AOBPreview published online on October 21, 2007
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mcm246
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Models for Forest Ecosystem Management: A European Perspective
1 Technische Universität München, Department of Ecology and Landscape Management, Chair for Forest Growth and Yield Science, Am Hochanger 13, D-85354 Freising, Germany
2 Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, Kreuzeckbahnstraße 19, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
3 ETH Zurich, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Forest Ecology, Universitätsstrasse 22, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
* For correspondence. E-mail Hans.Pretzsch{at}lrz.tu-muenchen.de
Received: 16 February 2007 Returned for revision: 16 May 2007 Accepted: 30 July 2007
Background: Forest management in Europe is committed to sustainability. In the face of climate change and accompanying risks, however, planning in order to achieve this aim becomes increasingly challenging, underlining the need for new and innovative methods. Models potentially integrate a wide range of system knowledge and present scenarios of variables important for any management decision. In the past, however, model development has mainly focused on specific purposes whereas today we are increasingly aware of the need for the whole range of information that can be provided by models. It is therefore assumed helpful to review the various approaches that are available for specific tasks and to discuss how they can be used for future management strategies.
Scope: Here we develop a concept for the role of models in forest ecosystem management based on historical analyses. Five paradigms of forest management are identified: (1) multiple uses, (2) dominant use, (3) environmentally sensitive multiple uses, (4) full ecosystem approach and (5) eco-regional perspective. An overview of model approaches is given that is dedicated to this purpose and to developments of different kinds of approaches. It is discussed how these models can contribute to goal setting, decision support and development of guidelines for forestry operations. Furthermore, it is shown how scenario analysis, including stand and landscape visualization, can be used to depict alternatives, make long-term consequences of different options transparent, and ease participation of different stakeholder groups and education.
Conclusions: In our opinion, the current challenge of forest ecosystem management in Europe is to integrate system knowledge from different temporal and spatial scales and from various disciplines. For this purpose, using a set of models with different focus that can be selected from a kind of toolbox according to particular needs is more promising than developing one overarching model, covering ecological, production and landscape issues equally well.
Key words: Ecosystem management, management paradigms, decision support in Europe, sustainability, models, spatial and temporal scales, scaling, scenario generation, visualization
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