Suitability of close-to-nature silviculture for adapting temperate European forests to climate change

2014/05/20 by Peter Brang, P. Brang, P. Spathelf +25 · 474 citations
Environmental Science · #Abiotic component #Adaptation (eye) #Agroforestry #Biology #Climate change #Ecology #Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies #Ecosystem #Environmental resource management #Environmental science #Fire effects on ecosystems #Forest ecology and management #Forest management #Geography #Range (aeronautics) #Resistance (ecology) #Silviculture #Species richness #Temperate climate #Temperate forest #Temperate rainforest

paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/forestry/cpu018

published in Forestry An International Journal of Forest Research 87(4), 492-503 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 2014/05/20 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

In many parts of Europe, close-to-nature silviculture (CNS) has been widely advocated as being the best approach for managing forests to cope with future climate change. In this review, we identify and evaluate six principles for enhancing the adaptive capacity of European temperate forests in a changing climate: (1) increase tree species richness, (2) increase structural diversity, (3) maintain and increase genetic variation within tree species, (4) increase resistance of individual trees to biotic and abiotic stress, (5) replace high-risk stands and (6) keep average growing stocks low. We use these principles to examine how three CNS systems (single-tree selection, group selection and shelterwood) serve adaptation strategies. Many attributes of CNS can increase the adaptive capacity of European temperate forests to a changing climate. CNS promotes structural diversity and tree resistance to stressors, and growing stocks can be kept at low levels. However, some deficiencies exist in relation to the adaptation principles of increasing tree species richness, maintaining and increasing genetic variation, and replacing high-risk stands. To address these shortcomings, CNS should make increased use of a range of regeneration methods, in order to promote light-demanding tree species, non-native species and non-local provenances.

Citations

• A Review of Damage by Mammals in North Temperate Forests: 3. Impact on Trees and Forests
• Wind as a natural disturbance agent in forests: a synthesis
• A review of the history, definitions and methods of continuous cover forestry with special attention to afforestation and restocking

Cited by

• Sustainable regeneration in uneven-aged mixed deciduous forests managed by selection silviculture: the role of demographic structure
• Can “Closer-to-Nature” Forest Management Sustain Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in an Uncertain Future? Lessons from Central Europe
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• ‘How to adapt forests?’—Exploring the role of leaf trait diversity for long‐term forest biomass under new climate normals
• Ecological assessment of forest management approaches to develop resilient forests in the face of global change in Central Europe
• The origin and beginnings of modern Continuous Cover Forestry in Europe
• Positive mixture effects in pine–oak forests during drought are context‐dependent
• Shaping future forests: how can ecophysiology support climate‐smart forest management?
• Natural regeneration of Norway spruce under pioneer trees outperforms conventional reclamation on post-mining sites
• Heat tolerance of temperate tree species from Central Europe
• European forests under global climate change: Review of tree growth processes, crises and management strategies
• White spruce enrichment planting in boreal mixedwoods as influenced by localized site preparation: 11-year update
• Microclimate, an important part of ecology and biogeography
• Optimisation of conversion of structurally homogeneous forest stands into uneven-aged forest structures using a multi-period Liocourt model
• Canopy mortality has doubled in Europe's temperate forests over the last three decades. [europepmc]
• Retention as an integrated biodiversity conservation approach for continuous-cover forestry in Europe. [europepmc]
• A Decade of Close-to-Nature Transformation Alters Species Composition and Increases Plant Community Diversity in Two Coniferous Plantations. [europepmc]
• Growth resistance and resilience of mixed silver fir and Norway spruce forests in central Europe: Contrasting responses to mild and severe droughts. [europepmc]
• Small-scale spontaneous dynamics in temperate beech stands as an importance driver for beetle species richness. [europepmc]
• Balancing disturbance risk and ecosystem service provisioning in Swiss mountain forests: an increasing challenge under climate change. [europepmc]
• Verified hypotheses on the "nurse" and "burial" effects on introduced Quercus rubra regeneration in a mesic Scots pine forest. [europepmc]
• The influence of forest types including native and non-native tree species on soil macrofauna depends on site conditions. [europepmc]
• Positive mixture effects in pine-oak forests during drought are context-dependent. [europepmc]
• Optimizing sustainable and multifunctional management of Alpine Forests under climate change. [europepmc]

Related

• Ecological assessment of forest management approaches to develop resilient forests in the face of global change in Central Europe
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• A framework for climate-resilient forest planning and restoration: advances linking species distribution modelling, genetic adaptation and future climate scenarios
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• Les processus biologiques de réponse des arbres et forêts au changement climatique : adaptation et plasticité phénotypique.