Status and progress in large-scale assessment of biological diversity in the United States

Conservation of biological diversity is one of seven criteria used to evaluate forest sustainability in the United States. The status of biological diversity is characterized by nine indicators that report area, protected status, and fragmentation of forest habitats; number and conservation status of forest-associated species; range and abundance of forest species to...

Integrating biological diversity and resource management: an essential approach to productive, sustainable ecosystems

Natural forest management as a conservation tool in the tropics: divergent views on possibilities and alternatives

A round table discussion was convened to explore divergent views on the potential for natural forest management (NFM) for timber to contribute to wide-scale maintenance of forest cover and biological diversity in tropical forests. The general argument for NFM for timber is that, by conferring relatively more economic value on forests that alternative forest uses, NFM...

Forest biological diversity interactions with resource utilization

The most important forest resources of the Asia-Pacific region are the highly diverse rain forests. Utilization of the resource is a natural and inevitable consequence of the region's socio-economic development. The sustainable management and development of forest resources in the region can be achieved by implementing conservational forestry, which is based on...

Neglect of genetic diversity in implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity

Genetic diversity is the foundation for all biological diversity; the persistence and evolutionary potential of species depend on it. World leaders have agreed on the conservation of genetic diversity as an explicit goal of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Nevertheless, actions to protect genetic diversity are largely lacking. With only months left to the...

Developing tools to sustain biological diversity.

The Biodiversity Initiative strives to provide innovative solutions to the complex problem of managing forests for biodiversity. Although this initiative is in its beginning stages, an initial scoping meeting has already taken place and planning for the next steps is underway. The initiative is developing plans to conduct extensive scoping efforts in the management,...

Harmonizing national forest inventories

International agreements increasingly require that countries report estimates of national forest resources. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change requires that countries submit annual reports of greenhouse gas emissions and removals by sources and sinks. The Convention on Biological Diversity requires that countries identify and monitor components...

Forest health in the Blue Mountains: an plant ecologist's perspective on ecosystem processes and biological diversity.

Natural disturbances are important to ecosystem processes. Disturbances historically have occurred in the vegetation of the Blue Mountain area of northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. The primary modifying events that historically have cycled through most of its plant communities are fire, grazing and browsing, insect and disease epidemics, windthrow,...

Grassland ecology and diversity (Ecologia y diversidad de pastizales)

Grasslands of the Chihuahuan Desert region are ecologically and economically important. These grasslands are valued for their rangeland, wildlife, watershed, and recreation resources. Biological diversity also raises the value of grassland communities. The potential for multiple uses within the region increases as the diversity of the resource base increases. In order...