Continuous Cover Forestry: Theories, Concepts and Implementation

Gain expertise in the development of healthier, more sustainable forests with this indispensable guide

Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) is an approach to forest management with over a century of history, one which applies ecological principles to the project of developing biologically diverse, structurally complex forests. Long used as the standard forest management method in Central Europe, CCF is generating renewed interest globally for its potential to develop and sustain forests that can withstand climate change impacts, maintain forest biodiversity in the face of major ecological challenges and offer better recreation experience. There is an increasingly urgent need for forest scientists and policymakers to be familiar with the toolkit provided by CCF.

Continuous Cover Forestry: Theories, Concepts, and Implementation provides a thorough, up-to-date introduction to the theory and practice of CCF. Beginning with an overview of the method’s history and its foundational principles, the book provides detailed guidance for applying CCF methods to a range of ecological scenarios and forest types. The result is a clear, comprehensive portrait of this increasingly effective set of forestry tools.

Continuous Cover Forestry readers will also find:

• Case studies throughout showing CCF at work in real-world forests
• Detailed discussion of topics such as forest structure, transformation, silvicultural systems, training, carbon forestry, conservation and more
• R code ready to take and apply
• Simple, adaptable models for deriving quantitative guidelines for CCF woodlands

Continuous Cover Forestry is ideal for students, scholars and practitioners of forest science, forest ecology, conservation, and environmental management, as well as policymakers dealing with forestry or climate policy.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

2 How Do I get Started with CCF? 56

3 Individual-Based Forest Management 108

4 Forest Structure – The Key to CCF 133

5 Interacting with Forest Structure 179

6 Demographic Equilibrium and Guidance Modelling 242

7 Putting it All Together: Implementing CCF for Different Management Purposes 289

8 Training for CCF 332