Large-scale afforestation for ecosystem service provisioning: learning from the past to improve the future

Abstract

Context Afforestation is one of the major drivers of land cover change in the world. In spite of its multiple applications, forest generation has been fostered during the last century to achieve few specific objectives such as timber production or catchment erosion protection. However, new afforestation programs are required to meet multiple objectives such as carbon sequestration, reducing environmental risks and enhance biodiversity conservation to reach sustainability. Objectives Assessing the general efficiency of past large-scale afforestation programs on the provision of ecosystem services (ES) and other socio-ecological attributes. We also determined whether this efficiency depended on the type of ecosystem used for comparison. Methods We carried out a semi-quantitative meta-analysis from 75 studies analyzing the effects of 128 afforestation actions developed in one of the EU countries with larger areas of afforested land during the twentieth century. Results Spanish afforestation policy improved timber provision and carbon sequestration. However, our results show that afforestation programs did not enhance regulating ES when compared to natural land plots, but only when compared to highly degraded areas prior to restoration actions. Conclusions Large-scale afforestations have difficulties in assuring the provisioning of regulating ES and the conservation of biodiversity when only productivity criteria are prioritized. Our results suggest the need for an afforestation agenda that embraces more comprehensive landscape management approaches that allow reducing undesired ES trade-offs while getting multiple objectives from different ecosystems.

Net-Zero Embodied Carbon in Buildings with Today’s Available Technologies

“…However, there are concerns about the availability of timber, with Pomponi et al (2020) 12 arguing that the limited supply of wood from forests could constrain the expansion of timber buildings. Large-scale afforestation to expand wood supply has been identified as a risk for negative impacts on biodiversity, 13 water availability, 14 and food security. 15 It is, therefore, clear that timber building is not a “one-size-fits-all” solution and that its benefits vary from country to country.…”

Soil moisture and temperature dynamics in juvenile and mature forest as a result of tree growth, hydrometeorological forcings, and drought

“…Successes in afforestation are found when reforested areas following ideal planting criteria, and lead to higher infiltration rate and improved soil moisture retention (Ilstedt et al, 2016; Mapa, 1995). Given these challenges in afforestation, characterizing soil moisture dynamics on afforested sites is crucial in identifying techniques that may optimize tree growth processes and, thus, carbon sequestration from the atmosphere (Lewis et al, 2019; Pérez‐Silos et al, 2021), as well as forest water‐related ecosystem services.…”

From Forest Dynamics to Wetland Siltation in Mountainous Landscapes: A RS-Based Framework for Enhancing Erosion Control

“…As water is the most valuable and limited resource for biodiversity, comprehensive knowledge of water-related ecosystem functioning is essential for developing an integrated management scheme that assures its sustainability [1][2][3]. To establish priority actions on water resources worldwide, spatial assessment and environmental mapping play an essential role in defining critical areas for conservation and ecological restoration [4,5]. In the context of global change, land use and land cover (LULC) changes resulting from urban, farmland and livestock expansion [6,7] have led to the destruction of habitats, ecosystem functionality and the historical services they offer to society [8,9].…”