Towards more sustainable forest management - Climate mitigation potential of Fennoscandian forests under different forest management regimes

The urgent need to meet national carbon neutrality targets has increased the interest to diversify forest management. However, research on climatic and environmental effects of alternative management methods such as continuous cover forestry (CCF) compared to traditional rotation forestry (RF) is rare. RF creates even-aged stands that are rational and cost-effective to manage, but where lower biodiversity, increased risk for nutrient leakage and large greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the clear-cut phase are potential drawbacks. CCF leads to more diversified forests, causes less disturbance to the ecosystem and leaves the understory and ground vegetation almost intact, allowing them and the remaining large trees to utilize resources that become available after harvest. However, the effects of CCF on carbon storage and on the dynamics of GHG fluxes are still largely unknown. These uncertainties make it hard to evaluate the climate change mitigation potential of Fennoscandian forests and its resilience to extreme weather events in a future climate.

The project aims to fill crucial knowledge gaps and contribute to informed management decisions that guarantee long-term productivity, enhanced climate change mitigation and minimized negative environmental impacts.