Diverse as they are in their histories and in the organization of their forest sectors, most Nordic countries have this in common: their economies and cultures are substantially based on the utilization of various forest resources. This book explores Nordic forest futures and presents research results that form part of a scientific foundation for considering how to balance the functions of forests. It is particularly concerned with global trends that may affect the future use of boreal forests. Chapters investigate inter-alia the growing world population and the expected economic growth in countries with huge populations, and assess the resulting pressure on all land-based resources. Authors examine the urgent need for solutions to the energy crisis, consider worrying climate scenarios and provide a global outlook on bioenergy futures. Readers will discover how these developments will and must influence long-term strategic decisions on the future use of Nordic forests. The challenges and possible responses for future forest governance and forestry issues emerge, as the chapters go on to consider the multiple pressures in particular on the Swedish Forestry Model, among other themes. "By bringing together a distinguished group of internationally renowned scientists representing a diverse set of disciplines covering political science, geography, rural development, forest economics, history, and geo-sciences, this book constitutes an exceptionally profound and thoughtful futures study." - Alexander Buck, Executive Director, International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO)

Get cutting-edge agroforestry research and data Deforestation and the rampant use of fossil fuels are major contributors to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide and are enormous influences on global warming. Agroforestry systems and tree plantations can help mitigate the resulting climate change and degradation of biodiversity and accelerating climate change. Environmental Services of Agroforestry Systems addresses these global concerns with an essential collection of presentations on biodiversity and climate change from the First World Congress in Agroforestry (Orlando, Florida, 2004). Respected experts discuss the latest research and data on how agroforestry systems can help solve environmental problems through carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation. Years ago, agroforestry's environmental benefits were mainly seen as being soil amelioration, erosion control, microclimate control, and the alleviation of the effects of drought in semiarid areas. Environmental Services of Agroforestry Systems goes beyond the regional considerations of years past to focus on the challenges of today's most pressing global environmental concerns. The contributors describe the latest research and concepts in agroforestry systems, reforestation efforts, soils, vegetation, and agriculture while reviewing their economic aspects. Incentives for reforestation and agroforestry are explored in detail. Each chapter is carefully referenced and includes tables to clarify ideas and data. Environmental Services of Agroforestry Systems addresses: advantages of mixed-species plantations tropical pasture and silvo-pastoral systems tropical forest ecosystem management research on the economic feasibility of various land-use systems socio-economic considerations of coffee-growing ecosystems agroforestry systems in Costa Rica Environmental Services of Agroforestry Systems is essential reading for researchers and scientists, as well as professionals in agroforestry, forestry, soils, global change, climate change, and environmental studies, educators, and graduate and undergraduate students.

Much of the world's forested land is dominated by mixed-species stands. Understanding the complex structure and dynamics of these mixtures is a necessary step in the process of formulating appropriate silvicultural systems for their management. David M. Smith, Professor Emeritus of Silviculture at Yale University, has devoted much of his career to the study of the structure, development, and silvicultural treatment of these kinds of stands. This volume is presented by Professor Smith's collegues to honor the contributions he has made to the field. It contains both reviews of past work and results of current studies of mixed stands: topics range from analysis of forest dynamics in unmanaged stands to studies of silvicultural systems applied to mixtures, with examples drawn from boreal, temperate, and tropical regions. Much of the work stresses the importance of understanding the characteristic growth patterns of individual species within mixed stands, and how species interactions shape developmental patterns.

This book is an outcome of a research project on "Sustainable Forestry and the Environment in Developing Countries." The project has been run by Metsantutki muslaitos METLA -the Finnish Forest Research Institute since 1987 and will be completed this year. A major output by this project has so far been a report in three volumes on "Deforestation or development in the Third World?" The purpose of our multidisciplinary research project is to generate new knowl edge about the causes of deforestation, its scenarios and consequences. More knowledge is needed for more effective, efficient and equitable public policy, both at the national and intemationallevels in supporting sustainable forestry in develop ing countries. Our project has specifically focused on 90 tropical countries as one group and on three subgroups by continents, as well as the three case study countries, the Philippines, Ethiopia and Chile. The University of Joensuu has been our active partner in the Philippine study. We have complemented the three cases by the analyzes of Brazil and Indonesia, the two largest tropical forest-owning countries. Some other interesting country studies were annexed to complement our book both by geography and expertise. The United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economics Research, UNUIWIDER in Helsinki Finland has also been partly engaged. Most of the results from its project on "The Forest in the South and North in Context of Global Warming" will, however, be published later in a separate book."

Tran Van Nao (Editor) The last decade has witnessed a seriously increasing incidence of forest fires in many countries. Substantial economic and ecological losses have been incurred, although the estimation of total damage This has been due to the lack assessment has often been inaccurate. of standardized methods for collecting data on fire occurrence and area burnt, as well as information such as the value of the vegetation destroyed and restoration costs, and the implications for recreation, tourism and other social activities. The Mediterranean region was initially considered one of the most vulnerable to forest fires because of its' dry climate and strong winds. No region is immune to forest fires, however, and damage has been especially severe in areas where pine is the predominant species. Although forest fires are normally considered a national problem, they become an international one when they occur in border area forests or when the ecological impacts are felt over long distances. The potential for forest fires exists in every country -unless it is a complete desert - and for this reason, there is a need to promote better understanding of the fires, and closer cooperation between countries in controlling them.

At the time of European discovery, the ancient North American forests stretched across nearly half the continent. And while today little remains of this past glory, efforts are underway to bring back some of the diverse ecosystems of that era. America's Ancient Forests: From the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery provides scientists and professionals with essential information for forest restoration and conservation projects, while presenting a compelling and far-reaching account of how the North American landscape has evolved over the past 18,000 years.

The book weaves historical accounts and scientific knowledge into a dynamic narrative about the ancient forests and the events that shaped them. Divided into two major parts, it covers first the glaciers and forests of the Ice Age and the influences of native peoples, and then provides an in-depth look at these majestic forests through the eyes of the first European explorers. Changes in climate and elevation, the movement of trees northward, the assembly of modern forests, and qualities that all ancient forests shared are also thoroughly examined.

A special feature of this book is its self-contained introduction to the early history of Native American peoples and their environment. The author draws on his roots in the Osage nation as well as painstaking research through the historical record, offering a complete discussion of how the cultural practices of hunting, agriculture, and fire helped form the ancient forests.

The Sustainable Forestry Handbook is widely considered to be the essential aid to understanding and implementing sustainable forest management. Providing a clear and concise guide to the practicalities of implementing international standards for sustainable forest management, this fully updated second edition covers new Forest Stewardship Council requirements, High Conservation Value Forests, clearer requirements on pesticides and developments in policy and forest governance. Aimed at forest managers, and employing extensive cross referencing and easy-to-understand illustrations, this highly practical handbook explains in clear terms what the standards require forest managers to do and how they might go about implementing them.

Large areas of the warm, humid tropics in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa are hilly or mountainous. Jackson and Scherr (1995) estimate that these tropical hillside areas are inhabited by 500 million people, or one-tenth of the current world population, many of whom practice subsistence agriculture. The region most affected is Asia which has the lowest area of arable land per capita. Aside from limited areas of irrigated terraces, most of the sloping land, which constitutes 60% to 90% of the land resources in many Southeast Asian countries, has been by-passed in the economic development of the region (Maglinao and Hashim, 1993). Poverty in these areas is often high, in contrast to the relative wealth of irri gated rice farms in lowland areas that benefited from the green revolution. Rapid population growth in some countries is also exacerbating the problems of hillside areas. Increasingly, people are migrating from high-potential lowland areas where land is scarce to more remote hillside areas. Such migra tion, together with inherent high population growth, is forcing a transforma tion in land use from subsistence to permanent agriculture on fragile slopes, and is creating a new suite of social, economic, and environmental problems (Garrity, 1993; Maglinao and Hashim, 1993)."

Woody plants provide many challenges to the tissue culturist. Although there are many excellent tissue culture books and manuals available, these are generally strongly biased towards herbacious crops. Consequently, they often do not pay sufficient attention to the problems that specifically apply to in vitro culture of tree species. Culture of the latter often poses problems which are either absent or of lesser significance when culturing herbacious species. When trees in the field are used as explant source, the problems can be especially severe. For example, the physiological condition of the explants is difficult to control because of variation in weather and biotic factors. Furthermore, it is often difficult to obtain explants free of contaminants from field grown trees. Lack of genetic uniformity and maturation are additional problems one often has to deal with when culturing tree cells or tissues. These problems are emphasized in this text. In vitro culture of trees is not viewed in isolation. It is considered in conjunction with breeding, traditional cloning and other common tree improvement techniques. The text discusses theoretical as well as practical aspects of the in vitro culture of trees.

Scientists and researchers from top labs around the world share their expertise!
This unique text integrates tree transgenesis, functional genomics, and structural genomics to present, for the first time, a unified approach to research on the molecular biology of forest trees. A distinguished panel of scientists, researchers, and educators from around the world have combined their efforts to present the most up-to-date information and make Molecular Genetics and Breeding of Forest Trees an important addition to your professional or teaching collection. Helpful tables and figures make important points easy to access and understand.
To make it easier to find the specific information you're looking for, Molecular Genetics and Breeding of Forest Trees is divided into four sections: Forest Tree Functional Genomics, Molecular Biology of Wood Formation, Forest Tree Transgenesis, and Genome Mapping in Forest Trees. Within these sections, you'll find the most up-to-date information on: functional genomics EST databases proteomics in forest trees genomics of wood formation and in vitro systems for the study of wood formation genetic transformation of forest trees stable expression of foreign genes modification of flowering in forest trees genome mapping in forest trees microsatellite DNA markers in forest trees exploring the transcriptome of the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis in trees

Scientists and researchers from top labs around the world share their expertise!
This unique text integrates tree transgenesis, functional genomics, and structural genomics to present, for the first time, a unified approach to research on the molecular biology of forest trees. A distinguished panel of scientists, researchers, and educators from around the world have combined their efforts to present the most up-to-date information and make Molecular Genetics and Breeding of Forest Trees an important addition to your professional or teaching collection. Helpful tables and figures make important points easy to access and understand.
To make it easier to find the specific information you're looking for, Molecular Genetics and Breeding of Forest Trees is divided into four sections: Forest Tree Functional Genomics, Molecular Biology of Wood Formation, Forest Tree Transgenesis, and Genome Mapping in Forest Trees. Within these sections, you'll find the most up-to-date information on: functional genomics EST databases proteomics in forest trees genomics of wood formation and in vitro systems for the study of wood formation genetic transformation of forest trees stable expression of foreign genes modification of flowering in forest trees genome mapping in forest trees microsatellite DNA markers in forest trees exploring the transcriptome of the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis in trees

Research and publications on the potato crop have burgeoned since the first edition of this book was published in 1978. However, the warm reception of the first edition suggested that it had a useful part to play in promoting the scientific basis for understanding and improving the yield and quality of the crop. Since the first edition was out of print and a second reprint would not have taken into account the contributions made by research over the intervening years, it became obvious that a complete revision was necessary. There was, in particular, a need to take account of the rapid extension of interest in the crop into climates and farming systems with which it has not been traditionally associa, ted. Those involved with the crop will be sadly aware that a number of contributors to the first edition are no longer with us. Their contribution to our knowledge of the crop will however be a permanent legacy of their achievement. I would like to thank all those who have contributed to the book for their willingness to cooperate in the difficult task of bringing their particular subject up to date. This is even more noteworthy for the pressure of time appears to be almost an order of magnitude higher than it was when the first edition was tackled

The lntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently summarized the state ofthe art in research on climate change (Climate Change 1995). The most up to date research findings have been divided into three volumes: * the Science ofClimate Change (working group I), * the Impacts, Adaption and Mitigation of Climate Change (working group II), and * the Economic and Social Dimensions ofClimate Change (working group III) There is a general consensus that a serious change in climate can only be avoided if the future emissions of greenhouse gases are reduced considerably from the business as usual projection and if at the same time the natural sinks for greenhouse gases, in particular that of CO , are maintained at the present level or 2 preferrably increased. Forests, forestry and forestry industry are important parts of the global carbon cycle and therefore they are also part of the mitigation potentials in at least a threefold way: 1. During the time period between 1980 and 1989 there was a net emission of CO from changes in tropical land use (mostly tropical deforestation) of 2 1. 6 +/- 1 GtC/a, but at the same time it was estimated that the forests in the northem hemisphere have taken up 0. 5 +/- 0. 5 GtC/a and additionally other terrestrial sinks (including tropical forests where no clearing took place) have been a carbon sink ofthe order of l. 3 +/- l.

Agroforestry systems are believed to provide a number of ecosystem services; however, until recently evidence in the agroforestry literature supporting these perceived benefits has been lacking. This volume brings together a series of papers from around the globe to address recent findings on the ecosystem services and environmental benefits provided by agroforestry. Specifically, this volume examines four major ecosystem services and environmental benefits: (1) carbon sequestration, (2) biodiversity conservation, (3) soil enrichment and (4) air and water quality. Past and present evidence clearly indicates that agroforestry, as part of a multifunctional working landscape, can be a viable land-use option that, in addition to alleviating poverty, offers a number of ecosystem services and environmental benefits. This realization should help promote agroforestry and its role as an integral part of a multifunctional working landscape the world over. The book should be particularly useful to students, professionals, researchers and policy makers involved in natural resource management, agroforestry, biodiversity conservation, and environmental management.

Reprinted from Agroforestry Systems, Volume 76, No. 1 (2009)

In the conflict between logging as a material resource and preservation the forests are becoming depleted throughout the world and this depletion is aggravated by the effects of air pollution. The concept of utilization is thus now being expanded to include vital societal values. These issues are nowhere more acute than in Central and Eastern Europe, where obsolete, poorly maintained industrial plant is common. Air pollutant levels are so high that one area has been called the Black Triangle. Timber is required in this region as a building material and logging for fuelwood is practised, giving rise to a complex linkage between industry, energy supply, deforestation, agriculture, value-added forestry products and economic development. This book presents current information on national and regional issues relating to environmental threats to forest land, focusing on: ecology, environment and science; forest ownership and management; forest product utilization; government and public agency roles. The recommendations, action items and the human network needed for regional-level implementation are detailed in `situation', `position' and `state of the art' papers. The final objective is to develop a plan of action to help abate the negative impacts while sustaining or expanding the forests, the economy and the energy sufficiency of the region.

This book draws together contributions from forest economists in the Research Triangle of North Carolina, with co-authors from institutions around the world. It represents our common belief that rigorous empirical analysis in an economic framework can inform forest policy. We intend the book as a guide to the empirical methods that we have found most useful for addressing both traditional and modem areas of concern in forest policy, including timber production and markets, multiple use forestry, and valuation of non-market benefits. 'The book editors and most chapter authors are affiliated with three institutions in the Research Triangle: the Southern Research Station of the USDA Forest Service (K. Abt, Butry, Holmes, Mercer, Moulton, Prestemon, Wear), the Department of Forestry at North Carolina State University (R. Abt, Ahn, Cubbage, Sills), and the Environmental and Natural Resource Economics Program of Research Triangle Institute (Murray, Pattanayak). Two other Triangle institutions are also represented among the book authors: Duke University (Kramer) and the Forestland Group (Zinkhan). In addition to our primary affiliations, many of us are adjunct faculty and/or graduates of Triangle universities. Many of our co-authors also graduated from or were previously affiliated with Triangle institutions. Thus, the selection of topics, methods, and case studies reflects the work of this particular network of economists, and to some degree, our location in the southeastern United States. However, our work and the chapters encompass other regions of the United States and the world, including Latin America and Asia.

'This book is a 'must have' for any biologists interested in the formation of wood, who might think of buying two copies - one for lab, where it will most definitely see heavy use, and one for the office as an excellent reference book.' - Malcolm M. Campbell, University of Oxford - New Phytologist

'...this book is highly recommended and should become a standard not only for libraries, but also as a personal copy for scientists working with woody tissues. It also serves as a rich source of scientific information regarding both structural and biochemical aspects of wood formation.' - Annals of Botany

Production of food to meet the demands of an ever-increasing human population in the world is the major task and challenge to agriculture today. The conventional methods of plant breeding alone can no longer cope with the situation. The success of any crop improvement program depends on the extent of genetic variability in the base population, but due to denuding of forests and agricultural land, the naturally occurring pool of germplasm is being depleted. An urgent need is therefore ap parent to create new variability and increase the genetic base of agricul tural crops. Agricultural biotechnology has progressed to a stage in the produc tion of plants where specific characteristics to improve their yield, ap pearance, disease-resistance, nutritional quality and adaptation to ad verse soil conditions can be built into the seed. This concept of built-in quality implies a continuous scientific endeavour to improve plant char acters using a wide range of possibilities, and it also implies a scrutiny of the materials and methods available in the world today."

"Chainsaw Operator's Manual" is an essential safety tool for chainsaw operators. It is the ultimate guide to basic chainsaw operating techniques covering safety, maintenance and cross-cutting, but not tree felling. Detailed diagrams illustrate horizontal, vertical and boring cuts, as well as trimming and cross-cutting techniques. Safety considerations are discussed, including workplace safety, occupational hazards, kick-back and identifying dangerous trees. An explanation of the tension and compression forces in timber is also provided to help the reader understand where to begin cutting to avoid jamming the saw. The book covers chainsaw maintenance in detail, explains all aspects of the equipment and helps the reader select the right chainsaw and personal protection equipment. Trouble-shooting charts are included to help solve operating problems. This manual has been updated to take into account the most recent changes in nationally accredited competency standards. It is a must-have for anyone operating a chainsaw. FeaturesWorkplace and operator safety Chainsaw maintenance Basic cross-cutting techniques Competency Standards

On a Sustainable Future of the Earth s Natural Resources is divided into three sections, with individual chapters contributed by experts on diff erent facets of the earth sciences, natural resources management and related issues. The first section focuses on the status of Earth s resources; land, water, biota and atmosphere. Reviews on the rate of exploitation and the need to conserve these resources for future sustenance are also covered in this section. Th e following section includes chapters elucidating environmental, ecological, climatological and anthropological pressures on sustained nourishment with the Earth s resources. The last section describes management practices, issues and perspectives on sociological, legal, administrative, ICT and strategic efforts that need to be implemented in order to sustain our natural resources. This book covers a broad spectrum of the Earth s resources and sustenance, offering a comprehensive perspective on their past, present and future.

The papers in this book were 'in a preliminary version' presented at an international con ference May 21-25, 2002 in Gilleleje, Denmark. It was a joint event, namely the biennial meeting of the Scandinavian Society of Forest Economics and the 3rd Berkeley-KVL Con ference. The Scandinavian Society of Forest Economics (SSFE) was established in 1958 as a forum for forest economists in the Nordic countries to meet and exchange ideas on research and education. Alternating between Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, biennial ordinary meetings have taken place ever since. The number of participants has increased from 10-15 in the first decade to more than 80 in 2002. In the last two decades prominent researchers from outside Scandinavia have been invited to present papers at the biennial meetings and also to participate in ad hoc working groups. The Berkeley-KVL part of the conference is based on a research collaboration between The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (KVL), Copenhagen, University of Cali fornia at Berkeley, and Oregon State University. It was initiated in 1993 within the frame work of a research programme at KVL: 'Stochastic Decision Analysis in Forest Manage ment' and since 1996 extended to the programme 'Economic Optimisation of Multiple-Use Forestry and Other Natural Resources'."