Integrating scales and disciplines to promote climate-resilient forests
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56217/forum.vol13.104Keywords:
ecosystem services, extreme weather events, human health, multidisciplinary approaches, social–ecological systems, treesAbstract
Trees are long-lived organisms that have shaped landscapes for hundreds of millions of years. Today, forests cover roughly 30% of the Earth’s land area and provide essential environmental, social, and economic services. While increasingly frequent and severe disturbances pose challenges, forests can remain resilient. A holistic, cross-scale approach—integrating ecological, social, and governance dimensions from local to global levels—is key to supporting climate-resilient forests and informing effective policies. In this opinion paper, I highlight how multidisciplinary science, combined with inclusive, community-based decision-making, can help forests withstand extreme events while continuing to provide vital ecosystem services and support human well-being.
References
Allen, C. D., Macalady, A. K., Chenchouni, H., Bachelet, D., McDowell, N., Vennetier, M., Kitzberger, T., Rigling, A., Breshears, D. D., Hogg, E. H., Gonzalez, P., Fensham, R., Zhang, Z., Castro, J., Demidova, N., Lim, J.-H., Allard, G., …, & Cobb, N. (2010). A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests. Forest Ecology and Management, 259(4), 660-684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2009.09.001
Artaxo, P. (2023). Amazon deforestation implications in local/regional climate change. PNAS, 12(50), e2317456120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2317456120
Berkes, F., Colding, J., & Folke, C. (2000). Rediscovery of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management. Ecological Applications, 10(5), 1251-1262. https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[1251:ROTEKA]2.0.CO;2
Brazil Flora Group (2015). Growing knowledge: an overview of Seed Plant diversity in Brazil. Rodriguésia, 66(4), 1085-1113. https://doi.org/10.1590/2175-7860201566411
Brondízio, E. S., Aumeeruddy-Thomas, Y., Bates, P., Carino, J., Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Ferrari, M. F., Galvin, K., Reyes-García, V., McElwee, P., Molnár, Z., Samakov, A., & Shrestha, U. B. (2021). Locally based, regionally manifested, and globally relevant: Indigenous and local knowledge, values, and practices for nature. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 46, 481-509. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-012127
Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft (BMEL) & Thünen-Institut für Waldökosysteme (2024). Der Wald in Deutschland – Ausgewählte Ergebnisse der vierten Bundeswaldinventur. BMEL / Thünen-Institut. Retrieved from: https://www.bmleh.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Broschueren/vierte-bundeswaldinventur.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=17
Cardoso, D., Särkinen, T., Alexander, S., Amorim, A. M., Bittrich, V., Celis, M., Daly, D. C., Fiaschi, P., Funk, V. A., Giacomin, L. L., Goldenberg, R., Heiden, G., Iganci, J., Kelloff, C. L., Knapp, S., Lima, H. C. de, Machado, A. F. P., ..., & Forzza, R. C. (2017). Amazon plant diversity revealed by a taxonomically verified species list. PNAS, 114(40), 10695-10700. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1706756114
Clement, C. R., Denevan, W. M., Heckenberger, M. J., Junqueira, A. B., Neves, E. G., Teixeira, W. G., & Woods, W. I. (2018). Domestication of Amazonia before European conquest. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282(1812), 20150813. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.0813
Esau, K. (1977). Anatomy of seed plants (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2025). Global forest resources assessment. FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cd6709en
Gorgens, E. B., Motta, A. Z., Assis, M., Nunes, M. H., Jackson, T., Coomes, D., Rosette, J., Aragão, L. E. O. C., Ometto, J. P. (2019). The giant trees of the Amazon basin. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 17(7), 373-374. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2085
Global Forest Watch (2024). Title of dataset or report. World Resources Institute. Retrieved from https://www.globalforestwatch.org
Hammond, W. M., Williams, A. P., Abatzoglou, J. T., Adams, H. D., Klein, T., López, R., Sáenz-Romero, C., Hartmann, H., Breshears, D. D., & Allen, C. D. (2022). Global field observations of tree die-off reveal hotter-drought fingerprint for Earth’s forests. Nature Communications, 13, 1761. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29289-2
Hartmann, H., Battisti, A., Brockerhoff, E. G., Bełka, M., Hurling, R., Jactel, H., Oliva, J., Rousselet, J., Terhonen, E., Ylioja, T., Melin, M., Olson, Å., De Prins, F., Zhang, K., Åslund, M. S., Davydenko, K., Menkis, A., Elfstrand, M., Zúbrik, M., Kunca, A., Galko, J., Paulin, M., Csóka, G., Hoch, G., Pernek, M., Preidl, S., & Fischer, R. (2025a). European forests are under increasing pressure from global change-driven invasions and accelerating epidemics by insects and diseases. Journal für Kulturpflanzen, 77(2), 6-24. https://doi.org/10.5073/JfK.2025.02.02
Hartmann, H., Fischer, R., Maraun, M., Marra, D. M., Preidl, S., Sprink, T., Ehrhardt, S., Enderle, R., & Bräsicke, N. (2025b). Forest protection under climate change–preventing the downward spiraling of forests into climate change-driven damage and decline. Journal of Cultivated Plants, 77(2), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.5073/JfK.2025.02.01
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) (2023). 2022 Census: Brazil has 391 Indigenous ethnicities and 295 Indigenous languages. Agência IBGE Notícias. Retrieved from https://agenciadenoticias.ibge.gov.br/
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2006). IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (Vol. 4). IPCC. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2023). Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC.
Junk, W. J., Piedade, M. T. F., Schöngart, J., Cohn-Haft, M., Adeney, J. M., & Wittmann, F. (2011). Classification of major naturally-occurring Amazonian lowland wetlands. Wetlands, 31, 623-640. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-011-0190-7
Lee, J., Park, B.-J., Tsunetsugu, Y., Ohira, T., Kagawa, T., & Miyazaki, Y. (2025). Effect of forest bathing on physiological and psychological responses in young Japanese male subjects. Public Health, 125(2), 93-100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2010.09.005
Li, Q., Otsuka, T., Kobayashi, M., Wakayama, Y., Inagaki, H., Katsumata, M., Hirata, Y., Li, Y., Hirata, K., Shimizu, T., Suzuki, H., Kawada, T., Kagawa, T. (2011). Acute effects of walking in forest environments on cardiovascular and metabolic parameters. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 111, 2845-2853. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-011-1918-z
Magnabosco Marra, D., Higuchi, N., Trumbore, S. E., Ribeiro, G. H. P. M., Santos, J. dos, Carneiro, V. M. C., Lima, A. J. N., Chambers, J. Q., Negrón-Juárez, R. I., Holzwarth, F., Reu, B., & Wirth, C. (2016). Predicting biomass of hyperdiverse and structurally complex central Amazonian forests – a virtual approach using extensive field data. Biogeosciences, 13(5), 1553-1570. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1553-2016
Magnabosco Marra, D., Trumbore, S. E., Higuchi, N., Ribeiro, G. H. P. M., Negrón-Juárez, R. I., Holzwarth, F., Rifai, S. W., Santos, J. dos, Lima, A. J. N., Kinupp, V. F., Chambers, J. Q., & Wirth, C. (2018). Windthrows control biomass patterns and functional composition of Amazon forests. Global Change Biology, 24(12), 5867-5881. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14457
McDowell, N. G., Allen, C. D., Anderson-Teixeira, K., Brando, P., Brienen, R., Chambers, J., Christoffersen, B., Davies, S., Doughty, C., Duque, A., Espirito-Santo, F., Fisher, R., Fontes, C. G., Galbraith, D., Goodsman, D., Grossiord, C., Hartmann, H., Holm, J., Johnson, D. J., Kassim, A. R., Keller, M., Koven, C., Kueppers, L., Kumagai, T., Malhi, Y., McMahon, S. M., Mencuccini, M., Meir, P., Moorcroft, P., Muller-Landau, H. C., Phillips, O. L., Powell, T., Sierra, C. A., Sperry, J., Warren, J., Xu, C., & Xu, X. (2018). Drivers and mechanisms of tree mortality in moist tropical forests. New Phytologist, 219(3), 851-869. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15027
McDowell, N. G., Beerling, D. J., Breshears, D. D., Fisher, R. A., Raffa, K. F., & Stitt, M. (2011). The interdependence of mechanisms underlying climate-driven vegetation mortality. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 26(10), 523-532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.06.003
National Centers for Environmental Information (NOAA) (2025). Monthly Global Climate Report for Annual 2024. NOAA. Retrieved from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/global/202413
Peripato, V., Levis, C., Moreira, G. A., Gamerman, D., ter Steege, H., Pitman, N. C. A., de Souza, J. G., Iriarte, J., Robinson, M., Junqueira, A. B., Trindade, T. B., de Almeida, F. O., de Paula Moraes, C., Lombardo, U., Tamanaha, E. K., Maezumi, S. Y., Ometto, J. P. H. B., … & Aragão, L. E. O. C. (2023). More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia. Science, 382(6666), 103-109. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade25
Ribeiro, J. E. L. da S., Hopkins, M. J. G., Vicentini, A., Sothers, C., Costa, M. A. da S., de Brito, J. M., de Souza, M. A., Martins, L. H. P., Lohmann, L. G., Assunção, P. A. C. L., Pereira, E. da C., da Silva, C. F., Mesquita, M. R., & Procopio, L. C. (1999). Flora da Reserva Ducke: Guia de identificação das plantas vasculares de uma floresta amazônica. INPA. Ricklefs, R. E. (2008). The economy of nature (6th ed.). W. H. Freeman.
Seidl, R., Thom, D., Kautz, M., Martin-Benito, D., Peltoniemi, M., Vacchiano, G., Wild, J., Ascoli, D., Petr, M., Honkaniemi, J., Lexer, M. J., Trotsiuk, V., Mairota, P., Svoboda, M., Fabrika, M., Nagel, T. A., & Reyer, C. P. O. (2017). Forest disturbances under climate change. Nature Climate Change, 7, 395-402. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3303
Spracklen, D. V., Arnold, S. R., & Taylor, C. M. (2012). Observations of increased tropical rainfall preceded by air passage over forests. Nature, 489, 282-285. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11390
Urquiza-Muñoz, J. D., Trumbore, S., Negrón-Juárez, R. I., Feng, Y., Brenning, A., Vasquez-Parana, C. M., & Magnabosco Marra, D. (2024). Increased occurrence of large-scale windthrows across the Amazon basin. AGU Advances, 5(6), e2023AV001030. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023AV001030
United Nations (2023). Healthy forests, healthy planet, healthy humans. United Nations. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/desa/healthy-forests-healthy-planet-healthy-humans
Vieira, S., Trumbore, P. B., Camargo, D., Selhorst, J. Q., Chambers, N., & Higuchi, L. A. (2005). Martinelli, Slow growth rates of Amazonian trees: Consequences for carbon cycling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(51), 18502-18507. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0505966102
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) (2017). WMO guidelines on the calculation of climate normals (WMO-No. 1203). WMO. Retrieved from: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-old/WMO/Guidelines%20for%20the%20Calculation%20of%20Climate%20Normals.WMO%20No1203_en.pdf
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Daniel Magnabosco Marra
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
