Adapting forest social-ecological systems to global change
Forests cover approximately 30 per cent of the global landmass and render numerous essential ecosystem services (ES): They provide renewable resources, mitigate the impact of climate change, support human health, and preserve biodiversity. In the face of rapid climate change, novel ecosystem disturbances, and the introduction or loss of species, large expanses of forests are evolving towards novel ecosystems that are unprecedented in evolutionary history. It is highly uncertain to what extent these novel ecosystems will be capable of rendering the desired ES and preserving biodiversity. The changes will occur so quickly that natural adaptation processes will not be able to keep pace with them.
Parallel to this development, major societal changes are to be expected, resulting from processes such as urbanization, globalization and trade, land use, and changing demands regarding nature’s services to humans. The natural and social spheres are closely interlinked, interact in a complex way, and thus present unexpected risks. With a better understanding of these system dynamics, it will be possible to devise strategies to prevent undesirable developments. The researchers of Future Forests thus aim to make novel contributions to conceptualizing and analysing forests as new social-ecological systems (SES).
The approaches of Future Forests to analysing and developing transformation pathways for forest-based SES will provide the basis for more adaptive forest systems and more sustainable transformation pathways than in the past. These approaches will be transferable to other world regions and a broad spectrum of ecosystem services.
Synopsis of Future Forests Research Program Structure and Planned Infrastructure
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