Assessing the impacts of four alternative management strategies on forest timber and carbon values in northeast China

Forest management strategies, reflecting the cognition and the demands of the human population on forests, have significant effects on the forest structures and functions. Nowadays, numerous forest management strategies have been introduced and implemented worldwide for a long time. However, our knowledge about the impacts of alternative management strategies on forest multipurpose management practices is still insufficient. Therefore, the overall goal of this study quantitatively assessed the impacts of four alternative forest management strategies on forest timber and carbon values in a large forest area in northeast China, as an example. Four alternative forest management strategies: no intervention management (NIM), classical timber management (CTM), multi-purpose management (MPM), and spatial-constraints management (SCM), in conjunction with different management objectives and regulations, were quantitative assessed using optimization methods. The results of numerical analysis showed that implementing eco-friendly forest management strategies such as imposed in MPM and SCM strategies may be economic inefficiencies, mainly due to significant decreases of the joint benefits from forest timber and carbon values (approximately $18.75 and $22.36 million per year) have been observed under the current carbon trading market of China (namely $20 per ton of carbon) when the ecological- and spatial-oriented constraints were further integrated into the typical CTM strategy. However, both MPM and SCM strategies were quite meaningful for the restoration of forest resources in northeast China, in which an additional of 13.6 and 16.2 thousand tons of carbon were sequestrated during the 50 years simulated horizon. Therefore, forest decision makers should evaluate the potential effects carefully prior to altering their forest management strategy in practices.