Abandonment status and long-term monitoring of strict forest reserves in the Pannonian biogeographical region

Abstract

The Pannonian region is situated in the Carpathian basin where forests have been used intensively for centuries. The article shows a map and a tabular overview of the forest reserves featured as forests ''left for free development'' of the region, and presents the most important stand structural characteristics of beech, mesophytic and thermophilous deciduous forests surveyed recently. The sampling points of six sites were selected to provide preliminary descriptive statistics according to the main types and abandonment status groups (recently managed, long abandoned and old-growth or primary stands) of these forests. In oldgrowth and primary stands the composition (list and mixture ratio of tree species) and stand structure characteristics [gap class distribution, stem density, distribution of relative crown classes and broad diameter at breast height (at 130 cm) classes, density of thick snags, and the amount of lying dead wood] proved to be similar to other European deciduous natural forests, while the abandoned and recently managed stands indicate that these forests are in a transitional stage towards natural ones.

The history and natural regeneration of a secondary oak-beech woodland on a former wood-pasture in Hungary

“…In Europe and North America, 10-20 large living trees per hectare can be found in a deciduous old-growth forest, while 0-9 large living trees/ha can be found in managed forest stands [61][62][63]. Conversely, large living trees are almost entirely absent from old-growth and managed high forest stands in Hungary [29]. Based on this information, we conclude that the large living tree value for the studied woodland is high, both at the regional and European level.…”

“…On the one hand, secondary woodlands that developed from wood-pastures and wooded meadows signify the decline of a special habitat maintained by humans, and the loss of traditional forms of land use and the associated knowledge [16]. On the other hand, the recently developed secondary woodlands may play an important role in the preservation of forest biodiversity, as follows: (i) the diverse stand structure is important for the conservation of forest biodiversity [28]; (ii) where primeval, old-growth forest remains are scarce, as in the Central European mixed oak-beech woodland region [29], these forests are ideal sites for the study of natural forest dynamic processes; (iii) their study contributes to the knowledge of close to nature forestry [30,31].…”

The legacy of management approaches and abandonment on old-growth attributes in hardwood floodplain forests in the Pannonian Ecoregion

“…One such approach is the designation of strict forest reserves, left to free development (Parviainen et al 2000). This has contributed significantly to the recovery and maintenance of old-growth characteristics (OGCs) in near-natural forests (Horváth et al 2012;Burrascano et al 2013;Paillet et al 2015). It is widely recognised that in stands subject to intensive rotation management, recovery of the main OGCs (shape of diameter distribution, number of very large trees, volume of well-decayed large deadwood, etc.)…”

Challenge of weed risk assessment (WRA) for ecological restoration in China: The case ofRhus typhinaL. and the new officially released weed risk assessment system

“…Good adaptability of some alien species in harsh environment may also make them grow or spread aggressively, thereby becoming invasive, causing apparent damage or pose potential threats to species, ecosystems, or economy (Inter national Union for the Conservation of Nature [IUCN] 1999;McNeely et al 2001). Therefore, while biodiversity conservation and management of the natural or the existing old-growth forests having been paid high attention (Liira & Kohv 2010;Horvath et al 2012;Kalajnxhiu et al 2012;Keenan & Read 2012;Minissale & Sciandrello 2013;Palombo et al 2013), more care is needed in plant selection when afforesting for ecological restoration. Weed risk assessment (WRA) is therefore indispensable to eliminate the possible negative impact.…”