2: Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems

Many communities depend on forests directly or indirectly for a wide range of forest based goods and services. The sustainable provision of these services is clearly linked to the productive capacity of the forest. If this capacity is exceeded there is the risk of ecosystem decline and collapse. For forests to be sustainable it is necessary to understand the levels at which goods and services may be extracted or used without undermining the functioning of forest ecosystems and processes. The nature of goods and services provided by forests change over time due to social and economic trends, and technological developments. Change in the productive capacity of forests may be a signal of unsound forest management practices or other agents that are affecting forest ecosystems in some way.

Associated Indicators

Conservation of Biological Diversity: Total forest area

The total forested area in a region can be compared to historic totals in order to understand if forests are in decline, recovering, or becoming too dominant (e.g., in a former grassland) in a region of interest.

Forest Pest Damaged Trees (Area and Volume)

Area and volume of forest pest damaged trees above the 1% mortality threshold. This evaluates current extent and damage from forest pests.

Forest Pest Risk to Forestland (Area and Volume)

Estimate Area and volume of forestland at risk of experiencing greater than 1% mortality in the next 15 years. This evaluates risks to forestland from future forest pest outbreaks.

Forest productivity (MP)

Many communities depend on forests directly or indirectly for a wide range of forest-based goods and services. The sustainable provision of these services is clearly linked to the productive capacity of the forest. If this capacity is exceeded there is the risk of ecosystem decline and collapse.

Forest structure: Number of very thick trees per hectare

Very large/thick trees take a long time to grow (centuries), depending on the species and ambient conditions. Very large trees are sometimes the only habitat suitable for certain species and store very large amounts of carbon.

Forest structure: Total above ground biomass of the woody vegetation

The total biomass of woody vegetation is a measure of the carbon storage and net production, and is one indication of the amount of structure that could be present on a site.

Forestry: Change in the Volume of Growing Stock

Growing stock is defined as the standing volume of the trees in a forest above a certain minimum size. Higher growing stock signifies more standing biomass, which often translates to better forest conditions. But it is important to note that standing tree volume alone is not a sufficient metric for detailed analysis of forest health. For example, future wood supply is highly dependent on the diversity and distribution of tree species and ages within tree stands.