Integrating a Forest Environmental Services Locator in WEFES, a Web Based Explorer for Forest Ecosystem Services

Poste

Web-interface for geo-referencing forest economic valuation surveys

PosterIn New Zealand, 90% of forests consist of one type of exotic tree: Radiata pine (Pinus radiata). A study on the management of such exotic planted forests in New Zealand for the conservation of threatened native animals and plants (e.g., kiwi, kakabeak) is undergoing and socio-economic questionnaires are an important tool to understand public views on the role of exotic forests for the native species. In such questionnaires, is important to understand the relationship of the answers to landscape elements, either natural (e.g. mountain) or more artificial (e.g. buildings). An online tool to geo-reference the answers has been developed to retrieve (and treat with confidentially) coordinates by the interviewed. The tool uses a mix of programming languages (HTML, Javascript, PHP, and Ajax) as well as the GoogleMaps© application programming interface to interact with the user to locate their living place. The tool supplies the coordinates to the analysts which, through landscape metrics, will relate the qualitative importance given by certain answers to the proximity to certain elements in the landscape. The tool (see link below) can be adapted to any survey that could consider the coordinates of the answers as an added value to the questionnaires analysis. Link: http://home.isa.utl.pt/~joaopalma/surveys/nzfalco

Mapping and explaining the productivity of Pinus radiata in New Zealand

Mapping Pinus radiata productivity for New Zealand not only provides useful information for forest owners, industry stakeholders and policy managers, but also enables current and future plantations to be visualised, quantified, and planned. Using an extensive set of permanent sample plots, split into fitting (n = 1,146) and validation (n = 618) datasets, models of P. radiata 300 Index (an index of volume mean annual increment) and Site Index (an index of height growth) were developed using a regression kriging technique. Spatial predictions were accurate and accounted for 61% and 70% of the variance for 300 Index and Site Index, respectively. Productivity predicted from these surfaces for the entire plantation estate averaged 27.4 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ for the 300 Index and 30.4 m for Site Index. Surfaces showed wide regional variation in this productivity, which was attributable mainly to variation in air temperature and root-zone water storage from site to site

WEFES - Web explorer of forest ecosystems services under climate change

PosterClimate change will change the dynamics of forest environmental services. All the change complexity involved is difficult to visualize under an easy and accessible information tool capable to integrate several services that forests can provide. A preliminary Web-Explorer of Forest Ecosystems Services was developed for New Zealand where forest managers and the general public can observe what are the predictions of the different forest environmental services under current and future climate for each location in the territory. Carbon storage, soil erosion, biodiversity, nitrate leaching, water balance are the preliminary forest environmental services envisaged. The tool uses a mix of programming languages and techniques (HTML, Javascript, PHP, and Ajax) as well as the GoogleMaps© application programming interface to interact with New Zealand online-stored geographical information to supply different models´ needs. A score system is calculated for the user reference where tradeoffs can be observed by changing the climate variables in the models. The tool (see link below) is under development and expecting “expressions of interest” for further improvement but already enabled a good interaction between different scientific background as well as interest from private forest organizations. Tool link: http://home.isa.utl.pt/~joaopalma/projects/tranzfor/wefesTRANZFOR - SCION - ISA/UTL - MORST - FFR - FCT/MCTE

Solid state differentiation of plasma thiols using a centrifugally activated mercaptobenzothiazole disulfide exchange indicator

The solid state interaction of mono and macromolecular thiols at a disulphide heterocycle is shown to provide a versatile pathway for their speciation

A soil-landscape model for southern Mahurangi Forest, Northland

Exotic plantation forestry has a productive area of about 75 000 ha in Northland (L. Cannon, personal communication). Forestry is thus an important land use of both economic and environmental significance in Northland as well as elsewhere in New Zealand. Therefore, it is of considerable importance that forestlands be managed sustainably by employing approaches such as site-specific management. The establishment of site-specific forest management practices requires information regarding the distribution of key soil properties (Turvey and Poutsma, 1980). Quantitative modelling to predict key soil properties of sustainable forestry from observable landscape features may be a cost-effective approach to mapping forestlands. We are investigating the efficacy of such an approach within Mahurangi Forest, Northland

Scaling Flow Path Processes to Fluvial Landscapes: An Integrated Field and Model Assessment of Temperature and Dissolved Oxygen Dynamics in a River-Floodplain-Aquifer System

Biogeochemical cycling within river ecosystems is strongly influenced by geomorphic and hydrologic dynamics. To scale point observations of temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) to a hydrologically complex and dynamic three-dimensional river-floodplain-aquifer system, we integrated empirical models of temperature and biotic oxygen utilization with a recently published hydrogeomorphic model. The hydrogeomorphic model simulates channel flow, floodplain inundation, and surface-subsurface water exchange on the 16 km(2) Nyack Floodplain, Middle Fork Flathead River, Montana, USA. Model results were compared to observed data sets of DO to test the hypothesis that complexity in spatiotemporal patterns of biogeochemistry emerges from a comparatively simple representation of biogeochemical processes operating within a multidimensional hydrologic system. The model explained 58% of the variance in 820 DO measurements that spanned the study site longitudinally, laterally, vertically, and across river discharge conditions and seasons. We also used model results to illustrate spatial and temporal trends of temperature and DO dynamics within the shallow alluvial aquifer, which is an extensive hyporheic zone because subsurface alluvial flow paths are recharged primarily by channel water. Our results underscore the importance of geomorphic, hydrologic, and temperature dynamics in driving river ecosystem processes, and they demonstrate how a realistic representation of a river\u27s physical template, combined with simple biogeochemical models, can explain complex patterns of solute availability

A soil-landscape model for Mahurangi Forest, Northland, New Zealand

Exotic plantation forestry is an important land use of both economic and environmental significance in Northland and elsewhere in New Zealand. It is therefore of considerable importance that forestlands be managed sustainably by employing approaches such as site-specific management. The establishment of site-specific forest management practices requires information regarding the distribution of key soil properties (Turvey and Poutsma, 1980). Quantitative modelling to predict key soil properties from landscape features may be an effective approach to mapping forestlands. A study investigating the efficacy of such an approach is being conducted within Mahurangi Forest, Northland, New Zealand. As a pilot to the study, a detailed qualitative soil-landscape model was developed in order to gain a greater understanding of the soil-landscape relationships and soil pattern of the area. The qualitative soil-landscape model developed in the pilot study is presented here

Mapping the productivity of radiata pine

Forest owners, investors and policy makers all want to know the spread and productivity of New Zealand’s current and future radiata plantation. David Palmer, a geo-spatial analyst at Scion, has combined advanced statistical techniques with mapping technology to predict radiata 300 Index and Site Index for any location in New Zealand. The 300 Index is an index of volume mean annual increment, and the Site Index is for height and growth. The map of Site Index and 300 Index was built using growth measurement data from trees in 1,146 radiata pine permanent sample plots, planted between 1975 and 2003. The data was combined with a number of climate, land use, terrain and environmental variables to predict forest productivity under a range of conditions