Abstract: Rainforests are situated at low latitude where forests enjoy steady and strong radiation. Biodiversity in rainforests has been very high, for historical and climatic reasons. The number of species is very high and tends to increase with precipitation and decrease with seasonality. Disturbance, soil fertility and forest stature also influence the species richness and high turnover of species contribute to diversity. Field observation and studies revealed that large scale deforestation could alter the regional and global climate significantly. Deforestation alters the surface albedo which leads to climate change. Regional land use contributes to climate change through surface-energy budget, as well as the carbon cycle. Forest fragmentation, logging, overhunting, fire and the expanding agriculture threaten the biodiversity. Rainforest covered area has significantly shrunk in the last decades. It is hard to protect the forests because of the growing demand for agricultural area and forest-derived products. Most measures proved ineffective to slow down the destruction. Hence, more forest will be lost in the future. Conservationists should take into consideration the secondary forests because biodiversity can be high enough and it is worth protecting them.

Keywords: rainforest, climate change, conservation

Abstract: Common Wombats (Vombatus ursinus) are an enigmatic south east Australian agricultural riparian species which may improve riparian landscape heterogeneity via their burrowing activity. At the same time they are often accused of causing soil erosion. As populations of wombats in other landscapes are under threat due to habitat disturbance, road mortality and disease, knowledge of the factors determining their distribution and abundance are important for their conservation and management. Since the European colonization of Australia, riparian areas have been utilized by domestic cattle (Bos taurus) usually resulting in a decline in biodiversity. Camera trap data was used to investigate the habitat use by wombats and cattle in Eastern Riverine Forests. The relationship between camera trapping and ecological and meteorological variables was investigated using logistic regression modelling. Wombats and cattle were the most common mammals recorded across all sites with 468 photographs of wombats and 106 of cattle recorded. The meteorological and ecological variables that had a significant effect on the observation of a wombat or a cow were time of day, humidity, lower storey canopy cover and the summer season. This study highlights the usefulness of camera trapping as a tool of conservation and management in an agricultural riparian landscape.

Keywords: wombat, burrowing, cattle, riparian, habitat use

Abstract: The photodegradation of the organophosphorus insecticide diazinon with a high probability to contaminate aquatic environments under simulated solar light irradiation conditions on natural water of a river in North of Iran has been studied. During exposure to solar natural light, diazinon is broken down and produced photoproducts in environment. The degradation of the insecticide was a 32 hour process and included the formation of several intermediates that were identified using GC/ion-trap mass spectrometry with EI or CI in positive and negative ionization mode and HPLC/mass spectrometry. On the basis of the structurally identified photoproducts a possible degradation pathway is proposed for the photolysis of diazinon in natural water. Since primarily hydroxy derivatives were identified in this solution, the mechanism of degradation was probably based on hydroxyl radical attack. The initial oxidative pathways of the degradation of diazinon involved the substitution of sulfur by oxygen on the P=S bond, cleavage of the pyrimidine ester bond, and oxidation of the isopropyl group. Exact mass measurements of the derivatives allowed the elemental formula of the molecules to be determined confidently.

Keywords: Contamination, Environmental, Photolysis, Organophosphorus

Abstract: Lichen and mosses are the most appropriate indicators for monitoring air pollution. To evaluate air quality in the Prishtina region, we determined lichen value diversity (LDV) and heavy metal concentrations in mosses at 20 sites around power plants ‘Kosova A and B’. Twenty-three lichen species were recorded in the survey area. The lichen value diversity differed depending on the distance from the source of air pollution. Values ranged from 36.3 to 115.4, with the highest levels recorded in the cleanest area. This value decreased when moving towards the polluted areas. Concentrations of six heavy metals were measured in mosses (Brachythecium rutabulum (Hedw.) Schimp). Different concentrations of heavy metals in mosses were found during the investigation. The hot spots of heavy metals were associated with historical industrial activities, mining activities, and industrial centres. In addition, vehicle emissions near major roads were responsible for the high concentrations of trace elements in mosses in these areas. Zn was found in the highest concentration, and ranged from 56.5-136.6 μg.g-1.

Keywords: bioindicator, lichen value diversity, heavy metals, mosses

Abstract: We performed a general assessment of predation by rats (chiefly Rattus rattus) on artificial nests in context of vegetation structure at two subtropical laurel forests on Tenerife (Canary Islands). We selected two different types of forest stands (logged vs unlogged) differing in vegetation pattern and conservation degree to test for the effect of logging on rat predation. We placed ground and tree nests on four plots per forest stand, each plot containing 40 nests (80 nests per treatment, 160 nests in all). We distributed nests among available sites with contrasting topography (plain areas, slopes, ridges and ravines). We tested for logging effects, topography and their interaction with survival analysis, comparing survival and hazard functions. We assessed the relationships between nest survival and vegetation structure with Cox survival regression. Vegetation structure was consistently different between slopes of logged (early successional) and unlogged (mature-like) forest. We found higher nest predation rates at the unlogged forest, in sloping areas, and in patches with dense tree canopy cover and an intermediate successional development. Rat nest predation on forest slopes (the dominant topographic landscape feature) was higher in mature (unlogged) than in early successional (logged) ones, suggesting that rats have adapted well to mature habitat and would prefer mature forest for foraging.

Keywords: vegetation structure, stand disturbance, laurisilva, birds, Rattus rattus

Abstract: This paper presents a quantitative analysis of land cover changes in northeast China from the late 1970s to 2004 using remote sensing and the Geographic Information System. Land covers are mapped into six classes and nine sub-classes from multi-temporal Landsat MSS, TM and ETM+ images and SRTM DEM data. It is found that while forestland and wetland were greatly reduced until 2000 due to farming expansion and urbanization, spurred by population growth, their decline trends have been revered most recently. Meanwhile, built-up land has kept increasing. Further, the land cover changes occurred primarily in areas with low elevation and gentle slope. These results suggest that the forest and wetland protection and restoration projects have taken effect. However, there remains a long way to go before the ecosystems are greatly recovered and can function in the way that society expects.

Keywords: ecological restoration, land cover change, northeast China, digital elevation model, Landsat MSS/TM/ETM+

Abstract: Global average temperature has increased and precipitation pattern has altered over the past 100 years due to increases in greenhouse gases. These changes will alter numerous site factors and biochemical processes of vegetative communities such as nutrient and water availability, permafrost thawing, fire regime, biotic interactions and invasion. As a consequence, climate change is expected to alter distribution ranges of many species and communities as well as boundaries of biomes. Shifting of species and vegetation zones northwards and upwards in elevation has already been observed. Besides, several experiments have been conducted and simulations have been run all over the world in order to predict possible range shifts and ecological risks. In this paper, we review literature available in Web of Science on Europe and boreal Eurasia and give an overview of observed and predicted changes in vegetation in these regions. The main trends include advance of the tree line, reduction of the alpine vegetation belt, drought risk, forest diebacks, a shift from coniferous forests to deciduous forests and invasion. It is still controversial if species migration will be able to keep pace with climate change.

Keywords: global warming, vegetation distribution, biome, vegetation zone, plant community

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Abstract: Timber exploitation data that are very essential for sustainable management of the forest resources, where available in Nigeria, are not analyzed and studied to provide information on the rate of log removal from the forest estate. Timber exploitation rate in Nigeria using Ondo State as a case study was examined in this study. Secondary data on the volume and number of economic timber species exploited from the reserved and free areas forests in four forest administrative zones on monthly basis between 2003 and 2005 were collected from the state department of forestry. Analysis was done with student t-test and two-way analysis of variance. The result revealed that the highest number of species, families and stems was exploited in the free areas when compared with what was exploited from the reserves for the three-year period. During the study period, a total of 60 and 57 species were exploited from the free areas and the reserves respectively from the four administrative zones. The total number of stems exploited from both the free areas and reserves totaled 111377 with an estimated volume of 295089.67m3. A steady increase was recorded in logging activities between year 2003 and 2004 but there was a decline in year 2005. This reveals how fast economic timbers are disappearing from the forests and consequently, how the ecosystem is seriously disturbed during logging activities. Principles for achieving the goals of sustainable forest management (SFM) and urgent conservation measures to mitigate these consequences were suggested.

Keywords: Timber exploitation; log removal; illegal logging; forest estate; Sustainable Forest Management; Conservation measures