Evaluating the Suitability of Management Strategies of Pure Norway Spruce Forests in the Black Forest Area of Southwest Germany for Adaptation to or Mitigation of Climate Change
- 17 December 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Environmental Management
- Vol. 45 (2), 387-402
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-009-9409-2
Abstract
The study deals with the problem of evaluating management strategies for pure stands of Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst) to balance adaptation to and mitigation of climate change, taking into account multiple objectives of a forest owner. A simulation and optimization approach was used to evaluate the management of a 1000 ha model Age-Class forest, representing the age-class distribution of an area of 66,000 ha of pure Norway spruce forests in the Black Forest region of Southwest Germany. Eight silvicultural scenarios comprising five forest conversion schemes which were interpreted as “adaptation” strategies which aims at increasing the proportion of Beech, that is expected to better cope with climate change than the existing Norway spruce, and three conventional strategies including a “Do-nothing” alternative classified as “mitigation”, trying to keep rather higher levels of growing stock of spruce, were simulated using the empirical growth simulator BWINPro-S. A linear programming approach was adapted to simultaneously maximize the net present values of carbon sequestration and timber production subject to the two constraints of wood even flow and partial protection of the oldest (nature protection). The optimized plan, with the global utility of 11,687 €/ha in forty years, allocated a combination of silvicultural scenarios to the entire forest area. Overall, strategies classified as “mitigation” were favored, while strategies falling into the “adaptation”-category were limited to the youngest age-classes in the optimal solution. Carbon sequestration of the “Do-nothing” alternative was between 1.72 and 1.85 million tons higher than the other alternatives for the entire forest area while the differences between the adaptation and mitigation approaches were approximately 133,000 tons. Sensitivity analysis showed that a carbon price of 21 €/t is the threshold at which carbon sequestration is promoted, while an interest rate of above 2% would decrease the amount of carbon.This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- Multipurpose conversion management of Scots pine towards mixed oak–birch stands—A long-term simulation approachForest Ecology and Management, 2009
- Models for Forest Ecosystem Management: A European PerspectiveAnnals of Botany, 2007
- Optimal rotations on Eucalyptus plantations including carbon sequestration—A comparison of results in Brazil and SpainForest Ecology and Management, 2006
- Maximizing the profitability of forestry projects under the Clean Development Mechanism using a forest management optimization modelForest Ecology and Management, 2006
- A model for regional analysis of carbon sequestration and timber productionForest Ecology and Management, 2005
- A decision support system for optimizing the conversion of rotation forest stands to continuous cover forest standsForest Ecology and Management, 2005
- Economic aspects of the transformation from even-aged pure stands of Norway spruce to uneven-aged mixed stands of Norway spruce and beechForest Ecology and Management, 2001
- On economic consequences of transformation of a spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) dominated stand from regular into irregular age structureForest Ecology and Management, 2001
- Quantifying the implications of transformation from even to uneven-aged forest standsForest Ecology and Management, 2001
- Modelling the conversion from even-aged to uneven-aged stands of Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) with a distance-dependent growth simulatorForest Ecology and Management, 2000