"Using functional diversity and connectivity to build resilience in forests by Christian Messier

Christian Messier is professor of forest ecology at the University of Québec in Montréal (UQAM) and in Outaouais (UQO), and Director of the Institute of Temperate Forest Sciences (ISFORT).

This talk is organized in the frame for the international Francqui chair promoted by KU Leuven (B. Muys), Ghent University (K. Verheyen), Université Libre de Bruxelles – ULB (C. de Cannière) and Université catholique de Louvain – UCLouvain (Q. Ponette).

 In the current context of global changes, the management of our forests represents a major challenge, particularly because of the great degree of uncertainty associated with these changes. Faced with this reality, our current practices which aim at simplifying and predicting with certainty the evolution of our forests are no longer appropriate and we must review the way we manage our forests. Complexity theory forms the conceptual framework for the functional approach, which encourages a more holistic and flexible view in forest planning. This requires us to accept the idea that forests are complex, dynamic and therefore relatively unpredictable systems. This presentation therefore aims to explain the theoretical and practical bases of forest management based on functional diversity and connectivity, which aims to maximize the adaptability