Evaluation of estate level forest management strategies in terms of ecosystem services and biodiversity aspects
(2021) In Student thesis series INES NGEK01 20211Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
- Abstract
- Ecosystem services from forests provide society with a multitude of benefits. However, current research shows that in Swedish forests aspects of ecosystem services have a status ranging from “moderate” to “inadequate”. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency set up environmental quality objectives (EQOs) specifically with the aim of identifying environmental problems that need to be addressed now. However, forest owners in Sweden see the objectives of the ‘sustainable forest’ EQO as qualitative and inaccurate. This shows that there is a need for further investigation into the provision of quantitative information on how Sweden’s current forest management strategies are affecting ecosystem services. In this study an ecosystem model was... (More)
- Ecosystem services from forests provide society with a multitude of benefits. However, current research shows that in Swedish forests aspects of ecosystem services have a status ranging from “moderate” to “inadequate”. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency set up environmental quality objectives (EQOs) specifically with the aim of identifying environmental problems that need to be addressed now. However, forest owners in Sweden see the objectives of the ‘sustainable forest’ EQO as qualitative and inaccurate. This shows that there is a need for further investigation into the provision of quantitative information on how Sweden’s current forest management strategies are affecting ecosystem services. In this study an ecosystem model was used to provide quantitative information on the effect that forest management strategies have on potential harvest, income, biodiversity, and carbon storage/sequestration at the estate level. The aim of this research was to evaluate the differences between the effects that three timelines for a hypothetical estate, with forest management strategies ranging in consistency with the EQO, had on ecosystem services for the period 1901-2015 in Halland, Sweden. As the timelines were based on their consistency with the EQO, they were subsequently named low, medium, and high consistency. The results showed that overall, the low consistency timeline, dominated by spruce and pine even-aged forestry (EAF), was the most optimal from a production and climate mitigation perspective. Additionally, the high consistency timeline, dominated by mixed deciduous EAF and continuous cover forestry (CCF), was the most optimal from a biodiversity point of view and performed relatively well across all aspects, whereas the other timelines performed more unevenly. The results also highlight the need for further investigation into the effect of management strategies on forest carbon soil levels. This study demonstrates how ecosystem models can be used to provide quantitative information relating to ecosystem services and sets up a framework for future studies looking to further optimize management strategies at the estate level. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9057266
- author
- Gant, Jon LU
- supervisor
-
- John Bergkvist LU
- Petter Pilesjö LU
- organization
- alternative title
- Utvärdering av skogsförvaltningsstrategier avseende ekosystemtjänster och aspekter av biologisk mångfald
- course
- NGEK01 20211
- year
- 2021
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Forest management, Ecosystem services, EQOs, LPJ-GUESS
- publication/series
- Student thesis series INES
- report number
- 543
- language
- English
- additional info
- Report no: 543 B
- id
- 9057266
- date added to LUP
- 2021-06-22 08:41:21
- date last changed
- 2023-03-08 13:13:54
@misc{9057266,
abstract = {{Ecosystem services from forests provide society with a multitude of benefits. However, current research shows that in Swedish forests aspects of ecosystem services have a status ranging from “moderate” to “inadequate”. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency set up environmental quality objectives (EQOs) specifically with the aim of identifying environmental problems that need to be addressed now. However, forest owners in Sweden see the objectives of the ‘sustainable forest’ EQO as qualitative and inaccurate. This shows that there is a need for further investigation into the provision of quantitative information on how Sweden’s current forest management strategies are affecting ecosystem services. In this study an ecosystem model was used to provide quantitative information on the effect that forest management strategies have on potential harvest, income, biodiversity, and carbon storage/sequestration at the estate level. The aim of this research was to evaluate the differences between the effects that three timelines for a hypothetical estate, with forest management strategies ranging in consistency with the EQO, had on ecosystem services for the period 1901-2015 in Halland, Sweden. As the timelines were based on their consistency with the EQO, they were subsequently named low, medium, and high consistency. The results showed that overall, the low consistency timeline, dominated by spruce and pine even-aged forestry (EAF), was the most optimal from a production and climate mitigation perspective. Additionally, the high consistency timeline, dominated by mixed deciduous EAF and continuous cover forestry (CCF), was the most optimal from a biodiversity point of view and performed relatively well across all aspects, whereas the other timelines performed more unevenly. The results also highlight the need for further investigation into the effect of management strategies on forest carbon soil levels. This study demonstrates how ecosystem models can be used to provide quantitative information relating to ecosystem services and sets up a framework for future studies looking to further optimize management strategies at the estate level.}},
author = {{Gant, Jon}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{Student thesis series INES}},
title = {{Evaluation of estate level forest management strategies in terms of ecosystem services and biodiversity aspects}},
year = {{2021}},
}