Reconstructing European Forest Management from 1600 to 2010

Reconstructing European Forest Management from 1600 to 2010. McGrath, M. J., Luyssaert, S., Meyfroidt, P., Kaplan, J. O., Bürgi, M., Chen, Y., Erb, K., Gimmi, U., McInerney, D., Naudts, K., Otto, J., Pasztor, F., Ryder, J., Schelhaas, M. J., & Valade, A. Biogeosciences, 12(14):4291–4316, July, 2015.
doi abstract bibtex

Because of the slow accumulation and long residence time of carbon in biomass and soils, the present state and future dynamics of temperate forests are influenced by management that took place centuries to millennia ago. Humans have exploited the forests of Europe for fuel, construction materials and fodder for the entire Holocene. In recent centuries, economic and demographic trends led to increases in both forest area and management intensity across much of Europe. In order to quantify the effects of these changes in forests and to provide a baseline for studies on future land-cover-climate interactions and biogeochemical cycling, we created a temporally and spatially resolved reconstruction of European forest management from 1600 to 2010. For the period 1600-1828, we took a supply-demand approach, in which supply was estimated on the basis of historical annual wood increment and land cover reconstructions. We made demand estimates by multiplying population with consumption factors for construction materials, household fuelwood, industrial food processing and brewing, metallurgy, and salt production. For the period 1829-2010, we used a supply-driven backcasting method based on national and regional statistics of forest age structure from the second half of the 20th century. Our reconstruction reproduces the most important changes in forest management between 1600 and 2010: (1) an increase of 593 000 km2 in conifers at the expense of deciduous forest (decreasing by 538 000 km2); (2) a 612 000 km2 decrease in unmanaged forest; (3) a 152 000 km2 decrease in coppice management; (4) a 818 000 km2 increase in high-stand management; and (5) the rise and fall of litter raking, which at its peak in 1853 resulted in the removal of 50 Tg dry litter per year. [Excerpt: Conclusions] By making use of land use reconstructions, present-day vegetation maps, tree species maps, expansion factors and forest age reconstructions, we created general (GEN-MAP) and model-specific (ORC-MAP) historical forest management maps. Where the GEN-MAPS can serve as a starting point for other modeling groups to create their own maps, the ORC-MAPS were created to be used with the ORCHIDEECAN land surface model. The ORC-MAPS assign a management strategy (unmanaged, high-stand management or coppice management) to each forest PFT in Europe. Our reconstruction reproduces the most important changes in forest management between 1600 and 2010: (1) an increase of 593 000 km2 in conifers at the expense of deciduous forest (decreasing by 538 000 km2); (2) a 612 000 km2 decrease in unmanaged forest; (3) a 152 000 km2 decrease in coppice management; (4) a 818 000 km2 increase in high-stand management, and (5) the rise and fall of litter raking, which at its peak in 1853 removed 50 Tg dry litter per year.

@article{mcgrathReconstructingEuropeanForest2015,
  title = {Reconstructing {{European}} Forest Management from 1600 to 2010},
  author = {McGrath, M. J. and Luyssaert, S. and Meyfroidt, P. and Kaplan, J. O. and B{\"u}rgi, M. and Chen, Y. and Erb, K. and Gimmi, U. and McInerney, Daniel and Naudts, K. and Otto, J. and Pasztor, F. and Ryder, J. and Schelhaas, M. J. and Valade, A.},
  year = {2015},
  month = jul,
  volume = {12},
  pages = {4291--4316},
  issn = {1726-4189},
  doi = {10.5194/bg-12-4291-2015},
  abstract = {Because of the slow accumulation and long residence time of carbon in biomass and soils, the present state and future dynamics of temperate forests are influenced by management that took place centuries to millennia ago. Humans have exploited the forests of Europe for fuel, construction materials and fodder for the entire Holocene. In recent centuries, economic and demographic trends led to increases in both forest area and management intensity across much of Europe. In order to quantify the effects of these changes in forests and to provide a baseline for studies on future land-cover-climate interactions and biogeochemical cycling, we created a temporally and spatially resolved reconstruction of European forest management from 1600 to 2010. For the period 1600-1828, we took a supply-demand approach, in which supply was estimated on the basis of historical annual wood increment and land cover reconstructions. We made demand estimates by multiplying population with consumption factors for construction materials, household fuelwood, industrial food processing and brewing, metallurgy, and salt production. For the period 1829-2010, we used a supply-driven backcasting method based on national and regional statistics of forest age structure from the second half of the 20th century. Our reconstruction reproduces the most important changes in forest management between 1600 and 2010: (1) an increase of 593 000 km2 in conifers at the expense of deciduous forest (decreasing by 538 000 km2); (2) a 612 000 km2 decrease in unmanaged forest; (3) a 152 000 km2 decrease in coppice management; (4) a 818 000 km2 increase in high-stand management; and (5) the rise and fall of litter raking, which at its peak in 1853 resulted in the removal of 50 Tg dry litter per year.

[Excerpt: Conclusions] By making use of land use reconstructions, present-day vegetation maps, tree species maps, expansion factors and forest age reconstructions, we created general (GEN-MAP) and model-specific (ORC-MAP) historical forest management maps. Where the GEN-MAPS can serve as a starting point for other modeling groups to create their own maps, the ORC-MAPS were created to be used with the ORCHIDEECAN land surface model. The ORC-MAPS assign a management strategy (unmanaged, high-stand management or coppice management) to each forest PFT in Europe. Our reconstruction reproduces the most important changes in forest management between 1600 and 2010: (1) an increase of 593 000 km2 in conifers at the expense of deciduous forest (decreasing by 538 000 km2); (2) a 612 000 km2 decrease in unmanaged forest; (3) a 152 000 km2 decrease in coppice management; (4) a 818 000 km2 increase in high-stand management, and (5) the rise and fall of litter raking, which at its peak in 1853 removed 50 Tg dry litter per year.},
  journal = {Biogeosciences},
  keywords = {*imported-from-citeulike-INRMM,~INRMM-MiD:c-13928166,~to-add-doi-URL,anthropogenic-changes,coppice,europe,forest-management,forest-resources,historical-perspective,uncertainty},
  lccn = {INRMM-MiD:c-13928166},
  number = {14}
}

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