| 1. |
- Bakx, Tristan R.M., et al.
(author)
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Riparian buffer zones in production forests create unequal costs among forest owners
- 2024
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In: European Journal of Forest Research. - 1612-4669. ; 143:3, s. 1035-1046
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Riparian buffer zones (RBZs) are an important instrument for environmental policies for water and biodiversity protection in managed forests. We investigate the variation of the cost of implementing RBZs within different property size classes across the size range of non-industrial forest owner properties in Southern Sweden. Using the Heureka PlanWise decision support system, we quantified the cost of setting aside RBZs or applying alternative management in them, as the relative loss of harvest volume and of net present value per property. We did this for multiple simulated as well as real-world property distributions. The variation of cost distribution among small properties was 4.2–6.9 times higher than among large properties. The interproperty cost inequality decreased non-linearly with increasing property size and levelled off from around 200 ha. We conclude that RBZs, due to the irregular distribution of streams, cause highly unequal financial consequences for owners, with some small property owners bearing a disproportionally high cost. This adds to previous studies showing how environmental considerations differentially affect property owners. We recommend decision makers to stimulate the uptake of RBZs by alleviating these inequalities between forest owners by including appropriate cost sharing or compensation mechanisms in their design.
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| 2. |
- Bakx, Tristan R.M., et al.
(author)
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The effect of spatial and temporal planning scale on the trade-off between the financial value and carbon storage in production forests
- 2023
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In: Land Use Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0264-8377 .- 1873-5754. ; 127
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Increasing carbon stock in standing forests is one of the proposed ways to mitigate climate change. However, in production forests, this typically would lead to reduced harvesting possibilities and thus reduced financial gain for the forest owners. The size of this reduction should depend on the chosen target level of the carbon stock as well as the required speed of accumulation. Furthermore, due to landscape heterogeneity, the size of the loss can be expected to vary the planning scale, often related to forest property size. Aim: This study aimed to quantify the effects of spatial and temporal planning scales on the severity of the trade-off between Net Present Value (NPV) of future timber sales and carbon storage in production forests in Southern Sweden. Methods: We used the Heureka PlanWise forest decision support system with built-in Linear Programming functionality. We created six Production Possibility Frontiers (PPF) that quantified the trade-off for the combinations of two scenarios for timing of carbon accumulation (either by 2100 or by 2100 with an intermediate target by 2045) and three spatial management scales (∼3300 ha, ∼300 ha, and ∼60 ha; 1068 stands). Results: There was a strong effect of temporal scale, with consistently lower NPV, with the same carbon stock in 2100, when the intermediate target for 2045 was applied. The effect of the spatial scale was only apparent between the smallest (50 ha) scale and the larger scales (300 and 3300 ha), with consistently lower NPV with the same carbon stock at the smallest scale. Conclusion: We conclude that both the effects of spatial management scale and temporal scale on the cost of carbon storage should be considered in relation to potential climate policies.
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| 3. |
- Brukas, Vilis, et al.
(author)
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Decision Support Tools and Strategies to Simulate Forest Landscape Evolutions Integrating Forest Owner Behaviour: A Review from the Case Studies of the European Project, INTEGRAL
- 2017
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In: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 9
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- For forest sustainability and vulnerability assessment, the landscape scale is considered to be more and more relevant as the stand level approaches its known limitations. This review, which describes the main forest landscape simulation tools used in the 20 European case studies of the European project "Future-oriented integrated management of European forest landscapes" (INTEGRAL), gives an update on existing decision support tools to run landscape simulation from Mediterranean to boreal ecosystems. The main growth models and software available in Europe are described, and the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches are discussed. Trades-offs between input efforts and output are illustrated. Recommendations for the selection of a forest landscape simulator are given. The paper concludes by describing the need to have tools that are able to cope with climate change and the need to build more robust indicators for assessment of forest landscape sustainability and vulnerability.
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| 4. |
- Brukas, Vilis, et al.
(author)
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How Sensitive Are Ecosystem Services in European Forest Landscapes to Silvicultural Treatment?
- 2015
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In: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 6, s. 1666-1695
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- While sustainable forestry in Europe is characterized by the provision of a multitude of forest ecosystem services, there exists no comprehensive study that scrutinizes their sensitivity to forest management on a pan-European scale, so far. We compile scenario runs from regionally tailored forest growth models and Decision Support Systems (DSS) from 20 case studies throughout Europe and analyze whether the ecosystem service provision depends on management intensity and other co-variables, comprising regional affiliation, social environment, and tree species composition. The simulation runs provide information about the case-specifically most important ecosystem services in terms of appropriate indicators. We found a strong positive correlation between management intensity and wood production, but only weak correlation with protective and socioeconomic forest functions. Interestingly, depending on the forest region, we found that biodiversity can react in both ways, positively and negatively, to increased management intensity. Thus, it may be in tradeoff or in synergy with wood production and forest resource maintenance. The covariables species composition and social environment are of punctual interest only, while the affiliation to a certain region often makes an important difference in terms of an ecosystem service's treatment sensitivity.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Eriksson, Ola, et al.
(author)
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The Use of Decision Support Systems in Forest Management: Analysis of FORSYS Country Reports
- 2016
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In: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- From 2009 to 2013, a group of more than 100 researchers from 26 countries, under a COST-Action project named FORSYS, worked on a review of the use of forest management decision support systems (FMDSS). Guided by a template, local researchers conducted assessments of FMDSS use in their countries; their results were documented in Country Reports. In this study, we have used the Country Reports to construct a summary of FMDSS use. For the purposes of our analysis, we conducted a two-round categorisation of the main themes to describe the most relevant aspects of FMDSS use. The material produced was used to generate quantitative summaries of (i) the types of problem where FMDSS are used, (ii) models and methods used to solve these problems, (iii) knowledge management techniques, and (iv) participatory planning techniques. Beyond this, a qualitative analysis identified and summarised the local researchers' primary concerns, recorded in the conclusions to the Country Reports; we designated these "lessons learned". Results from the quantitative analysis suggested that most of the participant countries were making use of latest generation FMDSS. A few did not have practical problems that justified the use of such technology or they were still at the beginning of the process of building models to solve their own forest problems.
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| 7. |
- Felton, Adam, et al.
(author)
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From mixtures to monocultures: Bird assemblage responses along a production forest conifer-broadleaf gradient
- 2021
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In: Forest Ecology and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-1127 .- 1872-7042. ; 494
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Increasing the prevalence of broadleaf trees in conifer-dominated production forests is a recommended means of improving habitat availability for broadleaf and mixed-forest species. The implications for biodiversity are often measured by contrasting broadleaf-conifer mixtures with conifer-dominated stands. However, few studies include broadleaf-dominated stands in these assessments. Here we contrasted the bird assemblages of even-aged production forests along a mixture gradient from Norway spruce (Picea abies) dominated, to birch (Betula spp.) dominated stands in southern Sweden. We conducted point count surveys of bird individuals exhibiting breeding behaviour within 30 stands varying from <0.5% to over 98.5% broadleaf by basal area. A total of 355 birds were detected, comprising 36 bird species, seven of which are classified as near threatened by the Swedish Red-list. Our results indicate i) a distinct shift in bird community composition linked to the percentage of broadleaf trees at stand and landscape scales, ii) significantly higher bird species richness, evenness, and abundance in stands with a higher proportion of birch, iii) higher bird abundance in birch-dominated stands than in mixtures, and iv) shifts in bird species guilds as related to stand basal area, the amount of shrubs in the understory, and quantities of dead wood. All of these results have implications for the ways in which production forest management could be altered to enhance avian diversity, and we discuss these with respect to the use of broadleaf versus mixed-species stands.
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| 8. |
- Gardumi, Francesco, et al.
(author)
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Carrying out a multi-model integrated assessment of European energy transition pathways : Challenges and benefits
- 2022
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In: Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0360-5442 .- 1873-6785. ; 258, s. 124329-124329
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- With the publication of the European Green Deal, the European Union has committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. The envisaged reductions of direct greenhouse gases emissions are seen as technically feasible, but if a wrong path is pursued, significant unintended impacts across borders, sectors, societies and ecosystems may follow. Without the insights gained from an impact assessment framework reaching beyond the techno-economic perspective, the pursuit of direct emission reductions may lead to counterproductive outcomes in the long run. We discuss the opportunities and challenges related to the creation and use of an integrated assessment framework built to inform the European Commission on the path to decarbonisation. The framework is peculiar in that it goes beyond existing ones in its scope, depth and cross-scale coverage, by use of numerous specialised models and case studies. We find challenges of consistency that can be overcome by linking modelling tools iteratively in some cases, harmonising modelling assumptions in others, comparing model outputs in others. We find the highest added value of the framework in additional insights it provides on the technical feasibility of decarbonisation pathways, on vulnerability aspects and on unintended environmental and health impacts on national and sub-national scale.
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| 9. |
- Jonsson, Ragnar, et al.
(author)
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Behavioral Modelling in a Decision Support System
- 2015
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In: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 6, s. 311-327
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Considering the variety of attitudes, objectives and behaviors characterizing forest owners is crucial for accurately assessing the impact of policy and market drivers on forest resources. A serious shortcoming of existing pan-European Decision Support Systems (DSS) is that they do not account for such heterogeneity, consequently disregarding the effects that this might have on timber supply and forest development. Linking a behavioral harvesting decision model-Expected Value Asymmetries (EVA)-to a forest resource dynamics model-European Forestry Dynamics Model (EFDM)-we provide an example of how forest owner specific characterization can be integrated in a DSS. The simulation results indicate that the approach holds promise as regards accounting for forest owner behavior in simulations of forest resources development. Hence, forest owner heterogeneity makes the distribution of forestland on owner types non-trivial, as it affects harvesting intensity and, subsequently, inter-temporal forest development.
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| 10. |
- Lind, Torgny, et al.
(author)
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Harmonised projections of future forest resources in Europe
- 2019
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In: Annals of Forest Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1286-4560 .- 1297-966X. ; 76
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- center dot Key message A dataset of forest resource projections in 23 European countries to 2040 has been prepared for forest-related policy analysis and decision-making. Due to applying harmonised definitions, while maintaining country-specific forestry practices, the projections should be usable from national to international levels. The dataset can be accessed at 10.5061/dryad.4t880qh. The associated metadata are available at https://metadata-afs.nancy.inra.fr/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/8f93e0d6-b524-43bd-bdb8-621ad5ae6fa9.
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