British Forests

Humans have influenced the landscapes and forests throughout the temperate and boreal zones for millennia. Restoration of Boreal and Temperate Forests, Second Edition focuses on the negative impact of human activity, and explains the importance of forest restoration as a way to repair habitat, restore forest structure and function, and counteract the lasting effects of humanity. The book offers broad geographic coverage, as well as a combination of review and case study chapters providing social and policy contexts for restoration of specific forest types. This revised edition begins with a historical context for restoration, provides a conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between degradation and restoration, and defines terms within that framework. While building on the first edition, it presents the response of restorationists to the current challenges of interpreting scattered science on forest history, stand development, and natural processes. It combines applicable experience designed to improve present and future ecological and social sustainability. Describes restoration in the context of rapid social, economic, environmental, and climate change Looks toward the future, presenting several completely new topics in forest restoration Covers different starting points for restoration, from non-forest to degraded forest Restoration of Boreal and Temperate Forests, Second Edition aids in the understanding of the diverse cultural and ecological contexts for restoration of temperate and boreal forests, and the creation of a better foundation of documented knowledge to support future and existing restoration decisions.

This book addresses the challenges and opportunities faced by the world’s forests posed by climate change, conservation objectives, and sustainable development needs including bioenergy, outlining the research and other efforts that are needed to understand these issues, along with the options and difficulties for dealing with them. It contains sections on sustainable forestry & conservation; forest resources worldwide; forests, forestry and climate change; the economics of forestry; tree breeding & commercial forestry; biotechnological approaches; genomic studies with forest trees; bio-energy, lignin & wood; and forest science, including ecological studies. The chapters are contributed by prominent organisations or individuals with an established record of achievement in these areas, and present their ideas on these topics with the aim of providing a ready source of information and guidance on these topics for politicians, policy makers and scientists for many years to come.

The aim of this book is to elucidate the role of forests as part of a landscape in the life of people. Most landscapes today are cultural landscapes that are influenced by human activity and that in turn have a profound effect on our understanding of and identification with a place. The book proposes that a better understanding of the bond between people and forests as integrated part of a landscape may be helpful in landscape planning, and may contribute to the discussion of changes in forest cover which has been motivated by land use changes, rural development and the global climate debate. To this end, people’s perception of forest landscapes, the reasons for different perceptions, and future perspectives are discussed. Given the wide range of forest landscapes, and cultural perspectives which exist across the world, the book focuses on Europe as a test case to explore the various relationships between society, culture, forests and landscapes. It looks at historical evidence of the impacts of people on forests and vice versa, explores the current factors affecting people’s physical and emotional comfort in forest landscapes, and looks ahead to how changes in forest cover may alter the present relationships of people to forests. Drawing together a diverse literature and combining the expertise of natural and social scientists, this book will form a valuable reference for students and researchers working in the fields of landscape ecology and landscape architecture, geography, social science, environmental psychology or environmental history. It will also be of interest to researchers, government agencies and practitioners with an interest in issues such as sustainable forest management, sustainable tourism, reserve management, urban planning and environmental interpretation.

T. C. Hutchinson The NATO Advanced Research Workshop detailed in this volume was held in Toronto, Canada, in 1985. The purpose of the Workshop was to provide a "state of the art" report on our knowledge of the sensitivities and responses of forests, wetlands and crops to airborne pollutants. Approximately 40 scientific experts from nine countries participated. Most participants were actively involved in research concerning the effects of air pollutants on natural or agro-ecosystems. These pollutants included acidic deposition, heavy metal particulates, sulphur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, acid fogs and mixtures of these. Also invited were experts on various types of ecosystem stresses, physiologi cal mechanisms pertinent to acid deposition, and other areas that were felt by the director to be of direct relevance, including: effects of ethylene on vegetation, the physiology of drought in trees, the nature and role of plant cuticles as barriers to acid rain penetration, the use of dendrochronological techniques in reconstructing the time of onset and the subsequent progression of growth declines, the ability of soils to naturally generate acidity, the role of Sphagnum moss in natural peat land acidity, the use of lichens as indicators of changing air quality, and the magnitude of natural emissions of reduced sulphur gases from tropical rainforests and temperate deciduous forests. The Workshop included a series of invited presentations and subsequent group discussions. These presentations were designed to allow syntheses of our present knowledge as well as detailed questioning and discussion.

Our understanding of the ecological history of European forests has been transformed in the last twenty years. Bringing together key findings from across the continent, this book provides a comprehensive account of the relevance of historical studies to current conservation and management of forests. It combines theory with a series of regional case studies to show how different aspects of forestry play out according to the landscape and historical context of the local area.