CONTRIBUTION OF AFFORESTATION TO SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT IN UKRAINE

This paper focuses on the establishment of forest plantations on bare lands and marginal agricultural lands: a multifunctional afforestation programme for Ukraine is elaborated. The multiple forest functions are limited in this research to wood production and erosion prevention. Ukraine is faced with erosion on 35% of its arable lands. Some 20 million ha of lands are experiencing various stages of erosion, and it is increasing with time. Erosion is especially harmful in the Carpathian Mountains where it causes windthrows and floods, and in the Steppe zone where it results in blowing up sands. Along with exploration of the expanded timber supply from the newly created forest plantations, soil protection forest functions therefore are examined. The proposition that forest cover affects the rates of soil erosion is tested empirically by means of regression analysis. The results of the estimations show a statistically significant negative relationship between soil erosion and forest cover in Ukraine and across the forestry zones. Using the results of the analysis, indicative estimates of the soil protection role of the forests are computed. Further discussion focuses on the proposed expansion of forest cover and on the potential positive effects for agriculture due to erosion prevention. Calculations have been made at different levels of detail. By using a simulation technique and cost-benefit analysis, in combination with LP modelling, it is revealed that for the discount rate of 4%, planting trees on bare lands, except in the Polissja and the Crimea, is an economically efficient means to address wood production and erosion prevention. Results are highly dependent on the relevant discount rate. For marginal agricultural lands mixed results are obtained. Moreover, there is a difference between estimated benefits for agriculture and benefits for the planter of the trees. It seems therefore necessary that e.g. the government balances costs and benefits to provide incentives for the planter of the trees. Finally, the research comes up with some practical suggestions for forest management decisions.

Is forest related decision-making in European treeline areas socially innovative? A Q-methodology enquiry into the perspectives of international experts

Treeline areas provide a range of ecosystem services, but there are diverging views as to how and for whose benefit, these ecosystem services are managed. Applying a Q-method, we explore experts' attitudes towards forest related decision-making and governance in treeline areas to reveal the attitudinal divergences that exist and analyse patterns of shared assumptions forming attitude-related communities. Experiences, trends, opportunities and challenges in European treeline area decision-making are considered. Our results reveal four attitude-related communities, representing four distinctive types of expert attitudes. Findings demonstrate a number of similarities in attitudes among experts indicating, for example, that treeline area decision-making is hardly socially innovative as it tends to happen in a top-down manner. However, some do and others don't see tree-line governance beneficial from an ecological perspective. The attitudinal heterogeneity identified offers insights into treeline decision-making and could, therefore, be useful to public decision-makers in addressing the opinions of each attitudinal group on a case-by-case basis. The general conclusions are that forest related decision-making in treeline areas requires social innovation and a high level of stakeholder competence and capacity-building; and that an improved knowledge of experts' attitudes, together with an emphasis on increased participation in decision-making, could be of help to policy and practice communities in triggering innovative changes locally

Forest restoration on the former industrial land of Sulphur quarry in the Ukrainian Roztochya

This paper adds to the evidence base in the discussion to what extent woodland development can be a means to restoring the land affected by mining. We investigate the formation of vegetation communities in sites on a former Sulphur quarry in the Roztochya district of the Lviv region in Ukraine to answer the research questions: How can the formation of vegetation cover affect the disturbed sites and what knowledge can be used in restoration practices elsewhere? We perform an experiment examining which types of vegetation are suitable for the restoration. We explore the influence of restored vegetation and re-emerged woodlands have on the process of soil rehabilitation and the increasing organic substance in it. We examine the impact of various combinations of vegetation on land rehabilitation. Explaining the degree of colonization of waste land by various types of vegetation helps us to reveal the trends of regenerative processes and identify the most promising for restoration tree species in affiliation with the ground vegetation. The results can assist decision-makers in choosing compatibility alliances of vegetation to sustain regeneration processes. Although this research is location specific, the knowledge developed can to a degree be applied to similar places, in the temperate zone

Valuation of ecosystem services: paradox or Pandora’s box for decision-makers?

The valuation of ecosystem services (ES) employs a range of methods. Based on a literature review and selected empirical examples, we consider major opportunities and challenges in ecosystem services valuation. We analyse when different valuation methods are appropriate and most useful. We demonstrate that mechanisms to capture benefits and costs are needed; and that the use of valuation should be incorporated more widely in decision-making. However, we argue that ecosystems are complex systems: neither the ecosystems or the services that they provide are a sum, but are an interrelated system of components. If a component vanishes the whole system may collapse. Therefore, critical natural capital management, in particular, cannot rely on monetary values; whilst the maintanance of the whole system should be considered. Monetary valuation of biodiversity and landscapes is also problematic because of their uniqueness and distinctiveness, a shortage of robust primary valuations, and numerous complexities and uncertainties. We conclude that mixed method and deliberative discourse techniques, as well as proper integration of research tools, should be more widely applied to help decision-makers and the public to understand and assess changes in ES. The approaches developed and tested by us, as presented in this paper, can provide more complete, comprehensive and impartial insights into a range of benefits that humans derive from ecosystems

Knowledge sharing, problem solving and professional development in a Scottish Ecosystem Services Community of Practice

The ecosystem services framework has now been embodied in policy and practice, creating the need for governance structures that allow science, policy and practice to come together and facilitate shared learning. We describe five years of progress in developing an Ecosystem Services Community of Practice in Scotland, which brings together over 600 individuals from diverse constituencies to share experiences and learn from each other. We consider the ‘community’ and ‘practice’ aspects to demonstrate the benefits of establishing an Ecosystem Services Community (ESCom). We also demonstrate how the journey involved in the creation and continuing evolution of ESCom has proved valuable to researchers, policy-makers, practitioners and students and as such has contributed to social learning. We reflect on challenges, given the voluntary nature, absence of formal institutional support and emergence of initiatives focusing on overlapping topics. Based on our experience, we provide ten recommendations to help future ecosystem services communities of practice

Hematopoietic Cell Types: Prototype for a Revised Cell Ontology

The Cell Ontology (CL) is an OBO Foundry candidate ontology intended for the representation of cell types from all of biology. A recent workshop sponsored by NIAID on hematopoietic cell types in the CL addressed issues of both the content and structure of the CL. The section of the ontology dealing with hematopoietic cells was extensively revised, and plans were made for restructuring these cell type terms as cross-products with logical definitions based on relationships to external ontologies, such as the Protein Ontology and the Gene Ontology. The improvements to the CL in this area represent a paradigm for the future revision of the whole of the CL

Cathelicidin-like Helminth Defence Molecules (HDMs) Absence of Cytotoxic, Anti-microbial and Anti-protozoan Activities Imply a Specific Adaptation to Immune Modulation

Host defence peptides (HDPs) are expressed throughout the animal and plant kingdoms. They have multifunctional roles in the defence against infectious agents of mammals, possessing both bactericidal and immune-modulatory activities. We have identified a novel family of molecules secreted by helminth parasites (helminth defence molecules; HDMs) that exhibit similar structural and biochemical characteristics to the HDPs. Here, we have analyzed the functional activities of four HDMs derived from Schistosoma mansoni and Fasciola hepatica and compared them to human, mouse, bovine and sheep HDPs. Unlike the mammalian HDPs the helminth-derived HDMs show no antimicrobial activity and are non-cytotoxic to mammalian cells (macrophages and red blood cells). However, both the mammalian- and helminth-derived peptides suppress the activation of macrophages by microbial stimuli and alter the response of B cells to cytokine stimulation. Therefore, we hypothesise that HDMs represent a novel family of HDPs that evolved to regulate the immune responses of their mammalian hosts by retaining potent immune modulatory properties without causing deleterious cytotoxic effects. © 2013 Thivierge et al

Exploring the linkages between multifunctional forestry goals and the legacy of spruce plantations in Scotland

This paper explores the ecosystem services associated with woodlands, as these are viewed by individuals in Scotland, with the idea to reconcile objectives for multi-functionality with the legacy of past forestry systems which were not designed with multi-functionality in mind. Research follows a semi-qualitative route and applies the Q-method to identify and explain a range of attitudes, among the general public and forestry associated stakeholders regarding functional future of forestry in Scotland. Four distinctive groups of attitudes were identified and key factors influencing the attitudinal diversity explained. Despite the uncovered attitudinal heterogeneity, all groups of attitudes have strong emphasis on native woodland regeneration and on improvement of aesthetic values of woodlands, but differ concerning afforestation. An improved understanding of what people think provided indication of their recognition of ecosystem services types and the trade-offs between these, as well as of opportunities available and of factors that can hamper forestry development (e.g. concerning the aspiration of increasing Scotland’s forest cover to 25%). Findings suggest that the Productivists position (for which the economic objectives are important) remains strong in Scotland. Results (compared with those in several other countries) demonstrate comparability between public and stakeholder perspectives in support of the multi-functional forestry, and this has distinct policy relevance and implications for decision-making.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Afforestation to increase the provision of ecosystem services: economic implications for Ukraine and beyond

This paper analyses costs and benefits of planting trees on marginal lands across forestry zones in Ukraine with the purpose of using them for timber production, erosion prevention and climate change mitigation. The research reveals that establishment of new forests to increase timber production and alleviate soil erosion is economically and environmentally justified in some regions. Incorporating the effects of afforestation through on climate change mitigation increases social benefits