面向生态系统服务的森林生态系统经营:现状、挑战与展望

森林生态系统是地球陆地生态系统的主体,它具有很高的生物生产力和生物量以及丰富的生物多样性,对全球生态系统和人类经济社会发展起着至关重要和无可替代的作用。伴随着人口的不断增长和经济社会的迅猛发展,对森林资源和森林生态系统服务的需求不断高涨,而且人类对森林资源价值的认识也发生了很大程度的改变。推进森林资源可持续经营,增加森林总量、提高森林质量、增强生态功能,已成为中国林业可持续发展乃至推进中国生态文明建设和建设美丽中国的战略任务。本文全面综述了森林生态系统经营发展历程,分析了森林生态系统经营的现状和存在问题,在此基础上,提出整合基于生态系统管理与满足现代人类福祉对森林多重需求的新的森林生态系统经营理念,面向生态系统服务的森林生态系统经营理念是未来的发展趋势。森林经营发展战略表现为:1)从单纯的森林面积数量扩张,转变到提高单位面积的森林生产力和森林质量;2)从单一追求木材生产逐步转变为多目标经营,将森林林产品单一的经营目标转变为广泛的生态、经济和社会等多目标经营;3)森林经营重点从林分水平转变为森林景观的经营,强调森林景观的时空异质性和动态变化,权衡和协同多种生态系统的服务功能,倡导森林景观的多样性和连通性,提高森林与其它土地利用模式镶嵌构成的复合景观的可持续性和稳定性,增强森林生态系统对气候变化影响的适应能力;4)森林生态系统经营将从依赖传统经验的主观决策转变为信息化、数字化和智能化的决策,发展森林生态系统经营决策支持系统和森林景观恢复与空间经营规划系统。

A review on forest ecosystem management towards ecosystem services: status, challenges, and future perspectives

Forest ecosystems are the major components of terrestrial ecosystems. On the basis of their high primary productivity and abundant biodiversity, they play crucial roles in underpinning global ecosystems and human social-economic development. Population growth and rapid economic development are leading to increasing demand for forest resources and forest ecosystem services; in addition, modern human perceptions of and attitudes toward forest resource are changing. Strengthening of sustainable forest management to expand forest areas and improve forest quality and ecosystem functions constitutes the core task of China''s forestry development strategy, ecological civilization initiative, and "Beautiful China" campaign. Here, we review historical and current developments in forest ecosystem management; in addition, we discuss the current problems and challenges faced by forest management in China. We explore future trends in China''s forest management, based on ecosystem management principles and human welfare development for the multiple demands of forest ecosystem services. We consider four different future forest management strategies. (1) A focus on changing from forest area expansion to enhancement of forest productivity and stand quality. (2) A change from a unique focus on timber production to multiple management objectives with increased attention to ecological, social, and economic dimensions beyond traditional economic values in terms of timber production and non-timber products. (3) Implementation of forest management across different scales, with a change from a stand level to an ecosystem level and even a landscape level. Spatial heterogeneity and forest dynamic changes across scales should be recognized, and forest landscape connectivity and diversity should be increasingly considered. Trade-offs and synergy among multiple services from various ecosystems across the forest landscape will be appropriately managed to meet the different interests of various stakeholders. Adoption of such a forest landscape management strategy will contribute to achieving optimal land use patterns in association with optimal resource utilization of biological, land, and water resources. This, in turn, will facilitate landscape sustainability and stability via a harmonized landscape configuration composed of mosaic land patches; in addition, it will improve the resilience of forest ecosystems to climate change. (4) A forest ecosystem management system that is dependent mainly on updated forest monitoring data, digitized geo-spatial information, and intelligent decision-making process, rather than on traditional knowledge, experience, and subjective judgment. In summary, there is a clear need to develop decision-making support systems and forest landscape restoration and spatial management planning systems, in order to shape a knowledge- and information-based forest ecosystem management system.