{"title":"Sustainable timber production in afforestations: Trade-offs and synergies in the provision of multiple ecosystem services in northwest Patagonia","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122345","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Evaluating ecosystem services (ES) in pine plantations involves a comprehensive analysis of the diverse benefits and drawbacks that these managed ecosystems offer. Such assessments typically consider particularly provisioning, regulating, and supporting services, yet they often overlook important concerns such as biodiversity loss, soil carbon balance, and land-use conflicts. Understanding these dynamics in plantations with different density, age and structure is crucial for sustainable forest management. Our objective was to analyze changes in ES trade-offs and synergies by indirectly quantifying several ES in <em>Pinus ponderosa</em> plantations in a xeric grassland environment in northern Patagonia, Argentina. We assessed changes in soil fertility maintenance, erosion prevention, forage production, firewood production, and timber production across plantation stands under a diverse range of silvicultural managements and the surrounding natural habitat. We found a clear trade-off between indicators of provision services, as increasing timber production diminishes forage and firewood production —two vital land uses in the northern region of Andean Patagonia. Interestingly, we did not observe such trade-offs in supporting services or regulating services, as indicators of soil fertility maintenance and erosion prevention remained stable, without significant declines; higher values were found in intermediate plantation densities and basal area conditions. This suggests that their spatial occurrence does not negatively impact soil nutrient dynamics or the potential for erosion prevention. Conversely, low-density, young, and thinned plantations facilitate coexistence with other land uses such as forage and firewood. Therefore, a strategically planned landscape, incorporating plantations of varying ages and management practices, offers the potential for maximizing all three provision services.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Forest Ecology and Management","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112724006571","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"FORESTRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Evaluating ecosystem services (ES) in pine plantations involves a comprehensive analysis of the diverse benefits and drawbacks that these managed ecosystems offer. Such assessments typically consider particularly provisioning, regulating, and supporting services, yet they often overlook important concerns such as biodiversity loss, soil carbon balance, and land-use conflicts. Understanding these dynamics in plantations with different density, age and structure is crucial for sustainable forest management. Our objective was to analyze changes in ES trade-offs and synergies by indirectly quantifying several ES in Pinus ponderosa plantations in a xeric grassland environment in northern Patagonia, Argentina. We assessed changes in soil fertility maintenance, erosion prevention, forage production, firewood production, and timber production across plantation stands under a diverse range of silvicultural managements and the surrounding natural habitat. We found a clear trade-off between indicators of provision services, as increasing timber production diminishes forage and firewood production —two vital land uses in the northern region of Andean Patagonia. Interestingly, we did not observe such trade-offs in supporting services or regulating services, as indicators of soil fertility maintenance and erosion prevention remained stable, without significant declines; higher values were found in intermediate plantation densities and basal area conditions. This suggests that their spatial occurrence does not negatively impact soil nutrient dynamics or the potential for erosion prevention. Conversely, low-density, young, and thinned plantations facilitate coexistence with other land uses such as forage and firewood. Therefore, a strategically planned landscape, incorporating plantations of varying ages and management practices, offers the potential for maximizing all three provision services.
期刊介绍:
Forest Ecology and Management publishes scientific articles linking forest ecology with forest management, focusing on the application of biological, ecological and social knowledge to the management and conservation of plantations and natural forests. The scope of the journal includes all forest ecosystems of the world.
A peer-review process ensures the quality and international interest of the manuscripts accepted for publication. The journal encourages communication between scientists in disparate fields who share a common interest in ecology and forest management, bridging the gap between research workers and forest managers.
We encourage submission of papers that will have the strongest interest and value to the Journal''s international readership. Some key features of papers with strong interest include:
1. Clear connections between the ecology and management of forests;
2. Novel ideas or approaches to important challenges in forest ecology and management;
3. Studies that address a population of interest beyond the scale of single research sites, Three key points in the design of forest experiments, Forest Ecology and Management 255 (2008) 2022-2023);
4. Review Articles on timely, important topics. Authors are welcome to contact one of the editors to discuss the suitability of a potential review manuscript.
The Journal encourages proposals for special issues examining important areas of forest ecology and management. Potential guest editors should contact any of the Editors to begin discussions about topics, potential papers, and other details.