among the most productive regions on Earth. Globally, temperate rainforests store vast amounts of carbon, provide habitat for scores of rare and endemic species with ancient affinities, and sustain complex food-web dynamics. In spite of their global significance, however, protection levels for these ecosystems are far too low to sustain temperate rainforests under a rapidly changing global climate and ever expanding human footprint. Therefore, a global synthesis is needed to provide the latest ecological science and call attention to the conservation needs of temperate and boreal rainforests. A concerted effort to internationalize the plight of the world’s temperate and boreal rainforests is underway around the globe; this book offers an essential (and heretofore missing) tool for that effort. DellaSala and his contributors tell a compelling story of the importance of temperate and boreal rainforests that includes some surprises (e.g., South Africa, Iran, Turkey, Japan, Russia). This volume provides a comprehensive reference from which to build a collective vision of their future.
Download or read book Old Growth written by Robin Wall Kimmerer and published by . This book was released on 2021-08 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Articles about trees that have appeared in Orion Magazine.
Download or read book Teaching the Trees written by Joan Maloof and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2010-09-15 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this collection of natural-history essays, biologist Joan Maloof embarks on a series of lively, fact-filled expeditions into forests of the eastern United States. Through Maloof’s engaging, conversational style, each essay offers a lesson in stewardship as it explores the interwoven connections between a tree species and the animals and insects whose lives depend on it—and who, in turn, work to ensure the tree’s survival. Never really at home in a laboratory, Maloof took to the woods early in her career. Her enthusiasm for firsthand observation in the wild spills over into her writing, whether the subject is the composition of forest air, the eagle’s preference for nesting in loblolly pines, the growth rings of the bald cypress, or the gray squirrel’s fondness for weevil-infested acorns. With a storyteller’s instinct for intriguing particulars, Maloof expands our notions about what a tree “is” through her many asides—about the six species of leafhoppers who eat only sycamore leaves or the midges who live inside holly berries and somehow prevent them from turning red. As a scientist, Maloof accepts that trees have a spiritual dimension that cannot be quantified. As an unrepentant tree hugger, she finds support in the scientific case for biodiversity. As an activist, she can’t help but wonder how much time is left for our forests.
Download or read book Forest Plans of North America written by Jacek P. Siry and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2015-03-13 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forest Plans of North America presents case studies of contemporary forest management plans developed for forests owned by federal, state, county, and municipal governments, communities, families, individuals, industry, investment organizations, conservation organizations, and others in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The book provides excellent real-life examples of contemporary forest planning processes, the various methods used, and the diversity of objectives and constraints faced by forest owners. Chapters are written by those who have developed the plans, with each contribution following a unified format and allowing a common, clear presentation of the material, along with consistent treatment of various aspects of the plans. This work complements other books published by members of the same editorial team (Forest Management and Planning, Introduction to Forestry and Natural Resource Management), which describe the planning process and the various methods one might use to develop a plan, but in general do not, as this work does, illustrate what has specifically been developed by landowners and land managers. This is an in-depth compilation of case studies on the development of forest management plans by the different landowner groups in North America. The book offers students, practitioners, policy makers, and the general public an opportunity to greatly improve their appreciation of forest management and, more importantly, foster an understanding of why our forests today are what they are and what forces and tools may shape their tomorrow. Forest Plans of North America provides a solid supplement to those texts that are used as learning tools for forest management courses. In addition, the work functions as a reference for the types of processes used and issues addressed in the early 21st century for managing land resources. - Presents 40-50 case studies of forest plans developed for a wide variety of organizations, groups, and landowners in North America - Illustrates plans that have specifically been developed by landowners and land managers - Features engaging, clearly written content that is accessible rather than highly technical, while demonstrating the issues and methods involved in the development of the plans - Each chapter contains color photographs, maps, and figures
Download or read book Biodiversity Guidebook written by British Columbia. Ministry of Forests and published by University of British Columbia Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides managers, planners and field staff with a recommended process for meeting biodiversity objectives - both landscape and stand level - as required under the Forest Practices Code.
Download or read book The Sierra Club Guide to the Ancient Forests of the Northeast written by Bruce Kershner and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to the old growth forests located in the Northeastern section of America.
Download or read book Our Living Ancestors written by John Bates and published by . This book was released on 2018-03-07 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Old-growth forests touch the soul of many people. Some hear the echoes of Native Americans or the first settlers. Some feel the great age of the trees and revere them, while others feel they are in the presence of an overwhelmingly rare beauty. Still others understand the profound scientific value of old-growth forests as reference systems for what forests can be. Despite the remarkable emotional appeal and scientific value of old-growth forests, they are rare in Wisconsin. Only 0.3% of Wisconsin¿s old-growth forests remain, but these scattered, small parcels still retain their ability to amaze hikers with their size, beauty, and elegance. Where are they? This book directs visitors to the 50 best old-growth sites left in Wisconsin. Each site has clear directions, a listing of ownership, size, and age, and a description of its ecological features, with perhaps a story of why it was saved. A map and photo(s) illustrates each site. An additional shorter chapter includes the ¿50 Best-of-the-Rest.¿The book is for a general audience, but its wealth of rigorously-researched and profusely-illustrated data may also serve as a general reference for professional ecologists and conservationists.
Download or read book Natural Woodland written by George F. Peterken and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1996-03-28 with total page 542 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating account of woodland natural history for all those concerned with woodland management and ecology.
Download or read book Of Spotted Owls Old Growth and New Policies written by Bruce G. Marcot and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: