Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: J. Škvareninová Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Science, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovak Republic Title: Impact of climatic conditions on the reproductive phenological phases of European hazel (Corylus avellana L.) in Slovakia Abstract: The work presents the results of phenological observations of flowering and fruit ripeness of the European hazel (Corylus avellana L.) in Slovakia in two time periods: 1964-1983, and 1994-2013. The phenological stations at elevations from 100 to 875 m a.s.l. were grouped to 7 elevation zones, each 100 m wide. In the first studied period, flowering started on 19 March on average, while in the second period it started 5 days earlier. The average duration of flowering equal to 7-9 days did not depend on the elevation, but on the air temperature and weather patterns in the different elevation zones. During the first period, the average elevation gradient of flowering was 5.6 days per 100 elevation meters, while in the second period it was reduced to 3.5 days in the entire elevation profile. In the elevation zones between 300 and 500 m, a high correlation (P < 0.01) between the onset of flowering and elevation was reduced to a moderate level of correlation due to changing environmental conditions. In 1994-2013, the ripeness of hazel nuts started on average on 30 August in Slovakia, showed low variability and moderate correlation with elevation. The phenological elevation gradient was 2.9 days per 100 m of elevation. Keywords: phenology, forest ecosystems, climate change, weather extremes Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 47-52 Volume: 62 Issue: 2 Year: 2016 DOI: 10.17221/55/2015-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/55/2015-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-201602-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:62:y:2016:i:2:id:55-2015-JFS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: R.M. Navarro-Cerrillo Author-Workplace-Name: Departamento Ingeniería Forestal, DendrodatLab- ERSAF, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain Author-Name: R. Sánchez-Salguero Author-Workplace-Name: Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain Author-Name: R. Herrera Author-Workplace-Name: Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Caracas, Venezuela Author-Name: C.J. Ceacero Ruiz Author-Workplace-Name: Departamento Fisiología, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain Author-Name: J.M. Moreno-Rojas Author-Workplace-Name: Instituto de Investigación y Formación Agraria y Pesquera (IFAPA), Córdoba, Spain Author-Name: R.D. Manzanedo Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland Author-Name: J. López-Quintanilla Author-Workplace-Name: Consejería Medio-Ambiente y Ordenación del Territorio, Málaga, Spain Title: Contrasting growth and water use efficiency after thinning in mixed Abies pinsapo-Pinus pinaster-Pinus sylvestris forests Abstract: Foresters frequently lack sufficient information about thinning intensity effects to optimize semi-natural forest management and their effects and interaction with climate are still poorly understood. In an Abies pinsapo-Pinus pinaster-Pinus sylvestris forest with three thinning intensities, a dendrochronologial approach was used to evaluate the short-term responses of basal area increment (BAI), carbon isotope (δ13C) and water use efficiency (iWUE) to thinning intensity and climate. Thinning generally increased BAI in all species, except for the heavy thinning in P. sylvestris. Across all the plots, thinning increased 13C-derived water-use efficiency on average by 14.49% for A. pinsapo, 9.78% for P. sylvestris and 6.68% for P. pinaster, but through different ecophysiological mechanisms. Our findings provide a robust mean of predicting water use efficiency responses from three coniferous species exposed to different thinning strategies which have been modulated by climatic conditions over time. Keywords: basal area increment, carbon isotopes, dendroecology, naturalization Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 53-64 Volume: 62 Issue: 2 Year: 2016 DOI: 10.17221/104/2015-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/104/2015-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-201602-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:62:y:2016:i:2:id:104-2015-JFS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: I. Hassanzad Navroodi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Sowmeh Sara, Iran Author-Name: S.J. Alavi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Tarbiat Modares University, Noor, Mazandaran, Iran Author-Name: M. K. Ahmadi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Tarbiat Modares University, Noor, Mazandaran, Iran Author-Name: M. Radkarimi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Sowmeh Sara, Iran Title: Comparison of different non-linear models for prediction of the relationship between diameter and height of velvet maple trees in natural forests (Case study: Asalem Forests, Iran) Abstract: Velvet maple (Acer velutinum) is one of the woody species in the Hyrcanian forests. In this study, the relationship between height and diameter of velvet maple was surveyed. A complete list of the selected height-diameter models was used and nineteen candidate models were considered. Various criteria were chosen and applied to evaluate the predictive performance of the models. These criteria include Akaike information criterion (AIC), Bayesian information criterion (BIC), root mean square error (RMSE), mean error (ME), and adjusted coefficient of determination (R2adj). Fitting of nineteen height-diameter models using nonlinear least square regression showed that all of the parameters in models were significant (P < 0.01). The results of goodness of fit for the calibration and k-fold validation and the performance criteria (RMSE, ME, AIC, R2adj and BIC) showed that R2adj ranged from 0.743 (model 8) to 0.8592 (model 11) and RMSE from 2.6983 (model 11) to 10.1897 (model 9). The range of ME among the models is from -7.0787 (model 9) up to 0.063m (model 7). By considering the AICfor each model it is evident that model (11) and model (9) have the lowest and highest values, respectively. Plotting the residuals showed that for all these models the residuals were randomly distributed and the models had heterogeneous residuals. According to the results, models (11), (14), (13), (15) and (12) had a better fitness compared to other models. Among these models, model (11) was the best model for predicting total height of Acer velutinum trees in this region. Keywords: height-diameter model, Acer velutinum, north of Iran Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 65-71 Volume: 62 Issue: 2 Year: 2016 DOI: 10.17221/43/2015-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/43/2015-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-201602-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:62:y:2016:i:2:id:43-2015-JFS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: V. Podrázský Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: M. Fulín Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Forestry and Game Management Research Institute, Jíloviště, Czech Republic Author-Name: H. Prknová Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: F. Beran Author-Workplace-Name: Forestry and Game Management Research Institute, Jíloviště, Czech Republic Author-Name: M. Třeštík Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Title: Changes of agricultural land characteristics as a result of afforestation using introduced tree species Abstract: The paper documents the mid-term changes of the soil characteristics and upper soil dynamics in the stands of introduced tree species, grand fir and Douglas-fir, on the former agricultural lands. These species were compared with Norway spruce stand and original grassland in the same site conditions at the Hrubá Skála locality (Eastern Bohemia). The plot was established in 1980 on Luvisol type of soil, sandy clay. Altitude ranges between 350 and 360 m a.s.l., mean annual temperature was 7.8°C, mean annual precipitation 703 mm. Results confirmed the starting process of the development of humus forms typical for forest ecosystems, despite the initial stage was dominant. The amount of surface humus (holorganic horizons) did not differ between the tree species stands and the agricultural land, but the grassland humus layer contained much more mineral particles. The grand fir was confirmed as a species favourably affecting the site, Douglas-fir affecting it less favourably in the given conditions compared with Norway spruce. Different dynamics was documented for soil reaction, characteristics of soil adsorption complex, soil acidity and nutrient dynamics. Keywords: agricultural land afforestation, soil characteristics, grand fir, Douglas-fir Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 72-79 Volume: 62 Issue: 2 Year: 2016 DOI: 10.17221/96/2015-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/96/2015-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-201602-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:62:y:2016:i:2:id:96-2015-JFS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: M. Lotfalian Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Iran Author-Name: S. Khosrozadeh Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Iran Author-Name: S.A. Hosseini Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forestry and Forest Economics, Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Natural Resources of University of Tehran, Iran Author-Name: M. Kazemi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Iran Author-Name: N. Zare Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forest Engineering and Forest Economics, Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Natural Resources of University of Tehran, Iran Title: Determination of forest skid trail density in Caspian forests, Iran Abstract: Calculation of Skid Trail Spacing (STS) is an important option to minimize the total costs of skidding. Construction of many skid trails increases the construction cost, it also results in more degradation on different levels in forests. On the other hand, by constructing less skid trails, winching cost will increase, and in many cases, the skidders will exit from skid trails. This research was carried out in four districts under management of Mazandaran Wood and Paper Industry Company with the aim of determination of Optimum Skid Trail Spacing (OSTS) for an HSM skidder. In this study, a continuous time study method to the nearest second with stop watch was used. The results indicated that the time modelling of winching was mainly affected by load volume and winching distance. By using the time modelling of winching, the winching cost is estimated and then by combining that with the skid trail cost graph, the OSTS graph is calculated. Finally, 95 meters is calculated as optimum skid trail density in this study. Keywords: timber harvesting, winching, time study Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 80-87 Volume: 62 Issue: 2 Year: 2016 DOI: 10.17221/84/2015-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/84/2015-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-201602-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:62:y:2016:i:2:id:84-2015-JFS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: D. Březina Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forest and Wood Product Economics and Policy, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: P. Hlaváčková Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forest and Wood Product Economics and Policy, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic Title: The assessment of economic indicators of National Park Administrations Abstract: In the territory of the Czech Republic there are four national parks managed by their administrators. National parks are areas designed for the protection of nature and landscape, or biodiversity, i.e. rendering of public goods. National Park Administrations (NP Administrations) are specific organizations aimed at the provision of public goods; they are established by Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic and their activities are principally financed from the state budget. Since the main objective of these organisations is not the generation of profit, their economic indicators cannot be compared with those of other types of entities. The paper aims to assess selected economic indicators of organisations engaged in NP Administration. Attention was primarily focused on the most significant financial indicators for non-profit organisations - liquidity, i.e. the ability to pay. Data covered the time span of 2005-2012. The methodology used for research comprises time series modelling, calculation of correlation coefficients in combination with test of their significance, and individual simple indexes (base and chain ones). The results have drawn attention to the differences between national park administrations which are characterised, aside from nature conservation of a territory assigned by the state authorities, also by extensive economic activity, and those which were established purely for the purposes of nature conservation. Keywords: economics, financial analysis, correlation coefficient, non-profit organisation Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 88-96 Volume: 62 Issue: 2 Year: 2016 DOI: 10.17221/61/2015-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/61/2015-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-201602-0006.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:62:y:2016:i:2:id:61-2015-JFS