European forest carbon and biodiversity policies have a limited win-win potential
| Title: | European forest carbon and biodiversity policies have a limited win-win potential |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Lorenzo Balducci; Elena Haeler; Yoan Paillet; Edoardo Alterio; Christian Ammer; Frédéric Archaux; Steffen Boch; Christophe Bouget; Gediminas Brazaitis; Francesco Chianucci; Andrea Cutini; Pallieter De Smedt; Inken Doerfler; Daniel Dvořák; Markus Fischer; Paolo Giordani; Marion Gosselin; Jacob Heilmann-Clausen; Eva Holá; Jeňýk Hofmeister; Jan Hošek; Itziar García-Mijangos; Philippe Janssen; Kirsten Jung; Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas; Nathalie Korboulewsky; Daniel Kozák; Tomáš Kuras; Thibault Lachat; Jiří Malíček; Anders Mårell; Martin Mikoláš; Jörg Müller; Francesca Napoleone; Björn Nordén; Péter Ódor; Zdeněk Palice; Peter Schall; Tommaso Sitzia; Kastytis Šimkevičius; Miroslav Svoboda; Aleš Tenčík; Flóra Tinya; Giovanni Trentanovi; Mariana Ujhazyova; Kris Vandekerkhove; Michael Wohlwend; Wolfgang W. Weisser; Sabina Burrascano |
| Source: | Nature Communications, Vol 17, Iss 1 (2026) |
| Publisher Information: | Nature Portfolio |
| Publication Year: | 2026 |
| Collection: | Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
| Subject Terms: | Science |
| Description: | Climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation are key forest functions, but how to pursue them jointly in timber-managed forests is still unclear. We use a Europe-wide dataset of forest multi-taxon diversity and stand structure to (i) evaluate the importance of aboveground carbon stocks in determining species richness of six taxonomic groups; (ii) assess relationships between species richness and carbon stocks; (iii) discuss the potential to jointly enhance carbon and biodiversity and policy implications. Carbon-diversity relationships are positive for several groups, but mostly when deadwood pools are considered. Forest policies should consider the complex relationship between different carbon pools and taxonomic groups. Environmental policies emphasizing carbon sequestration in aboveground living biomass may conflict with biodiversity conservation by promoting homogeneous, fast-growing forests that fail to support species diversity of multiple groups. Sustainable forest management should acknowledge that deadwood carbon instead may translate into positive outcomes for both carbon storage and biodiversity conservation. |
| Document Type: | article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Relation: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68668-x; https://doaj.org/toc/2041-1723; https://doaj.org/article/f189438d035c4af3aa00917e8805c0f7 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-026-68668-x |
| Availability: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68668-x; https://doaj.org/article/f189438d035c4af3aa00917e8805c0f7 |
| Accession Number: | edsbas.A7A575C5 |
| Database: | BASE |