Living with bark beetles: impacts, outlook and management options

Joensuu

2019

50 S.

Bandaufführung

978-952-5980-69-1978-952-5980-70-7

17490

204138

Europe’s forests have provided human societies with essential ecosystem services and great economic values for centuries. Some of these values are now increasingly threatened by climate change, which greatly intensifies forest disturbances such as bark beetle outbreaks. However, some past management practices have also increased the vulnerability of Europe’s forests. For example, due to its good growth performance and favourable properties for forest industry, Norway spruce has been planted extensively in Europe over the past century, including in areas outside its native range. This has created large areas of so-called secondary forests, which have increasingly exhibited problems with health and vitality and are prone to various disturbances: the most important being wind, drought and bark beetles. This report aims to help European and national policy makers understand the complex roles bark beetles play in our forests, and provide the scientific basis for robust forest policies and management options to address these emerging bark beetle problems.Contents ; Executive summary ; Purpose and background: Europe’s forests under intensifying bark beetle outbreaks ; Current understanding about bark beetles ; The ecology of bark beetles ; Historical perspective ; Expected future development ; Impacts of bark beetle outbreaks ; Impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity ; Impacts on ecosystem services ; Economic impacts ; Social impacts ; Outbreak management ; Multifunctional and production forests ; High conservation value forests ; Regional perspectives ; Storm Gudrun in Southern Sweden ; Western Beskids in Central Europe ; Mountain pine beetle in the Rocky Mountains of North America ; Policy implications and recommendations ; Policy implications ; Policy recommendations ; Appendix A: Tools and measures for managing bark beetle outbreaks ; Appendix B: Research, development and innovation needsForests have multiple roles, but the role of forests in climate change mitigation has become increasingly important due to the urgent need to reduce climate change impacts. Forests remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via photosynthesis, and store carbon in biomass and soil. When forests are harvested, part of the carbon is released and part is stored in woodbased products. In addition to carbon storage in forest ecosystems and harvested wood products (HWP), using wood to substitute greenhouse gas intensivematerials and fossil fuels can have climate benefits. While the positive role of forests in climate change mitigation is generally well perceived, the contribution of wood products to mitigation is much less known and understood. Current national reporting of greenhouse gas emissions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and related processes does not attribute the substitution benefits of wood-based products directly to the forest sector. However, this information is important when developing optimal strategies on how forests and the forest sector can contribute to climate change mitigation.