Following the publication of the Millennium EcosystemAssessment (MEA, 2005), there has been increasing interest in evaluating the state of different ecosystems, the range and categories of services these systems provide, their effects upon human well-being, and the consequences of direct and indirect anthropogenic impacts. The framework provided by the MEA’s categories of ecosystem services (ES:, i.e. provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services) can be used to explore the role of forests in a wider landscape, as well as to examine the effects at a finer scale and the way ES provision from forests is affected by management actions (Eustafor and Patterson, 2011). There are overlaps between this framework and the concepts of sustainable forest management (SFM) that have underpinned forest policy for at least the last two decades. The multifunctional management strategies developed through SFM may be compromised by economic valuations involved with ES (Quine et al., 2013). There is a recognized need for research that examines the links between ecological systems such as forests and social institutions and management practices both over space and through time in order to improve methods of ecosystem governance (Carpenter et al., 2009). This ongoing dialogue around ES and their value to society presents forest managers with the major challenge of describing, assessing and delivering the various benefits that forest ecosystems provide. These benefits will vary with different types of forest ecosystem and the ways in which they are managed. One forest type of major importance in the northern Hemisphere comprises those forests dominated by spruce (Picea) species which occur both as natural forest systems (e.g. in North West America, Europe and North East Asia) and as plantation forests (e.g. the British Isles, Western Europe). These forests provide a wide range of ES such as biodiversity, recreation, timber, water quality, carbon sequestration and landscape. Planning and implementing multifunctional forest management in spruce-dominated forests is challenging because of the trade-offs and synergies between ES. There is a lack of understanding of appropriate silvicultural and funding measures that will enhance or sustain the provision of different services yet maintain forest resilience in the face of projected climate change and allow for the impacts of biotic and abiotic risks. In an attempt to address this range of issues, a conference was held in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK in October 2012 with the aim of providing a forum where researchers and practitioners could present and discuss new findings on the provision of ES in forests given changing societal demands and uncertainty over future climatic conditions. The main aim of the conference was to see how the concepts promulgated by the MEA and national initiatives such as the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (UKNEA, 2011) could be translated into effective strategic, tactical and operational forest management regimes. Spruce-dominated forests were used as a ‘model’ system to evaluate concepts capable of application across a much wider range of forest ecosystems. The meeting was organized by Forest Research (the research Agency of the Forestry Commission) under the auspices of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) research group on the ‘Silviculture and Ecology of Spruces’ (group 1.01.08). Scotland was chosen as the venue because of the importance of planted forests of introduced spruce species such as Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.). The meeting was attended by 92 delegates from 15 countries. The participants included research scientists from different disciplines, practicing forest managers and policy makers, as well as representatives of sector stakeholders. The conference was structured around a number of themes, providing an overview of forests and their management using an ES framework. These themes included consideration of the ecology and silviculture of spruce forests in different parts of the world, an examination of spruce forest management and the delivery of specific ES, and the way abiotic and biotic risks including climate change could affect the management of spruce forests for ES. The papers and posters presented covered a wide range of aspects relevant to ES provision in spruce-dominated forests including: biodiversity in planted forests, biotic and abiotic risks that may influence management practice, the development of mixed species stands in spruce forests, impacts of management upon carbon stocks in spruce forests, and the role of decision support tools in evaluating trade-offs in the provision of different ES. A number of operational case studies were presented to illustrate how forest managers were adapting their silvicultural regimes to sustain or enhance the provision of particular ES. Most of the presentations are available as
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Nov 28, 2018
Marta Ezquerro + 2
Open Access
