scholarly journals Carbon smart forestry under climate change

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-99
Author(s):  
Dr Astrid Reischl ◽  
Enno Uhl

Carbon smart forestry under climate change In the fight against climate change, forestry needs to contribute to carbon sink and a low carbon-emitting society. Forests sequester carbon and simultaneously release carbon during forest operations. Our ambition is to achieve an integrated picture of carbon sink and source; to adapt forest management for different climate and management regimes. CARE4C strives to develop carbon-smart forest management systems for adaptation and mitigation in view of climate change. The CARE4C Project runs from January 2018 to December 2022.

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjuan Yang ◽  
Rongqin Zhao ◽  
Xiaowei Chuai ◽  
Liangang Xiao ◽  
Lianhai Cao ◽  
...  

AbstractClimate change has emerged as one of the most important environmental issues worldwide. As the world’s biggest developing country, China is participating in combating climate change by promoting a low carbon economy within the context of global warming. This paper summarizes the pathways of China’s low carbon economy including the aspects of energy, industry, low carbon cities, circular economy and low carbon technology, afforestation and carbon sink, the carbon emission trading market and carbon emission reduction targets. There are many achievements in the implementation of low carbon policies. For example, carbon emission intensity has been reduced drastically along with the optimizing of energy and industry structure and a nationwide carbon trading market for electricity industry has been established. However, some problems remain, such as the weakness of public participation, the ineffectiveness of unified policies for certain regions and the absence of long-term planning for low carbon cities development. Therefore, we propose some policy recommendations for the future low carbon economy development in China. Firstly, comprehensive and long-term planning should be involved in all the low carbon economy pathways. Secondly, to coordinate the relationship between central and local governments and narrow the gap between poor and rich regions, different strategies of carbon emission performance assessment should be applied for different regions. Thirdly, enterprises should cooperate with scientific research institutions to explored low carbon technologies. Finally, relevant institutions should be regulated to realize comprehensive low carbon transition through reasonable and feasible low carbon pathways in China. These policy recommendations will provide new perspectives for China’s future low carbon economy development and guide practices for combating climate change.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAOLA MAIROTA ◽  
VINCENZO LERONNI ◽  
WEIMIN XI ◽  
DAVID J. MLADENOFF ◽  
HARINI NAGENDRA

SUMMARYSpatial simulation may be used to model the potential effects of current biodiversity approaches on future habitat modification under differing climate change scenarios. To illustrate the approach, spatial simulation models, including landscape-level forest dynamics, were developed for a semi-natural grassland of conservation concern in a southern Italian protected area, which was exposed to woody vegetation encroachment. A forest landscape dynamics simulator (LANDIS-II) under conditions of climate change, current fire and alternative management regimes was used to develop scenario maps. Landscape pattern metrics provided data on fragmentation and habitat quality degradation, and quantified the spatial spread of different tree species within grassland habitats. The models indicated that approximately one-third of the grassland area would be impacted by loss, fragmentation and degradation in the next 150 years. Differing forest management regimes appear to influence the type of encroaching species and the density of encroaching vegetation. Habitat modifications are likely to affect species distribution and interactions, as well as local ecosystem functioning, leading to changes in estimated conservation value. A site-scale conservation strategy based on feasible integrated fire and forest management options is proposed, considering the debate on the effectiveness of protected areas for the conservation of ecosystem services in a changing climate. This needs to be tested through further modelling and scenario analysis, which would benefit from the enhancement of current modelling capabilities of LANDIS-II and from combination with remote sensing technologies, to provide early signals of environmental shifts both within and outside protected areas.


Author(s):  
Tony Addison

Climate change is one of the world’s most complex and urgent global problems—many argue that it is the greatest challenge. Climate change adaptation and mitigation are fundamental to the evolution of our economies and societies over the rest of the twenty-first century and beyond. The extractive industries are in many ways at the heart of the challenge. The extractives sector must support national and international efforts to respond to climate change, by adjusting exploration and production to shifting patterns of demand for energy and minerals—as policies and new technologies encourage progress along low-carbon pathways. None of this is easy; success is not assured. This is a large topic, and the task of this chapter is to set out some of its main issues as they relate to the extractives sector.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pekka Kauppi ◽  
Tomas Lundmark ◽  
Annika Nordin

<p>EGU Abstract, 3-8 May, Vienna 2020<br>Session BG3.19 <br>Climate change and adaptive forest management: Effects, Methods, and Objectives</p><p>Positive feedback from climate warming to carbon sequestration in boreal forests<br>Pekka Kauppi1,2, Tomas Lundmark2 and Annika Nordin2<br>1University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Sciences, POBOX 27, Fin-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland<br>2 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Dpt Forest Ecology and Management, 90183 Umeå, Sweden<br>[email protected]<br>[email protected]<br>[email protected]</p><p>'Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen.' (“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”). This quote of Ludwig Wittgenstein is thought-provoking regarding beneficial effects of climate change. Logically, climate warming must provoke favorable environmental effects in some regions and over certain periods of time despite the prospects of dramatic detrimental effects of global warming on the environment in the long term. Our focus is on boreal forests in recent past.<br>Devastating effects of climate warming on terrestrial ecosystems have been recorded in many parts of the world. Heat waves have enhanced wildfires. In Australia alone, wildfires disturbed more than six million hectares of land in 2019-2020. Will climate warming undermine the contribution of land use management to climate change mitigation? - Most surprisingly, we report here a reverse relationship from north Europe. Climate warming has amplified the favorable impacts of land management on carbon sequestration. This is a forest-climate paradox, maybe temporary and anecdotal but persistent and firmly documented in Finland, Norway and Sweden since 1990.<br>Springtime is the most interesting season for forest biota in north Europe. During spring in north Europe, soil is rich in moisture from the snow melt. Days are long as of the beginning of April. Cloudy weather is unusual in the springtime. When spring comes early, there is plenty of solar radiation and water available for photosynthesis and growth. Warm spring evokes an early bud burst. Conversely, cold spring delays the onset of the growing season. April and May temperatures were exceptionally high during the period 1990-2013 (Figs. 1a and 1b) . Similar patterns of climate warming were observed in Norway and Sweden.<br> <br> <br>Figure 1a. Average temperature in Finland in April during 1847-2013 (degrees centigrade).<br> <br> <br>Figure 1b. Average temperature in Finland in May during 1847-2013 (degrees centigrade).<br>Especially during 1990-2019 the growing seasons in north Europe turned out to be long. The Net Primary Production and forest carbon sink improved. Forest increment in north Europe approximately doubled from 1970 to 2010 responding to multiple drivers . A combination of successful forest management and environmental change created an interesting paradox promoting forest ecosystem services. Carbon sink improved concomitantly with increasing harvests for the forest industries, an important economic sector in the region.<br>In so far, climate warming specifically in north Europe has contributed significantly to the evolution and persistence of the carbon sink and to fossil fuel substitution. Future research is needed to monitor this feedback from climate warming to carbon sequestration.</p><p> </p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 1567-1576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim B. Williamson ◽  
Harry W. Nelson

Forests are sensitive to the effects of climate change and play a significant role in carbon cycles. This duality has important implications for forest management in terms of requirements for enhanced and integrated adaptation and mitigation interventions. Two ideal conceptual level changes could provide the means for implementation. First, the incorporation of climate change considerations into definitions of sustainable forest management (SFM) would provide mandates for enhanced approaches. Second, the mainstreaming of enhanced SFM would facilitate implementation. There are, however, factors that may impede implementation. Identifying and evaluating these factors informs our understanding of requirements for adaptation and mitigation mainstreaming. This study reviews, organizes, and interprets the literature for the purposes of identifying and evaluating potential impediments. Harmonization barriers pertain to differences between adaptation and mitigation in pre-existing frames and beliefs. Enabling barriers are psychological and institutional in nature. Implementation barriers include capacity deficits (e.g., funding limits, science and knowledge deficits regarding benefits, trade-offs, and synergies between adaptation and mitigation) and governance issues. Barriers are interrelated, dynamic, and subjective. Addressing barriers requires a holistic approach that recognizes the complex and dynamic nature of forest management policy change processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 899 (1) ◽  
pp. 012052
Author(s):  
A Kantartzis ◽  
G Arabatzis ◽  
O Christopoulou ◽  
A Sfougaris ◽  
S Sakellariou ◽  
...  

Abstract Adaptation to climate change as well as the increasing demand for a new approach in post fire socioecological resilience and Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in forest management requires a different way of thinking of forest roads planning, in terms of Social-Ecological Systems (SES) Framework. Social-ecological systems are complex, adaptive and emphasize that social and ecological systems are linked through feedback mechanisms, and that both display resilience and complexity. In this frame, it is important to clarify the considerable dynamic elements for the future development of forest roads planning and management that promote natural, socio-economic, and cultural well-being. The main objective of this paper is to identify important new challenges concerning the forest roads planning and management and to propose a conceptual paradigm towards SES in a continuing changing climate, social needs and environmental conditions. Hence, a newly developed concept under the prism of SES forest roads planning, is presented. Eight key performance areas to ensure the forest operations as SES include: (i) nature’s services; (ii) ergonomics; (iii) environmental economics; (iv) quality optimization of products and production based on NBS; (v) the use as evacuation routes; (vi) access to renewable energy sources; (vii) people and society; and (viii) resilience. The conceptual frame of SES provides a close to nature perspective which addresses the ongoing and foreseeable challenges that the global forest ecosystems face, based on harmonized forest operations performance across economic, environmental and social sustainability. In this new concept, we demonstrate how these eight interconnected principles interact to each other and are related to forest operations achieving Nature Based Solutions in forest management and climate change mitigation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 650 ◽  
pp. 2717-2730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Lessa Derci Augustynczik ◽  
Thomas Asbeck ◽  
Marco Basile ◽  
Jürgen Bauhus ◽  
Ilse Storch ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan M. Bright ◽  
Clara Antón-Fernández ◽  
Rasmus Astrup ◽  
Anders H. Strømman

Managing boreal forests for effective climate change mitigation requires comprehension of the full spectrum of climate regulation services that they provide, which includes both the storage of carbon and exchanges of heat and moisture with the atmosphere. It is increasingly recognized that surface albedo is the most important biogeophysical mechanism by which the boreal forest directly influences the global energy balance. Forest management decisions that influence age class and species distributions affect not only the carbon sink capacity, but also the albedo (and hence climate services) of the forested landscape. Disregarding albedo and how it is influenced by management decisions can have profound implications for the effectiveness of any climate change mitigation policy involving active forest management. Here, we explore, analyze, and compare the albedo predicted by simple empirical models with in situ and remotely sensed albedo observations in regions outside the region in which the models were originally developed (southeastern Norway), including boreal Canada and Europe. We find that the models are robust in their ability to predict the longer term interannual trends in the mean winter–summer albedo amplitude, the rapid albedo evolution in young stands, and the timing of seasonal transitions and weak with respect to capturing interannual albedo changes linked to seasonal climate variability and phenology.


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (10) ◽  
pp. 1241-1245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Wellstead ◽  
Robbert Biesbroek ◽  
Paul Cairney ◽  
Debra Davidson ◽  
Johann Dupuis ◽  
...  

We comment on the recent comprehensive review “Barriers to enhanced and integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation in Canadian forest management” by Williamson and Nelson (2017, Can. J. For. Res. 47: 1567–1576, doi: 10.1139/cjfr-2017-0252 ). They employ the popular barriers analysis approach and present a synthesis highlighting the numerous barriers facing Canadian forest managers. The underlying functionalist assumptions of such an approach are highly problematic from both a scholarly and a practical policy perspective. We argue that social scientists engaged in climate change research who want to influence policy-making should understand and then empirically apply causal mechanisms. Methods such as process tracing and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) are promising tools that can be employed in national- or local-level assessments.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document