Careful location of new forests can minimize water quantity impacts while maximising environmental outcomes.

Measuring the value of environmental services in forests

To maximise environmental services in forests, CSIRO researchers are improving computer models to deliver more accurate decision-support information.

• 31 March 2008 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Tools to support forestry decisions
• Impacts on stream and salinity flows
• Carbon sequestration
• Biodiversity

Forests provide a range of environmental services including:

• improved water quality
• enhanced biodiversity
• carbon sequestration.

While careful locating of new forests can minimise water quantity impacts while maximising environmental outcomes, poor planning could result in negative outcomes, such as reducing stream flows.

Tools to support forestry decisions

A range of support tools are being developed and improved through the Commercial Environmental Forestry programme.

These tools will assist plantation managers to decide on appropriate locations of plantings for maximised environmental benefits.

An important first step in developing tools for targeting and predicting outcomes is to have models for a range of environmental services verified as much as possible for a range of site and forest conditions.

Through the Commercial Environmental Forestry programme, researchers are collecting data and calibrating models for:

• water and salinity impacts
• rates of carbon sequestration
• biodiversity benefits.

Impacts on stream and salinity flows

Using computer models, CSIRO scientists are investigating the regional and farm-scale impacts of planting decisions to identify where best to place trees to maximise stream flow and reduce salinity.

In the field, researchers are also assessing the hydrological impact of the various types of environmental plantings and remnant forest in north-central Victoria, and investigating the impact that forestry management practices, such as thinning, have on stream flows.

Carbon sequestration

As carbon trading markets grow it will become increasingly important to be able to verify estimated rates of carbon sequestration in trees.

CSIRO researchers are collecting data from a range of commercial species and environmental plantings that can be used to calibrate carbon sequestration and growth models, improving their predictive ability.

Biodiversity

All forests, be they industrial plantations or native old-growth forests, provide a range of habitats for conserving and enhancing biodiversity.

CSIRO scientists are measuring the biodiversity value in a range of forest types, and developing tools for targeting and assessment of plantation and revegetation projects.

A key tool is the Plantation Biodiversity Scorecard.

Find out more about CSIRO's work in Commercial environmental forestry brochure.