Effect of Climate-Adapted Forest Management on Carbon Pools and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Adaptation to climate change is a current priority in forest management. Some of the suggested measures aim at maintaining the economic viability of timber production, others at maximizing social benefits, and others are recommended to increase the size of the carbon pool in forests. All of them need to be valid for a broad range of site conditions in order to capture the major part of the uncertainty of climate change. Discontinuing forest management with the intention of maximizing the carbon pool in the ecosystem is unrealistic in regions where a timber market needs to be supplied. Adaptive measures can be broadly classified into those that increase the heterogeneity of forests and those that affect the exposure of forests to disturbances. Increasing the heterogeneity distributes the risk imposed by climate change on more elements with different vulnerabilities. Typically, the tree species composition is scrutinized and new tree species or more suitable members from within the genetic spectrum of the respective tree species are favored. Managing the disturbance regime includes the modification of the stand structure and density to envisioned future needs and provisions against abiotic and biotic stressors. Adaptation measures such as the introduction of tree species that are more tolerant to future climate conditions into currently highly productive forests in most cases negatively affect the carbon sink capacity in the short-term. The same holds true for an adaptive decrease in stand density. Over the long run, however, increased resistance and resilience against changing environmental conditions and alternating disturbance regimes can substantially reduce the risk of carbon loss from managed forests which might reach unforeseen amounts if no adaptation measures are undertaken. The implementation of new forms of forest management depends not only on foresters, but also on the needs that society expresses towards the provision of forest products and ecosystem services.