Just a Ditch in Forest? Reconsidering Draining in the Context of Sustainable Forest Management

Abstract

Creating ditches to drain forests to improve timber production is often overlooked as an ecosystem modifier; the practice is commonplace and not easy to see, and it changes the ecosystem slowly. However, a closer look reveals a complex of feedback-regulated, largely indirect, and wide-ranging impacts of the changed hydrology on biodiversity. Our synthesis of those fragmentarily studied impacts highlights a frequent formation of unprecedented biotic assemblages with unclear long-term prospects and consequences for the ecosystem functioning. We present a context-dependent framework to support harmonizing the ditching practices with sustainable forest management - a challenging but scientifically exciting task that requires novel approaches to landscape planning, silviculture, and wetland restoration.