Management challenges and adaptations with climate change in Iran forests

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Resource Economics, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran

3 Department of Environmental Economics, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran

4 Department of Development Economics, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran

Abstract

Nowadays, climate change is one of the global issues. Given the occurrence of climate change in different parts of the world in recent years, a major concern of environmental and forestry activists and policy makers has been to explore the direct and indirect deteriorative impacts of this phenomenon on different facets of forest ecosystem and local communities. The present study run an opinion poll among 315 activists, students, teachers, and experts of environment in Iran during 2019 to find out the extent to which they believed that severe climate change was happening in different forests and how they assessed the performance of environmental resources and forest management practices. The analysis of data exhibited that over 90% of the participants acknowledged the occurrence of severe climatic changes in recent years and almost none of them assessed the present forest management style to be appropriate. On the other hand, the participants suggested that the Zagros and northern forests of Iran have most severely been affected due to climate change by about 53% and 31.7%, respectively. Thus, to reduce destructive impacts of climate and global warming on human and local community, it is recommended to prioritize climate change adaptive management strategies in these regions.

Keywords


Allen, CD, Macalady, AK, Chenchouni, H, Bachelet, D, McDowell, N, Vennetier, M, & Cobb, N 2010, A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests. Forest Ecology and Management, 259: 660-684.
Ameztegui, A, Cabon, A, De Cáceres, M & Coll, L 2017, Managing stand density to enhance the adaptability of Scots pine stands to climate change: A modelling approach. Ecological Modelling, 356: 141-150.
Andersson, E, Keskitalo, CE, & Lawrence, A 2017, Adaptation to Climate Change in Forestry: A Perspective on Forest Ownership and Adaptation Responses. Forests.
Azar, A & Moemeni, M 2003, Statistics and its application in management, Volume II, 6th Ed., Tehran, Samt Publications, [In Persian].
Bele, MY, Sonwa, DJ & Tiani, A-M 2015, Adapting the Congo Basin forests management to climate change: Linkages among biodiversity, forest loss, and human well-being. Forest Policy and Economics, 50: 1-10.
Booth, TH 2018, Species distribution modelling tools and databases to assist managing forests under climate change. Forest Ecology and Management, 430: 196-203.
Bussotti, F, Pollastrini, M, Holland, V & Brüggemann, W 2015, Functional traits and adaptive capacity of European forests to climate change. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 111: 91-113.
Crowther, TW, Glick, HB, Covey, KR, Bettigole, C, Maynard, DS, Thomas, SM & Bradford, MA 2015, Mapping tree density at a global scale. Nature, 525: 201.
D’Amato, AW, Bradford, JB, Fraver, S & Palik, BJ 2011, Forest management for mitigation and adaptation to climate change: Insights from long-term silviculture experiments. Forest Ecology and Management, 262: 803-816.
Ding, H, Chiabai, A, Silvestri, S & Nunes, PALD 2016, Valuing climate change impacts on European forest ecosystems. Ecosystem Services, 18: 141-153.
Ding, H & Nunes, PALD 2014, Modeling the links between biodiversity, ecosystem services and human wellbeing in the context of climate change: Results from an econometric analysis of the European forest ecosystems. Ecological Economics, 97: 60-73.
García-López, JM & Allué, C 2012, A phytoclimatic-based indicator for assessing the inherent responsitivity of the European forests to climate change. Ecological Indicators, 18: 73-81.
Halofsky, JE, Andrews-Key, SA, Edwards, JE, Johnston, MH, Nelson, HW, Peterson, DL & Williamson, TB 2018, Adapting forest management to climate change: The state of science and applications in Canada and the United States. Forest Ecology and Management, 421: 84-97.
Jamalian Pour, M & Saqafi, A 2012, An Investigation of Effect of Disclosure Informational Noise on Risk and Return in Tehran Stock Exchange. Journal of Accounting and Auditing Review, 19: 31-54.
Johnston, M & Hesseln, H 2012, Climate change adaptive capacity of the Canadian forest sector. Forest Policy and Economics, 24: 29-34.
Klapwijk, MJ, Boberg, J, Bergh, J, Bishop, K, Björkman, C, Ellison, D & Mårald, E 2018, Capturing complexity: Forests, decision-making and climate change mitigation action. Global Environmental Change, 52: 238-247.
Laakkonen, A, Zimmerer, R, Kähkönen, T, Hujala, T, Takala, T & Tikkanen, J 2018, Forest owners' attitudes toward pro-climate and climate-responsive forest management. Forest Policy and Economics, 87: 1-10.
Lawrence, A & Nicoll, B 2016, Chapter 33 - Climate impacts and adaptations in forest management. In TM Letcher (Ed.), Climate Change (2nd Ed.) Boston: Elsevier, pp. 585-594.
Lindner, M, Maroschek, M, Netherer, S, Kremer, A, Barbati, A, Garcia-Gonzalo, J & Marchetti, M 2010, Climate change impacts, adaptive capacity, and vulnerability of European forest ecosystems. Forest Ecology and Management, 259: 698-709.
Marchi, E, Chung, W, Visser, R, Abbas, D, Nordfjell, T, Mederski, PS & Laschi, A 2018, Sustainable Forest Operations (SFO): A new paradigm in a changing world and climate. Science of The Total Environment, 634: 1385-1397.
Martens, P, Rotmans, J & Groot, Dd 2003, Biodiversity: luxury or necessity? Global Environmental Change, 13: 75-81.
Millar, CI, Stephenson, NL & Stephens, SL 2007, Climate change and forests of the future: managing in the face of uncertainty. Ecological Application, 17: 2145-2151.
Mori, AS, Spies, TA, Sudmeier-Rieux, K & Andrade, A 2013, Reframing ecosystem management in the era of climate change: Issues and knowledge from forests. Biological Conservation, 165: 115-127.
Mostegl, NM, Pröbstl-Haider, U, Jandl, R & Haider, W 2017, Targeting climate change adaptation strategies to small-scale private forest owners. Forest Policy and Economics, 112: 102-111.
Muller, J, Nagel, M & Palik, J 2019, Forest adaptation strategies aimed at climate change: Assessing the performance of future climate-adapted tree species in a northern Minnesota pine ecosystem. Forest Ecology and Management, 451:1-10.
Nelson, HW, Williamson, TB, Macaulay, C & Mahony, C 2016, Assessing the potential for forest management practitioner participation in climate change adaptation. Forest Ecology and Management, 360: 388-399.
Ordóñez Barona, C 2015, Adopting public values and climate change adaptation strategies in urban forest management: A review and analysis of the relevant literature. Journal of Environmental Management, 164: 215-221.
Puettmann, KJ, Coates, KD & Messier, CC 2009, A critique of silviculture: Managing for complexity. Island Press, Washington, DC.
Rezende, CL, Fraga, JS, Sessa, JC, de Souza, GVP, Assad, ED & Scarano, FR 2018, Land use policy as a driver for climate change adaptation: A case in the domain of the Brazilian Atlantic forest. Land Use Policy, 72: 563-569.
Seidl, R & Lexer, MJ 2013, Forest management under climatic and social uncertainty: Trade-offs between reducing climate change impacts and fostering adaptive capacity. Journal of Environmental Management, 114: 461-469.
Shannon, D, Swanston, W, Janowiak, M, Handler, S, Schmitt, K, Brandt, L, Butler- Leopold, P, Ontl, T 2019, Adaptation strategies and approaches for forested watersheds. Climate Services, 13: 51-64.
Sousa-Silva, R, Verbist, B, Lomba, Â, Valent, P, Suškevičs, M, Picard, O&  Muys, B 2018, Adapting forest management to climate change in Europe: Linking perceptions to adaptive responses. Forest Policy and Economics, 90: 22-30.
Sow, MD, Allona, I, Ambroise, C, Conde, D, Fichot, R, Gribkova, S & Maury, S 2018, Chapter Twelve - Epigenetics in Forest Trees: State of the Art and Potential Implications for Breeding and Management in a Context of Climate Change. In M. Mirouze, E. Bucher, & P. Gallusci (Eds.), Advances in botanical research, Academic Press,  Vol. 88, pp. 387-453.
Steenberg, JWN, Duinker, PN & Bush, PG 2011, Exploring adaptation to climate change in the forests of central Nova Scotia, Canada. Forest Ecology and Management, 262: 2316-2327.
Thiele, JC, Nuske, RS, Ahrends, B, Panferov, O, Albert, M, Staupendahl, K &  Saborowski, J 2017, Climate change impact assessment-A simulation experiment with Norway spruce for a forest district in Central Europe. Ecological Modelling, 346:30-47.
Van Gameren, V & Zaccai, E 2015, Private forest owners facing climate change in Wallonia: Adaptive capacity and practices. Environmental Science & Policy, 52: 51-60.
Vazifedust, H, SaeedNia, HR & Kashani, S 2010, Impact study of trade name development on service companies mental position: case study, pasargad banks and its pasargad trade name subsidiaries service companies in Tehran. Journal of Industrial Strategic Management (Pajouheshgar), 6: 58-47 [In Persian].
Vilà-Cabrera, A, Coll, L, Martínez-Vilalta, J & Retana, J 2018, Forest management for adaptation to climate change in the Mediterranean basin: A synthesis of evidence. Forest Ecology and Management, 407: 16-22.
Wellstead, A, Rayner, J, & Howlett, M 2014, Beyond the black box: Forest sector vulnerability assessments and adaptation to climate change in North America. Environmental Science & Policy, 35: 109-116.
Yousefpour, R, Didion, M, Jacobsen, JB, Meilby, H, Hengeveld, GM, Schelhaas, M-J & Thorsen, BJ 2015, Modelling of adaptation to climate change and decision-makers behaviours for the Veluwe forest area in the Netherlands. Forest Policy and Economics, 54: 1-10.
Yousefpour, R & Hanewinkel, M 2009, Modelling of forest conversion planning with an adaptive simulation-optimization approach and simultaneous consideration of the values of timber, carbon and biodiversity. Ecological Economics, 68:1711-1722.
Yousefpour, R, Temperli, C, Bugmann, H, Elkin, C, Hanewinkel, M, Meilby, H & Thorsen, BJ 2013, Updating beliefs and combining evidence in adaptive forest management under climate change: A case study of Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst) in the Black Forest, Germany. Journal of Environmental Management, 122: 56-64.