Historical natural disturbances shape spruce primary forest structure and indirectly influence bird assemblage composition

Kameniar, Ondrej; Baláž, Michal; Svitok, Marek; Reif, Jiří; Mikoláš, Martin; Pettit, Joseph L.; Keeton, William S.; Pettit, Jessika M.; Vostarek, Ondřej; Langbehn, Thomas; Trotsiuk, Volodymyr; Morelli, Federico; Frankovič, Michal; Kozak, D. B.; Janda, Pavel; Čada, Vojtěch; Ferenčík, Matej; Málek, Jakub; Begović, Krešimír; Synek, Michal; Lábusová, Jana; Svobodová, Kristýna; Svoboda, Miroslav

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118647

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Intermediate severity wind and ice storms, having rotation periods of ~100–500 years (Nagel et al, 2014; Nagel, Mikac, et al, 2017), generate a diverse mosaic with 25%–75% canopy loss (Čada et al, 2020; Nagel et al, 2014) suggesting a very broad range of variability. Disturbance patches resulting from intermediate severity disturbances are irregularly structured (i.e., often having variable residual tree survivorship densities and patterns) and range in size from 200 m 2 up to 100 ha (Frankovič et al, 2021; Kameniar et al, 2021; Kuuluvainen & Aakala, 2011). High‐severity events are rare, returning at intervals usually of more than 300–500 years (Aakala, 2018; Nagel et al, 2014).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although uneven‐aged forestry showed the highest congruence with natural disturbances on the basis of the three observed attributes, it does not emulate or fully encompass the great complexity of all natural disturbance effects. For example, where a disturbance regime of a forest type is characterized by intermediate and/or high‐severity disturbances, multicohort and/or variable retention systems would more closely emulate disturbance effects (Kameniar et al, 2021; Meigs & Keeton, 2018), than uneven‐aged systems using single‐tree or group‐selection methods. Other important features of forests with natural dynamics are also often missing in intensively managed uneven‐aged forest stands, such as biological legacies or irregular structure within silvicultural gaps, presence of large, older trees, and diverse types, sizes and decay stages of deadwood, both standing and downed (Keren & Diaci, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Natural disturbance regimes as a guide for sustainable forest management in Europe

Aszalós

Thom

Aakala

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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In Europe, forest management has controlled forest dynamics to sustain commodity production over multiple centuries. Yet over-regulation for growth and yield diminishes resilience to environmental stress as well as threatens biodiversity, leading to increasing forest susceptibility to an array of disturbances. These trends have stimulated interest in alternative management systems, including natural dynamics silviculture (NDS). NDS aims to emulate natural disturbance dynamics at stand and landscape scales through silvicultural manipulations of forest structure and landscape patterns. We adapted a "Comparability Index" (CI) to assess convergence/divergence between natural disturbances and forest management effects. We extended the original CI concept based on disturbance size and frequency by adding the residual structure of canopy trees after a disturbance as a third dimension. We populated the model by compiling data on natural disturbance dynamics and management from 13 countries in Europe, covering four major forest types (i.e., spruce, beech, oak, and pine-dominated forests). We found that natural disturbances are highly variable in size, frequency, and residual structure, but European forest management fails to encompass this complexity. Silviculture in Europe is skewed toward even-aged systems, used predominately (72.9% of management) across the countries assessed. The residual structure proved crucial in the comparison of natural disturbances and silvicultural systems. CI indicated the highest congruence between uneven-aged silvicultural systems and key natural disturbance attributes. Even so, uneven-aged practices emulated only a portion of the complexity associated with natural disturbance effects. The remaining silvicultural systems perform poorly in terms of retention compared to tree survivorship after natural disturbances. We suggest that NDS can enrich Europe's portfolio of management systems, for example where wood production is not the primary objective. NDS is especially relevant to forests managed for habitat quality, risk reduction, and a variety of ecosystem services. We suggest a holistic approach integrating NDS with more conventional practices.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural disturbance regimes as a guide for sustainable forest management in Europe

Aszalós

Thom

Aakala

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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“…Western Carpathian primary spruce forests are a mosaic landscape of disturbance‐driven forests, where maintaining landscape heterogeneity is essential for preserving LOTs, and protecting wildlife habitats and populations of biodiversity species (Kameniar et al, 2021; Kozák et al, 2021; Mikoláš et al, 2021). Activities that promote small‐ to large‐scale deforestation of buffer zones and protected areas disregard disturbance dynamics as the indispensable driver of primary forest ecosystems, subsequently amplifying environmental pressures on their development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large old trees increase growth under shifting climatic constraints: Aligning tree longevity and individual growth dynamics in primary mountain spruce forests

Begović

Schurman

Svitok

et al. 2022

Global Change Biology

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In a world of accelerating changes in environmental conditions driving tree growth, tradeoffs between tree growth rate and longevity could curtail the abundance of large old trees (LOTs), with potentially dire consequences for biodiversity and carbon storage. However, the influence of tree-level tradeoffs on forest structure at landscape scales will also depend on disturbances, which shape tree size and age distribution, and on whether LOTs can benefit from improved growing conditions due to climate warming. We analyzed temporal and spatial variation in radial growth patterns from ~5000 Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] H. Karst) live and dead trees from the Western Carpathian primary spruce forest stands. We applied mixed-linear modeling to quantify the importance of LOT growth histories and stand dynamics (i.e., competition and disturbance factors) on lifespan. Finally, we assessed regional synchronization in radial growth variability over the 20th century, and modeled the effects of stand dynamics and climate on LOTs recent growth trends. Tree age varied considerably among forest stands, implying an important role of disturbance as an age constraint.Slow juvenile growth and longer period of suppressed growth prolonged tree lifespan, while increasing disturbance severity and shorter time since last disturbance decreased it. The highest age was not achieved only by trees with continuous slow growth, but those with slow juvenile growth followed by subsequent growth releases.Growth trend analysis demonstrated an increase in absolute growth rates in response to climate warming, with late summer temperatures driving the recent growth trend.Contrary to our expectation that LOTs would eventually exhibit declining growth rates, the oldest LOTs (>400 years) continuously increase growth throughout their lives, indicating a high phenotypic plasticity of LOTs for increasing biomass, and a strong carbon sink role of primary spruce forests under rising temperatures, intensifying droughts, and increasing bark beetle outbreaks.

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“…An emergent understanding of the role of disturbance legacies in ecosystem functioning and lacking empirical evidence of salvage effectiveness, however, raised concerns about the largescale use of this practice (Lindenmayer et al, 2017;Leverkus et al, 2018). Salvage logging applied in nature conservation areas often contradicts the objective of conserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems dynamics, which is largely formed by recurrent disturbance impacts (Blicharska and Van Herzele, 2015;Kameniar et al, 2021). Therefore, wide-scale application of sanitary operations have repeatedly triggered social unrest and compromised public perception of forestry operations (Kortmann et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting Norway spruce disturbance dynamics in managed forests and strict forest reserves in Slovakia

et al. 2022

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Forest disturbances are intensifying globally, yet regional drivers of these dynamics remain poorly understood. We investigated recent disturbance intensities in Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) forests in Slovakia (Central Europe) with different management objectives in 2000–2017 based on Landsat imagery. We focused on 122 strict reserves without any management, their actively managed surroundings (500 m and 2000 m buffers), and managed production forests beyond the buffer areas. We used generalized additive mixed models to test for differences in temporal trends of disturbance intensity among these management categories. We found that disturbance intensity was increasing in all management categories during the studied period. The increase was more pronounced in the managed forests (compound annual disturbance rate 1.76% year−1) and the 2000 m buffer (2.21% year−1) than in the strict reserves (0.58% year−1). The predicted cumulative disturbance during the 18-year period was 9.9% in the reserves and 30.5% in the 2000 m buffer. We found that forests in nature reserves can be more resistant to disturbances than forests managed for timber production, despite management efforts to control disturbances in managed forests. Our findings can help reconcile the different perceptions of natural disturbances and their management in Central Europe and support climate-adapted management strategies that consider natural disturbances as an indispensable component of ecosystem dynamics.

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Historical natural disturbances shape spruce primary forest structure and indirectly influence bird assemblage composition

Cited by 17 publications

References 72 publications

Natural disturbance regimes as a guide for sustainable forest management in Europe

Natural disturbance regimes as a guide for sustainable forest management in Europe

Large old trees increase growth under shifting climatic constraints: Aligning tree longevity and individual growth dynamics in primary mountain spruce forests

Contrasting Norway spruce disturbance dynamics in managed forests and strict forest reserves in Slovakia

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