The Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration process assesses natural resource injury due to oil or chemical spills and calculates the damages to compensate the public for those injuries. Ecological restoration provides a means for recovering resources injured or lost due to contamination from oil or chemical spills by restoring the injured site after remediation, or acquiring or reconstructing equivalent resources off site to replace those lost due to the spill. In the case of restored forests, once restoration is implemented, monitoring of forest ecology helps keep recovery on track, with the maturation of forest vegetation, recovered soil conditions, and development of microbial, fungal, and faunal communities, necessary for ecologically functioning forests. This series of papers focuses on applying methods for monitoring restoration progress in forest vegetation and soils, and amphibian, avian, and mammalian communities, assessing strengths and weaknesses of different methods, and evaluating levels of effort needed to obtain accurate indications of forest ecological condition. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;00:1-5. (c) 2024 The Author(s). Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). Ecological restorations recover resources injured or lost due to contamination from oil or chemical spills, by restoring the injured site after remediation, or by acquiring or reconstructing equivalent resources off site to replace those lost due to the spill. In the case of forests, once restoration is implemented, monitoring is important to track the progress of indicators of ecological function, such as maturation of forest vegetation, recovered soil conditions, and development of faunal communities. Articles in this special series describe the recovery of vegetation and soils, and amphibian, avian, and mammalian communities in forest restorations of multiple ages, while simultaneously comparing the strengths, weaknesses, and relative efficiency of different monitoring methods.

Extreme weather events are increasingly recognized as major stress factors for forest ecosystems, causing both immediate and long-term effects. This study focuses on the impacts experienced by the forests of Valdisotto, Valfurva, and Sondalo (28% of the total area is covered by forests) in Upper Valtellina (Italy) due to the Vaia storm that occurred in October 2018. To define the immediate impacts of Vaia, we assess the economic value of forest ecosystem services (ESs), particularly those provided by timber production and carbon sequestration, pre- and post-Vaia and during the emergency period. We used the market price method to assess the economic values of timber production and carbon sequestration, as these are considered to be marketable goods. Based on data processed from Sentinel-2 satellite images (with a spatial resolution of 10 m), our results show that, despite the reduction in forest area (-2.02%) and timber stock (-2.38%), the economic value of the timber production increased after Vaia due to higher timber prices (i.e., from a total of 124.97 million to 130.72 million). However, considering the whole emergency period (2019-2020), the total losses are equal to 5.10 million for Valdisotto, 0.32 million for Valfurva, and 0.43 million for Sondalo. Instead, an economic loss of 2.88% is experienced for carbon sequestration, with Valdisotto being the more affected municipality (-4.48% of the pre-Vaia economic value). In terms of long-term impacts, we discuss the enhanced impacts due to the spread of the bark beetle Ips typopgraphus.

Over the past decades, anthropogenic disturbance of geological structures has been significantly documented in Slovakia, mainly driven by the national economy's demand for mining resources. Among these resources, brown coal, primarily mined in the Upper Nitra coal basin in the Prievidza district (Slovakia), has been essential. Mining activities around town of Handlov & aacute;, and villages of Ko & scaron;, C & iacute;ge & lcaron; and Sebedra & zcaron;ie, particularly at the C & iacute;ge & lcaron; coal mine, have induced several geological defects. These defects, characterised by large cracks and local landslides, disrupt the hydrogeological conditions, significantly impacting the soil water regime stability of the forest ecosystems in these damaged areas. This study investigates the variability and dynamics of the soil water potential in a mining-affected site (Ra & ccaron;kov laz) compared to an intact reference area (& Ccaron;ertove chodn & iacute;ky) between 2020 and 2022. Our findings suggest that mining activities could have substantial implications for the soil water regime and, consequently, the ecological stability of forest ecosystems.

Wood density (WD) is a key functional trait for its importance in tree performance and in biomass calculations of forests. Yet, the variation of WD among different woody tree parts, how this varies across ecosystems, and how this influences estimates of forest carbon stocks remains little understood, particularly for diverse tropical forests such as the Amazon. We assembled a dataset on stem and twig wood density from 119 tree species in three different Amazonian ecosystem types that differ considerably in soil nutrition and flooding: non-flooded forest (Terra Firme), white-water floodplain forest (V & aacute;rzea) and black-water floodplain forest (Igap & oacute;) to investigate (i) variation of stem and twig wood density across ecosystems, (ii) the relationships between stem and twig wood density and how these relationships vary across ecosystems. Wood density varied substantially across ecosystems. V & aacute;rzea species showed lower mean WD for stems compared to Terra firme, while Igap & oacute; species showed higher WD for twigs compared to the other ecosystems. Twig and stem wood density were positively related (R2adj = 0.47) with similarly increasing rates across ecosystems, although average WD values differed between Terra firme and Igap & oacute;. For any given twig density, stem density tends to be lower in floodplain environments but higher in Terra firme, a habitat-specific pattern of wood density variation within trees that may emerge from differences in the function of stem and twig wood for growth and survival in ecologically differentiated environments. Our results show how ecosystem has strong impacts on how trees allocate resources to different woody tissues, suggesting contrasting ecological strategies linked to ecosystem constraints. Our results suggest that greater consideration of the variation of WD within trees and how these changes across ecosystems might lead to more accurate estimates of above-ground biomass in Amazonia.Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. A densidade da madeira (WD) & eacute; um tra & ccedil;o funcional chave devido a sua import & acirc;ncia na performance das & aacute;rvores e para os c & aacute;lculos de biomassa em florestas. Entretanto, pouco se conhece sobre a varia & ccedil;& atilde;o da WD entre diferentes partes das plantas, se tal varia & ccedil;& atilde;o muda entre ecossistemas, e como isto influencia as estimativas de estoque de carbono, principalmente em florestas tropicais muito diversas como a Amaz & ocirc;nia. N & oacute;s utilizamos um conjunto de dados de densidade da madeira do tronco e do ramo de 119 esp & eacute;cies de & aacute;rvores de tr & ecirc;s tipos de ecossistemas amaz & ocirc;nicos: florestas de terra firme, florestas alag & aacute;veis de & aacute;guas brancas (V & aacute;rzea) e florestas alag & aacute;veis de & aacute;guas pretas (Igap & oacute;s) e investigamos (i) a variabilidade da densidade da madeira do tronco e do ramo entre ecossistemas, (ii) e a rela & ccedil;& atilde;o entre a densidade da madeira do tronco e a do ramo, e como esta rela & ccedil;& atilde;o varia entre os ecossistemas. A densidade da madeira variou consideravelmente entre os ecossistemas. As esp & eacute;cies de V & aacute;rzea tiveram WD m & eacute;dia do tronco menor comparada a Terra firme, enquanto as esp & eacute;cies de Igap & oacute; tiveram WD m & eacute;dia do ramo maior comparada aos outros ecossistemas. A densidade do ramo e do tronco tiveram correla & ccedil;& atilde;o positiva (R(2)adj = 0.47) e taxas de aumento similares entre os ecossistemas, mas com diferen & ccedil;a nos valores m & eacute;dios de densidade entre Terra firme e Igap & oacute;. Para um dado valor de WD do ramo, a WD do tronco tende a ser menor nas florestas alag & aacute;veis, por & eacute;m maior na Terra firme, um padr & atilde;o de varia & ccedil;& atilde;o na densidade das & aacute;rvores espec & iacute;fico do habitat, que pode surgir de diferen & ccedil;as nas fun & ccedil;& otilde;es do tronco e do ramo para o crescimento e sobreviv & ecirc;ncia das esp & eacute;cies em ambientes ecologicamente distintos. N & oacute;s mostramos como os ecossistemas impactam a aloca & ccedil;& atilde;o de recursos das & aacute;rvores em diferentes tecidos da madeira, sugerindo a exist & ecirc;ncia de estrat & eacute;gias ecol & oacute;gica contrastantes associadas as restri & ccedil;& otilde;es ambientais. Nossos resultados sugerem que considerar a varia & ccedil;& atilde;o da WD de uma & aacute;rvore e como tal varia & ccedil;& atilde;o muda entre ecossistemas pode propiciar estimativas mais acuradas de biomassa na Amaz & ocirc;nia. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.image

In past decades, ash dieback has caused a rapid decline of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) in temperate forests of Europe. Numerous studies focus on mitigating the negative impacts of ash dieback to forest ecosystems or identifying resistant genotypes. The role of natural selection toward genotypes withstanding ash dieback for ash regeneration has been less frequently studied with experimental means to date. This is, however, necessary in times of global change, because the preservation of ash in Europe's forests will depend, above all, on the adaptability of the future generations of ash trees. To quantify the extent and effects of ash dieback severity for ash regeneration we selected five forest stands moderately damaged and five forest stands highly damaged by ash dieback, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. We reciprocally transplanted naturally regenerated ash seedlings sampled in the field between these 10 sites. A shading treatment added to each half of the plots per site was meant to test for effects of altered light conditions in the herb layer due to canopy opening caused by ash dieback. With this approach, we tested seedling survival, performance and fungal infection for an interacting effect of origin and target site in regard to ash dieback severity and environmental factors over 2 years and recorded leaf traits (specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content) in the second year. Reduced light conditions under the shading nets had strong effects, influencing first year performance and infection probability as well as second year survival, growth and leaf trait characteristics. Soil conditions had only a marginal influence on transplanted seedlings. Transplantation direction between moderately and highly damaged sites affected infection marginally during the first year and survival as well as leaf traits significantly during the second year. Most notably, seedlings transplanted from moderately damaged to severely damaged sites exhibited the highest infection probability and lowest SLA, while seedlings transplanted vice versa were least likely to be infected and exhibited the highest SLA. Results hint at a first filtering effect by the ash dieback history of a forest stand and might indicate a transition from ecologically to evolutionary driven differentiation of ash seedling responses.

Background: an assessment of the environmental consequences of military actions was carried out from the perspective of the challenge to the peace formula. Methods: the information base of the research was the official resource of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine EkoZahroza and the materials of the State Environmental Inspectorate of the Polissia District regarding the calculations of the amount of damage caused by military actions. Results: it was determined that as of the 526th day of the military invasion (September 3, 2023), 34,119 units of Russian equipment caused the emission of 61,417 tons of pollutants into the atmosphere, the generation of 596,316 tons of waste, the spillage of oil products- 1,241 tons into the soil and 7 tons into the water. caused damage to the environment in the amount of 260.77 million UAH. The conducted surveys established that 93.8% of the surveyed schoolchildren and 100% of higher education students consider military actions on the territory of our state to be environmental crimes, among the components of the environment that suffer the most from military actions are soil and land resources and forest ecosystems. Conclusions: compared to the 127th day of the military invasion, the amount of destroyed military equipment increased by 6.9 times, emissions by 3.8 times, and waste by 6 times; losses- 3.8 times. There is an obvious need to assess all environmental risks caused by military actions, to apply an effective mechanism for compensation for damages and restoration of ecosystems. The optimistic attitude of the younger generation and youth regarding the possibility of improving the environmental situation in Ukraine after the end of military actions was noted. Measures to improve the state of the environment that were proposed by students testify to their environmental awareness and interest in environmental restoration, as well as the qualified training of ecologists by scientific and pedagogical workers.