A DECISION SUPPORT TOOL TO MANAGE CLIMATE CHANGE RISKS TO FOREST ECOSYSTEMS “ECORISK“
(2018) , 99 pages
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- Abstract
- In the global change context, forest ecosystems are key components for successful mitigating strategies. At the Belgian scale, the major roles of forest ecosystems have been highlighted in the National Climate Plan (NCP, 2008) for the period 2009-2012, through a series of strategic axes. Briefly, the plan includes the following aims along six strategic axes: (1) to optimize energy production; (2) to make a rational use of energy within the buildings; (3) to act on industrial processes; (4) to develop sustainable forms of transport; (5) to promote sustainable management of agricultural and forest ecosystems; (6) to increase efforts in waste management. In addition to being central in climate issues, forests also provide the human society with goods and services fundamental to human well-being. These include provisioning services, regulating services, cultural services and supporting services (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). The extent to which forest ecosystems will be able to effectively ensure these roles in the future remains, however, poorly documented, due to an intricate web of factors related to both direct and indirect effects of global change. Direct effects are due to a combination of stress events (e.g. extreme droughts) and of diffuse pollution (contamination, nutritional unbalances), which may act at different time scales and with different intensities. Indirect effects are those generated by alternative energy sources used to mitigate climate change impacts. Among these options, woodfuel and nuclear energy are of special concern due to their potentially drastic effects on forest ecosystems. The impacts of the expected increased biomass harvesting on forest ecosystems will strongly depend on final wood utilization as the latter largely dictates management decisions such as species selection, rotation length, and harvesting strategies. The impact of radionuclides on forests is also to be considered as a possible side effect of mitigation strategies, whatever final decision on nuclear energy use at the Belgian scale will be, as their emissions are clearly a transnational issue.
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Ceulemans R, Ponette, Q., Hamdi R, Deckmyn A, Vives J, & Battle I. (2018). A DECISION SUPPORT TOOL TO MANAGE CLIMATE CHANGE RISKS TO FOREST ECOSYSTEMS “ECORISK“. BELSPO. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/53755