Sustainability in forest management and a new role for resilience thinking

Rist, Lucy; Moen, Jon

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2013.08.033

Cited by 91 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…the importance of other values rather than just wood production, an attention to the various components of the forest ecosystem), there are many clear differences. We agree with Rist & Moen (2013) that in theory and application forestry is organized around a specific paradigm and a particular set of principles, concepts, generalizations, or assumptions regarding how the system subject to management functions: these have a fundamental influence, among others, on management philosophy, including normative aspects of management, and on how the human-nature relationship is perceived (Rist & Moen, 2013).…”

Section: Evolving Perceptions In Forestry and The Systemic Approachmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…Successfully managing a forest to maximize production of a service (or set of services) may lead to a less resilient and more vulnerable system, not only from the ecological but also from the institutional perspectives (Rist & Moen, 2013).…”

Section: Changing the Paradigm Of Forest Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We believe that this new ethical outlook, which is unique, as far as we know, to systemic forestry, can provide it with the cohesion and consistency of a general philosophy of forest management and conservation (sensu . Many more points in common can be found between systemic forestry and "resilience thinking" which has been proposed by Rist & Moen (2013) as a possible approach to dealing with sustainability challenges in forestry (Table 1). In both cases the reference paradigm is to complex social-ecological adaptive systems, uncertainty and unpredictability are acknowledged and strong emphasis is on adaptive co-management, as well as adaptive governance.…”

Section: Evolving Perceptions In Forestry and The Systemic Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Managing forests in a changing world: the need for a systemic approach. A review

et al. 2017

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Aim of study: The paper is a scientific commented discussion with the aim of defining a framework which allows both a comprehensive vision of forest dynamics, as well as an adaptive management approach and policy procedures more suited to a changing and inherently unpredictable world.Main results: We identify the main challenges facing forestry in relation to recent developments in forestry thinking, i.e. the paradox of aiming at sustainability in a changing environment, a shifting perception of the relationship between ecological and social systems, the recognition of forest ecosystems as complex adaptive systems, the need for integrating the social and ecological dimensions of forestry into a single framework, and the growing awareness of the importance of the ethical approach to the forest. We propose the concept of "systemic forestry" as a paradigm for better understanding forest dynamics and for guiding management and public actions at various levels. We compare the systemic approach with different silvicultural and forest management approaches which have been proposed in the last decades.Research highlights: Our analysis shows that a systemic approach to forestry has five main consequences: 1. forestry is viewed as a part of landscape dynamics through a multi-sectoral coordination, 2. the logic of action changes from norm to process, 3. conservation is a dynamic search for resilience, 4. multi-functionality is achieved through a multi-entries approach integrating ecological, social and economic components of sustainability, 5. forestry institutions are reframed to address the issue of changing interactions among actors, 6. a change in the ethical approach to the forest is needed.

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Section: Evolving Perceptions In Forestry and The Systemic Approachmentioning

confidence: 58%

Section: Changing the Paradigm Of Forest Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Evolving Perceptions In Forestry and The Systemic Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Managing forests in a changing world: the need for a systemic approach. A review

et al. 2017

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“…Consequently, resilient forest adaptation should be considered, including counter measures (Hanewinkel et al 2013;Rist and Moen 2013) to maintain the continued long-term delivery of ecosystem goods and services from wooded landscapes (Fürstenau et al 2007;Rasche et al 2013;Stein et al 2013). Climate change adaptation requires adjustments in species or provenance selection and the choice of a suitable silvicultural system to reduce damaging extreme abiotic and biotic impacts (Broadmeadow et al 2005) to forest ecosystems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this type of assessment is more appropriate at the regional or catchment scale, and such an experiment provides an opportunity to simulate changes in forest management alternatives (FMA) from existing states to future projected states. Such an experiment could simulate a more realistic response to policy drivers and offer a test of future forest resilience (Rist and Moen 2013) from different adaptation strategies using a temporal and spatial simulation of indicators of ecosystem service delivery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the provision of ecosystem services in plantation forests under alternative climate change adaptation management options in Wales

et al. 2014

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To compare the provision of ecosystem services in plantation forests under alternative climate change adaptation management trajectories, we interpolated climatic variables from the UK 11-member regional climate models to use at high resolution in forest management situations. We used expert opinion to derive the links between coarse-scaled UK National Ecosystem Assessment scenarios and forest management alternatives (FMA) in a simulation of forest planning and management under climate change uncertainty. Nine indicators were used to compare the provision of forest ecosystem services from four alternative management trajectories based on FMA types under a changing climate. These show that by 2080 a 'business as usual' form of forest management at both Clocaenog and Gwydyr forests will become unsuitable under the two warmest and driest climate variants, marginal under four variants, and borderline suitable under the remaining five variants. This implies that if future forest policy requires the continued delivery of a wide range of ecosystem services, including, home grown timber, biodiversity, and the carbon mitigation benefit from woodlands, then there is 20-50 % chance of failing to deliver on some of these services, unless some adaptation measures to climatic impacts occurs, such as transformation to more diverse species forests managed using low-impact silviculture systems. We show that the benefits of achieving this will be to minimise most of the impacts that climate change would otherwise have on the delivery of ecosystem services from forests.

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The magnitude, direction, and tempo of forest change in Greater Yellowstone in a warmer world with more fire

Turner

Braziunas

Hansen

et al. 2021

Ecological Monographs

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As temperatures continue rising, the direction, magnitude, and tempo of change in disturbance-prone forests remain unresolved. Even forests long resilient to stand-replacing fire face uncertain futures, and efforts to project changes in forest structure and composition are sorely needed to anticipate future forest trajectories. We simulated fire (incorporating fuels feedbacks) and forest dynamics on five landscapes spanning the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) to ask: (1) How and where are forest landscapes likely to change with 21 st -century warming and fire activity? (2) Are future forest changes gradual or abrupt, and do forest attributes change synchronously or sequentially? (3) Can forest declines be averted by mid-21 stcentury stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations? We used the spatially explicit individual-based forest model iLand to track multiple attributes (forest extent, stand age, tree density, basal area, aboveground carbon stocks, dominant forest types, species occupancy) through 2100 for six climate scenarios. Hot-dry climate scenarios led to more fire, but stand-replacing fire peaked in mid-century and then declined even as annual area burned continued to rise. Where forest cover persisted, previously dense forests were converted to sparse young woodlands. Increased aridity and fire drove a ratchet of successive abrupt declines (i.e., multiple annual landscape-level changes ≥ 20%) in tree density, basal area and extent of older (>150 yr) forests, whereas declines in carbon stocks and mean stand age were always gradual.Forest changes were asynchronous across landscapes, but declines in stand structure always preceded reductions in forest extent and carbon stocks. Forest decline was most likely in less topographically complex landscapes dominated by fire-sensitive tree species (Picea engelmannii, Abies lasiocarpa, Pinus contorta var. latifolia) and where fire resisters (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) were not already prevalent. If current GHG emissions continue unabated (RCP 8.5) and aridity increases, a suite of forest changes would transform the GYE, with cascading effects on biodiversity and myriad ecosystem services. However, stabilizing GHG concentrations by mid-century (RCP 4.5) would slow the ratchet, moderating fire activity and dampening the magnitude and rate of forest change. Monitoring changes in forest structure may serve as an operational early warning indicator of impending forest decline.

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Sustainability in forest management and a new role for resilience thinking

Cited by 91 publications

References 65 publications

Managing forests in a changing world: the need for a systemic approach. A review

Managing forests in a changing world: the need for a systemic approach. A review

Comparing the provision of ecosystem services in plantation forests under alternative climate change adaptation management options in Wales

The magnitude, direction, and tempo of forest change in Greater Yellowstone in a warmer world with more fire

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