Ranking the Key Forest Habitats in Ecosystem Function Provision: Case Study from Morava River Basin

Abstract

Floodplain forests are considered important forest ecosystems, and providers of ecosystem functions and services. The subject of this research was to assess the level of provision of five selected ecosystem functions (climate regulation and regulation of short water cycle, biomass production, oxygen production, and carbon sequestration) and biodiversity by relevant groups of forest habitats, and their mutual comparison. Assessment of ecosystem functions was performed in biophysical units based on published data, our own research, and expert knowledge. The results showed the high importance of floodplain forests. In the majority of the services that were studied, this habitat reached high values and, in comparison with the other habitats, took one of the leading positions. When comparing the ranking in the provision of individual ecosystem functions per unit area, the best-assessed habitat in all assessed functions was floodplain and wetland forests, followed by ravine forests and beech forests, but the analysis of the rate of ecosystem function provision, related to the total area of interest, showed a different order of values. Understanding the context of the individual ecosystem functions of natural ecosystems and those close to nature, in comparison with anthropogenically altered ecosystems is a suggested route for ecologically and economically balanced landscape decision-making, which may increase the efficiency of nature and landscape protection.

Ecological Status of Floodplains and their Potential to Carbon Storage: Case Study From Three Watersheds in the South Moravian Region, Czech Republic

“…The point valuation can also be converted into a financial value, as shown, for example, by Machar et al (2020), who focused on the monetary value of floodplain forests, and Pechanec et al (2017). Consistent with previous research (Pechanec et al, 2021), ecological value, based on assessments of various aspects of habitat and species diversity, rarity and vulnerability, may not be entirely consistent with regulatory ecosystem services such as carbon storage capacity. However, the relationship between biodiversity and regulatory ecosystem functions has been described by different authors, though the relationship is often non-linear as biodiversity is more of a regulator of ecosystem processes that underpin ecosystem services (Cardinale et al, 2012;Mace et al, 2012).…”

Soil Degradation Processes Linked to Long-Term Forest-Type Damage

“…Although Fe and Mn are biogenic elements that catalyze soil organic matter decomposition, bound in sulphides block microbial metabolism [52]. The main forest salinization danger with groundwater is inability to adapt on climate change due to spread of microaerobic conditions [53,54].…”

Assessment and Spatial Distribution of Urban Ecosystem Functions Applied in Two Czech Cities

“…For more information about composition of the detailed habitat layer, see ref. [91]. The final map was further specified using the latest aerial photographs where necessary.…”

“…The assessment was carried out using the habitat valuation method (HVM), a systematic method for establishing a list of national habitat types, classifying them according to their plant composition, and assessing their habitat provision value on the basis of an expert valuation of eight ecological criteria [36,96]. Habitats from this list of national habitat types for the Czech Republic were categorized according to their naturalness: natural and near-natural habitat types identified in the habitat mapping level (© NCA CR, 2015) and described in the Catalog of Habitats of the Czech Republic [90], as well as degraded habitat types divided into three naturalness levels (distant natural, unnatural, and human-made habitat groups) defined for the purposes of the HVM method [36,91,97]. Each habitat type was assigned a habitat provision value.…”