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Felton A, Belyazid S, Eggers J, Nordström EM, Öhman K. Climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for production forests: Trade-offs, synergies, and uncertainties in biodiversity and ecosystem services delivery in Northern Europe. AMBIO 2024; 53:1-16. [PMID: 37592197 PMCID: PMC10692060 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-023-01909-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023]
Abstract
Climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies (CCAMS) are changes to the management of production forests motivated by the need to mitigate climate change, or adapt production forests to climate change risks. Sweden is employing CCAMS with unclear implications for biodiversity and forest ecosystem services (ES). Here, we synthesized evidence from 51 published scientific reviews, to evaluate the potential implications for biodiversity and a range of provisioning, regulating, and cultural ES, from the adoption of CCAMS relative to standard forestry practice. The CCAMS assessed were the adoption of (i) mixed-species stands, (ii) continuous cover forestry, (iii) altered rotation lengths, (iv) conversion to introduced tree species, (v) logging residue extraction, (vi) stand fertilization, and (vii) altered ditching/draining practices. We highlight the complexity of biodiversity and ES outcomes, identify knowledge gaps, and emphasize the importance of evidence-based decision making and landscape-scale planning when navigating choices involving the widespread adoption of CCAMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Felton
- Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Rörsjöv 1, Box 49, 230 53, Alnarp, Sweden.
| | - Salim Belyazid
- Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jeannette Eggers
- Division of Forest Planning, Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Eva-Maria Nordström
- Division of Forest Planning, Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Karin Öhman
- Division of Forest Planning, Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden
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Chevaux L, Mårell A, Baltzinger C, Boulanger V, Cadet S, Chevalier R, Debaive N, Dumas Y, Gosselin M, Gosselin F, Rocquencourt A, Paillet Y. Effects of stand structure and ungulates on understory vegetation in managed and unmanaged forests. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e2531. [PMID: 35019181 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Conventional conservation policies in Europe notably rely on the passive restoration of natural forest dynamics by setting aside forest areas to preserve forest biodiversity. However, since forest reserves cover only a small proportion of the territory, conservation policies also require complementary conservation efforts in managed forests in order to achieve the biodiversity targets set up in the Convention on Biological Diversity. Conservation measures also raise the question of large herbivore management in and around set-asides, particularly regarding their impact on understory vegetation. Although many studies have separately analyzed the effects of forest management, management abandonment, and ungulate pressure on forest biodiversity, their joint effects have rarely been studied in a correlative framework. We studied 212 plots located in 15 strict forest reserves paired with adjacent managed forests in European France. We applied structural equation models to test the effects of management abandonment, stand structure, and ungulate pressure on the abundance, species richness, and diversity of herbaceous vascular plants and terricolous bryophytes. We showed that stand structure indices and plot-level browsing pressure had direct and opposite effects on herbaceous vascular plant species diversity; these effects were linked with the light tolerance of the different species groups. Increasing canopy cover had an overall negative effect on herbaceous vascular plant abundance and species diversity. The effect was two to three times greater in magnitude than the positive effects of browsing pressure on herbaceous plants diversity. On the other hand, a high stand density index had a positive effect on the species richness and diversity of bryophytes, while browsing had no effect. Forest management abandonment had few direct effects on understory plant communities, and mainly indirectly affected herbaceous vascular plant and bryophyte abundance and species richness and diversity through changes in vertical stand structure. Our results show that conservation biologists should rely on foresters and hunters to lead the preservation of understory vegetation communities in managed forests since, respectively, they manipulate stand structure and regulate ungulate pressure. Their management actions should be adapted to the taxa at stake, since bryophytes and vascular plants respond differently to stand and ungulate factors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Vincent Boulanger
- Département Recherche et Développement, Office National des Forêts, Fontainebleau, France
| | - Serge Cadet
- Office National des Forêts (ONF), Réseau Flore-Habitats, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | | | | | - Yann Dumas
- INRAE, UR EFNO, Nogent-sur-Vernisson, France
| | | | | | | | - Yoan Paillet
- INRAE, UR EFNO, Nogent-sur-Vernisson, France
- Universitè Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, Saint Martin d'Hères, France
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Trade-Offs among Release Treatments in Jack Pine Plantations: Twenty-Five Year Responses. FORESTS 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/f12030370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
We assessed 27 indicators of plant diversity, stand yield and individual crop tree responses 25 years post-treatment to determine long-term trade-offs among conifer release treatments in boreal and sub-boreal forests. This research addresses the lack of longer-term data needed by forest managers to implement more integrated vegetation management programs, supporting more informed decisions about release treatment choice. Four treatments (untreated control, motor-manual brushsaw, single aerial spray, and complete competition removal) were established at two jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) sites in Ontario, Canada. Our results suggest that plant diversity and productivity in boreal jack pine forests are significantly influenced by vegetation management treatments. Overall, release treatments did not cause a loss of diversity but benefitted stand-scale yield and individual crop tree growth, with maximum benefits occurring in more intensive release treatments. However, none of the treatments maximized all 27 indicators studied; thus, forest managers are faced with trade-offs when choosing treatments. Research on longer term effects, ideally through at least one rotation, is essential to fully understand outcomes of different vegetation management on forest diversity, stand yield, and individual crop tree responses.
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