The functional complex network approach to foster forest resilience to global changes

Abstract

Human impacts on Earth's ecosystems have greatly intensified in the last decades. This is reflected in unexpected disturbance events, as well as new and increasing socio-economic demands, all of which are affecting the resilience of forest ecosystems worldwide and the provision of important ecosystem services. This Anthropocene era is forcing us to reconsider past and current forest management and silvicultural practices, and search for new ones that are more flexible and better at dealing with the increasing uncertainty brought about by these accelerating and cumulative global changes. Here, we briefly review the focus and limitations of past and current forest management and silvicultural practices mainly as developed in Europe and North America. We then discuss some recent promising concepts, such as managing forests as complex adaptive systems, and approaches based on resilience, functional diversity, assisted migration and multi-species plantations, to propose a novel approach to integrate the functionality of species-traits into a functional complex network approach as a flexible and multi-scale way to manage forests for the Anthropocene. This approach takes into consideration the high level of uncertainty associated with future environmental and societal changes. It relies on the quantification and dynamic monitoring of functional diversity and complex network indices to manage forests as a functional complex network. Using this novel approach, the most efficient forest management and silvicultural practices can be determined, as well as where, at what scale, and at what intensity landscape-scale resistance, resilience and adaptive capacity of forests to global changes can be improved.

Detection of Retention Trees on Clearcuts, a 50-Year Perspective

“…The results presented here show that contemporary forest management practices produce clearcut structures that differ measurably from those formed by the practices common in the 1960s. This is in line with international trends that discuss forest management aiming for increased complexity (Fahey et al, 2018;Gustafsson et al, 2012;Lindenmayer et al, 2012;Messier et al, 2019). These results cannot by themselves be used to determine whether this is sufficient to maintain biodiversity in accordance with the objectives in the Forestry Act, although it demonstrates that today's clearcuts are more structurally diverse than those 50 years ago.…”

“…(2020). Detection of Retention Trees on has been one important step to sustainable development (D'Amato, Jokela, O'Hara, & Long, 2018;Messier et al, 2019;Messier et al, 2015;Puettmann & Ammer, 2007). Highly mechanized and intensive forestry production has increased the efficiency and profitability in forestry but has adversely affected biodiversity (Bremer & Farley, 2010;da Silva et al, 2019;Enander, 2007;Li, Dang, & Ambebe, 2009).…”

“…Since the new forest legislation was passed, a very technical debate has erupted about which strategy and forest management systems can best meet the twin goals of high production and nature conservation (Hoogstra-Klein, Brukas, & Wallin, 2017). Improved knowledge of forest ecology, the rising demand for environmentally friendly products, and the increasing prioritization of environmental conservation in public opinion (Eriksson, 2012;Messier et al, 2019), continue to stimulate the search for better ways of maintaining biodiversity and high productivity (Eriksson & Hammer, 2006). This search is further motivated by the increasing public concern about climate change and the need for mitigation, adaptation, and carbon storage.…”

Sustainability in Forest Management Revisited Using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Techniques

“…Since there is no single specific definition of the idea of complexity in silviculture [129], some authors affirm that the impact of certain forest practices on forest system dynamics can compromise their sustainability [81]. Thus, the consideration of diverse silvicultural alternatives for approaching different criteria would lead to what some authors already call "complex adaptive systems" [130]. Lastly, this methodology can be applied at different levels (spatial or temporal) at which it is desired to carry out the planning and silviculture [128], contributing to the flexibility of the proposed methodology.…”

Using a Trait-Based Approach to Compare Tree Species Sensitivity to Climate Change Stressors in Eastern Canada and Inform Adaptation Practices

“…Considering the magnitude of projected climate change, practitioners will likely need to revisit current management approaches and silvicultural practices and assess whether they are suitable under anticipated conditions [101,102]. Sensitivity indices such as those provided here can serve to assist managers in developing climate adaptation strategies by highlighting which species could be favoured-or not-by future climate conditions.…”