Both in Germany and in China, there is strong expertise regarding the different aspects of forest management, as well as forest products management. Nevertheless, forestry in both countries is facing challenges, some of which are regional, but many of which are shared. Therefore, experts from both countries (Technical University of Munich Germany; Northwest A&F University Yangling, China; Forestry Academy of Shaanxi, China; Thünen Institut, Germany; FEDRC GIZ Forest Policy Facility (Forestry Economics Development and Research Center of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH), Germany; and Center for Natural Forest Protection in Shaanxi, China) met to share their knowledge and deduce recommendations for future multifunctional forest management for the temperate zone. The workshop, held at the Northwest A&F University in September 2018, included presentations and intensive discussions, as well as a field tour. The results of the workshop that are summarized in this white paper are meant to provide an overview of the multi-faceted nature of the topic for interested scientists and forest practitioners, describe tools that can be used to analyze various aspects of multifunctionality and, in an exemplary fashion, highlight gathered experience from long- and short-term experiments. Included are social demands, economic goals, and scientific baselines. The topics reach from economic evaluations of forest ecosystem services over forest management practices, including afforestation, restoration, and preparations to face climate change, to wood/forest products utilization and participation of local people for poverty reduction. Overall, an optimistic picture emerges, showing that by using adapted forest management practices, which try to embrace the concept of multifunctionality, various use schemes and demands can be integrated at single sites, allowing us to achieve both environmental protection and productive forests, including societal demands, as well as aspects of tradition and national identity.

Direct seeding and planting of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) are two common techniques for the conversion of pure Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) stands into mixed stands. This study tested whether the growth of sown beech seedlings differs from that of planted seedlings of two stock types. Therefore at two experimental sites repeated measurements were made of height, stem and first order branch diameter on sown and planted seedlings over a period of nine years. The results showed that the growth responses of planted and sown seedlings to the environmental conditions below the canopy of overstorey Norway spruce were rather similar. No differences between planted and sown seedlings were found in their diameter and their estimated aboveground dry weight. For all three batches the ratio between the estimated branch dry weight and the estimated main stem dry weight (branch-shoot-ratio (BSR)) was increased with age. Due to intraspecific competition BSR was lowest for the sown seedlings irrespective of their age. Differences in growth dynamics between planted and sown seedlings were found. For example, differences in the height or the estimated aboveground woody dry weight between sown and planted seedlings at a given age were not constant. Height, diameter and estimated dry mass of the seedlings in relation to age could be modelled precisely by a second-order polynomial function in the hitherto studied period.

Research Highlights: This study determined that treatment “release from competitors” causes different reactions in selected timber species respective to diametrical growth, in which the initial size of the tree (diametric class) is important. Also, the growth habit and phenological traits (defoliation) of the species must be considered, which may have an influence on growth after release. Background and Objectives: The objective of the study was to analyze the diametric growth of nine timber species after their release to answer the following questions: (i) Can the diametric growth of the selected timber species be increased by release? (ii) Does the release cause different responses among the tree species? (iii) Are other factors important, such as the initial diameter at breast height (DBH) or the general climate conditions? Materials and Methods: Four-hundred and eighty-eight trees belonging to nine timber species were selected and monitored over a three-year period. Release was applied to 197 trees, whereas 251 trees served as control trees to evaluate the response of diametrical growth. To determine the response of the trees, a linear mixed model (GLMM, R package: LMER4) was used, which was adjusted by a one-way ANOVA test. Results: All species showed a similar annual cycle respective to diametric increases, which is due to the per-humid climate in the area. Precipitation is secondary for the diametric growth because sufficient rainfall occurs throughout year. What is more important, however, are variations in temperature. However, the species responded differently to release. This is because the initial DBH and growth habit are more important factors. Therefore, the species could be classified into three specific groups: Positive, negative and no response to release. Conclusions: Species which prefer open sites responded positively to release, while shade tolerant species and species with pronounced phenological traits responded negatively. The initial DBH was also an important factor for diametric increases. This is because trees of class I (20 cm to 30 cm DBH) responded positively to the treatment, whereas for bigger or older individuals, the differences decreased or became negative.

There are only two ways to slow down the increase of the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere effectively: On the one hand, CO₂ emissions from fossil sources and from land use changes can be reduced, and on the other hand, terrestrial CO₂ reservoirs can be increased, mainly by increasing forest cover. The latter, forest increase is particularly effective in terms of carbon ecology if it takes place in the tropics and subtropics, where the growth and thus also the CO₂ reduction potential is particularly high. Afforestation- provided it is carried out with site-appropriate adapted tree species- has a number of other positive effects, such as the prevention of erosion and flooding or the creation of work and recreational opportunities.

Background: The impact of selective thinning on forest diversity has been extensively studied in temperate and boreal regions. However, in the tropics, knowledge is still poor regarding the impacts of this silvicultural treatment on functional diversity, especially in tropical mountain forests, which are considered to be highly biodiverse ecosystems and also endangered by human activities. By evaluating the changes on functional diversity by using different indicators, hypothesizing that selective thinning significantly affects (directly or indirectly) tropical mountain forests, this work promotes sustainable ecosystem use. Methods: A total of 52 permanent plots of 2500 m² each were installed in a primary mountain forest in the San Francisco Biological Reserve to assess the impact of this silvicultural treatment. Selective thinning can be defined as a controlled process, in which trees that compete with ecologically and/or valuable timber species are progressively removed to stimulate the development of profitable ones, called potential crop trees (PCT). In doing so, the best specimens remain in the forest stand until their final harvest. After PCT selection, 30 plots were chosen for the intervention, while 22 plots served as control plots. The thinning intensity fluctuated between 4 and 56 trees ha⁻¹ (average 18.8 ± 12.1 stems ha⁻¹). Functional Diversity (FD) indices, including the community weighted mean (CWM), were determined based on six traits using the FD package implemented in R software. The difference between initial and final conditions of functional richness (FRic), functional divergence (FDiv), functional evenness (FEve), functional dispersion (FDis), and Rao quadratic entropy (RaoQ) was modeled using linear mixed models (LMM). As fixed factors, we used all the predictors inherent to structural and ecological forest conditions before and after the selective thinning and as a random variable, we used the membership to nested sampling units. Results: Functional Richness (FRic) showed significant changes after selective thinning, the other indexes (FEve, FDis, FDiv, RaoQ) were only influenced by predictors related to ecological conditions and characteristics of the community.