Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Martin Baláš Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Josef Gallo Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Marcin Czacharowski Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Silviculture, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), Warsaw, Poland Author-Name: Michal Pástor Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Silviculture and Forest Production, National Forest Centre - Forest Research Institute in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia Author-Name: Jaroslav Jankovič Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Silviculture and Forest Production, National Forest Centre - Forest Research Institute in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia Author-Name: Igor Štefančík Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Silviculture and Forest Production, National Forest Centre - Forest Research Institute in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia Author-Name: Ivan Kuneš Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Hubert Hasenauer Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Silviculture, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria Title: Administrative system of afforestation in the Czech Republic: A long journey to a new forest Abstract: This review uses a case study based on an executed afforestation project to comprehensively describe the administrative procedure regarding afforestation of agricultural land in the Czech Republic, Central Europe. We consider the official proceedings for obtaining a permit to land-use change (i.e. changing the nature of land use and the mode of land use in the real estate cadastre) as a very complex and protracted procedure, which can substantially reduce the motivation of people to establish new forests. Therefore, we propose a simplification of the administration process of land-use change. The main idea is to make the procedure as simple as possible in those areas where afforestation is desirable, especially from the environmental point of view. It assumes the possibility of quick, precise and, if possible, automatic distinction whether the afforestation is suitable or not. The situation in the Czech Republic is compared with the surrounding Central-European countries: Poland and Slovakia. In these countries, the official procedure connected with afforestation seems to be rather less complicated. Keywords: administration, afforestation of agricultural land, forest establishment, land-use change, spatial planning policy Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 41-63 Volume: 70 Issue: 2 Year: 2024 DOI: 10.17221/75/2023-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/75/2023-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-202402-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:70:y:2024:i:2:id:75-2023-JFS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Antonín Martiník Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: Zdeňek Adamec Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forest Management and Applied Geoinformatics, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: Matúš Sendecký Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: Jan Krejza Author-Workplace-Name: Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic Title: Comparison of growth, structure and production in stands of naturally regenerated Betula pendula and Populus tremula Abstract: In Central Europe, the most important pioneer species are silver birch and European aspen. Changes in disturbance regime and an economic interest for this species have led to studies on this species and stands. Two naturally regenerated dense stands of birch (Betula pendula Roth - silver birch monoculture) and aspen (Populus tremula L. - European aspen monoculture) were selected from a Querceto - Fagetum mesotrophicum site to observe responses under the same conditions in Central Europe. Both stands regenerated after the allochthonous Norway spruce stands dieback at the site in 1999. Within a 10 m × 25 m transect established in both stands, the diameter at breast height (DBH) of all the trees was measured between 2015 and 2020. In addition, the height and position were recorded for all trees, and sample trees of both species were felled for biomass measurement. A higher volume production of aspen at the beginning (107.48/96.80 m3) and at the end of the experiment (178.32/143.08 m3) was accompanied with a lower above-ground wood biomass (WAB). The WAB of birch increased from 81.9 t.ha-1 to 103.3 t.ha-1 and aspen allocated 79.5 t.ha-1 to 94.8 t.ha-1 of biomass. The current annual increment of biomass for these stands was 4.3 t.ha-1 and 3.1 t.ha-1 in the age range of 17 to 22 years. The culmination of the volume increment has not yet occurred in any of the stands, but the mean annual increment of wood biomass has already been reached for both stands. Furthermore, the aspen stand tended to be more dynamic in terms of biomass allocation and mortality. Also, the lower self-tolerance of aspen confirmed our hypothesis: the two native pioneer species differ in their social behaviour within monospecific stands. Keywords: above-ground wood biomass, aspen, birch, pioneer stands, self-thinning Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 64-78 Volume: 70 Issue: 2 Year: 2024 DOI: 10.17221/107/2023-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/107/2023-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-202402-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:70:y:2024:i:2:id:107-2023-JFS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jan Vopravil Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Land Use and Improvement, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Pavel Formánek Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Tomáš Khel Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Karel Jacko Author-Workplace-Name: Agrio, s.r.o., Hovorčovice, Czech Republic Title: Water content in soil afforested with a mixture of broadleaves or Scots pine Abstract: Afforestation of agriculturally used land has many benefits which are described in different publications. As stated in these publications, afforestation of agricultural land can influence soil water content because of rainfall interception and concentration, transpiration, and properties of forest floor layer and soil; also, hydraulic lift may occur. In this study, we attempted to find changes in volumetric soil water content values (at depths of 20 cm, 40 cm, and 60 cm) on agriculturally used land afforested with a mixture of forest tree species (Quercus robur L., Quercus rubra L., and Acer platanoides L.) or Pinus sylvestris L. in the year 2011 (and on agriculturally used land = control). This study was performed in the period from the end of March 2021 to the beginning of April 2022. In this study, we proved our hypothesis on the reduction of volumetric soil water content after afforestation; it is probably because of higher rainfall interception and evapotranspiration as described in different studies. Concerning the afforestation, the average volumetric water content was higher on the plot afforested with broadleaves compared with Scots pine. It was especially in the period after defoliation when the proportion of throughfall (and stemflow) increased on the plot with broadleaves. Our results indicate a higher water-storage capacity of forests compared with agriculturally used land. During the leafless period, this capacity was found to be higher after afforestation with Scots pine. Keywords: chernozem, conifer, oak, potato, precipitation, temperature Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 91-101 Volume: 70 Issue: 2 Year: 2024 DOI: 10.17221/114/2023-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/114/2023-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-202402-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:70:y:2024:i:2:id:114-2023-JFS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Petra Hlaváčková Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Wood Products Economics and Policy, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: Sheku Kemoh Mansaray Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Wood Products Economics and Policy, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: Samuel Antwi Darkwah Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Regional and Business Economics, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: Iva Živělová Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Regional and Business Economics, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic Title: Applying the European Union (EU) assessment initiative of forest sustainability in Africa: A case study of the timber harvesting impact on the environment in Sierra Leone Abstract: The European Union (EU) provides both financial and expert support for sustainable forest management initiatives and also boosts compliance with such initiatives in Africa. Thus, there is a need to monitor the progress of implementing such initiatives. The objective of this paper is to describe the role of timber harvesting entities in environmental impact discussions, and to also identify the role of EU institutions in promoting forest sustainability in Sierra Leone. Data were collected in a controlled survey from four communities, using a questionnaire formulated according to guidelines recommended by Babbie and Mouton (2010). The reliability test shows a 0.68 internal consistency among the latent variables (Cronbach alpha test). The selected four communities were Bambawo, Dia, Basara, and Menima, with a population of 6 000, 5 400, 7 500, and 5 600 inhabitants, respectively (Stats SL 2021). A Confirmatory Factor Assessment (CFA) was used for a descriptive statistical analysis of the data. The results showed that the environmental impact has an eigenvalue of 1.08, where only variables with a factor loading exceeding 0.5 were used. The paper concludes with discussions and relevant recommendations on mitigating the impacts of timber harvesting on the environment within the study area. Keywords: climate change, forest management, knowledge transfer, mitigation, sustainable forestry Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 79-90 Volume: 70 Issue: 2 Year: 2024 DOI: 10.17221/74/2023-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/74/2023-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-202402-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:70:y:2024:i:2:id:74-2023-JFS