Dear colleagues,
I would like to invite you to our online symposium "Gaurishankar Conservation Area Revisited: Status of Current Research activities" as follows:
DATE: Friday, May 7, 09:15 AM CEST, 01:00 PM (NPT)
PROGRAM: see attached PDF, alternatively: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/kioes/aktivitaeten/detail/forschung-fuer-die-gaurish…
ACCESS LINK: https://oeaw-ac-at.zoom.us/j/93417077969
NO registration required, symposium language: Englisch
Background:
Research activities in Gaurishankar Conservation Area (GCA) were initiated in 2015, with a kick-off meeting in Kathmandu on 22nd of April titled "Research Methodology for Integrated Forest Management in Gaurishankar Conservation Area, Central Nepal Himalayas". The subsequent ill-fated fieldwork campaign did not result in expected outcomes as it was suddenly interrupted by a massive (7.8Mw) earthquake, known as the Gorkha earthquake, which took place on 25th of April, 2015. The project team soon realized that pursuing the initial aims was impossible and hence a follow-up project was initiated in 2016, within the carbon offset project framework of BOKU University. The aim of the ongoing long-term carbon offset project is to provide scientific evidence for decisions that help to improve livelihoods, to increase resilience and to help overcoming negative consequences of the 2015 earthquake event, all embedded in an accountable carbon sequestration framework. For instance, a nursery was set up to enhance afforestation with the aims of increasing carbon, reduce erosion and for local production of construction and firewood.
The symposium presents the status of scientific research in GCA, both within and beyond the BOKU carbon offset project. It provides a platform to share current research of various disciplines, strengthens existing collaborations and establishing new links. The summary and discussion session aims at providing input fur future activities at GCA. Colleagues and friends from IUFRO are very welcome to attend and share their ideas, suggestions and perhaps identify potential collaboration.
Looking forward to welcome you at this virtual event!
With best wishes,
Viktor Bruckman
Dr. Viktor Bruckman
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
1010 Vienna, Austria
Voice: +43-1-51581-3200
Mobile: +43 664 6127259
Email: viktor.bruckman(a)oeaw.ac.at<mailto:viktor.bruckman@oeaw.ac.at>
Web: http://www.oeaw.ac.at/kioes/
Dear colleagues,
I would like to forward a message regarding our recent paper on a global review of forest biomass harvesting guidelines. On behalf of all authors, I wish you a stimulating read!
With best wishes,
Viktor Bruckman
Good day,
A recently published, open-access review paper led by Dr. Brian Titus, research scientist from the Pacific Forestry Centre in Victoria, British Columbia, might be of interest to you:
Titus, B.D., Brown, K., Helmisaari, H-S., Vanguelova, E., Stupak, I., Evans, A., Clarke, N., Guidi, C., Bruckman, V. J., Varnagiryte-Kabasinskiene, I., Kęstutis Armolaitis, K., de Vries, W., Hirai, K., Kaarakka, L., Hogg, K., and Reece, P. 2021. Sustainable forest biomass: a review of current residue harvesting guidelines. Energy, Sustainability and Society 11:10, published on April 14, 2021.
Available at https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13705-021-00281… and DOI: 10.1186/s13705-021-00281-w
This topical review of forest biomass harvesting guidelines was completed by 16 authors from 11 countries, covering 43 jurisdictions in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia. Uniquely, the international team included information from guidelines from France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania and Japan that are not available in English - and hence may be of particular interest. (The review is an outcome of an OECD-sponsored workshop and thus relevant forest management manuals were reviewed in several cases where workshop participants were from jurisdictions that do not yet have specific forest biomass harvesting guidelines.) Below my signature is a list of authors and affiliations.
Of particular interest to some readers will be access to the raw data (i.e., consisting of direct quotations from original documents), included within a spreadsheet. This allows readers to explore the raw data and generate their own conclusions, or search for information relevant to their own interests, be this scientific research, policy-oriented questions, guideline development, forest management ideas, or any other topics of relevance to them. It is an aspiration of the authors that the spreadsheet of data be a publicly available "living" or "evergreen" document (courtesy of the Forest Stewards Guild) that can be updated or corrected as new guidelines are published - directions for contacting the Guild are in the spreadsheet. If you have general queries, please contact me and I will forward your message to Dr. Titus; if you notice errors or omissions in the raw data in the spreadsheet, or if you are aware of specific forest biomass guidelines that have inadvertently been overlooked, please contact Zander Evans or Inge Stupak - their contact information is in the main spreadsheet.
The review also contains a second spreadsheet with recommendations from past guideline reviews - to "give credit where credit is due", give readers direct access to exactly what past reviewers said, and to show how past recommendations were summarized by authors. As with raw guideline data, it is the hope of the authors that especially agencies developing their own guidelines will find this format helpful to their work.
A "blog" on this review for readers of the range of BMC (Biomed Central) journals may be of interest to you, or useful for sharing information about this paper with a general audience. "Helping ensure that forest bioenergy is environmentally sustainable" can be found at
http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/on-physicalsciences/2021/04/15/forest-bioene…
Finally, please note that this review paper is part of a special issue of ESSO on Governing sustainability of bioenergy, biomaterial and bioproduct supply chains from forest and agricultural landscapes, edited by Inge Stupak, Tat Smith and Nicholas Clarke. This issue may contain related articles of interest to you regarding sustainability and governance mechanisms for forest bioenergy. The open-access issue is available at https://www.biomedcentral.com/collections/sbbb
I hope you enjoy this comprehensive and timely review, and find it adds value to your work. I look forward to receiving your feedback.
Kind regards,
Winnifred Hays-Byl
Director, Forest Innovation and Dynamics
Pacific Forestry Centre, Natural Resources Canada
Email: winnifred.hays-byl(a)canada.ca<mailto:winnifred.hays-byl@canada.ca>
Cell: 778-535-4182
Authors:
* Brian Titus, Natural Resources Canada, Victoria, BC, Canada (now retired)
* Kevin Brown, Natural Resources Canada, Victoria, BC, Canada (now at K.R. Brown and Associates)
* Heljä-Sisko Helmisaari, University of Helsinki, Finland
* Elena Vanguelova, Forest Research, Surrey, UK
* Inge Stupak, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
* Alexander Evans, Forest Stewards Guild, New Mexico, USA
* Nicholas Clarke, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Norway
* Claudia Guidi, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Switzerland
* Viktor J. Bruckman, Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), Austria
* Iveta Varnagiryte-Kabasinskiene, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Lithuania
* Kęstutis Armolaitis, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Lithuania
* Wim de Vries, Wageningen University and Research, the Netherlands
* Keizo Hirai, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Japan
* Lilli Kaarakka, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
* Karen Hogg, Natural Resources Canada, Victoria, BC, Canada
* Pam Reece, Natural Resources Canada, Victoria, BC, Canada (now at Stantec, Sidney, BC)
Dr. Viktor Bruckman
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
1010 Vienna, Austria
Voice: +43-1-51581-3200
Mobile: +43 664 6127259
Email: viktor.bruckman(a)oeaw.ac.at<mailto:viktor.bruckman@oeaw.ac.at>
Web: http://www.oeaw.ac.at/kioes/
Dear IUFRO FRIENDS
Please consider attending the upcoming FABI International Seminar (29th April at 16h00 GMT +2) to be presented by Dr Andrew (Sandy) Liebhold. Sandy is very well known to the IUFRO Community having (for example) served Division 7 (Tree Health) Co-ordinator and Chair of the Scientific Committee for our 125th Anniversary Congress in Freiburg in 2017. If you are interested in tree health, biological invasions or forests and forestry in general - this will be a seminar for you to enjoy.
To attend, it is necessary to register -please do so at https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/index.php/event/FABISerminarSeries/
Background information on Sandy’s talk can be found below and details of the FABI International Seminar Series is on the web site above.
Best regards
Mike
[signature_678126525]
April, 2021
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Speaker: Dr Andrew Liebhold, US Forest Service Northern Research Station, Morgantown, WV USA
Title: Macroecology of Insect Invasions
Date: 29 April 2021 Time: 16:00 (GMT+2)
Abstract: Biological invasions are largely an unintended consequence of globalization. With increasing mobility, humans have accidentally transported organisms around the world, breaking the geographical boundaries that separated species ranges that persisted for millions of years of evolution. Among animals, the insecta is the most species-rich class, with thousands of insect species having been established outside of their native ranges and many of these species causing immense impacts on agriculture, human health and conservation of native ecosystems. Here, I report on a macroecological analysis of historical insect invasions spanning 300 years and 10 world regions. These data are used to compare frequencies of invasions among different insect orders and among different insect families. Species-area relationships for native insect assemblages are generally stronger than for non-native insect assemblages. Certain groups, such as the Hemiptera, Formicidae and the Staphylinidae are generally over-represented in non-native insect assemblages, while other taxa are under-represented. These patterns generally reflect characteristics of these insects that cause them to enter important invasion pathways and biological characteristics that facilitate invasions. These results ultimately allow us to better understand the socio-economic drivers of insect invasions and can be of use when conducting invasive pest risk analysis.
Biography: Andrew “Sandy” Liebhold has been a research entomologist with the US Forest Service Northern Research Station, Morgantown, WV USA since 1988. His research focuses on the ecology and management of biological invasions and the spatial dynamics of insect outbreaks. Liebhold received his PhD in Entomology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984 and worked as a postdoctoral at the University of Massachusetts before joining the Forest Service. He is a fellow of the AAAS and serves on the editorial board of the journals Population Ecology and Biological Invasions. He also currently serves as a scientific coordinator with the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Science, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague and a visiting scholar with Scion Research in New Zealand.
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Please refer to http://upnet.up.ac.za/services/it/documentation/docs/004167.pdf for full details.
