Do numbers count? Exploring the relation between forest growth and the number of tree species

Seminarium

Do numbers count? Exploring the relation between forest growth and the number of tree species Mer information
Mer information

Do numbers count?

Exploring the relation between forest growth and the number of tree species

→ Läs referat från seminariet här/Read report on the seminar here (in Swedish).

Is forest growth affected by the number of tree species in a stand? According to a Swedish study that was recently published in Nature Communications, a mix of tree species results in the enhancement of several ecosystem services, including greater tree growth.

When it comes to tree growth, the conclusions were surprising. In most cases silvicultural experiments with tree species mixtures have shown no better growth when compared to monocultures. Why is it that scientists come to different conclusions regarding the mixed species effect?

Forest production ecologist Professor Dan Binkley from Colorado State University will introduce this seminar aimed to cast light on different perspectives of mixed forests: how they grow, how they can be managed and what ecosystem services they can deliver apart from biomass production. An important purpose of the seminar is to discuss why different studies in the fields of ecology and silviculture come to different conclusions regarding the effect of mixed forests on forest growth.

 

Program

Moderator   Professor Dan Binkley, Colorado State University

09.30 Coffee and registration
10.00 Welcome
Birgitta Naumburg, Secretary Forestry Section, KSLA
10.05 Introduction
Annika Nordin, Program Director, Future Forests
10.10 The production ecology of forests:  how species differ
Dan Binkley, Professor, Colorado State University
10.40 Mixed forest or monoculture: A question of definition exemplified by data from the Swedish National Forest Inventory
Jonas Fridman, Dr, Head of the Swedish NFI, SLU
11.00 When is more species better? A long and winding ecological history
Jan Bengtsson, Professor, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
11.20 Relationships between ecosystem services and tree species richness
Tord Snäll, Associate Professor, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
11.50 Lunch
12.50 What have we learned from decades of empirical field experiments?
Eric Agestam, Associate Professor, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
13.20 Cause or correlation – why do mixed forests grow better?
Urban Nilsson, Professor, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
13.40 Final comments and discussion
15.00 Coffee