Saws, sonar and submersibles: Expectations of/for underwater logging

Underwater logging is a relatively novel industry focused on extracting wood from standing trees in deep-water lakes and reservoirs. It emerges through a confluence of technological, financial and environmental interests, primarily within small corporations in British Columbia, Canada. Companies now operate in many countries worldwide and may be promoted by dam owners that are moving from a narrow focus on hydroelectric power revenue to exploring ways of extracting profit from these infrastructures. In this paper we use the example of underwater logging to explore the ways in which expectations for new industries create value for these companies. We show how uncertainty, materiality and control of the storyline become three formative factors in explaining why some expectations are realized while others fail. First, uncertainty can be made to be economically productive as long as it is bounded by methodologically reliable accounting. In the case of underwater logging, while unknown timber quantities could be economically damaging, rare, unknown wood is translated into a niche, high-end market that creates additional value. Second, materiality is at the heart of expectations in that companies need to show they have control over the raw materials and ecological consequences of the logging. Third, controlling the storyline becomes a vital part of marketing underwater wood. This produces a somewhat cautious reaction to certification schemes and retailers. The performative nature of expectations thus needs to be considered in explorations of the production of capitalist natures and the consequences of these interventions

Development of a Tool for Navigating the Evidence concerning Land Managers and Woodland Creation in the United Kingdom

Woodland creation has become an important objective for a variety of stakeholders to help tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. One of the key evidence needs is a better understanding of the multiple factors influencing the willingness and ability of landowners and managers to establish new woodlands. To address this gap, a systematic map of evidence was prepared comprising publications from academic journals and grey literature accessed through bibliographic databases (Web of Science, Scopus, and CAB Abstracts), libraries, direct requests to relevant organisations and individuals, and citation tracking from past reviews. A screening process refined the evidence base to 226 studies within the UK. The systematic evidence map codes the content of each study against a comprehensive list comprising actors, drivers of or barriers to woodland creation, and outcomes. These are presented as a freely accessible, interactive online dashboard detailing sources of evidence. The systematic evidence map helps users navigate the evidence, demonstrating where the bulk of the evidence lies and, conversely, several evidence gaps where there is comparatively little evidence. The findings serve as a basis for dialogue with stakeholders to determine priorities for future primary research

Built and natural environment planning principles for promoting health: An umbrella review

© 2018 The Author(s). Background: The built and natural environment and health are inextricably linked. However, there is considerable debate surrounding the strength and quality of the evidence base underpinning principles of good practice for built and natural environment design in promoting health. This umbrella review aimed to assess relationships between the built and natural environment and health, concentrating on five topic areas: neighbourhood design, housing, food environment, natural and sustainable environment, and transport. Methods: A structured search was conducted for quantitative systematic reviews and stakeholder reviews published between January 2005 and April 2016. Seven databases and the websites of 15 relevant and respected stakeholder organisations known to publish review-level documentation were searched. Searches were limited to English-language publications and duplicate references were removed. Evidence quality and strength was appraised using validated techniques. Findings were used to develop a diagram for each topic area, illustrating relationships between built and natural environment planning principles and health-related outcomes. Results: A total of 117 systematic reviews and review-level documents were eligible for inclusion. The quality of evidence was mixed; much of the evidence examined relied on findings from cross-sectional studies, making it difficult to draw clear causal links between built environment exposures and health-related impacts and outcomes. Fourteen actionable planning principles associated with positive health-related outcomes were identified across the five topic areas. For example, neighbourhoods that enhanced walkability, were complete and compact in design, and those which enhanced connectivity through safe and efficient infrastructure were associated with better health-related outcomes relating to physical activity, social engagement, mental health, perceptions of crime, and road traffic collisions. Evidence for the effectiveness of planning principles across different topic areas and on reducing health inequalities was sparse and inconclusive. Conclusions: Findings provide an up-to-date overview of relationships between the built and natural environment and health and present logical, evidence-based messages to aid communication between public health and planning professionals

Selecting appropriate methods of knowledge synthesis to inform biodiversity policy

Responding to different questions generated by biodiversity and ecosystem services policy or management requires different forms of knowledge (e.g. scientific, experiential) and knowledge synthesis. Additionally, synthesis methods need to be appropriate to policy context (e.g. question types, budget, timeframe, output type, required scientific rigour). In this paper we present a range of different methods that could potentially be used to conduct a knowledge synthesis in response to questions arising from knowledge needs of decision makers on biodiversity and ecosystem services policy and management. Through a series of workshops attended by natural and social scientists and decision makers we compiled a range of question types, different policy contexts and potential methodological approaches to knowledge synthesis. Methods are derived from both natural and social sciences fields and reflect the range of question and study types that may be relevant for syntheses. Knowledge can be available either in qualitative or quantitative form and in some cases also mixed. All methods have their strengths and weaknesses and we discuss a sample of these to illustrate the need for diversity and importance of appropriate selection. To summarize this collection, we present a table that identifies potential methods matched to different combinations of question types and policy contexts, aimed at assisting teams undertaking knowledge syntheses to select appropriate methods

What Is the Evidence Base Linking Gender with Access to Forests and Use of Forest Resources for Food Security in Low- and Middle-Income Countries? A Systematic Evidence Map

In nearly all parts of the world, an important part of people's livelihood is derived from natural resources. Gender is considered one of the most important determinants of access and control over forests. It is thought that women and men within households and communities have different opportunities and different roles and responsibilities in relation to forest use. It is probable that when women have equal access to forests, better food security outcomes can be achieved for individuals and households that are dependent on forests for their livelihoods. A systematic evidence map of the evidence base linking gender with access to forests and use of forest resources for food security was undertaken. Ten bibliographic databases and 22 websites of international development and conservation organisations were searched using keywords suggested by stakeholders. Other articles were found by emailing authors and organisations to send potentially relevant publications. 19,500 articles were retrieved from bibliographic databases and 1281 from other sources. After iterative screening, 77 studies were included: 41 focussed on Africa, 22 on Asia, 12 on Latin America, 2 were global. Most indicators of food security measure access to food, measured by total consumption, expenditure, or income. Studies showed strong gender specialisation: commercial access and utilisation of forests and forest products dominated by men, whereas access for subsistence and household consumption is almost exclusively the task of women. Despite the large number of studies reviewed, limitations of the evidence base, including methodological heterogeneity, a dominance of case studies as the study design, and unequal geographical representation in study locations, make it difficult to generalise about the overall importance of gender and its effect on access to and use of forests for food security in developing countries. The critical gaps in the evidence base include geographical representation in primary research and a greater breadth of study designs to assess gender implications of access to forest resources globally

Temperate Regenerative Agriculture practices increase soil carbon but not crop yield—a meta-analysis

We would like to thank R D Armstrong, S J Crittenden, J Deru, B Dumont, J Eriksen, C Garbisu, A Jacobs, T Kautz, H J Koch, B Mary, J Peigne and F Schulz for responding to requests for additional information on their studies, and Leo Petrokofsky for generating the online evidence map. Funding Information: This work was supported by funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (Grant No. BB/M011224/1). PCB would like to acknowledge funding by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy (EXC 2075–390740016). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW PROTOCOL Open Access

To what extent does the presence of forests and trees contribute to food production in humid and dry forest landscapes?: a systematic review protoco

State of forest research in 2010s – a bibliographic study with special reference to Finland, Sweden and Austria

Using bibliometric methods, this report analysed the volumes of global forest research and research collaboration between researchers, institutes and countries during the period 2010–2019. The keywords used in the bibliometric search resulted in a good match with the publication lists of three major Finnish forest research organisations. The final corpus of “forest” publications consisted of 355,000 articles, proceeding papers, reviews, books, book chapters and letters listed in the Web of Science database. During 2010–2019, the volume of Finnish publications in forest sciences have increased and the share of internationally collaborative papers has also grown. However, the international position of Finnish and Nordic forest research is slowly declining, owing to the modest growth in publishing, compared to fast-growing countries like China and Russia. When comparing Finnish and Swedish research organisations, those from Sweden were more internationally oriented. In both countries, the five top institutes produced more than three quarters of their country’s respective publications. Analyses based on bibliometric data used in this study reveal the status regarding publication output and trends. These analyses can provide objective evidence that is needed when developing research strategies and policies as well as allocating funding resources

Can Regenerative Agriculture increase national soil carbon stocks? : Simulated country scale adoption of reduced tillage, cover cropping, and ley-arable integration using RothC

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to thank Dr Andrew C. Martin for advice on our modelling framework. The authors would like to acknowledge the use of the University of Oxford Advanced Research Computing facility in carrying out this work. This work was supported by funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) [grant number BB/M011224/1]. PCB would like to acknowledge funding by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy [EXC 2075 – 390740016]. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.Peer reviewedPostprin

Is local best? Examining the evidence for local adaptation in trees and its scale

Background: Although the importance of using local provenance planting stock for woodland production, habitat conservation and restoration remains contentious, the concept is easy to understand, attractive and easy to ‘sell’. With limited information about the extent and scale of adaptive variation in native trees, discussion about suitable seed sources often emphasises “local” in a very narrow sense or within political boundaries, rather than being based on sound evidence of the scale over which adaptation occurs. Concerns exist over the actual scale (magnitude and spatial scale) of adaptation in trees and the relative dangers of incorrect seed source or restricted seed collection, leading to the establishment of trees with restricted genetic diversity and limited adaptive potential. Tree provenance and progeny field trials in many parts of the world have shown the existence of genotype by environment interaction in many tree species, but have not necessarily looked at whether this is expressed as a home site advantage (i.e. whether provenance performance is unstable across sites, and there is better performance of a local seed source). Methods/design: This review will examine the evidence for local adaptation and its scale in a number of native tree species from different trial sites across the globe (e.g. tropical, Mediterranean, temperate). These trials have been measured and in some cases results published in a range of formats. The data have, however, usually been presented in the form of which provenances grow best at which sites. The review will examine existing data (published and unpublished) in the context of the scale of local adaptation, with the results being presented in two formats: (a) relating survival, performance of provenances (classified by seed zone/provenance region of origin) to seed zone/provenance region of the planting site; (b) plotting survival, performance provenances against the distance (Euclidean/ecological) between the provenance and the trial site.EEA BarilocheFil: Boshier, David. University of Oxford. Department of Plant Sciences; Reino UnidoFil: Broadhurst, Linda. CSIRO National Research Collections Australia (NRCA). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR); AustraliaFil: Cornelius, Jonathan. International Center for Research in Agroforestry. World Agroforestry Centre; PerúFil: Gallo, Leonardo Ariel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Koskela, Jarkko. FAO; ItaliaFil: Loo, Judy. Bioversity International; ItaliaFil: Petrokofsky, Gillian. University of Oxford. Department of Zoology; Reino UnidosFil: St Clair, Bradley. US Forest Service. Pacific Northwest Research Station; Estados Unido