Ecosystem Service Trade-Offs for Adaptive Forest Management

Abstract

Quantifying ecosystem services as dependent on forest management and analyzing tradeoffs between them can help to make decisions on management more effective, efficient, sustainable, and stable. We use a forest management model (SILVA) to predict changes in ecosystem service provisions. Three stakeholder specific forest management scenarios (multifunctional, wood production, set-aside) for each of two different case study areas in Germany (a more and a less productive one) were simulated. We want to therewith answer how ecosystem service and biodiversity indicators (groundwater recharge, carbon sequestration, wood production, structural diversity of forest stands) depend on forest management and site. Forest management had significant influence on ecosystem service provisions in both case study areas. However, the results strongly depend on the site and on the initial situation in each location. In both case study areas, the production oriented forest management pays for productivity with structural diversity. In contrast, multifunctional oriented forest management pays for groundwater recharge with productivity losses. In the set-aside scenario, current carbon sequestration is high due to increasing forest carbon stocks, however sustainable carbon sequestration is low due to the lack of emission savings.

Keywords: forest growth simulation, forest management, ecosystem service, groundwater recharge, carbon sequestration