What secondary research evidence exists on the effects of forest management after disturbances: a systematic map protocol

TL;DR

This study outlines a plan to map existing research on how managing forests after disturbances affects ecosystem services and biodiversity.

Contribution

The novelty lies in systematically mapping evidence syntheses on post-disturbance forest management interventions.

Findings

The study will aggregate evidence on salvage logging and tree planting effects.

It will assess the validity of evidence syntheses using CEESAT.

Results will be organized into topic subgroups for clarity.

Abstract

Forest disturbances are projected to increase in intensity and frequency in the upcoming decades. The projected change in disturbance regimes is expected to alter the provision of ecosystem services and affect biodiversity. Both are critical for forest ecosystems to provide livelihoods for human societies. Forest management after natural disturbances shapes successional pathways of forest ecosystems. Therefore, the management of post-disturbance sites deserves critical attention to avoid negative effects of management interventions on ecosystem services and biodiversity. The two most common management interventions after natural disturbances are salvage logging (comparator: no salvage logging) and tree planting (comparator: natural regeneration). This planned systematic map of reviews aims to aggregate the existing evidence syntheses on the implications of common forest management interventions after natural disturbances on successional trajectories with regard to selected ecosystem services and biodiversity. Evidence-based post-disturbance management is highly relevant for protected area management as well as for the management of commercial forests.

We will systematically search the databases Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection and the Forest Science Collection of the CABI Digital Library for reviews and meta-analyses (after 2003). We will apply eligibility criteria for review selection and assess the evidence synthesis validity of selected reviews using the most recent version of CEESAT (Collaboration for Environmental Evidence Synthesis Assessment Tool). The results will be displayed in topic subgroups in summary of scope and summary of findings tables.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13750-024-00340-7.

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