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Plantation forests and biodiversity: oxymoron or opportunity?

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Abstract

Losses of natural and semi-natural forests, mostly to agriculture, are a significant concern for biodiversity. Against this trend, the area of intensively managed plantation forests increases, and there is much debate about the implications for biodiversity. We provide a comprehensive review of the function of plantation forests as habitat compared with other land cover, examine the effects on biodiversity at the landscape scale, and synthesise context-specific effects of plantation forestry on biodiversity. Natural forests are usually more suitable as habitat for a wider range of native forest species than plantation forests but there is abundant evidence that plantation forests can provide valuable habitat, even for some threatened and endangered species, and may contribute to the conservation of biodiversity by various mechanisms. In landscapes where forest is the natural land cover, plantation forests may represent a low-contrast matrix, and afforestation of agricultural land can assist conservation by providing complementary forest habitat, buffering edge effects, and increasing connectivity. In contrast, conversion of natural forests and afforestation of natural non-forest land is detrimental. However, regional deforestation pressure for agricultural development may render plantation forestry a ‘lesser evil’ if forest managers protect indigenous vegetation remnants. We provide numerous context-specific examples and case studies to assist impact assessments of plantation forestry, and we offer a range of management recommendations. This paper also serves as an introduction and background paper to this special issue on the effects of plantation forests on biodiversity.

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Notes

  1. “Biodiversity and Conservation Biology in Plantation Forests.” Bordeaux, France, 27–29 April 2005. “Biodiversity and Plantation Forests—Oxymoron or Opportunity”, Technical Session at the XXII IUFRO World Congress—Brisbane, Australia, 8 August 2005. “Ecosystem Goods and Services from Planted Forests.” Bilbao, Spain, 3–7 October 2006.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all authors for their contributions to this special issue and the three conferences or conference sessions that spawned this initiative. Many thanks also to David Hawksworth (Editor of Biodiversity and Conservation), Raphael Didham (Associate Editor), and all the staff in the Springer journal office who provided invaluable support with this special issue. This article was partly funded by the New Zealand Foundation for Research Science and Technology (contract C04X0214).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute), P.O. Box 29237, Christchurch, 8540, New Zealand

    Eckehard G. Brockerhoff

  2. INRA, UMR1202 Biodiversity, Genes & Communities, Laboratory of Forest Entomology and Biodiversity, 69 Route d’Arcachon, 33612, Cestas Cedex, France

    Hervé Jactel

  3. U.S. Forest Service, Research & Development, 4th floor, RP-C, 1601 North Kent Street, Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

    John A. Parrotta

  4. Forest Research, Northern Research Station, Roslin, Midlothian, EH25 9SY, UK

    Christopher P. Quine

  5. The World Conservation Union (IUCN), Forest Conservation Programme, 28 rue Mauverney, 1196, Gland, Switzerland

    Jeffrey Sayer

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  1. Eckehard G. Brockerhoff
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  2. Hervé Jactel
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  3. John A. Parrotta
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  4. Christopher P. Quine
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  5. Jeffrey Sayer
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Correspondence to Eckehard G. Brockerhoff.

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An ‘oxymoron’ is a figure of speech using an intended combination of two apparently contradictory terms.

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Brockerhoff, E.G., Jactel, H., Parrotta, J.A. et al. Plantation forests and biodiversity: oxymoron or opportunity?. Biodivers Conserv 17, 925–951 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9380-x

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