Operational experiments for sustainably managing forests (Grossflächige Feldversuche für die nachhaltige Waldnutzung).

Abstract

Historically, applied manipulative studies of forests have tested the ability of specific silvicultural treatments to address wood production objectives. Changing societal values now demand expanded approaches to forest management that also integrate social, ecological, and economic goals. As a result, many recent (past decade) experimental manipulations have become multi-disciplinary in scope and approach and involve restorative treatments, novel silvicultural approaches or variants of more traditional approaches that are relevant to operational scales. We examine a wide range of manipulative forest ecological experiments that have addressed a variety of responses to changes in forest structure or function. The silvicultural treatments employed in these experiments were oftentimes designed by interdisciplinary teams (e.g., forest ecologists, sociologists, biologists, economists, and silviculturists) with wood production and additional ecological, social or economic objectives as joint outcomes. Individually and collectively these studies represent major investments by research and land management organizations to meet increasing public demands for forests that provide healthy environments for people (clean air and water), support biological diversity (e.g., habitat), and sustain economic productivity (wood or other forest products and jobs).

Citation

Szaro, Robert C.; Peterson, Charles E.; Von Gadow, Klaus. 2006. Operational experiments for sustainably managing forests (Grossflächige Feldversuche für die nachhaltige Waldnutzung). Special Issue of Allgemeine Forst- und Jagdzeitung, 177. Jg., 6/7:98-104. ISSN 0002-5852