Most of the scientific methods devised for forest planning support timber production ignoring the existence of forest functions other than wood production. Fortunately, the realisation that the forest planning methods available today do not correspond to the needs of today's forestry has activated forest researchers to develop and adopt new methodologies and approaches, which are specifically aimed at multi-objective situations. This book is about the quantitative approach to multi-objective forest planning. The emphasis is on topics that are rather new and not yet systematically applied in forest planning practice. The topics and methodologies discussed in this book include: measurement of preferences, multiple criteria decision analysis, use of GIS to support multi-objective forest management, heuristic optimization, spatial optimisation, and the measurement of non-wood forest outputs. By reading the book, a planning specialist, student or a researcher will get an insight into some of the current developments in forest planning research.

Members of the Rho family of small GTP-binding proteins (GTPases) are key signal transduction proteins that mediate signals initiated by growth factors, cytokines and cell adhesion proteins. Our knowledge about Rho GTPases has rapidly expanded over the past several years and Rho GTPases is the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of the regulation and functions of this important class of proteins.
This book includes several chapters dedicated to the review of various classes of proteins that control the localization and activation state of Rho GTPases. Additional chapters discuss the wide range of biological functions that are controlled by Rho GTPases, including the organization of the actin cytoskeleton, cell proliferation and cell motility.
Rho GTPases is essential reading for cell and molecular biologists, biochemists and geneticists. The critical roles of Rho family members in cancer and inflammatory diseases makes Rho GTPases also an invaluable guide for clinical investigators and pharmacologists.

This work assesses the issues facing biodiversity maintenance on tropical islands, and the impacts of biodiversity loss. The emphasis is on the Indo-West Pacific region, which includes many small islands where the biodiversity is under threat as a result of not only climate change and habitat destruction, but invasions by organisms previously absent from an island. The contributors are distinguished biodiversity scientists from inside and outside the region, and cover topics ranging from the state of conservation action in South-East Asia, the role of parks, and the status and threat to endemics, to impacts of oil and gas exploration and forest fragmentation. Issues needing still to be addressed, especially in relation to implications of biodiversity loss or change for the maintenance of ecosystem processes, are highlighted. The conclusions and case studies have lessons for all involved in the conservation of the biotas and ecosystems of islands. Previously published in Biodiversity and Conservation 19:2 2010

Climate change, urban sprawl, abandonment of agriculture, intensification of forestry and agriculture, changes in energy generation and use, expansion of infrastructure networks, habitat destruction and degradation, and other drivers of change occur at increasing rates. They affect patterns and processes in forest landscapes, and modify ecosystem services derived from those ecosystems. Consequently, rapidly changing landscapes present many new challenges to scientists and managers. While it is not uncommon to encounter the terms "global change" and "landscape" together in the ecological literature, a global analyses of drivers of change in forest landscapes, and their ecological consequences have not been addressed adequately. That is the goal of this volume: an exploration of the state of knowledge of global changes in forested landscapes with emphasis on causes and effects, and challenges faced by researchers and land managers. Initial chapters identify and describe major agents of landscape change: climate, fire, and human activities. The next series of chapters address implications of changes on ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation and carbon flux. A chapter that describes methodologies of detecting and monitoring landscape changes is presented followed by chapter that highlights the many challenges forest landscape managers face amidst of global change. Finally, we present a summary and a synthesis of the main points presented in the book. Each chapter will contain the individual research experiences of chapter authors, augmented by review and synthesis of global scientific literature on relevant topics, as well as critical input from multiple peer reviewers.

The debate on the future orientation of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is increasingly shaped by the role of agriculture in providing public goods, and there is a broad consensus that this approach will be particularly relevant in legitimating the policy intervention in agriculture in the future.

In the context of this debate, it is not clear to what extent collective action could be taken into consideration as a valuable alternative to market or state regulation in contributing to the provision of public goods, and to what extent it is possible to design and implement agricultural policies that incorporate a collective and collaborative approach between different stakeholders in rural areas.

Through an in depth analysis two case studies in Italy, the book provides insights to both the policy and the theoretical debate on the role of collective action for the public goods associated to agriculture. "

This international rigorously peer-reviewed volume critically synthesizes current knowledge in forest hydrology and biogeochemistry. It is a one-stop comprehensive reference tool for researchers and practitioners in the fields of hydrology, biogeoscience, ecology, forestry, boundary-layer meteorology, and geography. Following an introductory chapter tracing the historical roots of the subject, the book is divided into the following main sections:

. Sampling and Novel Approaches

. Forest Hydrology and Biogeochemistry by Ecoregion and Forest Type

. Hydrologic and Biogeochemical Fluxes from the Canopy to the Phreatic Surface

. Hydrologic and Biogeochemical Fluxes in Forest Ecosystems: Effects of Time, Stressors, and Humans

The volume concludes with a final chapter that reflects on the current state of knowledge and identifies some areas in need of further research.

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This volume comprises a selection of original contributions presented at a workshop held in Montpellier, France, in June 1997. The two main objectives of the workshop were, firstly, to bring together what is understood about the processes underlying agroforestry practice, and, secondly, to provide a forum to explore relevant models and modelling approaches. The workshop was also able to play a role in examining the agroforestry systems encountered in temperate and Mediterranean areas, including both traditional and more innovative agroforestry practices. The main aspects discussed were: ecological interactions amongst components, environmental impact, economics and policy modelling.

Carbon Sequestration in Forest Ecosystems is a comprehensive book describing the basic processes of carbon dynamics in forest ecosystems, their contribution to carbon sequestration and implications for mitigating abrupt climate change. This book provides the information on processes, factors and causes influencing carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems. Drawing upon most up-to-date references, this book summarizes the current understanding of carbon sequestration processes in forest ecosystems while identifying knowledge gaps for future research, Thus, this book is a valuable knowledge source for students, scientists, forest managers and policy makers.

Any reader eager to gain a comprehensive insight into forest development policy, praxis and reality shouldn't miss this excellent publication. Hard to find a comparable reading where the author is digging as deep into Forest Development Policy. The author discovered numerous highly relevant theories as well as inspiring cases about forests and people from around the world, focusing on 'change' rather than 'development' and on the role of various actors in creating or preventing 'change'. The exciting results uncover reality and lead to inspiring discussions on concepts of development cooperation. All individual theoretical arguments and empirical proofs are well based and shed light into the political process of Forest Development Policy. The book is an essential contribution to scholarly debate and research on forestry in the South, and its relations to development cooperation, for both, readers with theoretical and practice related interests.

Policy issues relating to forestry have been the subject of much debate in recent years, and many countries and international agencies have recently, or are currently in the process, of revising their policies for forestry. Much of this debate has implied that previous policies have failed or been much less successful than had been hoped. There is a tendency to think of policy as a matter for governments, but it is now more widely appreciated that all shareholders in the forestry sector have a legitimate interest in both the policy objectives and the means that will be used to implement it.

This book is mainly concerned with the process of developing policy and the subsequent implementation, than in specific content, though many of the important issues which policies must address are discussed. It is based on a review of many case studies with which the author has been personally involved over the past 40 years.

This book offers an extensive study of indigenous communities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, and their methods of forest conservation, along with an exploration of the impact of forestry operations in the islands and the wide scale damage they have incurred on both the land and the people. Through an in-depth analysis of the contrasting indigenous practices and governmental forestry schemes, the author has compared the modern 'Joint Forest Management' resolution with the ethos and practices of the indigenous people of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Throughout the book, readers will learn about the different indigenous communities inhabiting these islands and the treasure of knowledge each of them provide on forest conservation. The book establishes that the notion of knowledge is politicized by the dominant culture in the context of Andaman's forest tribes, and traces how this denial of the existence of indigenous knowledge by government officials has led to reduced forest area in the region. The book also explores and analyses strategies to utilize and conserve the tribes' profound knowledge of the biodiversity of the islands and study their efforts towards forest conservation, protection and rejuvenation.

These proceedings of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Environmental Reconstruction in Headwater Areas" provide a landmark in the evolution of a distinctive movement, perhaps an emerging new philosophy, within the practice of headwater management. The Headwater Control movement traces its history back to the First International Conference on Headwater Control, Prague, 1989. Throughout this brief history, Headwater Control has remained a typical environment movement 'ad hocracy'. At its meetings, for every convert to the multidisciplinary, integrative, practical, interventionist, and above-all 'green' ideals of the group, there have been several delegates who have found the whole concept both new and slightly incomprehensible. One reason for this has been the Headwater Control practice of trying to bring together scientists, practitioners, policy-makers and non-government environmentalist organisations. The group's larger meetings have always been federal gatherings. Sponsorship has been shared with invited participation from associations representing hydrological science, soil conservation, erosion control, forestry, environmental activism and so forth. These delegations may have included fellow travellers in the work to protect headwater environments, but their main concerns have not necessarily coincided with the Headwater Control group's prescriptions for the environmental regeneration of headwater regions. The Liberec Workshop, whose proceedings are distilled into this volume, provided a first opportunity for the scattered supporters of Headwater Control to talk among themselves and fmd out to what degree there really is a shared vision of the way forward in headwater management, restoration and protection.

Mycorrhizal fungi are microbial engines which improve plant vigor and soil quality. They play a crucial role in plant nutrient uptake, water relations, ecosystem establishment, plant diversity, and the productivity of plants. Scientific research involves multidisciplinary approaches to understand the adaptation of mycorrhizae to the rhizosphere, mechanism of root colonization, effect on plant physiology and growth, biofertilization, plant resistance and biocontrol of plant pathogens. This book discusses and goes into detail on a number of topics: the molecular basis of nutrient exchange between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and host plants; the role of AM fungi in disease protection, alleviation of soil stresses and increasing grain production; interactions of AM fungi and beneficial saprophytic mycoflora in terms of plant growth promotion; the role of AM fungi in the restoration of native ecosystems; indirect contributions of AM fungi and soil aggregation to plant growth and mycorrhizosphere effect of multitrophic interaction; the mechanisms by which mycorrhizas change a disturbed ecosystem into productive land; the importance of reinstallation of mycorrhizal systems in the rhizosphere is emphasized and their impact on landscape regeneration, and in bioremediation of contaminated soils; Ectomycorrhizae (ECM) and their importance in forest ecosystems and associations of ECM in tropical rain forests function to maintain tropical monodominance; in vitro mycorrhization of micro-propagated plants, and visualizing and quantifying endorhizal fungi; the use of mycorrhizae, mainly AM and ECM, for sustainable agriculture and forestry.

Endophytes are commonly known as microorganisms, mainly bacteria and fungi, which live inside plant tissues without inducing symptoms. Considering the long-lived trees, endophytes have a fundamental role in preparing their hosts to face extreme weather conditions, drought, heat, cold, and pathogen and herbivore attacks. The current knowledge clearly demonstrates the importance of endophytes in shaping the plant diversity in a forest. Endophytes have an important capacity for biocontrol of forest diseases. Considering endophyte diversity and the range of various compounds and enzymes they can produce, endophytes can be used for various biotechnological applications.

Professor Max Krott, Director of the Institute of Forest Policy and Nature Conservation at the University of Gottingen, Germany, introduces the most important political players and stakeholders, including the forest owners, the general population, forest workers and employees, forest associations and administration, as well as the media. He illustrates the political and regulatory instruments using examples in current forest policy. 'Forest Policy Analysis' places a special emphasis on the informal processes that are indispensable in understanding practical politics. References made to current English and German-language publications on forest policy studies enable further information to be found with concern to special issues."

Sustainable development and rural policies have pursued strategies where farming has been often regarded as a factor deteriorating the ecosystem. But the current economic, social and environmental problems of the Earth probably call for examples of a positive integration between human society and nature. This research work presents more than a hundred case studies where the historical relationships between man and nature have generated, not deterioration, but cultural, environmental, social and economic values. The results show that is not only the economic face of globalization that is negatively affecting the landscape, but also inappropriate environmental policies. The CBD-UNESCO program on biocultural diversity, the FAO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and several projects of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, as well as European rural policies acknowledge the importance of cultural values associated to landscape. This research intends to support these efforts.

This book dealt with a number of issues under the broad subject matter of protected area focusing on the policy of collaborative management as a means to augment the forest conservation activities and enhance community development in Bangladesh. Studies covered in the book emerged with the success stories of protected area co-management, both in terms of community development and biodiversity conservation. Significant level of development was noticed in the socio-economic conditions of the surrounding communities. Empowerment and improved social dignity of women participants signifies the initiation of co-management approach. The principles of participatory governance were found reasonably well reflected in legal and policy frameworks. Based on the lessons from the studies, a general metaphysical model, namely Spider-web model of protected area co-management has been developed that can be potentially applicable in countries where local communities rely heavily on protected areas."

This book presents the state-of-the-art of forest resources assessments and monitoring. It provides links to practical applications of forest and natural resource assessment programs. It offers an overview of current forest inventory systems and discusses forest mensuration, sampling techniques, remote sensing applications, geographic and forest information systems, and multi-resource forest inventory. Attention is also given to the quantification of non-wood goods and services.

This book is written for scientists and practitioners interested in deepening their knowledge of the sustainable production of bioenergy from wood in tropical and sub-tropical countries. Utilising the value chain concept, this book outlines the necessary aspects for managing sustainable bioenergy production. A wide range of topics is covered including biomass localization, modelling and upscaling, production management in woodlands and plantations, and transport and logistics. Biomass quality and conversion pathways are examined in order to match the conversion technology with the available biomass. A section is dedicated to issues surrounding sustainability. The issues, covered in a life-cycle assessment of the bioenergy system, include socio-economic challenges, local effects on water, biodiversity, nutrient-sustainability and global impacts. Through this holistic approach and supporting examples from tropical and sub-tropical countries, the reader is guided in designing and implementing a value chain as the main management instrument for sustainable wood.

Mangrove ecosystems are being increasingly threatened by human activities. Their biotic productivity supplies food and other resources to the human populations that inhabit or make use of them. This volume highlights the results of a ten-year German / Brazilian research project, called MADAM, in one of the largest continuous mangrove areas of the world, located in northern Brazil. Based on the analysis of the ecosystem dynamics, management strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of mangroves are presented and discussed. Beyond the scientific results, this book also provides guidelines for the development of international cooperation projects.

This book addresses global and subnational issues concerning the world's forests, societies, and environment from an independent and non-governmental point of view. Cooperation on a global scale is not only commendable, it is essential if solutions to the problems facing the world's forests are to be found. To achieve this, modern science needs to draw a clearer picture of relationships between forests, human activity, and the environment, and of the consequences of environmental change for the societies' development and growth. There are several - partly intermingled - evolutionary forest transitions underway: the slow transition from forest area decrease to an increase in the North while deforestation and degradation continues in the South. Although not all deforestation is considered negative, serious social, economic, and environmental costs may be associated with excessive deforestation. Deforestation control is just the first step on the stony path towards sustainable forest management. The forest management transition refers to the shift in the utilization towards managed semi-natural, secondary forests and plantation forests. There are some signs in the North of the forest paradigm shift from sustainable yield to forest ecosystem concepts. How deforestation can be tackled and how these concurrent transitions are effected will have profound implications for the future. These processes involve several challenges with South-North dimensions. A search for an optimum mix of public policies and markets is a global priority both as a forest policy issue and as an inter-sectoral item on the political agenda. Deforestation and transition is discussed here by a team of 14 scientists fromboth the North and the South. This book offers knowledge, facts, and information about world forests, society, and environment to help us towards equity in our use of the global forest &endash; to create a clearer vision of unasylva.

Agroforestry research is central to developing methods for the sustainable use of natural renewable resources, evolving to address the needs of the coming century. It is now necessary to consolidate the scientific gains now being made in process-oriented research and to develop a policy framework to encourage the adoption of sustainable land use practices. Agroforestry plays an important role in conserving forest resources, reducing the need for deforestation. Further, if forest' is broadly defined as tree cover, agroforestry will also increase the proportion of woody biomass in farming landscapes. The papers selected for inclusion in Agroforestry: Science, Policy, and Practice establish agroforestry as an interdisciplinary science focused on the practical imperative of assisting farmers, forest dwellers and landscape-level planners to achieve sustainable food, fuel and timber production into the 21st century.