Deforestation, soil degradation, and wood energy in developing countries
Two separate studies address the major issues of deforestation in developing countries, namely, Does deforestation seriously impair the soil-plant system. and How can a steady supply of wood fuels be guaranteed with diminishing natural forest. In Chapter 1, twenty-six cross-sectional and time series studies of soil properties in the US and ten countries between the tropics were examined to determine the changes associated with deforestation in soil organic C, total N, exchangeable Ca, Mg, and K, cation exchange capacity, available P, bulk density, and pH. Deforestation was associated with significant changes in these soil properties. Only bulk density and avaiable P showed any tendency to return to pre-clearing levels. Differences in soil response to deforestation according to climate and age of parent material were related to temperature, rainfall, vegetation, soil acidity, and organic matter production and decomposition on each site. In Chapter 2, a multiobjective linear program (MOP) decides where plantations should be located, what the harvest rotation should be, what mix of fuelwood and charcoal should be produced, and which villages should be supplied by each plantation given a known future pattern of demand. In the MOP the costs of labor expended in plantations are balanced against the unpriced labor expended by villagers to collect fuelwood. The results indicate that transition from natural forests to plantations would be very expensive in terms of labor and land required. The greater the value imputed to labor spent transporting fuel, the higher the total costs of the policy, but the distribution of wood resources between urban and rural areas is more equitable.
- OSTI ID:
- 6076790
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BIOMASS PLANTATIONS
PLANNING
DEFORESTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
CATIONS
CORRELATIONS
DESIGN
MINERAL CYCLING
SOIL CHEMISTRY
SOILS
VARIATIONS
WEATHER
CHARGED PARTICLES
CHEMISTRY
IONS
090400* - Solid Waste & Wood Fuels- (-1989)
140504 - Solar Energy Conversion- Biomass Production & Conversion- (-1989)