Providing a wealth of in-depth knowledge of forest ecosystems, this new volume explores a collection of important topics on forest community dynamics. It looks at the diversity of forest ecosystems and explores such aspects as forest products in enhancing local livelihoods and community participation, forage production, forest conservation and sustainable management, regeneration patterns, seed handling, and more. Chapters in Diversity and Dynamics in Forest Ecosystems present new research on forest products, livelihood generation mechanisms of forest-dependent communities, utilization patterns of untapped resources from forests, and the structure of different ecosystems from the tropical to the temperate landscape. This book also features different drivers of community dynamics, such as the role of seed handling in forests, the influence of altitudinal variations, and protected and community-conserved forests on the forest diversity. Chapters also consider the role of non-timber forest products and their significance in livelihood diversification for tribal communities and forage crop genetic resources, and forest resource extraction by forest fringe dwellers. Also explored are aspects of soil organic carbon in agroforestry systems and integrated approaches of sustainable agroforestry development in diverse forest ecosystems. This edition also examines the vegetation structure and regeneration aspects of timberline zone, including diversity of herbaceous flora along the altitudinal gradient. The abundance of in-depth knowledge of the diversity and dynamics of forest ecosystems in this volume will be valuable in conservation and management of forests, which play an important role in the world environment. Forests are presently facing multiple disturbances, and this volume will help forestry professionals and others formulate further strategies to mitigate global climate change and other challenges.

Biodiversity is decreasing at the fastest rate in the history of the earth. The sustainable use of ecosystems allowing maintenance of biological diversity is an urgent problem that must be solved. The work featured in this book presents the results achieved by the RIHN project, together with reports on other international activities and related efforts, as ecologists, forestry scientists, environmental economists, and sociologists share in discussions of the issues.

One of the highest priorities for human societies in the 21st century, under the challenges of predicted great environmental changes, is to conserve all kinds of biodiversity across the planet. Among all the biota that exist on Earth, forest ecosystems demonstrate a high degree of biodiversity, being thought to comprise the most diverse ecosystems, as most of the terrestrial species in the world dwell in these ecosystems. Forest biodiversity is interlinked to a web of socio-economic factors, providing an array of goods and services that range from timber and non-timber forest resources to mitigating climate change and conservation of genetic resources; therefore, it is innately linked to ecosystems and human well-being. However, in recent decades, the decrease in forest biodiversity has been a crucial and ongoing environmental issue that needs special attention and adapted ecosystem management. This Special Issue book on forest biodiversity (FB) includes a selected number of research works from all over the world dealing with emerging issues, for understanding FB and its needs for conservation, ecological processes, disturbances, climate change and ecosystems resilience, structural complexity and ecosystem functions, ecological theories and silvicultural practices, and ecosystems stability. More specifically, it includes papers focused on the indicators and methods for assessing and monitoring forest biodiversity, evaluation of practices, planting and silvicultural treatments, and management and monitoring methods, with an overall goal to provide new insights on forest biodiversity conservation, conservation of forest biodiversity in protected areas, treatments of endangered or threatened forest habitats, and sustainable management of forest resources.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Causes and Consequences of Species Diversity in Forest Ecosystems that was published in Forests

Discusses the ways in which we can continue to benefit from forests, while conserving their biodiversity.

2009 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice This acclaimed textbook is the most comprehensive available in the field of forest ecology. Designed for advanced students of forest science, ecology, and environmental studies, it is also an essential reference for forest ecologists, foresters, and land managers. The authors provide an inclusive survey of boreal, temperate, and tropical forests with an emphasis on ecological concepts across scales that range from global to landscape to microscopic. Situating forests in the context of larger landscapes, they reveal the complex patterns and processes observed in tree-dominated habitats. The updated and expanded second edition covers • Conservation • Ecosystem services • Climate change • Vegetation classification • Disturbance • Species interactions • Self-thinning • Genetics • Soil influences • Productivity • Biogeochemical cycling • Mineralization • Effects of herbivory • Ecosystem stability

Fundamental changes have occurred in all aspects of forestry over the last 50 years, including the underlying science, societal expectations of forests and their management, and the evolution of a globalized economy. This textbook is an effort to comprehensively integrate this new knowledge of forest ecosystems and human concerns and needs into a management philosophy that is applicable to the vast majority of global forest lands. Ecological forest management (EFM) is focused on policies and practices that maintain the integrity of forest ecosystems while achieving environmental, economic, and cultural goals of human societies. EFM uses natural ecological models as its basis contrasting it with modern production forestry, which is based on agronomic models and constrained by required return-on-investment. Sections of the book consider: 1) Basic concepts related to forest ecosystems and silviculture based on natural models; 2) Social and political foundations of forestry, including law, economics, and social acceptability; 3) Important current topics including wildfire, biological diversity, and climate change; and 4) Forest planning in an uncertain world from small privately-owned lands to large public ownerships. The book concludes with an overview of how EFM can contribute to resolving major 21st century issues in forestry, including sustaining forest dependent societies.