Silvicultural management strategies for climate change mitigation with the focus on plantation forests

Abstract

This technical note explores several practical actions whereby short-rotation plantation forests in warm climates can be managed for increased resilience in the face of climate change. It includes landscape level issues such as ecosystem resilience, limiting the invasive tendencies of certain exotic species and integrating fire management in the system. It also deals with the suitability of silvicultural systems and regimes for various regional climatic and edaphic conditions, and touches on possible operational interventions at compartment-level to improve resilience whilst maintaining productivity under increasingly erratic climate conditions. Several examples are given from forest systems in mostly warm climates, and possible response mechanisms to plantation management practices are discussed.