Abstract

Forests provide a multitude of ecosystem services. In Sweden, the goal to replace fossil fuels could induce substantial changes in the current management and use of forests. Therefore, methods and tools are needed to assess synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem services for policy and planning alternatives. The aim of this study was to develop methods for integrated sustainability assessment of forest management strategies for long-term provisioning of various ecosystem services. For this purpose, the Landscape simulation and Ecological Assessment (LEcA) tool was developed to analyse synergies and trade-offs among five ecosystem services: bioenergy feedstock and industrial wood production, forest carbon storage, recreation areas and habitat networks. Forest growth and management were simulated for two scenarios; the EAF-tot scenario dominated by even-aged forestry (EAF), and the CCF-int scenario with a combination of continuous-cover forestry (CCF) and intensified EAF. The results showed trade-offs between industrial wood and bioenergy production on one side and habitat, recreation and carbon storage on the other side. The LEcA tool showed great potential for evaluation of impacts of alternative policies for land zoning and forest management on forest ecosystem services. It can be used to assess the consequences of forest management strategies related to renewable energy and conservation policies. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Integrated sustainability assessment; Industrial wood; Bioenergy; Carbon storage; Recreation values; Habitat networks

Published in

Ecosystem Services
2017, Volume: 28, pages: 67-79
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

SLU Authors

• Nordström, Eva-Maria

  • Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

• Trubins, Renats

  • Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss


UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.10.006

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/93328