Ecology, Management and Conservation of Austral Cool-Temperate Forests: The Role of Long-Term Research Sites

GUILLERMO MARTINEZ PASTUR; CHRISTOPHER B. ANDERSON

Bariloche

Conferencia; 5th Southern Connections Conference; 2010

5th Southern Connections Conference

Purpose: Maintaining the biological diversity and ecological services of native forests requires not only avoiding their conversion to agriculture or plantations, but also using specifically chosen harvesting practices, grazing patterns and fire regimes as part of their management, which can be guided by the pattern and intensity of natural disturbance with which each forest type has evolved. In this context, long-term socio-ecological research is needed to assure management and conservation outcomes that integrate both ecological and social criteria for sustainability. This symposium will cover the outcomes and management implications of silvicultural and ecological cycles in the southern forests of Tasmania (Australia) and Tierra del Fuego (Chile and Argentina), including those forests with a Nothofagus component as well as Eucalyptus or other genera. It will compare the impacts of traditional and new harvesting practices, and presentations will draw on the role of long-term ecological experiments and research sites in developing the information base required for ecosystem management and conservation. Thus, the symposium will be a networking opportunity for researchers working at long-term research sites in the Southern continents. Presentations (oral and poster) will cover biological inventory and taxonomy, managing biodiversity research and data, the specific challenges of conducting long-term research, and the path by which research results can be translated into management, conservation and/or sustainable development practices. Justification Much of the timber harvesting in Tasmania and southern Patagonia is carried out in native forests. These forests are rich in globally unique biodiversity and often contain significant old-growth elements. A sustainable forest management framework requires that the applied silviculture practices conserve, protect and improve forest biodiversity, while maintaining an economically viable industry. Establishing and monitoring long-term research plots and demonstration sites in both regions has led to: (i) definition of baseline conditions and the impacts of different silvicultural treatments, (ii) new harvesting systems that maintain yield while improving conservation values (e.g., variable retention systems and silvopastoral systems), and (iii) a wide spectrum of monitoring methodologies. This thematic has the potential to address regional socio-economic challenges while maintaining an ecologically diverse forest landscape with substantial old-growth features. The proposed sessions would contribute to addressing these challenges through: (i) providing a state-of-the-art synthesis of research, (ii) identifying research gaps not covered to date, (iii) providing views and examples of the interplay in modern forestry between biodiversity values and harvesting needs, (iv) demonstrating the contribution of long-term sites to the research, management and conservation of forested ecosystems, and (v) comparing forest conservation and management initiatives from different Southern Hemisphere countries that present contrasting realities but a common need for sustainable forested ecosystem management.