Forest health and global change

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Forestry

Background:

• Forests provide essential resources (energy, food, materials) and ecosystem services (carbon storage, biodiversity, climate regulation).
• Forest health assessment integrates human utility and ecosystem function across various scales.
• Native forests face unprecedented threats from climate change, pollution, and invasive species.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the scientific challenge of assessing global forest health.
• To develop systems for detecting how intensifying stresses impact forest trajectories.
• To identify critical thresholds for rapid forest decline.

Main Methods:

• Defining forest health using integrated utilitarian and ecosystem measures.
• Implementing assessments across a range of spatial scales.
• Focusing on detecting impacts of novel stresses like climate change, air pollution, and invasive pests.

Main Results:

• Forests are increasingly vulnerable to novel stresses beyond natural disturbance adaptation.
• Identifying decline thresholds is critical due to the long recovery time for forest services.
• A global assessment system is needed to track forest health trajectories.

Conclusions:

• Urgent need for systems to assess global forest health.
• Understanding forest response to intensifying stresses is key to conservation.
• Proactive identification of decline thresholds can mitigate long-term loss of vital ecosystem services.