Evaluating the Potential of Commercial Forest Inventory Data to Report on Forest Carbon Stock and Forest Carbon Stock Changes for REDD+ under the UNFCCC

In the context of the adoption at the 16th Conference of the Parties in 2010 on the REDD+ mitigation mechanism, it is important to obtain reliable data on the spatiotemporal variation of forest carbon stocks and changes (called Emission Factor, EF). A re-occurring debate in estimating EF for REDD+ is the use of existing field measurement data. We provide an assessment of the use of commercial logging inventory data and ecological data to estimate a conservative EF (REDD+ phase 2) or to report on EF following IPCC Guidance and Guidelines (REDD+ phase 3). The data presented originate from five logging companies dispersed over Gabon, totalling 2,240 plots of 0.3 hectares.We distinguish three Forest Types (FTs) in the dataset based on floristic conditions. Estimated mean aboveground biomass (AGB) in the FTs ranges from 312 to 333 Mg ha-1. A 5% accuracy is reached with the number of plots put in place for the FTs and a low sampling uncertainty obtained (± 10 to 13 Mg ha-1). The data could be used to estimate a conservative EF in REDD+ phase 2 and only partially to report on EF following tier 2 requirements for a phase 3

Association of the PHACTR1/EDN1 genetic locus with spontaneous coronary artery dissection

Background: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an increasingly recognized cause of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) afflicting predominantly younger to middle-aged women. Observational studies have reported a high prevalence of extracoronary vascular anomalies, especially fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) and a low prevalence of coincidental cases of atherosclerosis. PHACTR1/EDN1 is a genetic risk locus for several vascular diseases, including FMD and coronary artery disease, with the putative causal noncoding variant at the rs9349379 locus acting as a potential enhancer for the endothelin-1 (EDN1) gene. Objectives: This study sought to test the association between the rs9349379 genotype and SCAD. Methods: Results from case control studies from France, United Kingdom, United States, and Australia were analyzed to test the association with SCAD risk, including age at first event, pregnancy-associated SCAD (P-SCAD), and recurrent SCAD. Results: The previously reported risk allele for FMD (rs9349379-A) was associated with a higher risk of SCAD in all studies. In a meta-analysis of 1,055 SCAD patients and 7,190 controls, the odds ratio (OR) was 1.67 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.50 to 1.86) per copy of rs9349379-A. In a subset of 491 SCAD patients, the OR estimate was found to be higher for the association with SCAD in patients without FMD (OR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.53 to 2.33) than in SCAD cases with FMD (OR: 1.60; 95% CI: 1.28 to 1.99). There was no effect of genotype on age at first event, P-SCAD, or recurrence. Conclusions: The first genetic risk factor for SCAD was identified in the largest study conducted to date for this condition. This genetic link may contribute to the clinical overlap between SCAD and FMD

Impact de pratiques de gestion sylvicole sur l’évolution des stocks de carbone dans les sols forestiers - De l’étude des mécanismes aux outils opérationnels

International audienc

French forest owners’ stated preferences for ash-recycling – A discrete choice experiment

International audienceWood fuels are an important energy source in meeting EU’s renewable energy targets. The increased demand for wood fuels has been seen as an opportunity to increase the profitability of forest management by exploiting hitherto unexploited resources in France. However, the increased use of wood fuel generates also several environmental issues, including the export of nutrients through residues and stump harvests and thereby potential negative impact on forests’ long-term forest productivity. Ash-recycling has been suggested a sustainable remedy for the loss of nutrients. While ash-recycling in forests is not currently allowed in France, law-makers are considering new legislation allowing ash-recycling in forest. The present study analyses forest owners’ stated preferences for ash-recycling based a survey of forest owners in three French regions carried out the fall 2016. Applying a discrete multi-attribute choice experiment we estimate forest owners’ willingness to pay for having ash being spread in their forests. We find that forest owners, in average, have a positive willingness to pay for ash-recycling in their forest but it depends on the applied technology, origin of the ash and the expected impact on productivity of forests as well as the characteristics of their forests

How to relate the standing tree shape to internal wood characteristics: Proposal of an experimental method applied to poplar trees

This paper presents an experimental method allowing 3D measurements of the geometry of a standing mature tree to be closely linked to the spatial distribution of internal wood properties. The accuracy of the geometrical information is assessed from repeated measurements performed on 10 mature poplar trees and demonstrates that wind is the most limiting factor. Since the method was developed to study the spatial distribution of tension wood, some pictures of the latter are presented. Furthermore, some preliminary relationships between variables derived from measurements such as the height, the local tree slope, the eccentricity of the tension wood area, or the eccentricity of the disc are discussed to illustrate the potential of the method.Comment connecter la forme d'un arbre sur pied aux propriétés internes du bois : proposition d'une méthode expérimentale appliquée sur des peupliers. Cet article présente une méthode expérimentale de mesure de la géométrie tridimensionnelle d'un arbre sur pied mature permettant un couplage étroit avec la mesure des propriétés internes du bois. La précision de l'information géométrique est estimée à partir de mesures répétées sur 10 peupliers et met en évidence le vent comme principal facteur limitant. La méthode ayant été développée pour étudier la distribution spatiale du bois de tension, quelques illustrations de cette dernière sont présentées. En outre, des relations préliminaires liant des variables telles que la hauteur, l'inclinaison locale de l'arbre, l'excentricité de la zone de bois de tension ou l'excentricité de la rondelle sont discutées afin d'illustrer le potentiel de la méthode

How to Determine Energy of Wood from Nutrient Analysis?

International Conference on BioMass (iconBM 2014). Florence, ITALY. MAY 04-07, 2014International audienceIn the context of increasing energy demand, forest timber residues and leaves are a potential resource for fuel. How renewable are these resources? What are their qualities as a fuel? These issues can be answered through parallel works in two research fields: forest sciences considering nutrients cycles between plants and soil and growth and yield dynamics of the trees, and energy sciences considering the qualities of fuel such as heating value, and ash content. This interdisciplinary interaction leads to the balanced thinking between nutrient dynamics (harvesting forest residues while maintaining soil fertility and wood production) and energy interests. In a previous work, a study was presented that intended to bridge the two research fields by predicting the ash content and higher heating value in trees from a model developed by biogeochemists for predicting elemental composition distributed in several tree compartments. The models developed were applied on predictions of characteristics of forest products. These characteristics were outputted from a growth and yield simulator developed by forest research. This application added energy characterization to the wood biomass described biochemically. This connexion was the first step for the development of a simulation package which aims at characterizing the production chain of energy wood from forest growth and yield simulations (developed by forest sciences), through energy characterization (use of the interdisciplinary model), to harvesting and transformation chain characterization (energy and engineering sciences). Here, we quickly describe the models connecting biochemistry to fuel characterization of forest biomass; then we describe the simulation package and how these models are connected to biochemists models in the simulation package and finally we explain why the use of such a package is an important tool toward the improvement of the biomass production chain quality

Models for reporting forest litter and soil C pools in national greenhouse gas inventories: methodological considerations and requirements

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A positive growth response to NaCl applications in Eucalyptus plantations established on K-deficient soils

Contrasting responses of Eucalyptus trees to K fertilizer applications have been reported on soils with low K contents. A complete randomized block experiment was set up in Brazil to test the hypothesis that large atmospheric deposits of NaCl in coastal regions might lead to a partial substitution of K by Na in Eucalyptus physiology and enhance tree growth. Treatments with application of 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 kmol K ha(-1) (K(1.5), K(3.0), 1(4.5, respectively) as KCl, 3.0 kmol K ha(-1) applied as K(2)SO(4), 3.0 kmol Na ha(-1) (Na(3.0)) as NaCl commercialized for cattle feeding, and a mixture of 1.5 kmol K + 1.5 kmol Na ha(-1) (K(1.5) + Na(1.5)) were compared to a control treatment (C) with no K and Na applications. All the plots were fertilized with large amounts of the other nutrients. A positive effect of NaCl applications on the growth of E. grandis trees was observed. NaCl and KCl additions in treatments Na(3.0) and K(3.0) increased above-ground biomass by 56% and 130% three years after planting, respectively, in comparison with the C treatment. By contrast, accumulated litterfall up to age 3 years was not significantly modified. NaCl applications in the Na(3.0) treatment significantly increased Na accumulation in above-ground tree components but did not modify K accumulation, whatever the sampling age. A partial substitution of K by Na in tree physiology, as observed for various agricultural crops, might explain this behaviour. Our results suggest the possibility of applying inexpensive K fertilizers, which are less purified in Na, and explain why high yields are achieved without K fertilizer applications in areas with large dry depositions of marine aerosols. Further investigations are necessary to identify the processes involving Na in Eucalyptus tree physiology. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Universidade de São Paulo USP-COFECUBFAPESP[2002/11827-9]FAPESP[2005/60312-0]European Integrated Project `Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking`[515960]French Ministry of Foreign Affair

Tracing the fate of Mg and Ca originating from liming in Beech forest ecosystems of Northern France over 40 years: ecosystem nutrient budgets and 26Mg/24Mg and 87Sr/86Sr natural isotope ratio variations

Most forest ecosystems grow on acid and nutrient poor soils. In many cases, the chemical fertility of forest soils is slowly degrading due to increasing external pressures (e.g. decreasing atmospheric inputs, increasing biomass exportations) and is a growing concern in the international forest community. Forest liming with a carbonate product is a solution to restore soil fertility and acidity, globally improve the ecosystem functioning and compensate for nutrient losses caused by biomass harvest and exportation. However, the effects of liming on ecosystem processes and the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients in forest ecosystems are little known. In this study we studied over 40 years the fate of magnesium and calcium originating from the dissolution of liming products in the soils and trees of five beech plots located in Northern France from ecosystem Mg and Ca budgets combined with the natural variations of magnesium and strontium isotopes (26Mg/24Mg and 87Sr/86Sr). Compared to the control plots, soil exchangeable pools of Mg and Ca in the 0-40cm layer increased during the first decade after liming but differences were no longer observable in soil pools after 20 to 30 years. However, the effect of liming on tree nutrition and growth was still observed after 40 years, most probably because the biological cycling of these elements was more dynamic in the limed plots. Liming effects varied between sites depending on the liming product and amount, and the initial chemical fertility level of the soil. The natural variations of Mg and Sr isotopic ratios are an interesting tool which enables to trace the incorporation over time of Mg and Ca liming products into their biogeochemical cycle in forest ecosystems and better understand the changes (biogeochemical processes and cycling) induced by liming operations

Baseline Subsoil CO2 Gas Measurements and Micrometeorological Monitoring: Above Canopy Turbulence Effects on the Subsoil CO2 Dynamics in Temperate Deciduous Forest

International audienceAccurate and continuous measurement of the subsoil CO2 is critical to better understand the terrestrial and atmosphere gas transfer process. This work aims to develop and field test a specific flow system to continuously measure the soil gas concentration (χc) and understand its main physical drivers. Hourly data measured in situ were collected through two dedicated wells at 1 m and 6 m depth coupled with micrometeorological measurement. Our study shows that χc at -1 m was at the lowest in winter and highest in summer. Meanwhile, the seasonal variation of χc at -6m is somewhat unclear. While it is inevitable that temperature plays a significant role, this factor related to biological activity cannot fully explain the variation. The decrease in χc at both depths in summer coincides with an increase of friction velocity, especially during dry periods with R2 of 0.68, which shows strong empirical evidence that wind turbulence plays a significant role in driving the deep soil CO2. A monitoring strategy for gas measurement combining borehole and micrometeorological measurement offers excellent long-term monitoring possibilities to derive the vertical distribution of CO2 and better understand the main physical drivers of gas exchange