RT Journal Article
T1 Towards a common approach to defining forest management intensity
A1 Lestido Cardama, Yago
A1 Rodríguez Soalleiro, Roque
A1 González Benecke, Carlos A.
A1 Tucker, Gabriel
A1 Sevilla Martínez, Froilán
A1 Cañellas, Isabel
A1 Oliveira, Nerea
A1 Alberdi, Iciar
A1 Montes Pita, Fernando
A1 Molina Valero, Juan Alberto
A1 González López, Santiago
A1 Diéguez Aranda, Ulises
A1 Pérez Cruzado, César
K1 Conceptualization
K1 Financial resources
K1 Havest intensity
K1 Inputs
K1 Management scheme
K1 Time spent
AB Forests play a crucial role in regulating the global climate, preserving biodiversity and providing essential ecosystem services; however, in the context of global change and anthropogenic pressures, it becomes ever more important to understand, evaluate and harmonize human interventions in forest ecosystems. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of forest management practices is essential for promoting the sustainability and resilience of these systems. To this end, this study proposes a new index for assessing forest management intensity (FMI), which classifies forest management schemes on the basis of their demands. The values of the index are expected to range from 0, representing no management, to 3, indicating high-intensity management. The index comprises three factors: the degree of extractive impact on the ecosystem, the financial resources required and the input required from forest managers. In addition to conceptualization of the index, this work also presents a case study in which different examples of management schemes are evaluated, and the results confirm that management schemes requiring higher input, greater care and higher productive capacity yield higher values of the index than alternatives with longer rotations or lower productivity. Moreover, multifunctional systems demand more management input than traditional production systems for the same species. Furthermore, the study highlights that even old-growth forests, while minimally managed, require some level of attention, as abandonment of forests is associated with zero-intensity management. In conclusion, the FMI proves to be a valuable tool for assessing and comparing forest management practices at multiple scales (regional, national, and European), while highlighting the need for harmonized indicators to support coherent and informed decision-making in forest policy and sustainability planning. It is also possible to use each factor independently to provide insights into optimizing management strategies, by characterizing the management practices applied, and as a useful guide to developing more sustainable forestry approaches.
PB Elsevier
SN 0378-1127
YR 2025
FD 2025-09-15
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/42877
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/42877
LA eng
NO Lestido-Cardama, Y., Rodríguez-Soalleiro, R., Gonzalez-Benecke, C. A., Tucker, G., Sevilla-Martínez, F., Cañellas, I., Oliveira, N., Alberdi, I., Montes, F., Molina-Valero, J. A., González-López, S., Diéguez-Aranda, U., & Pérez-Cruzado, C. (2025). Towards a common approach to defining forest management intensity. Forest Ecology and Management, 597, 123176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123176
NO This work was funded by the CONGESTION project (PID2020-119204RB-C22) – Conservation vs management. Definition of indices for the characterization of the intensity of management and provision of ecosystem services: monitoring and optimization by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Project: Design of forest monitoring systems at a regional scale – Consolidation 2020 - Modalidade C – Projects of excellence (ED431F-2020/02). YLC is grateful for the funding provided by the predoctoral assistance program of the Xunta de Galicia 2024 (Consellería de Educación, Ciencia, Universidades e Formación Profesional - ED481A-2024-015). CPC is grateful for receipt of a Ramón y Cajal grant (RYC2018-024939-I). JAMV is conducting research within the framework of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions - COFUND project, co-financed by the European Union (MERIT - Grant Agreement No. 101081195).
DS Minerva
RD 4 may 2026