Compendium of Volume Equations for Plantation Species used by the Queensland Department of Forestry

More then two hundred volume equations for plantation species used by the Queensland Department of Forestry are provided. The history of volume table use, method of computation and four categories of equation: predominant height, total height, merchantable height and small end diameter equations, are described. The specific form and Departmental identification of each equation are given

What Would a Global Forest Convention Mean for Tropical Forests and for Timber Consumers?

A global forest convention has been advocated for about 15 years, but progress is slow and positions of advocates and opponents appear entrenched. We review several case studies and offer new empirical evidence relating to causes of and remedies for deforestation. We find no evidence to suggest that a forest convention will be effective in halting deforestation. Our data indicate that development assistance may be most effective approach to save forests in developing countries. It appears that "money speaks louder than words". We conclude that a global forest convention will be ineffective unless accompanied by substantial and well-directed development assistance

Deforestation: Correlations, Possible Causes and Some Implications

Changes in national forest areas during 1990-2000 are contrasted with other variables to illustrate correlations and provoke discussion about possible causes. Twenty-five statistically-significant correlations (including rural population, life expectancy, GDP, literacy, commerce, agriculture, poverty and inflation) are illustrated and a statistical model suggests that good governance, alternative employment opportunities, and payments for environmental services may be effective in combating deforestation. The data suggest that a global forest convention may need to be supported by substantial and carefully-targeted development assistance to foster good governance

Realizing Opportunities in Forest Growth Modelling

The world is continually changing: the emergence of new technology and new demands for pertinent information pose new challenges and possibilities for forest management. Are forest growth models keeping up with client needs? To remain relevant, modelers need to anticipate client needs, gauge the data needed to satisfy these demands, develop the tools to collect and analyze these data efficiently, and resolve how best to deliver the resulting models and other findings. Researchers and managers should jointly identify and articulate anticipated needs for the future, and initiate action to satisfy them. New technology that offers potential for innovation in forest growth modelling include modelling software, automated data collection, and animation of model outputs. New sensors in the sky and on forest machines can routinely provide data previously considered unattainable (e.g., tree coordinates, crown dimensions), as census rather than sample data. What does this revolution in data availability imply for forest growth models, especially for our choice of driving variables

Assessing the Quality of Permanent Sample Plot Databases for Growth Modelling in Forest Plantations

Informed plantation management requires a good database, since the quality of information depends on the quality of data, growth models and other planning tools. There are several important questions concerning permanent plots: how many plots, where to put them, and how to manage them. Plot measurement procedures are also important. This paper illustrates graphical procedures to evaluate existing databases, to identify areas of weakness, and to plan remedial sampling. Two graphs, one of site index versus age, another with stocking versus tree size, may provide a good summary of the site and stand conditions represented in the database. However, it is important that these variables, especially site index, can be determined reliably. Where there is doubt about the efficacy of site index estimates, it is prudent to stratify the database according to geography, soil/geology or yield level (total basal area or volume production). Established permanent plot systems may sample a limited range of stand conditions, and clinal designs are an efficient way to supplement such data to provide a better basis for silvicultural inference. Procedures are illustrated with three data sets: teak plantations in Burma, Norway spruce in Denmark, and a clinal spacing experiment in India

Improving Productivity in Mixed-Species Plantations

Mixed species plantations are often promoted as being environmentally preferable to monocultures, but are rarely considered operationally viable by commercial forest growers. Despite many publications documenting benefits demonstrated in research studies, and despite continuing calls from a wide range of advocates for mixed-species plantations, polyculture remains the exception rather than the rule in industrial plantation forestry. The following observations are drawn from a recent workshop: - innovative experiment designs and analytical techniques are available to examine species interactions; - despite the enthusiasm for polycultures, relatively few robust experiments have been established, and even fewer have been maintained long enough to allow rotation-length consequences to be evaluated; - commercial polyculture plantations are even more scarce than experiments, and rarely offer data to support publication of financial analyses; - small landholders appear to be the main innovators in establishing and demonstrating polyculture plantations. To provide the evidence to encourage industrial uptake of polyculture plantations, there is a need for - a co-ordinated series of long-term trials, well replicated in time and space, using a standardised design with several treatments (species composition) and comparable species; - operational-scale demonstration plantings that gather ecological, financial and social data as well as the conventional production data

Metrics to evaluate research performance in academic institutions: A critique of ERA 2010 as applied in forestry and the indirect H2 index as a possible alternative

Excellence for Research in Australia (ERA) is an attempt by the Australian Research Council to rate Australian universities on a 5-point scale within 180 Fields of Research using metrics and peer evaluation by an evaluation committee. Some of the bibliometric data contributing to this ranking suffer statistical issues associated with skewed distributions. Other data are standardised year-by-year, placing undue emphasis on the most recent publications which may not yet have reliable citation patterns. The bibliometric data offered to the evaluation committees is extensive, but lacks effective syntheses such as the h-index and its variants. The indirect H2 index is objective, can be computed automatically and efficiently, is resistant to manipulation, and a good indicator of impact to assist the ERA evaluation committees and to similar evaluations internationally.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, 7 tables, appendice

A Proposal for Stewardship Support to Private Native Forests in NSW

The Southern Cross Group is proposing a completely new approach to private forest management in NSW based on stewardship support. This means that incentives will be used to encourage landholders to manage their forests in a way that maintains their environmental and other values for the community, without compromising their value as a resource to the farming community. Importantly, the Southern Cross Group system will foster good outcomes through innovation rather than through cumbersome and onerous prescriptions. Private forests in NSW are important as a source of timber as well as for the conservation values they provide to the general community. Landholders should be encouraged to manage them in a way that preserves their productive capacity and their conservation values for the long term. At present, however, neither the current regulatory regime, including the Private Native Forest legislation and proposed code of practice, nor the current market regime encourages sustainable management of the State's private timber resources. The Southern Cross Group has designed an effective and simple way of fostering and rewarding good stewardship of private native forests. Good stewardship may be viewed as a 'duty of care' responsibility that should be enforced by legislation, or as an environmental service that should be recognised and rewarded. The distinction is academic: the reality is that incentives are more effective than punitive regulations. Good environmental outcomes for most forests depend on active management and, especially in the case of private native forests, on incentives for continuing management. The challenge is to devise an equitable scheme that sends the right signals for forest management, is cost-effective to administer, and represents a worthwhile investment in terms of the public good generated. We believe the way forward is with simple, transparent indicators that provide an immediate and ongoing incentive. Under our proposal, landholders will receive an annual cash payment as a reward for progress towards specific outcomes. Rather than complicated targets, we are proposing a simple, two-tiered system that will give enough incentive to landholders to provide the environmental services desired by the community. The first tier rewards and encourages landholders to regenerate more forest, to retain big trees, and to stimulate tree growth on private land. The second tier rewards and encourages stewardship of endangered species and ecological communities. These incentives will be simple to apply and audit, and will encourage landholders to learn about and encourage biodiversity on their land, and to consider it part of their income portfolio. This system will contribute to farmers seeing forests as core business, both as part of their income stream and as part of their environmental stewardship responsibilities. When all farmers view forests in this way, Australia will reap the benefit of forests that are more diverse and productive, and a forest estate that no longer continues to shrink