The sound bases of systemic silviculture

Abstract

Following recent critiques on systemic silviculture, the author examines the principles, scientific consequences and practical implications of this theory. Systemic silviculture is based on the assumption that the forest is a complex biological system. This means abandoning the reductive, mechanistic and deterministic paradigm that has characterized forest science until the last century. If the forest is a complex biological system then its properties cannot be reduced to those of its components. According to this assumption, the author analyzes the concepts of forest structure, predictability and unpredictability of forest ecosystem processes, intrinsic value and rights of the forest. Systemic silviculture is characterized by an adaptive approach which has the flexibility and the capacity to respond to environmental retroactions which are fundamental for the governance of complex and adaptive systems. The author concludes that the bases of systemic silviculture are unassailable and surely much sounder than those of “naturalistic” silviculture, or at least of that type of silviculture which, trying to define “natural structural models” for forest ecosystems, is still anchored to the old, classic, paradigm of natural resource management and conservation.

Keywords

• Classic paradigm
• Complex biological systems
• Adaptive approach
• Forest management