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Adaptive management for competing forest goods and services under climate change
Christian Temperli1, Harald Bugmann, Ché Elkin
1Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Forest Ecology, Universitätstrasse 22, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland. christian.temperli@env.ethz.ch
Summary
Adaptive forest management is crucial for maintaining forest goods and services (FGS) amidst climate change. Converting drought-sensitive monocultures to diverse, resilient forests ensures timber production and biodiversity, even with past management impacts.
Area of Science:
- Forestry and Ecology
- Climate Change Adaptation
- Sustainable Forest Management
Background:
- Climate change necessitates adaptive forest management to sustain forest goods and services (FGS).
- Central European forests, particularly in Germany's Black Forest, face risks from changing climate conditions.
- Past management practices significantly influence current forest dynamics and future FGS provisioning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the impact of climate change and adaptive forest management on forest development and FGS.
- To analyze the interdependencies between timber production and forest diversity under various scenarios.
- To identify optimal adaptive management strategies for enhancing forest resilience and FGS provision.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the process-based forest model LandClim to simulate forest dynamics.
- Applied a range of climate change and forest management scenarios to a case study landscape in the Black Forest, Germany.
- Focused on simulating timber production and forest diversity indices.
Main Results:
- Conversion to drought-adapted forest types is essential to prevent climate change-induced forest dieback.
- Adaptive management, particularly converting Norway spruce monocultures, is key for timber and diversity.
- Uneven-aged management promoting diverse, drought-adapted species balances timber production and high species diversity.
Conclusions:
- Adaptive forest management, focusing on species mixture and resilience, is vital for long-term FGS.
- Balancing resource use and environmental goals requires considering trade-offs and synergies in management.
- Landscape-scale assessment is crucial due to the significant impact of past management on forest heterogeneity.
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