Timber production and biodiversity tradeoffs in plantation forestry

[Extract] While major efforts have been made to conserve biodiversity in Australia and elsewhere, little attention has been paid to biodiversity in the planning and management of plantation forestry. Plantations are typically a form of dominant-use forestry where timber production is the priority goal. However, scope exists to manage plantations for high species diversity, wildlife habitat and landscape aesthetics, as well as greater land and water protection. Potential measures to enhance biodiversity in plantations include planting mixtures of native species, selective or staged logging, tolerance of understorey growth, and retention of buffer areas of native vegetation. Such biodiversity can generate considerable non-wood value, but also impose costs and reduce timber revenue. This chapter examines the definition and evaluation of economic tradeoffs between plantation biodiversity and timber production