Data from: Forest Transitions in the United States, France and Austria: dynamics of forest change and their socio-metabolic drivers

Forest Transitions in the United States, France and Austria: dynamics of forest change and their socio-metabolic drivers

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Simone Gingrich1*, Andreas Magerl1, Sarah Matej1, Julia Le Noë1,2

1 University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Institute of Social Ecology, Schottenfeldgasse 29, 1070 Vienna, Austria

2 Geology Laboratory, École Normale Supérieure, Paris Sciences and Letters University, 75005, France Projects Contact URL Quote as For definitions and accounting procedures, see publication

Understanding the drivers of forest transitions is relevant to inform effective forest conservation. We investigate pathways of forest transitions in the United States (1920–2010), France (1850–2010), and Austria (1830–2010). By combining evidence from forest inventories with the forest model CRAFT, we first quantify how change in forest area (ΔA), maximum biomass density (ΔBdmax), and actual biomass as fraction of maximum biomass (ΔFmax) shaped forest dynamics. Second, to investigate the connections between forest change and societal resource use, or social metabolism, we quantify the importance of selected proximate and underlying socio-metabolic drivers of forest change. We find that agricultural intensification and reduced forest grazing correlated most with positive ΔA and ΔBdmax. By contrast, change in biomass imports or harvest did not explain forest change. Our findings highlight the importance of forest growth conditions in explaining long-term forest dynamics, and demonstrate the distinct ways in which resource use drove forest change.