What are conservation buffers? Conservation buffers are small areas or strips of land in permanent vegetation, designed to intercept pollutants and manage other environmental concerns. Buffers include: riparian buffers, filter strips, grassed waterways, shelterbelts, windbreaks, living snow fences, contour grass strips, cross-wind trap strips, shallow water areas for wildlife, field borders, alley cropping, herbaceous wind barriers, and vegetative barriers (USDA-NRCS, 2009).

Why are we discussing them? Understanding different types of conservation buffers and various ways to construct them is crucial to attempt any type of land restoration. Whether you are working to reduce runoff from human settlements and agriculture, or you are trying to revive the soil and water flow to degraded land, using buffers and barriers aids in restoration. 

Here are a few examples taken from Bentrup, 2008 in the syllabus:

What are some other types of conservation buffers and what is their purpose? Can a forest act as a large scale conservation buffer? What types of buffers could be used to restore soil retention and water flow to a deforested site?

Resources

• Bentrup, G. 2008. Conservation buffers: design guidelines for buffers, corridors, and greenways. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-109. Asheville, NC: USDA, Forest Service, Southern Research Station.

What is the rhizospere? It is the area where root hairs of trees and other plants interact with the soil. “This is a special place because hair roots bring food and oxygen, enabling the micro organisms to work faster than anywhere else. A continuous flow of water is caused, as water is absorbed by these roots, drawing with it dissolved substances”, such as nutrients, salts and occasionally toxins (Anthoni, 2000). 

Although the rhizoshpere is a much smaller ecosystem than that above ground, its functions are crucial to life under and above the soil. This “micro” habitat is home to a large community of microorganisms, fungi, and bacteria.

The removal of trees has a drastic effect on soil composition. While the tree roots physically hold the soil in place and draw water to the surface, the diagram above shows that these root systems support a diverse, but fragile ecosystem (the rhizospere). 

The figure above shows soil and carbon (organic/decayed matter which the main ingedient of soil) degradation in New Zealand after forest clearance for agriculture. In your readings and research, what are some examples of deforestation and soil degredation? How about reforestation, and the renewal of soil? 

Here are some quick videos from HippoCampus.org. Check out the syllabus for many new web & multimedia resources, as well!

• Soil Profile
• Soil Texture
• Erosion
• Erosion Control

References

• Soil Ecology  (Dr. J Floor Anthoni, 2000)

This week and next we will be focusing on the fundamentals of hydrological processes (water cycles) that occur in the presence of forest.  Below is a figure taken from Schoenholtz (2004) in our syllabus describing the basic water cycle in forested areas. 

In this discussion we want to identify the role of forest in preserving the water cycle, and what happens to the cyle when land is deforested. Also, there are many examples in our syllabus of how the water cycle changes once land is reforested. 

Here is an awesome video tutorial on the role of forests in watersheds. A watershed is the geographical area drained by a river and its tributaries. A great example would be the Amazon basin. 

Forests and Watershed Video Tutorial (~8 min)

References

• Schoenholtz, S.H. 2004. Impacts of forest management on water quality. pp. 377-388 in Burley, J., J. Evans, and J. Youngquist, eds. Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences. Elsevier Ltd., Oxford, U.K.

Let’s focus on an important topic – the changing role of forests at the onset of the industrial revolution. Forest was often a primary source of fuel preceding the revolution, however the broad applications of fossil fuels and water power allowed a major pace change for industry. It’s important to note that timber and wood-buring did not fall to the wayside. To the contrary their uses increased as building and construction of homes, mills, bridges, and (industrial paper making especially) sprang up across the landscape

In your readings a research, have any of you come across new uses for forest products that resulted during and after the industrial revolution? How about the removal of forest for space, despite its products?

Our first two references deal with the topic of ancient deforestation and its cascading effects on cultural survival. Williams (2000) is a great overview of pre-1500 AD deforestation in North America and Europe and Shaw (2003) covers the possibility of deforestation as a cause for the Maya collapse. 

Reading through these papers, in addition to any other resources you find, lets begin a discussion surrounding historical deforestation in the ancient world. Is there physical evidence of this? How are environmental archaeologists determining when and where it happened?

Hello Group,

I am sorry for the delay in participation. I was so busy with other work and now I am quite free to take part actively in this wonderful conversation. The conversation is so wonderful and I feel happy that we are discussing issues that affect our environment, our climate and our world.

In a study to be published next week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,scientists led by a team at the University of New Hampshire show that forests may influence the Earth’s climate in important ways that have not previously been recognized.

When sunlight reaches the Earth’s surface it can either be absorbed and converted to heat or reflected back to outer space, where it doesn’t influence the Earth’s temperature. Scott Ollinger, a professor at the UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space and the department of Natural Resources and the Environment, and colleagues have discovered that, of the total amount of sunlight that falls on forests, the fraction that gets reflected back to space is directly related to levels of nitrogen in their foliage.

While scientists have long known that nitrogen-rich foliage is more efficient at pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, this new discovery suggests that nitrogen plays an important additional role in the Earth’s climate system that has never before been considered. Specifically, trees with high levels of foliar nitrogen have a two-fold effect on climate by simultaneously absorbing more CO2 and reflecting more solar radiation than their low-nitrogen counterparts.

Ollinger and UNH colleagues Andrew Richardson, Mary Martin, Dave Hollinger, Steve Frolking, and others, stumbled upon the discovery while poring over six years worth of data they collected from research sites across North America. The study involved a novel combination of NASA satellite- and aircraft-based instruments, along with meteorological towers from the AmeriFlux network and leaf-level measurements to analyze various aspects of forest canopies. When Ollinger noticed that the overall reflectivity of forest canopies (also known as albedo) rose and fell in conjunction with leaf nitrogen, he had a eureka moment.

“Bits and pieces of evidence for this have been around for years but nobody put them together before because it’s a question we hadn’t even thought to ask,” Ollinger says. “Scientists have long been aware of the importance of albedo, but no one suspected that the albedo of forests might be influenced by nitrogen. And because most of the effect is in the infra-red region of the sun’s spectrum, beyond that which human eyes can detect, the pattern isn’t immediately obvious.”

The newly discovered link between foliar nitrogen and canopy albedo adds an interesting new twist to the understanding of the climate system and raises intriguing questions about the underlying nature of ecosystem–climate interactions.

Changes in climate, air pollution, land use, and species composition can all influence nitrogen levels in foliage, and all of these may be part of a climate feedback mechanism that climate models have not yet examined. Future research planned by the team will involve examining the underlying causes for why the relationship exists and working with climate modelers to determine how the nitrogen-albedo mechanism will influence predictions of climate change.

First of all, what do we mean by ecosystem goods & services? I found this helpful list compiled by Ohio State University.

Ecosystem Goods and Services. Healthy ecosystems carry out a diverse array of processes that provide both goods and services to humanity. Here, goods refer to items given monetary value in the marketplace, whereas the services from ecosystems are valued, but are rarely bought or sold.

Ecosystem processes include:

• Maintenance of energy flux, dissipation, climate modulation
• Maintenance of hydrologic flux, hydrologic cycle, water quality
• Biological productivity, plant pollination
• Maintenance of biogeochernical cycling, storage, mineral-gaseous cycles, water-air quality
• Decomposition, weathering, soil development-stability, soil quality
• Maintenance of biological diversity
• Absorbing, buffering, diluting, detoxifying pollutants-xenobiotics

Ecosystem “goods” include:

• Food
• Construction materials
• Medicinal plants
• Wild genes for domestic plants and animals
• Tourism and recreation

Ecosystem “services” include:

• Maintaining hydrological cycles
• Regulating climate
• Cleansing water and air
• Maintaining the gaseous composition of the atmosphere
• Pollinating crops and other important plants
• Generating and maintaining soils
• Storing and cycling essential nutrients
• Absorbing and detoxifying pollutants
• Providing beauty, inspiration, and recreation

(Modified from Ehrlich and Ehrlich 1991, Lubchenco et al. 1993, and Richardson 1994)

How can we relate the ecosystem goods & services concept to forests? Formostly, our syllabus references identify forest removal; timber, clearing for agricultural land, and removal for mining. Are there goods and services provided by forests without removing them?

[References from OSU]

1. Ehrlich, P. R. and A. H. Ehrlich. 1991. Healing the planet: Strategies for resolving the environmental crisis. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
2. Lubchenco, J., P. G. Risser, A. C. Janetos, J. R. Gosz, B. D. Gold, and M. M. Holland. 1993. Priorities for an environmental science agenda for the Clinton-Gore Administration: Recommendations for transition planning. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 74:4-8.
3. Richardson, C. J. 1994. Ecological functions and human values in wetlands: A framework for assessing forestry impacts. Wetlands 14:1-9.

“Claims that there will be a massive loss of species as tropical forests are cleared are based on the relationship between habitat area and the number of species. Few studies calibrate extinction with habitat reduction. Critics raise doubts about this calibration, noting that there has been extensive clearing of the eastern North American forest, yet only 4 of its approximately 200 bird species have gone extinct. We analyze the distribution of bird species and the timing and extent of forest loss. The forest losses were not concurrent across the region. Based on the maximum extent of forest losses, our calculations predict fewer extinctions than the number observed. At most, there are 28 species of birds restricted to the region. Only these species would be at risk even if all the forests were cleared. Far from providing comfort to those who argue that the current rapid rate of tropical deforestation might cause fewer extinctions than often claimed, our results suggest that the losses may be worse. In contrast to eastern North America, small regions of tropical forest often hold hundreds of endemic bird species.”

I definitely recommend watching the TED Talk by Cornielle Ewango. I also found an interesting photo essay about endagered forest animals – the cute and cuddly ones that tend to grab the attention of the public. Have a look: Photo Essay from PBS Wide Angle

I’d like to hear from the rest of you. What are your thoughts on the topic of forests and biodiversity??

[References]

1. Pimm and R A Askins Forest losses predict bird extinctions in eastern North America PNAS September 26, 1995 vol. 92 no. 20 9343-9347
2. Brook, BW; Sodhi, NS; Ng, PKL. 2003 Catastrophic extinctions follow deforestation in Singapore Nature 424(6947):420-426.

HOW WE LEARN
Peer-to-peer learning is the fundamental mode of this course. Participants are encouraged to work independently and as a group through online discussions and forums surrounding the question sets for each week’s topic. We suggest reading at least two of the traditional resources (scientific papers) and to browse through the multimedia resources. Merit is based solely on participation. The course designers, Alison Cole and Ann Nguyen , will be participating in all aspects of the course, and will invite guest sense-makers/ professionals in the field to answer outside questions, as well.

ABOUT TRADITIONAL RESOURCES
The nature of this course requires us to learn not only from multimedia sources (websites of organizations, informal media and information) but from academia, as well. Scientific papers are an excellent source of information as they summarize and introduce the topic before they discuss their findings. Methods are always included in such papers, and give the reader an in-depth perspective on how the research is conducted. However, academic papers are notoriously dense and often use unfamiliar terminology. If you find difficulty wading through these resources, let your peers know! We recommend the following glossaries to aid your reading!

• Forest Science Glossary
• Wikipedia Glossary of Ecology
  

A little bit about me:

I aim to live my waking life as if it is a dream.  Sometime last year, I decided to plunge head-first into this perspective and designed a project called Alternative Grad School which this course is part of.  Alison and I sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe in May, which has been a dream of mine, and then we got settled in a reforestation project in Southern India called Sadhana Forest.  It was there where I learned about land and soil rehabilitation and afforestation by working with the land and asking many questions.  I love you Sadhana Forest! I believe many of you are embarking on the 3 year leadership program now and I am honored to be part of your journey.

Tomorrow, I leave for a ten-day trek in the Markha Valley near Leh, India so I will be incommunicado.  However, I look forward to reading your posts when I return and will eagerly add my two cents.

Here we go!

-SongAnh Ann Nguyen