Forest landscape management in response to change: the practicality

J.C. Azevedo et al. (eds.), Forest Landscapes and Global Change: Challenges for Research and Management, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4939-0953-7_9, © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 Abstract In this chapter, we examined forest landscape management from a pragmatic (practical as opposed to idealistic) perspective. The discussion was framed in the context of the landscape: a spatially explicit geographic area consisting of recognizable and characteristic component ecosystems. This perspective provided two opportunities for management: the individual component ecosystems and the mosaic of ecosystems that form the landscape per se. A point of emphasis was that forest management is not a generic concept and requires specifi cation of the purpose of management, the spatial unit(s) being managed, the type of forest being managed, and the projected desired outcome of management. Given these constraints, we considered how the principal drivers of landscape change (disturbances, climate, and domestication) infl uence forest management practices. We concluded with an examination of the concept of designed forest landscapes to provide humanvalued goods and services and identifi ed constraints to achieving this end.