Effects of forest management on some ecosystem services in temperate forest ecosystems of Mexico

A key element to favor sustainable forest management is to know the trade-offs and synergy relationships of ecosystem services generated by forests. The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between forest management and some ecosystem services, namely plant diversity, timber production, regulation of water flows, and carbon sequestration in temperate forests of Mexico. Several bibliographic databases were reviewed to find the publications related with those subjects, eventually compiling 57 studies. The forest management applied is materialized through silvicultural practices that include thinning, regeneration, and selection cuts. In general, forest management has a positive impact on the provision of wood (raw material) and carbon sequestration. It has a variable effect on the conservation of plant diversity and it is negatively correlated with the flow of water, at least at the beginning of the silvicultural intervention. The impact and resilience of the ecosystem depends on the spatial and temporal scale of the disturbance. The identification, quantification, and evaluation of ecosystem services interactions in temperate forests of Mexico could help decision makers to understand and minimize the potential impacts of forest management on ecosystem services.