Biophysical Accounting of Forests’ Value under Different Management Regimes: Conservation vs. Exploitation

Paolo Vassallo, Claudia Turcato, Ilaria Rigo, Claudia Scopesi, Andrea Costa, Matteo Barcella, Giulia Dapueto, Mauro Mariotti and Chiara Paoli
Additional contact information
Paolo Vassallo: DISTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, 16132 Genova, Italy
Claudia Turcato: CESBIN S.r.l. Via San Vincenzo 2, 16121 Genova, Italy
Ilaria Rigo: DISTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, 16132 Genova, Italy
Claudia Scopesi: GEOSCAPE Coop. Soc. Via Varese 2, 16122 Genova, Italy
Andrea Costa: DISTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, 16132 Genova, Italy
Matteo Barcella: Section of Landscape Ecology, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Giulia Dapueto: DISTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, 16132 Genova, Italy
Mauro Mariotti: DISTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, 16132 Genova, Italy
Chiara Paoli: DISTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, 16132 Genova, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-20

Abstract: Forest ecosystems are important providers of ecosystem functions and services belonging to four categories: supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services. Forest management, generally focused on timber production, has consequences on the ability of the system to keep providing services. Silviculture, in fact, may affect the ecological structures and processes from which services arise. In particular, the removal of biomass causes a radical change in the stocks and flows of energy characterizing the system. Aiming at the assessment of differences in stored natural capital and ecosystem functions and services provision, three differently managed temperate forests of common beech ( Fagus sylvatica ) were considered: (1) a forest in semi-natural condition, (2) a forest carefully managed to get timber in a sustainable way and (3) a forest exploited without management. Natural capital and ecosystem functions and services are here accounted in biophysical terms. Specifically, all the resources used up to create the biomass (stock) and maintain the production (flow) of the different components of the forest system were calculated. Both stored emergy and empower decrease with increasing human pressure on the forest, resulting in a loss of natural capital and a diminished ability of the natural system to contribute to human well-being in terms of ecosystem services provision.

Keywords: Fagus sylvatica; emergy accounting; natural capital; ecosystem functions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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