BACKGROUND: Thailand aimed to eliminate malaria by 2024, and as such is planning for future prevention of re-establishment in malaria free provinces. Understanding the receptivity of local areas to malaria allows the appropriate targeting of interventions. Current approaches to assessing receptivity involve collecting entomological data. Forest coverage is known to be associated with malaria risk, as an environment conducive to both vector breeding and high-risk human behaviours.
METHODS: Geolocated, anonymized, individual-level surveillance data from 2011 to 2021 from the Thai Division of Vector-Borne Disease (DVBD) was used to calculate incidence and estimated Rc at village level. Forest cover was calculated using raster maps of tree crown cover density and year of forest loss from the publicly available Hansen dataset. Incidence and forest cover were compared graphically and using Spearman\'s rho. The current foci classification system was applied to data from the last 5 years (2017-2021) and forest cover for 2021 compared between the classifications. A simple risk score was developed to identify villages with high receptivity.
RESULTS: There was a non-linear decrease in annual cases by 96.6% (1061 to 36) across the two provinces from 2011 to 2021. Indigenous Annual Parasite Index (API) and approximated Rc were higher in villages in highly forested subdistricts, and with higher forest cover within 5 km. Forest cover was also higher in malaria foci which consistently reported malaria cases each year than those which did not. An Rc > 1 was only reported in villages in subdistricts with > 25% forest cover. When applying a simple risk score using forest cover and recent case history, the classifications were comparable to those of the risk stratification system currently used by the DVBD.
CONCLUSIONS: There was a positive association between forest coverage around a village and indigenous malaria cases. Most local transmission was observed in the heavily forested subdistricts on the international borders with Laos and Cambodia, which are where the most receptive villages are located. These areas are at greater risk of importation of malaria due to population mobility and forest-going activities. Combining forest cover and recent case surveillance data with measures of vulnerability may be useful for prediction of malaria recurrence risk.

UNASSIGNED: With the acceleration of social life, people\'s interest and demand for forestry recreation activities is increasing. However, with this increase, it is inevitable that negative environmental effects will occur. Particularly mass participation poses an important risk for environmental sustainability. In this context, the aim of this study is to determine the recreational activities organized in forest areas in Turkey and Lithuania, the environmental effects of these activities and the precautions to be taken.
UNASSIGNED: In Turkey and Lithuania, interviews were conducted to determine the attitudes of experts involved in recreational activity processes towards a clean environment and environmental sustainability. A semi-structured interview form was used in the interviews with forest operators and other experts. The sample group of the research consists of 17 experts from Turkey and Lithuania.
UNASSIGNED: According to the results of the research, recreational activities are organized in forest areas in both countries, but the most important problem related to these activities is waste production. In addition, there is also damage to the natural environment. Although there are legal regulations in both countries, there are no definite results in solving environmental problems.
UNASSIGNED: It can be said that necessary measures such as raising awareness of people and ecological education should be taken in order to ensure the right of individuals to live in a safe and clean environment and at the same time to ensure sustainability in forest areas. as the improvement of legal regulation.

Three-dimensional (3D) modeling of trees has many applications in various areas, such as forest and urban planning, forest health monitoring, and carbon sequestration, to name a few. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry has recently emerged as a low cost, rapid, and accurate method for 3D modeling of urban and forest trees replacing the costly traditional methods such as plot measurements and surveying. There are numerous commercial and open-source software programs available, each processing UAV data differently to generate forest 3D modeling and photogrammetric products, including point clouds, Digital Surface Models (DSMs), Canopy Height Models (CHMs), and orthophotos in forest areas. The objective of this study is to compare the three widely-used commercial software packages, namely, AgiSoft Photoscan (Metashape) V 1.7.3, PIX4DMapper (Pix4D) V 4.4.12, and DJI Terra V 3.7.6 for processing UAV data over forest areas from three perspectives: point cloud density and reconstruction quality, computational time, DSM assessment for height accuracy (z) and ability of tree detection on DSM. Three datasets, captured by UAVs on the same day at three different flight altitudes, were used in this study. The first, second, and third datasets were collected at altitudes of 60 m, 100 m, and 120 m, respectively over a forested area in Tully, New York. While the first and third datasets were taken horizontally, the second dataset was taken 20 degrees off-nadir to investigate the impact of oblique images. Results show that Pix4D and AgiSoft generate 2.5 times denser point clouds than DJI Terra. However, reconstruction quality evaluation using the Iterative Closest Point method (ICP) shows DJI Terra has fewer gaps in the point cloud and performed better than AgiSoft and Pix4D in generating a point cloud of trees, power lines and poles despite producing a fewer number of points. In other words, the outperformance in key points detection and an improved matching algorithm are key factors in generating improved final products. The computational time comparison demonstrates that the processing time for AgiSoft and DJI Terra is roughly half that of Pix4D. Furthermore, DSM elevation profiles demonstrate that the estimated height variations between the three software range from 0.5 m to 2.5 m. DJI Terra\'s estimated heights are generally greater than those of AgiSoft and Pix4D. Furthermore, DJI Terra outperforms AgiSoft and Pix4D for modeling the height contour of trees, buildings, and power lines and poles, followed by AgiSoft and Pix4D. Finally, in terms of the ability of tree detection, DJI Terra outperforms AgiSoft and Pix4D in generating a comprehensive DSM as a result of fewer gaps in the point cloud. Consequently, it stands out as the preferred choice for tree detection applications. The results of this paper can help 3D model users to have confidence in the reliability of the generated 3D models by comprehending the accuracy of the employed software.

The COVID -19 pandemic posed serious challenge for securing public health worldwide. Public health preparedness and restrictions put in place impacted many aspects of human life, including recreational activities and access to outdoor recreational destinations. Green spaces have become one of the few sources of resilience during the coronavirus crisis due to their restorative effects on psychophysical health and community well-being. The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic on forest visitation. The results are based upon long-term visitor data acquired via pyroelectric sensors (Eco-Counter) in three forest districts located in Poland (Browsk, Gdansk & Kozienice Forest Districts). The analysis covers the period between January 01, 2019 and December 31, 2020 and the results confirm changes in recreational use in the studied forest areas during the pandemic compared to the preceding year. However, observed changes in forest visitation vary by pandemic period and study area. The ban on access to forest areas significantly reduced the number of forest visits in all studied areas. The number of visits to sub-urban forests (Gdansk Forest District) and to remote nature-based tourist destinations (Browsk Forest District) increased in the later pandemic periods, especially in the summer months of 2020, while it remained the same in a popular nearby recreation area: Kozienice Forest District. There were only minor temporal shifts in the distribution of weekly and daily visits. The results are important for public health preparedness planning in crisis situations and for provisioning conditions supporting societal health and well-being. Objective data on forest visits are necessary for successful management of forest areas and surrounding amenities. More cross-sector collaboration and public participation would be desirable to create sustainable, resilient, and liveable spaces for the society.
UNASSIGNED: •Long-term visitation monitoring is crucial for successful management of outdoor recreation destinations and their catchment areas.•Objective numbers concerning forest visitation from the pre-pandemic and COVID-19 pandemic period allow observing trends and making fact-based management decisions during period of crisis.•Changes in the investigated three forest study areas in Poland were not homogenous, which implies the necessity of systematic visitor monitoring in multiple destinations, in order to cover different types of forest areas and also local diversity in recreational use.•More intersectoral, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary exchange would be desirable to better integrate existing on-site visitor monitoring data into decision making processes related to forest management, urban planning, transportation, tourism and public health.

In the last decade, more and more attention has been paid to the efficiency of ecological products\' value in the literature. Studying the value-conversion efficiency of forest ecological products can measure and reflect the huge value contained in forests, which is of great significance to promote the transformation between \"clear water and green mountains\" and \"gold and silver mountains\" as well as solve the problem of economic development and environmental protection. Studying the value-conversion efficiency of forest ecological products can scientifically evaluate the results of the mutual transformation of \"clear water and green mountains\" and \"gold and silver mountains\", which is of great significance for deepening the theory of the \"two mountains\". This paper took Zhejiang Province as the research object, constructed an index system of forest ecological products\' value accounting, used the super-SBM model and Malmquist index to calculate the conversion efficiency of forest ecological products\' value, and proposed optimization paths according to the research results. The results showed that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the value of forest ecological products in Zhejiang Province showed a fluctuating upward trend. In 2020, the total value of forest ecological products was RMB 973.717 billion. Among them, the value of material products was RMB 12.560 billion, the value of ecological regulatory products was RMB 726.323 billion, and the value of cultural service products was RMB 234.834 billion. (2) There were great differences in the value-conversion efficiency of forest ecological products among cities in Zhejiang Province, but the overall trend was steady and developing in a positive direction. (3) The total-factor productivity of forest ecological products in Zhejiang Province showed a fluctuating trend, and its growth was mainly limited by the technical efficiency and technological progress index. (4) The main reasons for the conversion-efficiency loss of forest ecological products\' value in Zhejiang Province were excessive input and insufficient output. The specific reasons for the loss of efficiency in different cities were different, so it is necessary to find improvement paths according to local conditions. Our research provides a new perspective for the academic community to evaluate the value-realization effect of ecological products as well as a decision-making reference for policy makers of ecological environmental protection and construction.

Prey fish cohabit with specialized predator fish within structurally complex habitats. How the vertical stratification of the habitat affects lethal and behavioral predator-prey interactions and contributes to explaining these patterns has never been investigated within a forest-like marine habitat, i.e., a habitat containing three vertical strata (understory, canopy, open-water above). We studied this in tank experiments, with a model prey (the wrasse Symphodus ocellatus) and two model predators (the stalk-and-attack comber Serranus cabrilla and the sit-and-wait scorpionfish Scorpaena porcus), which are among the most abundant prey and predators cohabiting in Mediterranean Cystoseira forests. Wrasse anti-predator behavior was predator-specific. When exposed to the scorpionfish, the wrasse increased its vertical distance from the predator, regardless of the habitat structure. Conversely, when exposed to the comber, the wrasse sought refuge within forest structures: (1) the canopy provides more hiding opportunities due to its high complexity, and (2) the understory provides more escape/avoidance opportunities due to (a) its low complexity that allows for fast prey movements, and (b) the presence of the canopy above that limits the comber\'s access to the understory. Our results suggest that habitat vertical stratification mediates predator-prey interactions and potentially promotes the co-existence of prey and multiple predators within marine forests.

Belgrad Forest is one of the most visited forest areas in Istanbul and contains nine nature parks which are open to visitors and very popular. This study examines decision-making processes of the planning for these areas. To measure public participation in and approaches to the decision-making processes, a questionnaire was given to 1.103 visitors. It has been observed that the public does not participate in decision-making processes, although the public does have a role in legislation for the forest. Participants especially wanted to have input were determined to be ways of using the forest and ensuring that safety precautions and cleanliness were addressed. A SWOT analysis was carried out with the responsible groups and discussed approaches to planning, legislation, and implementation. The conclusion was that human pressure on nature parks should be reduced. It was suggested that non-governmental organizations should play an important role in decision-making mechanisms, as should individuals.

A year of forest health surveys has led to the first detection of Phytophthora ramorum in Del Norte County followed by the first wildland detection of the EU1 clonal lineage (Grunwald et al. 2009) of this pathogen in California. In July 2019, leaves were sampled from two tanoaks (Notholithocarpus densiflorus) and 16 California bay laurels (Umbellularia californica) in Jedediah Smith State Park in Del Norte County, the northernmost coastal County of California. Leaves displayed lesions normally associated with Sudden Oak Death (SOD) caused by P. ramorum and were discovered during the citizen science-based survey known as SOD Blitz (Meentemeyer et al. 2015). Samples were surface sterilized using 75% Ethanol and plated on PARPH-V8 agar (Jeffers and Martin 1986). After plating, DNA was extracted and amplified using two P. ramorum-specific assays (Hayden et al. 2006, Kroon et al. 2004). Leaves from two tanoaks exhibiting twig die-back had typical SOD lesions along the midvein, gave positive PCR results and yielded cultures with colony morphology, sporangia and chlamydospores typical of the NA1 lineage of P. ramorum originally isolated in California from tanoaks and coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) (Rizzo et al. 2002). The ITS locus and a portion of the Cox-1 locus were sequenced from DNA extracts of each culture using primers DC6-ITS4 (Bonants et al. 2004) and COXF4N-COXR4N (Kroon et al. 2004), respectively. ITS sequences (GB MN540639-40) were typical of P. ramorum and Cox-1 sequences (GB MN540142-3) perfectly matched the Cox-1 sequence of the NA1 lineage (GB DQ832718) (Kroon et al. 2004). Microsatellite alleles were generated as described in Croucher et al. (2013) for the two Del Norte cultures and for eight P. ramorum cultures, representative of the four main multilocus genotypes (MLGs) present in California, namely c1 (Santa Cruz/Commercial Nurseries), c3 (San Francisco Bay Area), c2 (Monterey County), and c4 (Humboldt County) (Croucher et al. 2013). The two Del Norte MLGs were identical to one another and most similar to MLG c1, with a single repeat difference at a single locus. SSR results suggest the inoculum source may not be from Humboldt County, neighboring to the South, but from a yet unidentified outbreak, possibly associated with ornamental plants. Jedediah Smith State Park was surveyed for 12 months following the initial detection, however the pathogen has yet to be re-isolated in that location. In July 2020, SOD symptomatic leaves from two tanoak trees exhibiting twig cankers were collected 8 Km north of Jedediah Smith State Park, where three additional tanoak trees displayed rapidly browned dead canopies consistent with late stage SOD. Leaves were processed as above. Colonies from these samples produced chlamydospores and sporangia typical of P. ramorum on PARPH-V8 agar, but displayed a growth rate faster than that of NA1 genotypes and were characterized by aerial hyphae, overall resembling the morphology of EU1 lineage colonies (Brasier 2003). The EU1 lineage was confirmed by the perfect match of the sequence of a portion of the Cox-1 gene (GB MW349116-7) with the Cox-1 sequence of EU1 genotypes (GB EU124926). The EU1 clonal lineage has been previously isolated from tanoaks in Oregon forests, approximately 55 Km to the North (Grünwald et al. 2016), but this is the first report for California wildlands and will require containment and government regulations. It is unknown whether the EU1 strains in Del Norte County originated from Oregon forests or elsewhere.

Over the past centuries, humans have transformed large parts of the biosphere, and there is a growing need to understand and predict the distribution of biodiversity hotspots influenced by the presence of humans. Our basic hypothesis is that human influence in the Anthropocene is ubiquitous, and we predict that biodiversity hot spot modeling can be improved by addressing three challenges raised by the increasing ecological influence of humans: (i) anthropogenically modified responses to individual ecological factors, (ii) fundamentally different processes and predictors in landscape types shaped by different land use histories and (iii) a multitude and complexity of natural and anthropogenic processes that may require many predictors and even multiple models in different landscape types. We modeled the occurrence of veteran oaks in Norway, and found, in accordance with our basic hypothesis and predictions, that humans influence the distribution of veteran oaks throughout its range, but in different ways in forests and open landscapes. In forests, geographical and topographic variables related to the oak niche are still important, but the occurrence of veteran oaks is shifted toward steeper slopes, where logging is difficult. In open landscapes, land cover variables are more important, and veteran oaks are more common toward the north than expected from the fundamental oak niche. In both landscape types, multiple predictor variables representing ecological and human-influenced processes were needed to build a good model, and several models performed almost equally well. Models accounting for the different anthropogenic influences on landscape structure and processes consistently performed better than models based exclusively on natural biogeographical and ecological predictors. Thus, our results for veteran oaks clearly illustrate the challenges to distribution modeling raised by the ubiquitous influence of humans, even in a moderately populated region, but also show that predictions can be improved by explicitly addressing these anthropogenic complexities.

During silicate weathering, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is consumed and base cations are released from silicate minerals to form carbonate and bicarbonate ions, which are finally deposited as carbonate complexes. Continental silicate weathering constitutes a stable carbon sink that is an important influence on long-term climate change, as it sequesters atmospheric carbon dioxide at a million-year time scale. Traditionally, CO2 sequestered through silicate weathering is estimated by measuring the flux of the base cations to watersheds. However, plants also absorb considerable amounts of base cations. Plant biomass is often removed from ecosystems during harvesting. The base cations are subsequently released after decomposition of the harvested plant materials, and thereby enhance CO2 consumption related to weathering. Here, we analyze plant biomass storage-harvest fluxes (production and removal of biomass from forests) of base cations in forests across China to quantify the relative contribution of forest trees to the terrestrial weathering-related carbon sink. Our data suggest that the potential CO2 consumption rate for biomass-related silicate weathering (from the combined action of with afforestation/reforestation, controlled harvesting and rock powder amendment) in Chinese forests is 7.9±4.1Tg CO2yr-1. This represents ~34% of the chemical weathering rate in China. Globally, forests may increase CO2 sequestration through biologically-mediated silicate weathering by ~32%.