Difficult climate-adaptive decisions in forests as complex social–ecological systems

Abstract

Significance New forest management techniques, like genomics-based assisted migration (AM), can help forests adapt to climate change by maintaining the productivity of commercially important tree species. However, we find that key stakeholder groups tend to be more concerned about the broader health of the forest ecosystem than the success of commercially important species. Because of its uncertain impact on other social, ecological, and economic goals, they have difficulty judging the acceptability of AM and the trade-offs that it implies. While AM may appear to be a technical intervention, many of its implications are not. Decisions about AM and other such adaptations should account for the breadth of values that forests create and the diverse voices of those who depend on them.