What is Climate-Smart Forestry? A definition from a multinational collaborative process focused on mountain regions of Europe

Bowditch, Euan; Santopuoli, Giovanni; Binder, Franz; Rı́o, Miren del; Porta, Nicola La; Kluvánková, Tatiana; Lesiński, Jerzy; Motta, Renzo; Pach, Maciej; Panzacchi, Pietro; Pretzsch, Hans; Temperli, Christian; Tonon, Giustino; Smith, Melanie A.; Velikova, Violeta; Weatherall, Andrew; Tognetti, Roberto

doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2020.101113

Cited by 112 publications

(124 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…This will help to achieve international commitments (e.g. Paris Agreement) through climate-smart forestry strategies at European, national and local scales (Bowditch et al 2020), which foster adaptation to environmental disturbances and mitigation of climate change. The acceleration of beech growth in both mono-specific and mixed-species mountain forests will facilitate the development of beech at higher elevations, while beech may lose vitality in the lowlands due to climate change and drought stress.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For many tree species living on the edge of their distribution regarding longitude, latitude or elevation becomes increasingly difficult under climate change. Because of their multiple protection functions and ecosystem services, mountain forests demand high attention by global change research and require climate-smart forest management practices (Bowditch et al 2020). Due to the strong elevation gradients, many mountain regions provide unique opportunities to detect and analyse global change processes and phenomena (Becker and Bugmann 2001;Hernández et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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European beech stem diameter grows better in mixed than in mono-specific stands at the edge of its distribution in mountain forests

et al. 2020

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Recent studies show that several tree species are spreading to higher latitudes and elevations due to climate change. European beech, presently dominating from the colline to the subalpine vegetation belt, is already present in upper montane subalpine forests and has a high potential to further advance to higher elevations in European mountain forests, where the temperature is predicted to further increase in the near future. Although essential for adaptive silviculture, it remains unknown whether the upward shift of beech could be assisted when it is mixed with Norway spruce or silver fir compared with mono-specific stands, as the species interactions under such conditions are hardly known. In this study, we posed the general hypotheses that the growth depending on age of European beech in mountain forests was similar in mono-specific and mixed-species stands and remained stable over time and space in the last two centuries. The scrutiny of these hypotheses was based on increment coring of 1240 dominant beech trees in 45 plots in mono-specific stands of beech and in 46 mixed mountain forests. We found that (i) on average, mean tree diameter increased linearly with age. The age trend was linear in both forest types, but the slope of the age–growth relationship was higher in mono-specific than in mixed mountain forests. (ii) Beech growth in mono-specific stands was stronger reduced with increasing elevation than that in mixed-species stands. (iii) Beech growth in mono-specific stands was on average higher than beech growth in mixed stands. However, at elevations > 1200 m, growth of beech in mixed stands was higher than that in mono-specific stands. Differences in the growth patterns among elevation zones are less pronounced now than in the past, in both mono-specific and mixed stands. As the higher and longer persisting growth rates extend the flexibility of suitable ages or size for tree harvest and removal, the longer-lasting growth may be of special relevance for multi-aged silviculture concepts. On top of their function for structure and habitat improvement, the remaining old trees may grow more in mass and value than assumed so far.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

European beech stem diameter grows better in mixed than in mono-specific stands at the edge of its distribution in mountain forests

et al. 2020

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“…Accordingly, aligning the DSPIR classification of sustainable forest management indicators with available information from forest statistical sources such as National Forest Inventories, will allow creating a baseline for assessing historical and current trends as well as the corresponding effectiveness of the adopted forest management actions at large (e.g. EU-Countries) geographical scales (Bowditch et al, 2020). Such analysis is a step towards more integration and should be used to prioritize actions in favor of sustainability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

With great power comes great responsibility: an analysis of sustainable forest management quantitative indicators in the DPSIR framework

Paillet¹,

Campagnaro

Burrascano

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The monitoring of environmental policies in Europe has taken place since the 1980s and still remains a challenge for decision- and policy-making. For forests, it is concretized through the publication of a State Of Europe's Forests every five years, the last report just been released. However, the process lacks a clear analytical framework and appears limited to orient and truly assess sustainable management of European forests. We classified the 34 quantitative sustainable forest management indicators in the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to analyse gaps in the process. In addition, we classified biodiversity-related indicators in the simpler Pressure-State-Response (PSR) framework. We showed that most of the sustainable forest management indicators assess the state of European forests, but almost half could be classified in another DPSIR category. For biodiversity, most indicators describe pressures, while direct taxonomic state indicators are very few. Our expert-based classification show that sustainable forest management indicators are unbalanced regarding the DPSIR framework. However, completing this framework with other indicators would help to have a better view and more relevant tools for decision-making. The results for biodiversity were comparable, but we showed that some indicators from other criteria than the one dedicated to biodiversity could also help understanding threats and actions concerning it. Such classification helps in the decision process, but is not sufficient to fully support policy initiative. In particular, the next step would be to better understand the links between DPSIR and PSR categories.

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“…Only if both alternatives have been exhausted, should NNTs be considered for planting to sustain the required ecosystem services (Bolte et al 2009;Allen et al 2010;Brus et al 2018;Frischbier et al 2019). According to Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF), an emerging branch of sustainable forest management, one option to further resilience and adaptability of native forest diversity is to improve connectivity and migration corridors of key species and forest structures to sustain the availability of seed sources, as well as genetic variation (Bowditch et al 2020).…”

Section: Terminology and Structure Of The Gg-nnts And Their Recommendmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global guidelines for the sustainable use of non-native trees to prevent tree invasions and mitigate their negative impacts

Brundu¹,

Pauchard²,

Pyšek³

et al. 2020

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Sustainably managed non-native trees deliver economic and societal benefits with limited risk of spread to adjoining areas. However, some plantations have launched invasions that cause substantial damage to biodiversity and ecosystem services, while others pose substantial threats of causing such impacts. The challenge is to maximise the benefits of non-native trees, while minimising negative impacts and preserving future benefits and options. A workshop was held in 2019 to develop global guidelines for the sustainable use of non-native trees, using the Council of Europe – Bern Convention Code of Conduct on Invasive Alien Trees as a starting point. The global guidelines consist of eight recommendations: 1) Use native trees, or non-invasive non-native trees, in preference to invasive non-native trees; 2) Be aware of and comply with international, national, and regional regulations concerning non-native trees; 3) Be aware of the risk of invasion and consider global change trends; 4) Design and adopt tailored practices for plantation site selection and silvicultural management; 5) Promote and implement early detection and rapid response programmes; 6) Design and adopt tailored practices for invasive non-native tree control, habitat restoration, and for dealing with highly modified ecosystems; 7) Engage with stakeholders on the risks posed by invasive non-native trees, the impacts caused, and the options for management; and 8) Develop and support global networks, collaborative research, and information sharing on native and non-native trees. The global guidelines are a first step towards building global consensus on the precautions that should be taken when introducing and planting non-native trees. They are voluntary and are intended to complement statutory requirements under international and national legislation. The application of the global guidelines and the achievement of their goals will help to conserve forest biodiversity, ensure sustainable forestry, and contribute to the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations linked with forest biodiversity.

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What is Climate-Smart Forestry? A definition from a multinational collaborative process focused on mountain regions of Europe

Cited by 112 publications

References 77 publications

European beech stem diameter grows better in mixed than in mono-specific stands at the edge of its distribution in mountain forests

European beech stem diameter grows better in mixed than in mono-specific stands at the edge of its distribution in mountain forests

With great power comes great responsibility: an analysis of sustainable forest management quantitative indicators in the DPSIR framework

Global guidelines for the sustainable use of non-native trees to prevent tree invasions and mitigate their negative impacts

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