**Meet the editor**

Dr Andrew Akwasi Oteng-Amoako is an emeritus chief research scientist of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana. He was the former Deputy Director of the Institute and held position of Assistant Director Papua New Guinea Forest Research Institute.

His research interests include wood anatomy, wood quality, wood structure and preservative treatment,

wood identification, bamboo and rattan science and technology. He has more than 120 publications, including five books. He is the co-editor of Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Volumes 1 and 2 and the editor of 100 Tropical African Timber Trees from Ghana.

Dr Oteng-Amoako holds undergraduate degree from the University of Hamburg in Germany, a Masters degree from Oregon State University at Corvallis, Oregon, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse of the State University of New York. He is a fellow of Ghana Institution of Foresters and a member of the World Bamboo Council.

Contents

**Preface IX** 

Ali Sepahi

**Section 1 Whither the Use of Forest Resources 1** 

Frank O. Masese, Phillip O. Raburu, Benjamin N. Mwasi and Lazare Etiégni

Chapter 3 **Seasonal Reflectance Courses of Forests 33** 

Chapter 4 **Assessment and Mitigation of Nutrients** 

Chapter 5 **Evaluation for the UMA's of Diversified** 

**Section 2 Forest and Organisms Interactions 83** 

Chapter 6 **The Development of a Port Surrounds** 

Richard Bashford

Oscar Agustín Villarreal Espino Barros,

**Trapping System for the Detection of Exotic Forest Insect Pests in Australia 85** 

Chapter 2 **Systematic Approach to Design with Nature 19** 

**Resources: Integrating Science and Community Perspectives in the Sondu-Miriu River Basin, Kenya 3** 

Tiit Nilson, Miina Rautiainen, Jan Pisek and Urmas Peterson

**Losses from Forest Harvesting on Upland Blanket Peat – A Case Study in the Burrishoole Catchment 59** 

Liwen Xiao, Michael Rodgers, Mark O'Connor Connie O'Driscoll and Zaki-ul-zaman Asam

**Breeding in the Mixteca Poblana, México 75** 

José Alfredo Galicia Domínguez, Francisco Javier Franco Guerra, Julio Cesar Camacho Ronquillo and Raúl Guevara Viera

Chapter 1 **Effects of Deforestation on Water** 

### Contents

#### **Preface XI**

**Section 1 Whither the Use of Forest Resources 1**  Chapter 1 **Effects of Deforestation on Water Resources: Integrating Science and Community Perspectives in the Sondu-Miriu River Basin, Kenya 3**  Frank O. Masese, Phillip O. Raburu, Benjamin N. Mwasi and Lazare Etiégni Chapter 2 **Systematic Approach to Design with Nature 19**  Ali Sepahi Chapter 3 **Seasonal Reflectance Courses of Forests 33**  Tiit Nilson, Miina Rautiainen, Jan Pisek and Urmas Peterson Chapter 4 **Assessment and Mitigation of Nutrients Losses from Forest Harvesting on Upland Blanket Peat – A Case Study in the Burrishoole Catchment 59**  Liwen Xiao, Michael Rodgers, Mark O'Connor Connie O'Driscoll and Zaki-ul-zaman Asam Chapter 5 **Evaluation for the UMA's of Diversified Breeding in the Mixteca Poblana, México 75**  Oscar Agustín Villarreal Espino Barros, José Alfredo Galicia Domínguez, Francisco Javier Franco Guerra, Julio Cesar Camacho Ronquillo and Raúl Guevara Viera **Section 2 Forest and Organisms Interactions 83**  Chapter 6 **The Development of a Port Surrounds Trapping System for the Detection of Exotic Forest Insect Pests in Australia 85** 

Richard Bashford

X Contents


### Preface

Forestry research is the application of scientific methods to investigate and understand management and practice of forestry and to effectively and sustainably use the resources derived from the forests. This book *New Advances and Contributions to Forestry Research* consists of 14 chapters divided into three sections and is authored by 48 researchers from 16 countries and all five continents.

In the section *Whither the Use of Forest Resources* five chapters authored by 16 researchers from seven countries, discuss negative and positive practices in forestry. A paper on phenology by four authors from Finland and Estonia describes seasonal growth in trees that leads to wood formation and understanding of biosphere – atmosphere interactions. Two papers authored by 10 researchers from Kenya and Ireland describe how the use of forest and its resources has seen extensive harvesting which has resulted in deforestation culminating in nutrient loss from the soil and pollution of water bodies. A paper authored by four Mexicans and a Cuban, evaluates socio-economic and environmental study of white tail deer in the Mixteca region of New Mexico. The forest should be handled with care and the author from Iran describes the need to design structures including industrial parks and plantations to conform with nature.

The forest is a complex habitat for man, animals, insects and other microorganisms and their activities may impact either negatively or positively on the forest. Four papers in the section *Forest and Organisms Interactions* are authored by six researchers from three countries. The first paper by an author from Tasmania, describes trapping systems developed in Tasmania, Australia to detect exotic forest insect pests in urban environment. Timber harvesting and wild fires in Australia, according to the four authors of a paper, have effected changes in relative density and distribution of wallabies and kangaroos, the most predominant and important mammals in the forests of Australia. What is the economic importance of the numerous microorganisms including bacteria, viruses and fungi that dominate the earth planet? This is extensively reviewed by the author from Egypt, while another researcher from Bolivia investigates decline of *Potylepsis tarapacana* forest, an important forest ecosystem in Bolivia, caused by a fungal disease, *Leptosphaeria polylepsis. .* 

Development of tree plantations has been man's response to forest degradation and deforestation caused by human, other organisms and natural disasters. In this last

#### XII Preface

section *Amelioration of Dwindling Forest Resources through Plantation Development* five papers are authored by 20 researchers from five countries. Three authors in the paper from China give a comprehensive review on research, development and utilization of *Jatropha curcas,* the seed to seedling, plantation establishment, chemical properties, and more importantly its use as a biofuel. Beech is an important timber tree in Europe especially in Croatia, and the author discusses ways of optimizing the quantity and quality of beech wood in a plantation setting. Judicious management practices, according to the author, can reduce incidence of false heartwood in beech trees thereby increasing the quality of wood yield from beech plantation. The four researchers from Japan and China give a world-wide review on distribution, composition and cytogenetics of spruce in China which accounts for about 43.3% of the world's spruce forests. What is unique about the Eucalyptus tree with more than 800 species that dominate tree flora in Australia? The paper written by six authors from Brazil and Argentina discusses essential oils found in the leaves of Eucalyptus which have been demonstrated to have one of the most effective defenses against noxious organisms. The applications of these oils for use as insecticide, medicine, pest control, perfumes and pharmaceuticals are fully discussed. The use of a pilodyn to determine the basic density and strength properties in Eucalptus timber tree grown in China, is discussed in a comprehensive paper by seven authors from China.

Preface XI

*New Advances and Contributions to Forestry Research* will appeal to forest scientists, researchers and allied professionals. It will be of interest to all those who care about forest and subscribe to the adage that the last tree on our planet dies with the last man on the earth.

This publication was only possible with kind contributions made by 48 very hardworking international forest researchers and scientists from 16 countries and five continents. They deserve my congratulations for a job very well done! I am grateful to INTECH for giving me the opportunity to be the Editor of this innovative but challenging project. I am thankful to Mrs. Ana Skalamera, my Publishing Process Manager, for continuously prompting me on the project deadlines. I cannot help being grateful to the Director and my colleagues of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, for providing me conducive working environment for the project. Finally, my greatest appreciation to the Almighty God to whom be the Glory!

I recommend the book to you and entreat all to purchase or download a copy of the publication for your library, enjoy reading it and contribute to save our forests and save life.

> **Andrew Akwasi Oteng-Amoako, Ph. D.** Emeritus Chief Research Scientist, Forest Research Institute of Ghana, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Kumasi, Ghana
