Issues

Most peatlands in Indonesia have been drained for plantation industries (Oil palm, Acacia) and agricultural purposes in a broad sense. Theoretically, peatlands are extremely sensitive to hydrological changes. The research aimed to elucidate the fact that indigenous farmers avoid deep peatlands for food crop farming. This qualitative and quantitative research has been conducted from 2020 to 2023 in South Sumatra province. It used a field survey method and the data were collected by using a purposive sampling method. There are two main reasons farmers to avoid deep peatlands for cultivating food crops, namely instinctive and latent challenges. The first ones are temporary and technical, so farmers are able to overcome these challenges with a scientific and technological approach. Latent ones are very difficult or impossible to repair and tend to cause the destruction and extinction of peatlands. The government should stop granting concession permits and make deep and very deep peatlands into conservation areas, because of their impact on the environment. Approaches are recommended for sustainable peatland management, namely decentralisation, conservative, protective, and optimal approaches.

Received: 25 October 2023 / Accepted: 03 January 2024 / Available online: 09 January 2024 Open

 Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Pinus pinaster Aiton (maritime pine) and Pinus radiata D.Don (radiata pine) are both coniferous species not native in Greece, which were artificially installed in Halkidiki, Northern Greece, since the early 1970s. The research was performed to estimate the soil conditions of both conifers in two different areas, where the reforestation has been successful. The best site quality stands were selected, having particularly deep soil. Samples of soil, litter and needles were taken for both species from 16 different sample plots in two sites: Stratoni and Sithonia. From the results, higher concentrations of most soil nutrients, as well as better absorption of P and N by trees, were found in Stratoni for both conifers. Tree dimensions for both conifers are greater in Stratoni, corresponding to the higher nutrient content and an observed higher humidity. The concentrations of nutrients in soil, litter and foliage for each conifer species were assessed according to the literature.

Received: 31 January 2023 / Accepted: 03 January 2024 / Available online: 09 January 2024 

Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Reclamation is an important activity to support ecosystem recovery after mine closure. The success of this effort depends on plant adaptability to environmental pressure, primarily related to high-acidity soil. However, more information about plant adaptability in reclamation sites is needed, although it is required to determine the alternative species for supporting revegetation efforts. Our study investigated the adaptability of multiple tree species used for coal mining reclamation and assessed their essential role in enhancing biodiversity in the degraded ecosystem. An ecological survey was conducted using a transect line method with a sampling plot size of 2020 m and an interval from each 50 m. This study found that seven species were used to support the reclamation efforts, i.e., Aleurites moluccana, Archindendron pauciflorum, Artocarpus heterophyllus, A. integer, Durio zibethinus, Hevea brasiliensis, and Mangifera casturi. The survival across species was 78.60−89.39 %, with a height of 64.75−133.94 cm and a diameter of 0.59−1.39 cm. The species diversity was low, with a richness of 0.98 and a heterogeneity of 0.84. These species also had an unbalanced distribution pattern with an evenness index of 0.43. These findings showed that the selected plant species had good adaptability to the environmental conditions of the reclamation site. Although their contribution to biodiversity improvement was still low, there was a positive contribution from these species to biodiversity recovery after the mine closure. Further investigation is still required to monitor the long-term benefits of these species on ecosystem recovery in the reclamation area.

Received: 19 October 2023 / Accepted: 04 January 2024 / Available online: 09 January 2024

Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The issue of providing clean water services is fundamental and an important part of the strategy to improve community welfare. Clean water facilities are generally provided by the government, but others are developed and managed by village communities. This research aims to: (1) analyse the supply and consumption of clean water in communities around Wan Abdul Rahman Forest Park (WARFP), (2) identify factors that determine household clean water consumption. This research employs a case study method in a community-based clean water management model around WARFP, in Gedong Tataan Sub-District, Pesawaran District. This research involved 90 ouseholds receiving clean water services. To answer objective 1, data tabulation analysis was used. To answer objective 2 multiple linear regression analysis was used. The study suggests that the clean water received by the community is very abundant, as indicated by the supply of clean water that exceeds household needs. The result also shows that: (1) the average water consumption of people in the study area per capita per day is 189 L with the lowest consumption being 40 L and the highest average consumption being 708 L. There are 29 respondents (32 %) who consume clean water less than the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (MPWPH) standard which is 121 L per capita per day. (2) Factors that influence clean water consumption are water supply, and household revenues. Number of family member and education did not have strong nfluence on water consumption.

Received: 13 October 2023 / Accepted: 02 February 2024 / Available online: 10 February 2024

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The rapid technique for measuring of chlorophyll fluorescence photoinduction is one of mod- ern informative methods for assessing the impact of abiotic factors (temperature, humidity, and environmental light intensity) on physiological traits of photosynthesis responsible for produc- tivity. We explored alterations in activity of different types of chlorophyll fluorescence influenced by above mentioned basic abiotic factors which have been undergoing essential changes in Ukrainian Steppe zone in recent decades. The research object was the black locust, introduced tree species spread widely in the examined region as forest anti-erosion plantings and in the landscaping of industrial towns. To reveal background, stationary, maximum and variable chloro- phyll fluorescence, we used a fluorimeter to measure spectrum of light absorption and reflection by leaves. The output was presented as Kautsky curve that depicted the fluorescence response changes over time. We clarified that the background concentration was minimal at low air tem- perature. With increasing temperature, there was an upward trend in the background fluorescence intensification. The increase in the air humidity caused the opposite effect. With raising tempera- ture, the intensity of maximum fluorescence had the reverse trend compared to the background fluorescence. It decreased when the temperature got higher. Alike the background fluorescence, the stationary fluorescence was minimal at low air temperature, but its rise resulted in the decline in the stationary fluorescence intensity. The research outcomes are methods and mathematical models developed and offered for calculations of different fluorescence types. Statistically signifi- cant relationship between the fluorescence, temperature and light intensity was established. The obtained results allow defining the introduction of Robinia pseudoacacia L. as successful while its resistance to the impact of abiotic environmental factors can be identified as high. It allowed us to specify black locust as the up-to-date species when forming plantings, unless suitable care, management, and control have been fulfilled.

Received: 17 September 2023 / Accepted: 21 February 2024 / Available online: 01 March 2024

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Gas exchange response of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) saplings to canopy  opening was studied in the ‘Petrohan’ training and experimental forest range in Western Stara Planina Mt. Experimental plots were set on various altitudes (700–1450 m a.s.l.) and were chosen by their different sylvicultural or disturbances histories. The results of this study point out that Europe- an beech saplings show significant acclimation potential to changed post-cutting or windthrow environmental conditions. The light response curves at saplings from the open and the closed sites were typical for the sun and the shade ecotype of European beech leaves. The maximal photosynthesis was higher in more illuminated saplings but, as with light-use efficiency, did not vary significantly with cutting type, disturbance, altitude and air temperature. These physiological indicators rather express the biological characteristics of the European beech more strongly than a common response to environmental changes. In contrast, respiration, transpiration, water-use efficiency and light-compensation points were highly correlated with altitude and temperature.
Especially the respiration and the transpiration varied much less with cutting type and natural disturbance. The light-compensation point was the most sensitive to both the type of stand open- ing and illumination, which can indicate the acclimation response of European beech saplings to stand disturbances of different sizes and causes.

Received: 13 February 2024 / Accepted: 05 March 2024 / Available online: 08 March 2024

Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

Clonal propagation is a silvicultural method that is often employed due to its advantages in terms of speed and flexibility. This method is typically combined with a reduction in rotation age to enhance the quality of pulp derived from Acacia wood. Therefore, this study aims to determine the basic wood properties, pulp and paper characteristics of a 3-year-old clonal Acacia hybrid (Aha and Ah044 clones) using the kraft process. Obtained samples were cooked using different cooking times, active alkali levels and sulfidity concentrations to obtain the optimum conditions (screened yield > 50 %). Pulp and paper properties were tested at different beating degrees. The result showed that at the optimum conditions of 120 min cooking time, 15 % active alkali and 20 % sulfidity, screened yield and kappa number ranged from 55–59 % and 33–34, respectively. The optimum levels of beating degree were 255–285 mL CSF, which produced handsheets with an average burst index, tear index, tensile index, brightness and opacity of 3.11 kPa∙m2∙g-1, 4.56 mN∙m2∙g-1, 39.26 Nm∙g-1, 23.42 % and 93.66 %, respectively. At the same conditions, the Ah044 clone gave a higher screened yield but lower reject and kappa number values compared to the Aha clone. Although screened yield of clones was higher compared to samples from older trees in previous studies, the paper strength properties were generally poorer, indicating the high proportion of juvenile wood and high kappa number.

Received: 15 February 2024 / Accepted: 03 April 2024 / Available online: 25 April 2024

 Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Spring and autumn grafting of Syringa vulgaris L. and its cultivars Charles Joly and Mme Florent Stepman have been researched using chip budding, top wedge graft and splice graft methods. Two-year-old vegetative saplings of Ligustrum ovalifolium Hassk. were used as rootstocks. Chip budding showed the worst results in both spring and summer. Successful bud adhesion reached 56.7 % (‘Charles Joly’) and 70.0 % (‘Mme Florent Stepman’), respectively. It has been established that propagation can be successfully achieved through grafting in both seasons. The graft adhesion reached 76.7 % in spring and 85 % in summer grafting by spice graft. Better growth indicators of the scions were observed during summer grafting. This outlines the recom- mendation to use summer splice grafting.

Received: 26 February 2024 / Accepted: 19 April 2024 / Available online: 26 April 2024

Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

This study aimed to analyse the financial feasibility business of cat’s eye resin in West Coast Regency. The method used in this research was the survey method. Primary and secondary data were collected in this study. Sampling used census sampling. The number of respondents consisted of 60 farmers. The data collection was carried out in June 2023. All financial feasibility criteria, such as NPV, Gross B/C, Net B/C ratio, IRR and Payback Period of cat’s eye resin business in West Coast Regency, are feasible. The results showed that the business is feasible to run based on an analysis of the financial feasibility.

Received: 04 January 2024 / Accepted: 19 April 2024 / Available online: 03 May 2024

Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In the course of coenosis development, changes in the quantitative and species structure took place in certain areas of ‘Dubynka’ historical planting. The aim of the study is to find out possible ways to optimise and propose measures to restore the quantitative structure of Quercus robur in it. The research was carried out by field (continuous inventory), analytical and mathematical, and statistical methods. Throughout the historical development of the coenosis, Carpinus betulus has been the dominant species in the tree stand. The low number of Acer platanoides and Fraxinus excelsior in certain age groups indicates an unbalanced removal of trees during felling. It was proved that the beginning of the decay of the primary planting of Q. robur began 100–118 years after its establishment. A stable tendency to reduce its quantitative indicators in the structure due to the death of trees and weak natural recovery during the last 109–127 years was revealed. The loss of the ability to natural recovery of Q. robur during the last 54–72 years was also revealed. The impracticality of using artificial measures to reduce the mass fraction of dominant species at the planting in favour of self-regeneration of Q. robur has been proven. It was found that under the conditions of this coenosis Ulmus laevis is unpromising. The care strategy for the area of the historical planting, which takes into account the coenotic features of development, has been determined. Recommendations are made for restoring the proportion of Q. robur to return the historic planting to its appropriate status.

Received: 28 December 2023 / Accepted: 18 April 2024 / Available online: 03 May 2024

Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.