Recent empirical studies have indicated a correlation between the harvesting behavior of forest owners and the specific conceptualization of appropriate forest management described as “nonintervention” or “hands-off” management. This study fills the gap in knowledge of social representations of forest management in Europe. We conducted 3099 telephone interviews with randomly selected forest owners in Slovenia, asking them whether they thought they managed their forest efficiently, what the possible reasons for underuse were, and what they understood by forest management. Building on social representations theory and applying a series of structural equation models, we tested the existence of three latent constructs of forest management and estimated whether and how much these constructs correlated to the perception of resource efficiency. Forest owners conceptualized forest management as a mixture of maintenance and ecosystem-centered and economics-centered management. None of the representations had a strong association with the perception of resource efficiency, nor could it be considered a factor preventing forest owners from cutting more. The underuse of wood resources was mostly because of biophysical constraints in the environment and not a deep-seated philosophical objection to harvesting. We interpret historical differences in forestland ownership in different parts of Europe and the United States, the rising number of nonresidential owners, alternative lifestyle, and environmental protectionism, but also point to high methodological rigor in testing the relationships between the constructs.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4062118
The contribution of soil properties to the growth of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) was studied in the Dinaric Mountains, which are characterised by abundant sinkholes and limestone outcrops, resulting in diverse micro topography and different soil development at small spatial scales. Basal area increment and height growth data were estimated based on stem analysis of dominant silver fir trees (n = 65) on a 50 m × 50 m sampling grid, and competition intensity was determined. The soil development around each tree was defined using morphological properties of the genetic horizons. In the study area, the chemical and physical soil characteristics were favourable for plant growth. Soil parameters e.g. soil depth, thickness of genetic soil horizons, share of soil types around each tree and soil associations were the factors controlling tree growth. Tree age and competition intensity were also influential factors in the case of height and radial tree growth respectively. Positive effects on height and radial growth were confirmed also for available water capacity of soil and location of tree in slope position (in the sinkhole, out of the sinkhole). The decrease in specific basal area increment with increasing competition intensity was most evident for trees growing on leached soils. The coefficient of determination and the statistical significance of the relationship between height growth and soil association over the last 100 years emphasised the cumulative effect of the soil condition on tree height growth.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3966118
Microsatellite markers were used to describe the genetic structure of a natural wild cherry (Prunus avium L.) stand in Slovenia. Based on eight analyzed loci, only 67 different multilocus genotypes (MLGs) were identified among 217 trees, indicating a significant amount of clonal reproduction in the stand. Low spatial genetic structure (SGS) was observed in the stand when only sexually derived genets were considered (Sp = 0.011), and the kinship coefficient was only significant in the first distance class (( 40 m). When both the generative and vegetative origin of trees were included, the intensity of the SGS in the stand increased (Sp = 0.149). Forest paths, streams and ditches, which represent obstacles to root growth and consequently obstruct vegetative propagation via root suckers, also affected the spatial grouping of clones in the stand. A relatively high number of somatic mutations within clonal groups were observed, which further increased the complexity of the genetic structure in the stand.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4146854
Group decision making is an important part of multiple criteria decision making and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The aim of this paper was to compare group AHP methods. Seven simple group AHP aggregation techniques that could be attractive for applications selected from the vast array of group AHP models proposed in the literature were selected for evaluation. We developed three new measures of evaluation: group Euclidean distance, group minimum violations, and distance between weights for the purpose of evaluation. The results of seven group AHP methods of the theoretical example were evaluated by three new evaluation measures, satisfactory index and fitting performance index. Furthermore, a case study of a decision making problem from the construction engineering field was performed and nine group AHP aggregation techniques, seven of them formerly presented and two new two stage group approaches were applied. Finally, the case study was evaluated using all five measures for each of the nine group decision making methods. The results showed that not all group AHP methods are equally convenient and that the selection of the method depended on the specific application.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2293897
Understanding how forests respond to multiple disturbances is becoming increasingly important under global change. We examined the simultaneous influence of canopy decline and deer browsing on regeneration in an old-growth reserve and surrounding managed forest dominated by Fagus sylvatica L. and Abies alba Mill. in Slovenia. We quantified both disturbance processes by measuring characteristics of canopy gaps and reconstructing historical deer densities. Forest response was assessed with repeated measurements of tree regeneration and regeneration patterns within deer exclosures. Most gaps were formed by mortality of A. alba (71%), and gapmaker characteristics suggest that gaps formed slowly and often expanded, resulting in a mosaic of openings covering 17% of the old-growth reserve. Fagus sylvatica dominated the regeneration layer throughout the reserve and recruited to taller height classes over the past 26 years. The recruitment failure of preferred browse species (A. alba and Acer pseudoplatanus L.) in the reserve and the successful recruitment of these species within exclosures indicate that selective browsing by deer has altered the successional response to A. alba decline, facilitating the dominance of F. sylvatica. Given that global change may increase forest decline worldwide and the ubiquitous nature of deer browsing in many temperate forests, understanding their combined effects on forests will become increasingly important.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3956390