These are questions that intrigue me. My colleagues Dave Coates, Christian Messier and I believe that managing forests as complex adaptive systems can be helpful in this context (see A Critique of Silviculture). A closer look at complexity science provides opportunities to learn new ideas and approaches for managing forest ecosystems (see Managing Forests as Complex Adaptive Systems). But there is still much to be learned, especially in terms of how concepts and findings from complexity science translate into management applications. I have made this the focus of my research program.

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My recent and future work in this context deals with developing silvicultural treatments that maintain or encourage adaptive capacity, so forest can respond to changes while providing income, timber, wildlife habitat, clean water, and other services.

I have worked with various large-scale management experiments, set up by my predecessors and colleagues in the early 1990s (e.g., the Young Stand Thinning and Diversity Study and the Density Management Study initiated by John Tappeiner, Brenda McComb and others). These studies investigated various treatments to diversify stand structure and composition in even-aged, 30 to 70-year old Douglas-fir stands. These studies have provided insights how various components of forests respond to increased spatial diversity, including tree regeneration, understory vegetation, songbirds, and amphibians. These days I spend more time thinking about the role of adaptive capacity, how it is expressed in forests, how we can measure it, and how we can manage forests to improve it. This and related work are my contributions to keeping silviculture up-to-date and relevant in a future driven by global change.

It is a privilege to be working on the "cutting edge", to be involved in a powerful set of experiments, and to work with fine colleagues, students, and other professionals. I need to specifically mention the support of the Edmund Hayes Professorship in Silviculture Alternatives, which I held from 2010 to 2023.

Let’s strive to contribute to forest science so managers, politicians, and the public can make better informed decisions about forest management.

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