Adaptive forest management in central Europe: Climate change impacts, strategies and integrative concept

Silvicultural strategies for adapting planted forests to climate change: from theory to practice

“…In the light of these results, we need to consider the relative feasibility of applying the three strategies proposed by Bolte et al (2009) for adaptation to climate change in central Europe to an Atlantic Sitka spruce forest such as Craik. The economic value of most of the forests for timber production would rule out a "passive adaptation" strategy while the risks of windthrow make any medium-term attempt of "conservation of structures" unrealistic.…”

“…Such actions can be seen as part of a risk management strategy linked to the principles of sustainable forest management. These ideas have been developed by Bolte et al (2009) to propose three different strategies for the future management of forest stands in central Europe. The first is termed "conservation of forest structures" which seeks to maintain stand structures against increasing environmental pressures.…”

“…While foresters have been aware of the potential impacts of abiotic and biotic risks for many decades (e.g. Schelhass et al 2003 on the historic impacts of storms), their decision making has implicitly assumed that the occurrence of such extreme events took place within the framework of long-term climatic stability and that responses could be based upon accumulated experience (Bolte et al 2009). However, this assumption is no longer tenable and the need for effective strategic, tactical, and operational adaptation planning is urgent, not least because the young trees planted or regenerated in contemporary forests will have to cope with a rapidly changing climate over the course of this century.…”

“…Kolstrom et al (2011) recently reviewed stand level adaptation measures reported by 19 European countries; most of them appear to involve aspects of an active adaptation strategy such as increasing genetic and species diversity, fostering mixed stands of well adapted species, and introducing alternative silvicultural regimes such as continuous cover forestry (Pommerening, Murphy 2004). For example, at least ten non-native tree species could be considered for planting in north-eastern Germany (Bolte et al 2009) while over 20 alternative species have been proposed as part of a climate change adaptation strategy in Wales (Anonymous 2010). Thus, there is an emerging view that an appropriate way of spreading the risk of climate change impacts is to increase the species and structural diversity of forests.…”

Forest Carbon Sequestration: The Impact of Forest Management

“…Conservation or even promoting greater biodiversity, with regards to both species and genotypes within each species, should constitute a management priority for reducing the effects of climate change. Mixed-species and other complex forests are potentially more adaptable to climate change, so promoting these forest types can help managers to cope with increasing uncertainty (Bolte et al, 2009;Kolström et al, 2011). Greater diversity of tree species can also limit damage from pests (Jactel and Brockerhoff, 2007) and diminish the risk of biological invasion, according to the associational resistance hypothesis (Barbosa et al, 2009).…”