Book review “Continuous Cover Forestry - Theories, Concepts, and Implementation” by Arne Pommerening

Zhonghua Zhao, Gangying Hui

Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China

Arne Pommerening, Continuous Cover Forestry: Theories, Concepts,and Implementation.WILEY (2023),pp.416; ISBN: 978-1-119-89532-9(E-BOOK),ISBN:978-1-119-89530-5(PRINT).

Forests are the largest, most complex, and most diverse terrestrial ecosystems, known as the overall regulator of nature and the “lungs of the earth”.They play an important role in maintaining global ecological balance and biodiversity, mitigating climate change, and promoting economic development.Therefore, strengthening the protection and cultivation of forest resources is an important way to achieve sustainable development.Countries around the world are actively exploring and developing ways to achieve sustainable forest management, such as Ecosystem Management in the United States,the“Model Forest Program”in Canada, Continuous Cover Forestry in Europe, and Structure-Based Forest Management (SBFM) developed in China in recent years.A new book entitled “Continuous Cover Forestry - Theories, Concepts, and Implementation” provides a detailed, up-to-date introduction to the international theory and practice of Continuous Cover Forestry(CCF).

Continuous Cover Forestry goes by more than fifty different names around the world and is an approach to forest management with over a century of history.It applies ecological principles to developing biologically diverse, structurally complex woodlands while using natural processes as much as possible.Long used as the standard forest management method in Central Europe,CCF is attracting renewed interest for its potential to develop and sustain forests that can mitigate climate change,maintain biodiversity, and offer better recreation experience.There is a worldwide need for forest practitioners, scientists, and policymakers to be familiar with CCF methods.

The content of this book is divided into eight chapters.Beginning with an introduction to forestry terms and practices, the book gives an overview of its history and foundational principles.The book then goes on to discuss misconceptions,sustainability concepts,current challenges and makes suggestions for the introduction of CCF to a new region or country.Chapter 2 is dedicated to the question of how to get started with CCF and here starting CCF from scratch on bare land, transformation/conversion of plantations to CCF and underplanting play an important role.The chapter concludes with the fundamental CCF topic of biological automation and rationalisation.Chapter 3 introduces the concept of individual-based forest management that runs through the book like a red thread while Chapter 4 details the concept of forest structure,the key to CCF,including quantitative methods and associated R code.Chapter 5 provides detailed descriptions of intervening in forest structure, i.e.thinning methods and silvicultural systems that are crucial to transformation/conversion but also to maintaining CCF.Here the role of disturbances in forest management is also discussed.Chapter 6 introduces demographic equilibrium and guidance modelling that has a long tradition in CCF.Much associated R code is provided here as well to allow readers to explore and experience this type of modelling.Chapter 7 is a synthesis chapter where CCF silvicultural programmes and prescriptions are integrated in forest development types.In addition, specialised CCF strategies for timber production,climate-change mitigation,biodiversity and conservation, water catchments, recreation, energy wood production,forest cemeteries and protection forests are described.The concluding chapter is about training for CCF which is crucial when this type of forest management is being introduced to a new area or country.Based on the author's experience the chapter gives detailed suggestions on how CCF training courses can be designed and what has turned out to be good practice.It also explains how the book can be used for designing training courses.A large part of this chapter is dedicated to marteloscope training sites.These form an important part of outdoor training seminars where the trainees need to implement what they have learned about CCF by choosing trees to stay and for selective removal.Chapter 8 is followed by two appendices, one briefly summarising the most common principles of CCF introduced in Chapter 1 and a second one defining the light demand of tree species.The book has also a very detailed subject index allowing easy access.A stimulating foreword is provided by the late Swiss Professor Jean-Philippe Schütz.

The book is a clear, comprehensive portrait of this increasingly effective forest management concept.It is the first attempt to present CCF in a comprehensive, single volume and clearly defines tenets and processes involved.The book material is well researched and organised in a logical,non-traditional way.The book layout has been carefully designed and is very appealing.Figures and tables are clear and support statements made in the text.The references are extensive and up-to-date.

Continuous Cover Forestry has been written for students,scholars and practitioners of forest science, forest ecology, conservation and environmental management,as well as for policymakers dealing with forestry or climate policy.It is a topical and stimulating book which should appeal to anyone with an interest in forest ecosystems and their management.An effort has been made to provide easy access for non-specialists that are often taught in MSc classes alongside specialist students, but also for researchers from different subject areas.The book focuses on the generic principles of CCF and does not assume the geography, climate or other specific conditions of one particular country thus making it ideal as the basis for international teaching.

Arne Pommerening is Professor of Forest Science in the Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences SLU,Umeå,Sweden.He has taught classes on Continuous Cover Forestry in three different countries for more than 20 years, published numerous research papers on the subject and from 2000 to 2011 he was involved in the introduction of CCF to the United Kingdom.

The new textbook presents many case studies showing CCF at work in real-world forests and these are illustrated by many photos and helpful graphs so that the reader can easily follow the text descriptions.There are clear and detailed discussions on CCF transformation methods, which forest practitioners initially find difficult to adopt, on individual-based forest management, forest structure, carbon forestry, silvicultural systems and conservation.All quantitative concepts are accompanied by R code ready to take and apply.Simple, adaptable models allow the derivation of quantitative guidelines for CCF woodlands.

The author emphasizes the importance of forest structure and believes that understanding forest structure is central to any silvicultural activity, which is much supported by recent publications.In Chapter 4,the author presents mainly non-spatial measures of forest structure,as he had introduced spatial characteristics in detail in a previous book published by Springer Nature.

There is an increasing interest in Continuous Cover Forestry throughout Asia including China.From an Asian and particularly a Chinese point of view it could be interesting to explore how the Chinese concept of Structure-Based Forest Management can be combined with an introduction of CCF,as SBFM has more emphasis on the spatial structure of forests resulting from silvicultural activities and the ultimate goal of this concept is to cultivate a healthy, stable, high-quality, and efficient forest ecosystem, which is an effective way to achieve CCF.Also, the application of CCF to and adaptations for sub-tropical and tropical regions are of great interest.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Zhonghua Zhao:Writing-original draft.Gangying Hui:Writingreview& editing.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.