A review of ecological mechanisms for management practices of protective forests

Abstract A protective forest, including shelterbelt, windbreak, and shelter forest as its synonyms, is characterized by the protective functions of various forest types distributed or planted on ecologically fragile areas or nearby the objects that need to be protected using the ecological effects of forests. Ecological mechanisms for management practices of protective forests is one of the disciplinary orientations in forest ecology and management. Most protective forest studies are dependent on forestry eco-engineering, such as the Great Plains Shelterbelt Project in the United States, the Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature in the Soviet Union, and the Three-North Afforestation Program in China. The development of sustainable management of protective forests has been given increasing attention by governments, scientists, and media due to their impacts on environment conservation and global change. We introduce forestry eco-engineering and provide a review of their main ecological mechanisms for management practices of protective forests. Ecological mechanisms for management systems currently applied are emphasized, i.e., the theory of protection maturity and phase-directional management; the relationship between structure and protective functions and structural optimization measures; and, the decline mechanism and ecological restoration strategies. In addition, several unresolved problems in management practices of protective forests are discussed as well as the prospects for ecological mechanisms for management practices of protective forests in the future, which include: (1) theories and technologies for management practices of protective forests at the landscape or regional scale; (2) the decline mechanisms and corresponding ecological restoration approaches across multiple scales; and, (3) the comprehensive assessment of forestry eco-engineering at large-scales based on ecosystem principles.