Environmental services provided from riparian forests in the nordic countries

Per Gundersen; Ari Laurén; Leena Finér; Eva Ring; Harri Koivusalo; Magne Sætersdal; Jan Olov Weslien; Bjarni D. Sigurdsson; Lars Högbom; Jukka Laine; Karin Hansen

doi:10.1007/s13280-010-0073-9

Environmental services provided from riparian forests in the nordic countries

Per Gundersen^*, Ari Laurén, Leena Finér, Eva Ring, Harri Koivusalo, Magne Sætersdal, Jan Olov Weslien, Bjarni D. Sigurdsson, Lars Högbom, Jukka Laine, Karin Hansen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Agricultural University of Iceland

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

77 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Riparian forests (RF) growing along streams, rivers and lakes comprise more than 2% of the forest area in the Nordic countries (considering a 10 m wide zone from the water body). They have special ecological functions in the landscape. They receive water and nutrients from the upslope areas, are important habitats for biodiversity, have large soil carbon stores, but may emit more greenhouse gases (GHG) than the uplands. In this article, we present a review of the environmental services related to water protection, terrestrial biodiversity, carbon storage and greenhouse gas dynamics provided by RF in the Nordic countries. We discuss the benefits and trade-offs when leaving the RF as a buffer against the impacts from upland forest management, in particular the impacts of clear cutting. Forest buffers are effective in protecting water quality and aquatic life, and have positive effects on terrestrial biodiversity, particularly when broader than 40 m, whereas the effect on the greenhouse gas exchange is unclear.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	555-566
Number of pages	12
Journal	Ambio
Volume	39
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0073-9
Publication status	Published - Dec 2010

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This article is the result of an activity in the Centre of Advanced Research on Environmental Services (CAR-ES—Project number SNS-CAR 02/2005) supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers through SamNordisk Skogforskning (SNS). The study was also in part supported by national funds: the Swedish contribution through the multi-disciplinary research programme ‘Future Forests’; the Norwegian contribution by the project ‘Biodiversity in Norwegian Forests’ financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food; and the Icelandic contribution by the ForStreams project.

Other keywords

Biodiversity
Clear cutting
Greenhouse gas exchange
Riparian forest buffer
Surface water quality

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10.1007/s13280-010-0073-9

Cite this

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title = "Environmental services provided from riparian forests in the nordic countries",

abstract = "Riparian forests (RF) growing along streams, rivers and lakes comprise more than 2% of the forest area in the Nordic countries (considering a 10 m wide zone from the water body). They have special ecological functions in the landscape. They receive water and nutrients from the upslope areas, are important habitats for biodiversity, have large soil carbon stores, but may emit more greenhouse gases (GHG) than the uplands. In this article, we present a review of the environmental services related to water protection, terrestrial biodiversity, carbon storage and greenhouse gas dynamics provided by RF in the Nordic countries. We discuss the benefits and trade-offs when leaving the RF as a buffer against the impacts from upland forest management, in particular the impacts of clear cutting. Forest buffers are effective in protecting water quality and aquatic life, and have positive effects on terrestrial biodiversity, particularly when broader than 40 m, whereas the effect on the greenhouse gas exchange is unclear.",

keywords = "Biodiversity, Clear cutting, Greenhouse gas exchange, Riparian forest buffer, Surface water quality",

author = "Per Gundersen and Ari Laur{\'e}n and Leena Fin{\'e}r and Eva Ring and Harri Koivusalo and Magne S{\ae}tersdal and Weslien, {Jan Olov} and Sigurdsson, {Bjarni D.} and Lars H{\"o}gbom and Jukka Laine and Karin Hansen",

note = "Funding Information: This article is the result of an activity in the Centre of Advanced Research on Environmental Services (CAR-ES—Project number SNS-CAR 02/2005) supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers through SamNordisk Skogforskning (SNS). The study was also in part supported by national funds: the Swedish contribution through the multi-disciplinary research programme {\textquoteleft}Future Forests{\textquoteright}; the Norwegian contribution by the project {\textquoteleft}Biodiversity in Norwegian Forests{\textquoteright} financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food; and the Icelandic contribution by the ForStreams project.",

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AU - Laurén, Ari

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AU - Ring, Eva

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AU - Sætersdal, Magne

AU - Weslien, Jan Olov

AU - Sigurdsson, Bjarni D.

AU - Högbom, Lars

AU - Laine, Jukka

AU - Hansen, Karin

N1 - Funding Information: This article is the result of an activity in the Centre of Advanced Research on Environmental Services (CAR-ES—Project number SNS-CAR 02/2005) supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers through SamNordisk Skogforskning (SNS). The study was also in part supported by national funds: the Swedish contribution through the multi-disciplinary research programme ‘Future Forests’; the Norwegian contribution by the project ‘Biodiversity in Norwegian Forests’ financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food; and the Icelandic contribution by the ForStreams project.

PY - 2010/12

Y1 - 2010/12

N2 - Riparian forests (RF) growing along streams, rivers and lakes comprise more than 2% of the forest area in the Nordic countries (considering a 10 m wide zone from the water body). They have special ecological functions in the landscape. They receive water and nutrients from the upslope areas, are important habitats for biodiversity, have large soil carbon stores, but may emit more greenhouse gases (GHG) than the uplands. In this article, we present a review of the environmental services related to water protection, terrestrial biodiversity, carbon storage and greenhouse gas dynamics provided by RF in the Nordic countries. We discuss the benefits and trade-offs when leaving the RF as a buffer against the impacts from upland forest management, in particular the impacts of clear cutting. Forest buffers are effective in protecting water quality and aquatic life, and have positive effects on terrestrial biodiversity, particularly when broader than 40 m, whereas the effect on the greenhouse gas exchange is unclear.

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KW - Greenhouse gas exchange

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KW - Surface water quality

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Environmental services provided from riparian forests in the nordic countries

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Other keywords

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