Climate Change Adaptation in Forest Management

Climate change adaptation in forest management encompasses the assessment of risks posed by shifting temperature and precipitation regimes, extreme weather events and pest outbreaks, and the implementation of strategies to maintain forest health, productivity and ecosystem services. Central to adaptation is the evaluation of vulnerability, which combines a forest’s exposure to climate stress with its intrinsic sensitivity and capacity to adjust. Practical adaptation measures span from species and provenance selection—introducing drought- and heat-tolerant genotypes—to silvicultural adjustments such as altered thinning regimes, rotation lengths and mixed-species planting. Decision-support tools and structured monitoring frameworks enable managers to anticipate change, track forest responses and refine interventions. At the landscape scale, adaptation also involves coordinating across ownership boundaries, integrating ecosystem-based approaches, and aligning local practices with broader policy and market incentives. Interdisciplinary research increasingly emphasises participatory governance, drawing on local and indigenous knowledge to co-develop flexible, site-specific plans. As climate impacts intensify, robust adaptation in forestry not only sustains timber and biomass production but also secures biodiversity, carbon sequestration and water regulation under future conditions.

Research from Nature Portfolio

No recent Nature Portfolio content available.

Climate Change Adaptation in Forest Management publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in climate change adaptation in forest management across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Adaptive capacity: The ability of a forest ecosystem or management system to adjust to climatic changes and maintain function.

Vulnerability assessment: A process that evaluates exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity to identify areas at greatest risk from climate impacts.

Silviculture: The practice of managing forest regeneration, composition, structure and growth to meet ecological and economic objectives.

Assisted migration: The deliberate movement of species or genotypes to locations projected to become climatically suitable.

Monitoring framework: A structured programme of field measurements and indicators used to track forest health, growth and response to management under changing conditions.

References

1. Climate change impacts and adaptation in forest management: a review. Annals of Forest Science (2015).
2. Close-to-nature forestry and intensive forestry – Two response patterns of forestry professionals towards climate change adaptation. Forest Policy and Economics (2023).
3. Limited influence of air temperature and precipitation on six-year survival and growth of non-native tree species in a Central European multi-site field trial. Forest Ecology and Management (2024).
4. The determinants of adapting forest management practices to climate change: Lessons from a survey of French private forest owners. Forest Policy and Economics (2022).