Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) was introduced as a prescriptive framework to guide forest management under climate change, aiming to integrate climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives into forest planning and practice. While the concept has gained increasing international attention, its on-ground implementation and integration into national and regional strategies remain limited. The lack of evidence-based synthesis on CSF strategies and global applications further exacerbates this challenge. This study employs a bibliometric analysis and systematic review to synthesise existing literature on CSF, examining its role in sustainable forest management, enhancing forest resilience, and climate adaptation and mitigation. Using Web of Science metadata ( n = 86), we assess the temporal, thematic, and geographic evolution of CSF research, alongside its development and collaboration networks. We also review datasets from multiple databases to examine different CSF approaches, policy contexts, and regional applications. Our findings indicate that CSF gained formal recognition around 2017, with publications increasing sharply after 2020, largely driven by European policies and institutional contributions. Europe accounts for nearly 45% of the CSF publications, although the United States leads in overall research output. Despite this growth, we observe substantial research and implementation gaps, especially in developing regions. CSF research fosters stronger regional collaborations than international partnerships, reflecting the geographic concentration of studies. We categorise CSF strategies into key areas, discussing both their trade-offs and opportunities. We also analyse how aligning climate and forestry policies can support more robust, integrated, and effective approaches. However, the current carbon-centric focus must be balanced with ecological and socio-economic dimensions to ensure sustainability. CSF strategies should also incorporate local knowledge, community-led models, and context-specific solutions, while promoting policy coherence across scales to maximise implementation.

Light is essential for plant growth. The rate at which a plant grows depends on the light it receives. This study was carried out to observe the growth of Treculia africana seedlings under different light intensities (100%, 75%, 50%, and 25%) and mycorrhiza inoculation (Ectomycorrhiza, Endomycorrhiza, and topsoil {control}) with five replicates in each treatment. The experiment was laid out in a 3×4 factorial in CRD, and data were collected fortnightly for twelve (12) weeks. Data were subjected to analysis of variance in SAS, and the significant mean was separated using Fisher’s LSD. The result showed that the seedlings inoculated with ectomycorrhizal had the highest plant height (15.08), leaf area (26.90), number of leaves (5.75), collar diameter (2.61), fresh shoot weight (3.86), root weight (3.86), fresh weight (7.44), dry root weight (1.53), dry weight (2.87), absolute growth rate (0.34) and relative growth rate (0.39) which was significantly different from other treatment. Seedlings exposed to 75% and 25% light intensity had the highest performances compared to seedlings exposed to different light intensities. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the seedlings’ physiological variables assessed under the interaction of different light intensities and mycorrhiza inoculation. The seedlings inoculated with ectomycorrhizal and raised in 25% light intensity had the overall highest performance in all the growth variables assessed. Therefore, this study recommends raising Treculia africana seedlings with the inoculation of ectomycorrhizal and under shade to enhance early growth and massive nursery production.

Tree hydraulic traits offer useful insights into species- and ecosystem-level responses to droughts, which threaten forests globally. However, hydraulic traits are poorly described in floodplain ecosystems like bottomland hardwood (BLH) forests in the southeastern U.S.A. A tradeoff between flood tolerance and drought tolerance suggests that BLH tree species may have hydraulic traits that make them vulnerable to droughts. To assess this, we measured 20 tree species in a BLH forest in Louisiana for their water potential at 50% loss of maximum stem hydraulic conductivity (P ₅₀ ), minimum leaf water potential (Ѱ _min ), and hydraulic safety margin based on Ѱ _min (HSM _Ѱmin ). We tested whether BLH species exhibit: (1) less-negative P ₅₀ values than upland-temperate species; (2) HSM _Ѱmin values similar to those in upland-forests globally; and (3) associations between P ₅₀ , HSM _Ѱmin , drought-tolerance scores, and growth rates. BLH species had wide interspecific trait variation (P ₅₀ : -4.21 to -1.09 MPa, Ѱ _min : -3.60 to -1.23 MPa, HSM _Ѱmin : -1.4 to 1.89 MPa). Contrary to expectations, BLH species had similar P ₅₀ values to upland-temperate species. While the species-level average HSM _Ѱmin was low (0.03 MPa), it was consistent with other ecosystems, indicating potential vulnerability to drought. However, high community-level hydraulic variability (i.e., the community-weighted standard deviation of HSM _Ѱmin = 0.78 MPa) suggests that the forest is potentially buffered against drought. We found no significant relationships between hydraulic traits and drought tolerance scores or growth rates. Overall, BLH forest trees exhibit hydraulic traits comparable to those of upland systems, which may confer similar capacity to buffer against droughts.