The role of protection, restoration and sustainable management of forests for the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

The effect of past environmental changes on the demography and genetic diversity of natural populations remains a contentious issue and has rarely been investigated across multiple, phylogenetically distant species. Here, we perform comparative population genomic analyses and demographic inferences for seven widely distributed and ecologically contrasting European forest tree species based on concerted sampling of 164 populations across their natural ranges. For all seven species, the effective population size, Ne, increased or remained stable over many glacial cycles and up to 15 million years in the most extreme cases. Surprisingly, the drastic environmental changes associated with the Pleistocene glacial cycles have had little impact on the level of genetic diversity of dominant forest tree species, despite major shifts in their geographic ranges. Based on their trajectories of Ne over time, the seven tree species can be divided into three major groups, highlighting the importance of life history and range size in determining synchronous variation in genetic diversity over time. Altogether, our results indicate that forest trees have been able to retain their evolutionary potential over very long periods of time despite strong environmental changes.

This forest perspectives paper explores issues and concepts involved in the enhancement of regional monitoring frameworks for reporting on forest disturbances and damages. First, it looks at the different meanings of “forest disturbance” and “forest damage,” terms that are often used interchangeably but have important differences in meaning and management implications. Human expectations, goals and concerns underlie both terms, especially forest damage, and they condition the data-gathering efforts and interpretations of resulting information. Accordingly, the paper also addresses the overall motivations for reporting forest disturbances and damages, the potentially impacted human expectations, and the general categories of impact and response. Next, it presents some general observations on the ecological processes underlying forest disturbances and forest damages and the approaches used to measure them, noting the following challenges these processes pose for clear and consistent reporting across space and time: complexity of disturbance processes; attributing causality and distinguishing between proximate, intermediate and ultimate causes; spatial and temporal discontinuities; measurement protocol variations between countries. Both ecological processes and their related measurement techniques are particularistic, involving various and specific measurement techniques and protocols, and they do not always conform to conceptual generalizations. It concludes with a discussion on bridging the gap between concept and practical application of disturbance and damage monitoring and reporting. Despite challenges in aggregating diverse data on forest disturbances, doing so is crucial for improving scientific understanding, policy-making, and environmental management on regional and global scales.  

Like the IPCC's Summary for Policymakers (SPM), which distills the implications of scientific findings presented in its synthesis report, this summary aims to highlight the principal findings from the First Synthesis Report on Climate Change Impact Assessment in the Forest Sector; it seeks to elucidate the policy implications, thereby facilitating the decision-making process concerning climate change adaptation efforts.

The report by NIFoS was prepared by a specialized working group consisting of 35 members including representatives from one center, seven departments, and three research institutes within the NIFoS, in addition to the staff of two divisions of the National Arboretum.

Stress on tree vitality is expected to increase due to climatic extremes in European forests. The decline in vitality of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) that has been reported recently, makes it necessary to rethink its future adaptive potential under ongoing climate change. Here we performed a pan European assessment of defoliation chronologies on 414 ICP Forests Level I beech plots, between 1995 and 2022. We investigated the temporal trends, spatial variation, tree-specific patterns as well as climate sensitivity of defoliation at plot level. Various trends emerged and we delineated the plots accordingly: 1) increasing defoliation trends indicating declining vitality (categorized as t1 plots); 2) no trends indicating stable crown condition (t2 plots); 3) decreasing defoliation trends indicating increase in vitality (t3 plots).

Spatial variation was found among these plots but no regional grouping or clustering. Tree-specific patterns on 14 % plots were observed, characterized by an expressed population signal of < 0.85, indicating high inter-tree variability. Defoliation was found to be sensitive to climatic variables, mainly to temperature but also precipitation, albeit only for a small percentage of plots. Sensitivity was indicated by statistically significant (p<0.05) Pearson’s correlation coefficients.

Moreover, this response depended on month of the year. Climate sensitivity of defoliation also varied across space and plots of different trend categories. It also differed along monthly water balance gradient, further indicating the role of site-specific water availability in mediating the responses to climatic variables.

Our study provided basis for long-term defoliation studies, and is a crucial building block to assess beech vitality under potentially changing future climate. Furthermore, such studies will provide more insights into changes in sensitivity and adequate future sites for beech.

A new study published in Nature provides insights into the development of the global forest carbon sink over three decades.

National Institute of Forest Science (NIFoS) (2024). The first synthesis report on climate change impact assessment for forest sector:  Summary for policymakers. Cho, J.H., Yang, H., Choi, W.I., Park, G.E., Kirn, E.S., Jang, K., Yim, J.S., Lee, B., Jung, J.Y., Choi, H.T., Jang, Y., Kirn, C., Um, Y., Kirn, S., Kwon, C., Eu, S., Nam, Y., Cho, Y., Park, Y., Park, C.R., and San, D.C. National Institute of Forest Science, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 59 pp.

Understanding the adaptive potential of populations in the face of environmental challenges is crucial for effective management and conservation strategies. Genomic approaches offer valuable insights into this adaptive potential, but their application in this context still requires further development.

This Special Issue aims to delve deeper into how genomic variation influences responses to environmental pressures. By examining the genetic basis of adaptation potential, a better understanding of the mechanisms can be gained that enable populations to cope with changing environments. Such knowledge is essential for predicting how populations will respond to future environmental changes, such as climate change, new pest and disease outbreaks, habitat fragmentation and destruction, and pollution.

Forests worldwide are experiencing increasingly intense biotic disturbances; however, assessing impacts of these disturbances is challenging due to the diverse range of organisms involved and the complex interactions among them. This particularly applies to invasive species, which can greatly alter ecological processes in their invaded territories. This paper has a focus on the pine wood nematode (PWN, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus), an invasive pathogen that has caused extensive mortality of pines in East Asia and more recently has invaded southern Europe. It is expected to expand its range into continental Europe with heavy impacts possible.

Rita Sousa-Silva and colleagues have reviewed commonalities and differences between Agroforestry and Urban Forestry: Agroforestry and urban forestry have evolved mainly as separate disciplines, although they share a long history of tree cultivation in man-made environments. Here, they review their common threads, exploring how trees in both systems interact with and shape their environments. They examine common themes and methodologies – ranging from tree growth dynamics to environmental stressors, ecosystem services provision, and questions of governance – and identify opportunities for synergies between these fields. They emphasize the potential of agroforestry and urban forestry for enhancing multifunctional landscapes. Geographical divides in research are evident, with agroforestry predominantly studied in the Global South and urban forestry receiving more attention in the Global North. However, significant research gaps provide avenues for collaboration, for instance, addressing challenges in capturing the monetary and socio-cultural value of ecosystem services and environmental justice considerations. In light of the growing need for integrated approaches in addressing contemporary challenges, from climate change mitigation and adaptation to community well-being, our review explores what these research fields can learn from each other and provides recommendations for fostering greater interdisciplinary dialogue and new avenues for collaborations in a meaningful and synergistic manner, aiming to advance policy, research, and practice in agroforestry and urban forestry.

The Forests Monitor (FM) is an international peer-reviewed open-access journal, devoted to the science of multifunctional forest ecosystems, that aims to enhance management and conservation in support of good forest governance worldwide.

The next Issue will be published by the end of December 2024, and the deadline to submit papers is 30 June 2024.