12:26 p.m.
Dear IUFRO Meliaceae Working party:
Below is IUFRO Spotlight #71. Other Spotlights can be found at:
http://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/
Regards,
Sheila Ward
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: IUFRO Headquarters <office(a)iufro.org>
Date: Mon, Aug 12, 2019 at 2:30 AM
Subject: IUFRO Congress Spotlight #71 - High Time to Again Pay More
Attention to Ecological Processes in Sustainable Forest Manag
To: Dear IUFRO Officeholder <mahoganyforthefuture(a)gmail.com>
[image: IUFRO Spotlight]
IUFRO Congress Spotlight #71 - High Time to Again Pay More Attention to
Ecological Processes in Sustainable Forest Management
*IUFRO Spotlight issues up to September 2019 will primarily focus on the
XXV IUFRO World Congress that will take place on 29 September-5 October
2019 in Curitiba, Brazil.*
*Individual Congress sessions will be highlighted in order to draw
attention to the broader Congress themes, the wide variety of topics that
will be addressed at the Congress and their importance on a regional and
global scale.*
*Visit the Congress website at http://iufro2019.com/
<http://iufro2019.com/> or https://www.iufro.org/events/congresses/2019/
<https://www.iufro.org/events/congresses/2019/>.*
High Time to Again Pay More Attention to Ecological Processes in
Sustainable Forest Management
PDF for download
<https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/publications/spotlights/congress-spotlight71-ecological-processes-sfm.pdf>
[image: Photo showing introduction of nitrogen-fixing tree species of
Erythrophleum fordii into Eucalyptus plantation for preventing soil
fertility degradation while enhancing soil carbon sequestration in the
Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry (ETCF), Chinese Academy of
Forestry, Pingxiang city, Guangxi Autonomous Region, PR. China. Photo: Guo
Wenfu, ETCF.]
Introducing nitrogen-fixing tree species of Erythrophleum fordii into
Eucalyptus plantation for preventing soil fertility degradation while
enhancing soil carbon sequestration in the Experimental Center of Tropical
Forestry (ETCF), Chinese Academy of Forestry, Pingxiang city, Guangxi
Autonomous Region, PR. China. Photo: Guo Wenfu, ETCF.
Human needs and our environment continue to change. Because of that, forest
management practices, in terms of sustainable forest management (SFM), need
to be updated, said Dr. Liu Shirong, Professor of Forest Ecology and
Hydrology and President of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China.
"Forests are the key component of terrestrial ecosystems and play an
important role in regulating global carbon cycling, protecting biodiversity
and other ecological processes such as hydrology and nutrient dynamics,"
said Dr. Liu, who is also a Deputy Coordinator of IUFRO Division 8 – Forest
Environment.
"We must learn to take the ecological processes and interactions into
consideration when we manage forests. Harvesting, thinning, mixed wood
management, riparian vegetation management and road construction can all
greatly influence those processes and consequently their associated
ecological functions and services," he said.
"Understanding the responses of these critical ecological processes –
biodiversity, carbon, water and nutrients – and their interactions to
various forest management practices is essential for designing suitable,
sound and sustainable forest management strategies."
Dr. Liu will lead a session entitled: *Forest Management Practices and the
Responses of Soil Carbon, Water, Nutrients and their Interactions* at the
IUFRO World Congress in Brazil this autumn.
"Our session will discuss basic ecological processes and their interactions
in various forest ecosystems as well as biodiversity and ecosystem
functions and services in relation to forest management.
"Combining new and existing ecological knowledge, innovation and shared
understanding, we hope to provide information that will address obstacles
and enhance SFM approaches and processes."
He said the lack of updating is "a concern for all forests, and speakers
will be covering a range of forest types including tropical, temperate and
boreal.
"Unfortunately, many forests are being managed without taking the
ecological processes and interactions into consideration."
There are two main reasons for that, Dr. Liu said, both of which revolve
around the extent of our understanding.
"One is that our understanding of the interactions is limited. For
instance, the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
has been widely discussed globally. But, how biodiversity regulates
ecosystem functioning at different temporal-spatial scales and what the
underlying mechanisms are, remains a matter of debate.
"The second relates to our understanding of the impacts and implications of
management practices on the ecological processes and interactions within
forests and the wider landscape, which is still quite limited," he said.
"That means we need further research – both basic and applied – on the
processes and interactions that underpin ecosystem services as they relate
to forest management."
Short-term economic return and maximizing profits are two of the obstacles
that can prevent the processes and interactions from being factored into
management decisions, he said. "Ecological and long-term economic elements
should both be recognized and accommodated at the same time to ensure SFM.
"Timber production and stand growth are only part of the forest management
equation. A range of ecosystem services – water conservation, carbon
sequestration, site productivity, soil quality and biodiversity protection
– need to be taken into account.
"In this regard, multipurpose forest plantations, for example, have an
advantage over monoculture or timber-centred plantations by increasing
synergy and reducing trade-off potentials or conflicts among different
ecosystem services," Dr. Liu added.
His session will cover a wide range of topics related to the effects of
forest management practices on critical ecological processes and
interactions.
Interest in those topics is evidenced by the fact that the session received
more than 70 abstracts. "It was a super big challenge," he said, to winnow
the session down to eight speakers from six countries, five 'lightning'
oral presentations and, space permitting, four other speakers, as well as
posters.
"Our goal is to improve understanding of how ecosystem services are
affected by key ecological processes and their interactions. We also want
to look for innovative silvicultural approaches that will enhance forest
resilience in response to climate change, and strategies to enhance forest
ecosystem services to meet diversified social needs," Dr Liu said.
*See you at the IUFRO 2019 World Congress*!
Visit *http://iufro2019.com/ <http://iufro2019.com/>* * Look out for
*#IUFRO2019
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/iufro2019?f=tweets&vertical=default&src=hash>*
on Twitter and *XXV IUFRO World Congress 2019
<https://www.facebook.com/events/1881111872132294/>* on Facebook
------------------------------------------------
*IUFRO Spotlight* is an initiative of the International Union of Forest
Research Organizations. Its aim is to introduce, in a timely fashion,
significant findings in forest research from IUFRO member organizations
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*The findings reported here are submitted by IUFRO Member Organizations.
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The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) is the
only worldwide organization devoted to forest research and related
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------------------------------------------------
*IUFRO Congress Spotlight #71 published in August 2019 by IUFRO
Headquarters, Vienna, Austria. Available for download at:
**https://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/
<https://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/>*
*Contact the editor at office(at)iufro.org <wolfrum(a)iufro.org> or
visit https://www.iufro.org/ <https://www.iufro.org/?id=104>*
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