Forest-clearing to create early-successional habitats: Questionable benefits, significant costs
A campaign is underway to clear established forests and expand early-successional habitats—also called young forest, pre-forest, early seral, or open habitats—with the intention of benefitting specific species. Coordinated by federal and state wildlife agencies, and funded with public money, public...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-01-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Forests and Global Change |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2022.1073677/full |
| _version_ | 1797957736185462784 |
|---|---|
| author | Michael J. Kellett Joan E. Maloof Susan A. Masino Lee E. Frelich Edward K. Faison Sunshine L. Brosi David R. Foster |
| author_facet | Michael J. Kellett Joan E. Maloof Susan A. Masino Lee E. Frelich Edward K. Faison Sunshine L. Brosi David R. Foster |
| author_sort | Michael J. Kellett |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A campaign is underway to clear established forests and expand early-successional habitats—also called young forest, pre-forest, early seral, or open habitats—with the intention of benefitting specific species. Coordinated by federal and state wildlife agencies, and funded with public money, public land managers work closely with hunting and forestry interests, conservation organizations, land trusts, and private landowners toward this goal. While forest-clearing has become a major focus in the Northeast and Upper Great Lakes regions of the U.S., far less attention is given to protecting and recovering old-forest ecosystems, the dominant land cover in these regions before European settlement. Herein we provide a discussion of early-successional habitat programs and policies in terms of their origins, in the context of historical baselines, with respect to species’ ranges and abundance, and as they relate to carbon accumulation and ecosystem integrity. Taken together, and in the face of urgent global crises in climate, biodiversity, and human health, we conclude that public land forest and wildlife management programs must be reevaluated to balance the prioritization and funding of early-successional habitat with strong and lasting protection for old-growth and mature forests, and, going forward, must ensure far more robust, unbiased, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:08:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e642a61fa2cd4482aa27608f6f858777 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-893X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:08:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Forests and Global Change |
| spelling | doaj.art-e642a61fa2cd4482aa27608f6f8587772023-01-09T09:24:03ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Forests and Global Change2624-893X2023-01-01510.3389/ffgc.2022.10736771073677Forest-clearing to create early-successional habitats: Questionable benefits, significant costsMichael J. Kellett0Joan E. Maloof1Susan A. Masino2Lee E. Frelich3Edward K. Faison4Sunshine L. Brosi5David R. Foster6RESTORE: The North Woods, Lincoln, MA, United StatesDepartment of Biological Sciences, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD, United StatesTrinity College, Hartford, CT, United StatesDepartment of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology, St. Paul, MN, United StatesHighstead Foundation, Redding, CT, United StatesDepartment of Wildland Resources, Utah State University Eastern, Price, UT, United StatesHarvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA, United StatesA campaign is underway to clear established forests and expand early-successional habitats—also called young forest, pre-forest, early seral, or open habitats—with the intention of benefitting specific species. Coordinated by federal and state wildlife agencies, and funded with public money, public land managers work closely with hunting and forestry interests, conservation organizations, land trusts, and private landowners toward this goal. While forest-clearing has become a major focus in the Northeast and Upper Great Lakes regions of the U.S., far less attention is given to protecting and recovering old-forest ecosystems, the dominant land cover in these regions before European settlement. Herein we provide a discussion of early-successional habitat programs and policies in terms of their origins, in the context of historical baselines, with respect to species’ ranges and abundance, and as they relate to carbon accumulation and ecosystem integrity. Taken together, and in the face of urgent global crises in climate, biodiversity, and human health, we conclude that public land forest and wildlife management programs must be reevaluated to balance the prioritization and funding of early-successional habitat with strong and lasting protection for old-growth and mature forests, and, going forward, must ensure far more robust, unbiased, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2022.1073677/fullnatural climate solutionsforest carbonold-growth forestsyoung forestclearcuttingbiodiversity |
| spellingShingle | Michael J. Kellett Joan E. Maloof Susan A. Masino Lee E. Frelich Edward K. Faison Sunshine L. Brosi David R. Foster Forest-clearing to create early-successional habitats: Questionable benefits, significant costs Frontiers in Forests and Global Change natural climate solutions forest carbon old-growth forests young forest clearcutting biodiversity |
| title | Forest-clearing to create early-successional habitats: Questionable benefits, significant costs |
| title_full | Forest-clearing to create early-successional habitats: Questionable benefits, significant costs |
| title_fullStr | Forest-clearing to create early-successional habitats: Questionable benefits, significant costs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Forest-clearing to create early-successional habitats: Questionable benefits, significant costs |
| title_short | Forest-clearing to create early-successional habitats: Questionable benefits, significant costs |
| title_sort | forest clearing to create early successional habitats questionable benefits significant costs |
| topic | natural climate solutions forest carbon old-growth forests young forest clearcutting biodiversity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2022.1073677/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michaeljkellett forestclearingtocreateearlysuccessionalhabitatsquestionablebenefitssignificantcosts AT joanemaloof forestclearingtocreateearlysuccessionalhabitatsquestionablebenefitssignificantcosts AT susanamasino forestclearingtocreateearlysuccessionalhabitatsquestionablebenefitssignificantcosts AT leeefrelich forestclearingtocreateearlysuccessionalhabitatsquestionablebenefitssignificantcosts AT edwardkfaison forestclearingtocreateearlysuccessionalhabitatsquestionablebenefitssignificantcosts AT sunshinelbrosi forestclearingtocreateearlysuccessionalhabitatsquestionablebenefitssignificantcosts AT davidrfoster forestclearingtocreateearlysuccessionalhabitatsquestionablebenefitssignificantcosts |