Towards the challenge of biodiversity [assessment] in forests and forestry

Lust, N.; Nachtergale, L. . Lab. of Forestry

Towards the challenge of biodiversity [assessment] in forests and forestry

1996

Lust, N. | Nachtergale, L. (Gent Univ., Melle (Belgium). Lab. of Forestry)

The UNCED Convention on Biodiversity commits governments to report regularly on the state of forest biodiversity. This includes the development of a system of indicators. For indicators to be useful they should constitute a feedback mechanism in the decision-making process. They should form a comprehensive and integrated system. Much of the discussions on possible forestry indicators revolve around the identification of species-based and system-based indicators. The former category includes the use of endangered or flagship species as well as indicators of intraspecific variation. The latter category is intended to cover measures of forest structure and composition, the use of vegetation associations and ecological regionalizations, and measures of soil erosion or nutrient loss. From those two long lists of biodiversity indicators, a short list can be distilled, referring to the two major elements of the model framework, viz. Drivers of Change and Attributes Inventoried and Monitored. Despite the general objective of forest biodiversity conservation, it is important to look closely at some of the current challenges that exists for the future in forest management. In summary, changes in forestry practices are heavily influenced by economic realities, particularly the supply/demands variables. The shortage of information and knowledge implies that it will take time and effort and many iterative revisions to improve and refine the array of indicators that are required

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