Management of Boreal Forests

This comprehensive textbook explores the boreal forests of Northern Europe, Finland, Sweden and Norway. Students will gain an overview of the forest ecosystem and the services it provides for modern society. From the production of timber, to the supply of food products or their use as a recreational space for human wellbeing – our forests serve many needs. Accordingly, the respective chapters cover various types of ecosystem service, e.g. supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural services.

The book’s main focus is on the management of boreal forests for the production of these ecosystem services. Addressing modern challenges, e.g. managing vulnerable boreal forests for adaptation to climate change, is an important aspect throughout the volume. Traditional forest management has to adapt and evolve in order to meet the increasing risk of abiotic and biotic damages to our forest biomass. Future forestry graduates will have to face more and more of these challenges; consequently, the book provides them with a wealth of scientific knowhow and possible counter-strategies.

Forestry students in the Northern Hemisphere, be it in Europe, North America or Asia, will find this book an excellent reference guide. To make the content more accessible, it has been enriched with a clear structure, numerous illustrations and learning objectives.

The research career of Prof. Seppo Kellomäki has spanned from early 1970s to today. His research activities deal mainly with structure and functioning of boreal forests and sustainable management of boreal forests for varying ecosystem goods and services. His early studies had the focus on multiple use of forest, and management of Scots pine forest for high-quality timber. However, his main contribution in forest science deals with climate change impacts on the dynamics of boreal forest ecosystem in the conditions where forests and forest-based industry are important for the welfare of society.  In this context, his focus has been in experimental studies on how the elevating temperature, atmospheric carbon dioxide and changes in precipitation likely effect on the physiology and growth of boreal tree species. These studies have provided a solid bases for modelling. This has made it possible to understand how climate change likely effects on the long-term dynamics of boreal forest ecosystem and how climate change effects on the future forest management. The main questions have been how management should be used and developed for avoiding detrimental effects of successional dynamics and management of boreal forest ecosystem for different ecosystem services. Many of his research papers further address the problems on how forest management and forests should be adapted to climate warming in the boreal conditions, and how management might be used to mitigate warming.