Mixed species forests - Risks, resilience and management

Mixed forests are strategic means of adapting forest management to climate change. Higher tree species diversity is expected to provide higher productivity, higher temporal stability, lower risk of biotic and abiotic disturbances and a more diverse portfolio of ecosystem services from forests. Although the knowledge base concerning the ecology of mixed forests has increased during the last decades, almost all forest research has been conducted in monocultures. As a result, there is a lack of knowledge about how to design and manage mixed forests, to sustain production and carbon sequestration, and mitigate abiotic and biotic risks. It is our expectation that this conference will be an arena for discussion and communication between researchers from different disciplines, and also between managers and policy makers.