Shaping future forests: how can ecophysiology support climate-smart forest management?

Climate change, particularly the associated increase in extreme events and disturbances, threatens the numerous environmental, social, and economic benefits that forests provide, both locally and globally. Heat and drought pose significant risks to forest ecosystems; the anticipated future climate is expected to exacerbate this trend. Management interventions should aim to maximise the provision of ecological functions amid the uncertain conditions ahead. A better understanding of the mechanisms regulating forest responses to drought, heat, pests, and diseases – and how management interventions interact with these – is necessary for evidence-based, climate-smart forest management. We first provide an overview of the ecophysiological mechanisms that drive the loss of ecosystem functioning induced by heat and drought. We then explore how various commonly adopted management interventions at the stand level – such as tree species selection and mixture, stand density regulation, measures to optimise stand structure, tree height, and age distribution, as well as nutrient management – may positively or negatively influence forest ecophysiological responses to heat and drought. In this work, we present a mechanism-based critical assessment of forest management practices to support climate-smart forestry/forest management in response to shifting environmental and climatic conditions.