productivity is estimated to amount to $166 to $490 billion per year, highlighting the
functional importance of forest biodiversity and the need for safeguarding forest
biodiversity for human well-being.
Besides the establishment of extensive protected forest areas (wilderness areas)
across forest biomes, forest management is considered an important tool for the
preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, as key attributes for forest
species conservation and ecological processes critically depend on management
intensity. Therefore, sustainable forest management strategies (i.e. ecosystembased approaches) across forest biomes are required that (1) avoid deforestation
and land-use changes, (2) approach key attributes of ‘natural forest communities’
(e.g. biome-specific tree species composition and diversity), (3) allow for and
maximize the natural dynamics typical of the respective forest ecosystems, and
(4) prioritize the minimization of silvicultural interventions over the maximization
of forest timber exploitation, thus optimizing biodiversity protection and forest
ecosystem functioning (including ecosystem resistance and resilience against global
change). Moreover, we highlight the importance of ecological continuity for
safeguarding forest biodiversity and its functional role in mediating the response
of forest ecosystems to multiple environmental changes.
Keywords Biodiversity · Global change · Climate change mitigation · Ecosystem
functioning · Ecosystem multifunctionality · Forest management · Land-use change
1 Introduction: Forest Biodiversity Loss und Human
Well-Being
Forest ecosystems host a huge proportion of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity and
play a vital role in providing benefits for human well-being (ecosystem services),
such as climate and water regulation or wood production (MEA 2005). However,
species go extinct at an alarming rate due to human-induced changes of the environment (Butchart et al. 2010; Ceballos and Ehrlich 2018), and ongoing biodiversity
loss is expected to critically alter the functioning of ecosystems, thus diminishing the
benefits that people obtain from forests (Loreau et al. 2001; Cardinale et al. 2012;
Isbell et al. 2017). For example, anthropogenic drivers of environmental change
(i.e. people’s actions that have long-lasting impacts on biodiversity, species composition and ecosystem functioning) can alter forest ecosystem functioning and the
related ecosystem services either directly by changing species’ metabolism and
demography or indirectly by altering communities’ functional composition and
diversity (Díaz et al. 2007; De Laender et al. 2016; Zhang et al. 2018). The reliable
provisioning of ecosystem services therefore requires a social-ecological perspective
that accounts for the complex interdependence between human-induced changes of
the environment, ecosystem integrity and human well-being (Fig. 1). Hence,
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A. Fichtner and W. Härdtle
functional importance of forest biodiversity and the need for safeguarding forest
biodiversity for human well-being.
Besides the establishment of extensive protected forest areas (wilderness areas)
across forest biomes, forest management is considered an important tool for the
preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, as key attributes for forest
species conservation and ecological processes critically depend on management
intensity. Therefore, sustainable forest management strategies (i.e. ecosystembased approaches) across forest biomes are required that (1) avoid deforestation
and land-use changes, (2) approach key attributes of ‘natural forest communities’
(e.g. biome-specific tree species composition and diversity), (3) allow for and
maximize the natural dynamics typical of the respective forest ecosystems, and
(4) prioritize the minimization of silvicultural interventions over the maximization
of forest timber exploitation, thus optimizing biodiversity protection and forest
ecosystem functioning (including ecosystem resistance and resilience against global
change). Moreover, we highlight the importance of ecological continuity for
safeguarding forest biodiversity and its functional role in mediating the response
of forest ecosystems to multiple environmental changes.
Keywords Biodiversity · Global change · Climate change mitigation · Ecosystem
functioning · Ecosystem multifunctionality · Forest management · Land-use change
1 Introduction: Forest Biodiversity Loss und Human
Well-Being
Forest ecosystems host a huge proportion of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity and
play a vital role in providing benefits for human well-being (ecosystem services),
such as climate and water regulation or wood production (MEA 2005). However,
species go extinct at an alarming rate due to human-induced changes of the environment (Butchart et al. 2010; Ceballos and Ehrlich 2018), and ongoing biodiversity
loss is expected to critically alter the functioning of ecosystems, thus diminishing the
benefits that people obtain from forests (Loreau et al. 2001; Cardinale et al. 2012;
Isbell et al. 2017). For example, anthropogenic drivers of environmental change
(i.e. people’s actions that have long-lasting impacts on biodiversity, species composition and ecosystem functioning) can alter forest ecosystem functioning and the
related ecosystem services either directly by changing species’ metabolism and
demography or indirectly by altering communities’ functional composition and
diversity (Díaz et al. 2007; De Laender et al. 2016; Zhang et al. 2018). The reliable
provisioning of ecosystem services therefore requires a social-ecological perspective
that accounts for the complex interdependence between human-induced changes of
the environment, ecosystem integrity and human well-being (Fig. 1). Hence,
384
A. Fichtner and W. Härdtle