Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services in uneven-aged mountain forests: evidences using Pareto fronts

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
European Journal of Forest Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Uneven-aged mountain forests are considered favourable for the continuous provisioning of multiple ecosystem services (ES). These ES may however exhibit trade-offs or synergies that can be modulated by forest management. Yet, our knowledge remains poor on both the relationships between ES and the way management practices can optimise and reconcile them. In this study, we aimed at (1) characterising trade-offs and synergies between timber production, biodiversity conservation and protection against natural hazards; (2) identifying efficient (i.e. Pareto-optimal) management scenarios for the joint provisioning of these ES; and (3) comparing them to “reference” management scenarios. Using a simulation framework that couples a forest dynamics model, a silviculture algorithm and linker functions relating ES indicators to stand structure, we predicted the response of different ES indicators to various uneven-aged management practices in the Western Alps. With a metamodeling approach and Pareto front techniques, we intensively explored and analysed relationships between ES indicators and found trade-offs between timber production and other ES, but synergies between protection and biodiversity. “Pareto-optimal” management scenarios were characterised by low thinning and harvesting intensities but exhibited gradients of total removals and deadwood and large tree retention along the Pareto front. They greatly differed from our set of production and biodiversity oriented reference scenarios, thus emphasising the strong impact of considering additional ES in scenario optimisation processes. This study highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of Pareto front techniques for both the analysis of trade-offs and synergies between ES and the identification of efficient management practices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ares A, Berryman SD, Puettmann KJ (2009) Understory vegetation response to thinning disturbance of varying complexity in coniferous stands. Appl Veg Sci 12:472–487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartels SF, Chen HYH (2009) Is understory plant species diversity driven by resource quantity or resource heterogeneity? Ecology 91:1931–1938

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauhus J, Puettmann K, Messier C (2009) Silviculture for old-growth attributes. For Ecol Manag 258:525–537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett EM, Peterson GD, Gordon LJ (2009) Understanding relationships among multiple ecosystem services. Ecol Lett 12:1394–1404

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berger F (1997) Interaction forêt de montagne-risques naturels. Détermination de Zones d’Interventions Forestières Prioritaires – L’exemple du département de la Savoie. Ph.D. thesis, ENGREF, Paris

  • Berger F, Dorren LKA (2007) Principles of the tool Rockfor.net for quantifying the rockfall hazard below a protection forest. Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen 158:157–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biber P, Borges JG, Moshammer R, Barreiro S, Botequim B, Brodrechtova Y, Brukas V, Chirici G, Cordero-Debets R, Corrigan E, Eriksson LO, Favero M, Galev E, Garcia-Gonzalo J, Hengeveld G, Kavaliauskas M, Marchetti M, Marques S, Mozgeris G, Navratil R, Nieuwenhuis M, Orazio C, Paligorov I, Pettenella D, Sedmak R, Smrecek R, Stanislovaitis A, Tome M, Trubins R, Tucek J, Vizzarri M, Wallin I, Pretzsch H, Sallnas O (2015) How sensitive are ecosystem services in European forest landscapes to silvicultural treatment? Forests 6:1666–1695

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolton NW, D’Amato AW (2011) Regeneration responses to gap size and coarse woody debris within natural disturbance-based silvicultural systems in northeastern Minnesota, USA. For Ecol Manag 262:1215–1222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonté B, Lafond V, Cordonnier T, Mathias J-D (2013) Using an individual-based model of uneven-aged forests for studying trade-off between timber production and deadwood preservation. In: ICCGI 2013, the eighth international multi-conference on computing in the global information technology, 2013, pp 175–180

  • Borges JG, Garcia-Gonzalo J, Bushenkov V, McDill ME, Marques S, Oliveira MM (2014) Addressing multicriteria forest management with pareto frontier methods: an application in Portugal. For Sci 60:63–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Boscolo M, Vincent JR (2003) Nonconvexities in the production of timber, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration. J Environ Econ Manag 46:251–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouget C, Larrieu L, Parmain G, Nusillard B (2013) In search of the best local habitat drivers for saproxylic beetle diversity in temperate deciduous forests. Biodivers Conserv 22:2111–2130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castelletti A, Lotov AV, Soncini-Sessa R (2010) Visualization-based multi-objective improvement of environmental decision-making using linearization of response surfaces. Environ Model Softw 25:1552–1564

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charpentier A (2015) Insights from life history theory for an explicit treatment of trade-offs in conservation biology. Conserv Biol 29:738–747

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cordonnier T, Courbaud B, Berger F, Franc A (2008) Permanence of resilience and protection efficiency in mountain Norway spruce forest stands: a simulation study. For Ecol Manag 256:347–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cordonnier T, Berger F, Elkin C, Lamas T, Martinez M (2013) Models and linker functions (indicators) for ecosystem services. ARANGE Deliverable D2.2. ARANGE project, Advanced multifunctional management of European mountain forests. http://www.arange-project.eu

  • Courbaud B, De Coligny F, Cordonnier T (2003) Simulating radiation distribution in a heterogeneous Norway spruce forest on a slope. Agric For Meteorol 116:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Courbaud B, Kunstler G, Morin X, Cordonnier T (2010) What is the future of the ecosystem services of the Alpine forest against a backdrop of climate change? J Alpine Res 98:412–425

    Google Scholar 

  • Courbaud B, Lafond V, Lagarrigues G, Vieilledent G, Cordonnier T, Jabot F, De Coligny F (2015) Applying ecological model evaluation: lessons learned with the forest dynamics model Samsara2. Ecol Model 314:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diaci J, Kerr G, O’Hara K (2011) Twenty-first century forestry: integrating ecologically based, uneven-aged silviculture with increased demands on forests. Forestry 84:463–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diaz-Balteiro L, Gonzalez-Pachon J, Romero C (2013) Goal programming in forest management: customising models for the decision-maker’s preferences. Scand J For Res 28:166–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dorren LKA, Berger F, Imeson AC, Maier B, Rey F (2004) Integrity, stability and management of protection forests in the European Alps. For Ecol Manag 195:165–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dorren LKA, Berger F, le Hir C, Mermin E, Tardif P (2005) Mechanisms, effects and management implications of rockfall in forests. For Ecol Manag 215:183–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dufour-Kowalski S, Courbaud B, Dreyfus P, Meredieu C, de Coligny F (2012) Capsis: an open software framework and community for forest growth modelling. Ann For Sci 69:221–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duguid MC, Ashton MS (2013) A meta-analysis of the effect of forest management for timber on understory plant species diversity in temperate forests. For Ecol Manag 303:81–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncker PS, Raulund-Rasmussen K, Gundersen P, Katzensteiner K, De Jong J, Ravn HP, Smith M, Eckmüllner O, Spiecker H (2012) How forest management affects ecosystem services, including timber production and economic return: synergies and trade-offs. Ecol Soc 17:50–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Eyvindson K, Kangas A (2015) Using a Compromise Programming framework to integrating spatially specific preference information for forest management problems. J Multi-Criteria Decis Anal 22:3–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falk KJ, Burke DA, Elliott KA, Holmes SB (2008) Effects of single-tree and group selection harvesting on the diversity and abundance of spring forest herbs in deciduous forests in southwestern Ontario. For Ecol Manag 255:2486–2494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FOREST EUROPE, UNECE and FAO (2011) State of Europe’s Forests 2011. Status and Trends in Sustainable Forest Management in Europe

  • Frehner M, Wasser B, Schwitter R (2005) Nachhaltigkeit und Erfolgskontrolle imSchutzwald. Wegleitung für Pflegemassnahmen inWäldernmit Schutzfunktion. OFEV, Berne

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuhr M, Bourrier F, Cordonnier T (2015) Protection against rockfall along a maturity gradient in mountain forests. For Ecol Manag 354:224–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia-Gonzalo J, Bushenkov V, McDill ME, Borges JG (2015) A decision support system for assessing trade-offs between ecosystem management goals: an application in Portugal. Forests 6:65–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gauquelin X, Courbaud B (2006) Guide des sylvicultures de montagne - Alpes du Nord françaises. Cemagref, CRPF Rhône-Alpes, ONF

  • Gettinger J, Kiesling E, Stummer C, Vetschera R (2013) A comparison of representations for discrete multi-criteria decision problems. Decis Support Syst 54:976–985

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Grassi G, Minotta G, Tonon G, Bagnaresi U (2004) Dynamics of Norway spruce and silver fir natural regeneration in a mixed stand under uneven-aged management. Can J For Res 34:141–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groot JCJ, Oomen GJM, Rossing WAH (2012) Multi-objective optimization and design of farming systems. Agric Syst 110:63–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holeksa J, Zielonka T, Zywiec M (2008) Modeling the decay of coarse woody debris in a subalpine Norway spruce forest of the West Carpathians, Poland. Can J For Res 38:415–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hynynen J, Ahtikoski A, Siitonen J, Sievänen R, Liski J (2005) Applying the MOTTI simulator to analyse the effects of alternative management schedules on timber and non-timber production. For Ecol Manag 207:5–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy MC, Ford ED (2011) Using multi-criteria analysis of simulation models to understand complex biological systems. Bioscience 61(12):994–1004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy MC, Ford ED, Singleton P, Finney M, Agee JK (2008) Informed multi-objective decision-making in environmental management using Pareto optimality. J Appl Ecol 45:181–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klopcic M, Boncina A, Enache A, Lexer MJ (2015) Recommendations for multifunctional forest management strategies. ARANGE Deliverable D5.2. ARANGE project, Advanced multifunctional management of European mountain forests. http://www.arange-project.eu

  • Kolstrom M, Lindner M, Vilen T, Maroschek M, Seidl R, Lexer MJ, Netherer S, Kremer A, Delzon S, Barbati A, Marchetti M, Corona P (2011) Reviewing the science and implementation of climate change adaptation measures in European forestry. Forests 2:961–982

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurasova O, Petkus T, Filatovas E (2013) Visualization of Pareto Front Points when Solving Multi-objective Optimization Problems. Inf Technol Control 42:353–361

    Google Scholar 

  • Lafond V (2014) Management of heterogeneous mountain forests & trade-off between timber production and biodiversity preservation: a simulation study. Ph.D. thesis, Irstea, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France

  • Lafond V, Lagarrigues G, Cordonnier T, Courbaud B (2014) Uneven-aged management options to promote forest resilience for climate change adaptation: effects of group selection and harvesting intensity. Ann For Sci 71:173–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lafond V, Cordonnier T, Courbaud B (2015) Reconciling biodiversity conservation and timber production in mixed uneven-aged mountain forests: identification of ecological intensification pathways. Environ Manag 56:1118–1133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larrieu L, Cabanettes A (2012) Species, live status, and diameter are important tree features for diversity and abundance of tree microhabitats in subnatural montane beech-fir forests. Can J For Res 42:1433–1445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larrieu L, Cabanettes A, Delarue A (2012) Impact of silviculture on dead wood and on the distribution and frequency of tree microhabitats in montane beech-fir forests of the Pyrenees. Eur J For Res 131:773–786

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larrieu L, Cabanettes A, Brin A, Bouget C, Deconchat M (2014) Tree microhabitats at the stand scale in montane beech–fir forests: practical information for taxa conservation in forestry. Eur J For Res 133:355–367

  • Lotov AV, Bushenkov VA, Kamenev GK (2004) Interactive decision maps. Kluwer Academic Publishers, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mao Z, Bourrier F, Stokes A, Fourcaud T (2014) Three-dimensional modelling of slope stability in heterogeneous montane forest ecosystems. Ecol Model 273:11–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martikainen P, Siitonen J, Punttila P, Kaila L, Rauh J (2000) Species richness of Coleoptera in mature managed and old-growth boreal forests in southern Finland. Biol Conserv 94:199–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer AC, Stockli V (2005) Long-term impact of cattle grazing on subalpine forest development and efficiency of snow avalanche protection. Arct Antarct Alp Res 37:521–526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mersmann O (2014). mco: Multiple Criteria Optimization Algorithms and Related Functions. R package version 1.0-15.1. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=mco

  • Messier C, Tittler R, Kneeshaw DD, Gelinas N, Paquette A, Berninger K, Rheault H, Meek P, Beaulieu N (2009) TRIAD zoning in Quebec: experiences and results after 5 years. For Chron 85:885–896

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Messier C, Puettmann K, Chazdon R, Andersson KP, Angers VA, Brotons L, Filotas E, Tittler R, Parrott L, Levin SA (2015) From management to stewardship: viewing forests as complex adaptive systems in an uncertain world. Conserv Lett 8:368–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moning C, Müller J (2008) Environmental key factors and their thresholds for the avifauna of temperate montane forests. For Ecol Manag 256:1198–1208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motta R, Haudemand J-C (2000) Protective forests and silvicultural stability. Mt Res Dev 20:180–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Müller J, Hothorn T, Pretzsch H (2007) Long-term effects of logging intensity on structures, birds, saproxylic beetles and wood-inhabiting fungi in stands of European beech Fagus sylvatica L. For Ecol Manag 242:297–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Hara KL (2006) Multiaged forest stands for protection forests: concepts and applications. For Snow Landsc Res 80:45–55

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Hara KL, Ramage BS (2013) Silviculture in an uncertain world: utilizing multi-aged management systems to integrate disturbance. Forestry 86:401–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paillet Y, Berges L, Hjalten J, Odor P, Avon C, Bernhardt-Romermann M, Bijlsma RJ, De Bruyn L, Fuhr M, Grandin U, Kanka R, Lundin L, Luque S, Magura T, Matesanz S, Meszaros I, Sebastia MT, Schmidt W, Standovar T, Tothmeresz B, Uotila A, Valladares F, Vellak K, Virtanen R (2010) Biodiversity differences between managed and unmanaged forests: meta-analysis of species richness in Europe. Conserv Biol 24:101–112

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2015) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org/

  • Rammer W, Brauner M, Ruprecht H, Lexer MJ (2015) Evaluating the effects of forest management on rockfall protection and timber production at slope scale. Scand J Forest Res 30:719–731

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redon M, Luque S, Gosselin F, Cordonnier T (2014) Is generalisation of uneven-aged management in mountain forests the key to improve biodiversity conservation within forest landscape mosaics? Ann For Sci 71:751–760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwenk WS, Donovan TM, Keeton WS, Nunery JS (2012) Carbon storage, timber production, and biodiversity: comparing ecosystem services with multi-criteria decision analysis. Ecol Appl 22:1612–1627

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seidl R, Rammer W, Jager D, Currie WS, Lexer MJ (2007) Assessing trade-offs between carbon sequestration and timber production within a framework of multi-purpose forestry in Austria. For Ecol Manag 248:64–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seidl R, Rammer W, Lexer MJ (2011) Adaptation options to reduce climate change vulnerability of sustainable forest management in the Austrian Alps. Can J For Res 41:694–706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Similä M, Kouki J, Martikainen P (2003) Saproxylic beetles in managed and seminatural Scots pine forests: quality of dead wood matters. For Ecol Manag 174:365–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spiecker H (2003) Silvicultural management in maintaining biodiversity and resistance of forests in Europe-temperate zone. J Environ Manag 67:55–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoffel M, Wehrli A, Kuhne R, Dorren LKA, Perret S, Kienholz H (2006) Assessing the protective effect of mountain forests against rockfall using a 3D simulation model. For Ecol Manag 225:113–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tang B (1993) Orthogonal array-based latin hypercubes. J Am Stat Assoc 88:1392–1397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Temperli C, Bugmann HKM, Elkin C (2012) Adaptive management for competing forest goods and services under climate change. Ecol Appl 22:2065–2077

  • Toth SF, McDill ME (2009) Finding efficient harvest schedules under three conflicting objectives. For Sci 55:117–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Toth SF, McDill ME, Rebain S (2006) Finding the efficient frontier of a bi-criteria, spatially explicit, harvest scheduling problem. For Sci 52:93–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Vuidot A, Paillet Y, Archaux F, Gosselin F (2011) Influence of tree characteristics and forest management on tree microhabitats. Biol Conserv 144:441–450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zilliox C, Gosselin F (2014) Tree species diversity and abundance as indicators of understory diversity in French mountain forests: variations of the relationship in geographical and ecological space. For Ecol Manag 321:105–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Antoine Rolland for his introduction to the Pareto method and Bruno Bonté for its preliminary work with this technique. We are grateful to Clémentine Prieur and Robert Faivre for their methodological support for the development of the metamodels that we used in this study. We also thank all the people who helped improving the model by integrating biodiversity models, in particular François de Coligny and Frédéric Gosselin. Many thanks to Rebecca Snell for checking the language. Lastly, we would like to thank Manfred Lexer and two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on the manuscript. This work was financially supported by the European Research Project “Advanced multifunctional forest management in European mountain ranges” (ARANGE, No. 289437), as well as by two French Research Projects: ESNET, supported by FRB (Foundation for Research on Biodiversity) and funded by ONEMA (French National Agency for Water and Aquatic Environment); and GeForHet (No. E23/2010), funded by the research programme “Biodiversity, Forest Management and Public Policy” (BGF). EMGR is part of Labex OSUG@2020 (ANR10 LABX56).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Valentine Lafond.

Additional information

Communicated by Manfred J. Lexer.

This article originates from the conference “Mountain Forest Management in a Changing World”, held 7–9 July 2015 in Smokovec, High Tatra Mountains, Slovakia.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 1326 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lafond, V., Cordonnier, T., Mao, Z. et al. Trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services in uneven-aged mountain forests: evidences using Pareto fronts. Eur J Forest Res 136, 997–1012 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-016-1022-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-016-1022-3

Keywords

Navigation