Abstract ID: 3.9215 | Reviewing | Talk/Oral | TBA | TBA

The urgent need for forest restoration and tree regeneration in disturbed forests, along with the climate-driven decline in the quantity and quality of tree seeds, has resulted in a critical shortage of seeds, putting unprecedented pressure on tree seed production worldwide. To address these challenges, we recommend examining coupled and co-evolved social-ecological tree seed and seedling systems from multi-actors’ perspectives. The application of systems analysis to study tree seed and seedling systems has primarily focused on Asian, African, and Latin American countries, with less emphasis on the European context. Therefore, our research focused on the Austrian case of tree seed and seedling systems, encompassing seed sources such as seed tree stands and tree seed plantations, where declining germination percentages and crop failures have been observed in recent years. Using two system mapping methods and analytical approaches—a participatory causal loop diagram mapping workshop and a qualitative relational network analysis—our results highlight the importance of defining system elements, their co-evolved relationships and dynamics, identifying systemic challenges, and, most importantly, interventions for sustainable development. We discuss specific challenges for seed production in and for mountain areas. Furthermore, the findings contribute to (1) a more holistic framing of problems for multiple actors (both scientific and non-scientific) and (2) amplifying voices of system actors that are often marginalized or hidden within implicit or tacit knowledge. These insights illuminate the need for and applicability of policies and promote networking and knowledge exchange among the involved system actors to foster sustainable systems’ development.