Forests and Forestry in Support of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A Bibliometric Analysis

To address the world’s ongoing environmental challenges, 193 countries have committed to 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) concerning the economy, society, and the environment. However, there are gaps in our understanding of forests and forestry support SDGs. Through a systematized review, we identified which SDGs are relevant to forests and forestry at the target level, along with their interactions (synergies or tradeoffs). In addition, a bibliometric analysis of 377 papers was conducted worldwide between 2015 and 2020, to elucidate the status and development trends of SDG research related to forests and forestry in this study. The research results show that: (1) 11 SDGs and 19 targets are related to forests and forestry, and 47 are interactions between SDG15 and other targets, including 35 synergy effects and 12 tradeoff effects. (2) The USA is the highest publication output country, while the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the highest publication output institution, and Jianguo Liu of the University of Michigan is the highest publication output author. (3) The keyword co-occurrence analysis results show that the research hotspots mainly focused on the impacts of and responses to climate change, biodiversity conservation, land resource protection and management, remote sensing, the impacts of deforestation, and the promotion of sustainable development through governance. (4) The co-citation results reveal the existence of nine research themes: human well-being, food security, land use, land productivity, land tenure, tree loss, simulation models, criteria, and resilience

Conversion from natural wetlands to forestland and farmland alters the composition of soil fungal communities in Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China

To understand the effect of human activities on fungal communities in wetland, forestland and farmland soils, in this study, we investigated the relationship between the composition of soil fungal communities and their perturbations in wetland in northeast China. The results showed that a total of 132 OTUs were identified from all three site types combined, while 72 were exclusively shared between farmland and pristine wetland, 60 between forestland and pristine wetland, and 305 between farmland and forestland. All sites also hosted unique fungal OTUs, with 397 OTUs unique to farmland, 388 unique to pristine wetland and 463 unique to forestland. The obtained sequences were affiliated to nine different phyla throughout the dataset. Sequence abundance showed that Ascomycota members were more frequently identified than Basidiomycota, in all soil samples. The dominant phyla were specific for habitat type with Ascomycota for wetland, Ascomycota and Zygomycota for farmland, and Ascomycota and Basidiomycota for forest land. The diversity of the fungal community was found highest in farmland, lower in forestland, and lowest in wetland. Canonical correlation analyses demonstrated that changes in land use significantly altered the fungal community composition of the soil. The β-diversity of the soil fungal community was most affected by soil pH, total carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as available nitrogen and available phosphorus in the soil. Cultivation can significantly enhance the fungal diversity. These findings highlight the importance of effectively managing the soil fungal community to maintain a naturally functioning soil ecosystem

Rates of litter decomposition and soil respiration in relation to soil temperature and water in different-aged Pinus massoniana forests in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China.

To better understand the soil carbon dynamics and cycling in terrestrial ecosystems in response to environmental changes, we studied soil respiration, litter decomposition, and their relations to soil temperature and soil water content for 18-months (Aug. 2010-Jan. 2012) in three different-aged Pinus massoniana forests in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China. Across the experimental period, the mean total soil respiration and litter respiration were 1.94 and 0.81, 2.00 and 0.60, 2.19 and 0.71 µmol CO2 m(-2) s(-1), and the litter dry mass remaining was 57.6%, 56.2% and 61.3% in the 20-, 30-, and 46-year-old forests, respectively. We found that the temporal variations of soil respiration and litter decomposition rates can be well explained by soil temperature at 5 cm depth. Both the total soil respiration and litter respiration were significantly positively correlated with the litter decomposition rates. The mean contribution of the litter respiration to the total soil respiration was 31.0%-45.9% for the three different-aged forests. The present study found that the total soil respiration was not significantly affected by forest age when P. masonniana stands exceed a certain age (e.g. >20 years old), but it increased significantly with increased soil temperature. Hence, forest management strategies need to protect the understory vegetation to limit soil warming, in order to reduce the CO2 emission under the currently rapid global warming. The contribution of litter decomposition to the total soil respiration varies across spatial and temporal scales. This indicates the need for separate consideration of soil and litter respiration when assessing the climate impacts on forest carbon cycling

Relationships between litter decomposition (%) and soil temperature (a) or soil water content (b) in different-aged <i>Pinus massoniana</i> forests.

<p>Relationships between litter decomposition (%) and soil temperature (a) or soil water content (b) in different-aged <i>Pinus massoniana</i> forests.</p

Relationships between mean monthly litter decomposition and the total soil respiration (a), litter respiration (b), and litter-free soil respiration rate (c) for different-aged <i>Pinus massoniana</i> forests.

<p>Note: respiration rate is the mean value across the litter decomposition period.</p

Effects of forest age and sampling time on the total soil respiration, litter-free soil respiration, and litter respiration in <i>Pinus massoniana</i> forests tested using repeated measures ANOVAs.

<p>Effects of forest age and sampling time on the total soil respiration, litter-free soil respiration, and litter respiration in <i>Pinus massoniana</i> forests tested using repeated measures ANOVAs.</p

Seasonal patterns and monthly dynamics of the total soil respiration (•), litter respiration (○), and the litter-free soil respiration (▾) in different-aged <i>Pinus massoniana</i> forests (mean ±1SD, <i>n</i> = 9).

<p>Seasonal patterns and monthly dynamics of the total soil respiration (•), litter respiration (○), and the litter-free soil respiration (▾) in different-aged <i>Pinus massoniana</i> forests (mean ±1SD, <i>n</i> = 9).</p

Observed (•) and predicted (○) values of litter dry mass remaining across the experimental period in different-aged <i>Pinus massoniana</i> forests (mean ±1SD, <i>n</i> = 9).

<p>Observed (•) and predicted (○) values of litter dry mass remaining across the experimental period in different-aged <i>Pinus massoniana</i> forests (mean ±1SD, <i>n</i> = 9).</p

Initial substrate quality (mean ±1SD, <i>n</i> = 3) of leaf litter in <i>Pinus massoniana</i> forests studied.

<p>Note: different letters within a row indicate significant difference (<i>P</i><0.05) among the stands.</p