Department of Environmental Studies, Environmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College, 6182 Steele Hall, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA,
Environ Manage. 2014 Oct;54(4):875-87. doi: 10.1007/s00267-014-0304-0. Epub 2014 Jun 18.
Forest insect pest disturbance is increasing in certain areas of North America as many insect species, such as the southern pine beetle, expand their range due to a warming climate. Because insect pests are beginning to occupy forests that are managed for multiple uses and have not been managed for pests before, it is becoming increasingly important to determine how forests should be managed for pests when non-timber ecosystem services are considered in addition to traditional costs and revenues. One example of a service that is increasingly considered in forest management and that may affect forest pest management is carbon sequestration. This manuscript seeks to understand whether the incorporation of forest carbon sequestration into cost-benefit analysis of different forest pest management strategies affects the financially optimal strategy. We examine this question through a case study of the southern pine beetle (SPB) in a new area of SPB expansion, the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve (NJPR). We utilize a forest ecology and economics model and include field data from the NJPR as well as outbreak probability statistics from previous years. We find under the majority of scenarios, incorporating forest carbon sequestration shifts the financially optimal SPB management strategy from preventative thinning toward no management or reactionary management in forest stands in New Jersey. These results contradict the current recommended treatment strategy for SPB and signify that the inclusion of multiple ecosystem services into a cost-benefit analysis may drastically alter which pest management strategy is economically optimal.
随着气候变暖，许多昆虫物种（如南方松甲虫）的活动范围扩大，北美的某些地区森林虫害越来越严重。由于害虫开始占据那些原本并非为防治虫害而管理的、具有多种用途的森林，因此在考虑非木材生态系统服务的同时，除了传统的成本和收益之外，如何管理森林以防治虫害变得越来越重要。森林管理中越来越被重视的一个服务可能会影响森林虫害管理，即碳封存。本文旨在探讨在不同森林虫害管理策略的成本效益分析中纳入森林碳封存是否会影响到财务上最优的策略。我们通过对新扩展地区的南方松甲虫（SPB）的案例研究，即新泽西松林国家保护区（NJPR），来研究这个问题。我们利用森林生态学和经济学模型，并纳入了来自 NJPR 的实地数据以及前几年的爆发概率统计数据。我们发现，在大多数情况下，将森林碳封存纳入成本效益分析会使新泽西州林分中针对 SPB 的经济最优管理策略从预防性疏伐转向不管理或反应性管理。这些结果与当前针对 SPB 的推荐处理策略相矛盾，表明将多种生态系统服务纳入成本效益分析可能会极大地改变哪种虫害管理策略在经济上是最优的。
