The analysis of spatio-temporal forest changes (1775–2000) in Flanders (northern Belgium) indicates habitat-specific levels of fragmentation and area loss

Keersmaeker, Luc De; Onkelinx, Thierry; Vos, Bruno De; Rogiers, Nele; Vandekerkhove, Kris; Thomaes, Arno; Schrijver, An De; Hermy, Martin; Verheyen, Kris

doi:10.1007/s10980-014-0119-7

Cited by 38 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Moreover, understanding the past helps us to predict future changes in a landscape structure [3][4][5][6]. From a practical point of view, historical ecology provides a valuable template for nature conservation and restoration planning: firstly, the ecological continuity of habitats affects recent biodiversity levels [7,8], and secondly, historical ecology allows the setting of restoration references and targets as well as providing an insight into the appropriate location and distribution of habitats to develop landscape-level conservation strategies [3,9,10]. Thirdly, historical land use legacies (e.g., changes in chemical properties of soil) influence site properties by determining their potential for restoration [7,9,11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in forest cover in Sudety Mountains during the last 250 years: patterns, drivers, and landscape-scale implications for nature conservation

et al. 2018

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Historical ecology gives a reference point to explain the contemporary state of particular ecosystems as well as entire landscapes. In this study, we examined the quantitative changes in forest cover in the central part of the Sudety Massif (area ca. 1,120 km 2 ) during the last 250 years. The information regarding forest patch distribution and its changes was derived by comparison of maps from 1747 and the 1970s drawn at scales of 1:33,000 and 1:25,000, respectively. To examine the effect of environmental variables (topography and soil conditions) and human population density on forest patch distribution and its changes (afforestation, deforestation), a set of 100 circular plots with a diameter of 1 km was established. The influence of explanatory variables was examined using regression tree methods. Changes at the level of the entire landscape were tested using a set of 25 landscape windows (5 × 5 km each). We found that the overall forest cover increased to 36.4% in the twentieth century from 30.4% in the middle of the eighteenth century. The ancient forests constituted 59% of the total forest area existing more recently. The forests in the eighteenth century occurred mostly on steep slopes, deep valley bottoms, and summits. The land relief explains more than half of the total variation in forest distribution (R 2 = 0.56). The effects of soil type and human population density were negligible. The contemporary forest pattern results from both land relief and the historical pattern of human population density in the middle of the eighteenth century (R 2 = 0.64), while the effect of soil type was negligible. The pattern of deforestation (R 2 = 0.53) and afforestation (R 2 = 0.36) results from both land relief as well as recent and nineteenth-century human population density. About 83% of the recent forest area is in physical contact with patches of the ancient forest, which provides an optimistic outlook for the migration of ancient forest species into new areas. Furthermore, changes in landscape structure reveal increased connectivity among forest patches, with potential benefits for the migration of forest species with long-range dispersal.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in forest cover in Sudety Mountains during the last 250 years: patterns, drivers, and landscape-scale implications for nature conservation

et al. 2018

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“…Oude bossen beslaan ongeveer 15% van het bos in Vlaanderen, dat op zijn beurt ongeveer 10% van de totale oppervlakte van Vlaanderen beslaat (De Keersmaeker et al 2015). Het behoud van oude bossen is essentieel omdat het hotspots zijn voor biodiversiteit (Peterken 1977, Spencer & Kirby 1992, Wulf 2003, De Frenne et al 2011).…”

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Landgebruiksveranderingen waarderen in Vlaanderen

Reeth¹,

Alaerts²,

Stevens³

et al. 2016

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“…Afterwards, total forest cover remained at a similar figure, with a slight increase during the 18 th century to about 12%, and declining to a minimum of about 9% halfway the 19 th century, when fossil fuels made firewood a less indispensable source of energy. This stable overall figure conceals large deforestations, mainly for agriculture and infrastructure, that were outbalanced by new afforestations -primarily on former heathlands and alluvial meadows -targeted at the delivery of industrial wood products (Hermy et al 2008, De Keersmaeker et al 2015. As a result the actual forest cover is severely fragmented both in space and time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result the actual forest cover is severely fragmented both in space and time. Only a small fraction (15 %) is considered to be ancient woodland, i.e., continuously forested between the end of the 18 th century and today (Hermy & Verheyen 2007, Hermy et al 2008, De Keersmaeker et al 2015.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

500 years of coppice-with-standards management in Meerdaal Forest (Central Belgium)

Vandekerkhove¹,

Baeté²,

Aa³

et al. 2016

iForest

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(3)For centuries, coppice and coppice-with-standards were the main forest management systems in the northern and central parts of present Belgium. A high population density and a low forest cover in the whole region resulted in a high demand for wood, therefore strict regulations and management regimes were necessary to prevent overexploitation. We illustrate this with a well-documented case, that of Meerdaal Forest in Central Belgium, with reference to other sites in the region. Meerdaal Forest is a woodland 30 km east of Brussels. For centuries its high quality timber stands, especially oak, were managed as coppice-with-standards, with a gradually increasing share of standard trees. Using archive documents and ancient maps, we have reconstructed how this coppice-with-standard management has been developed and optimized over a period of about 500 years. Changes in cutting cycles and configurations were discerned, with a gradual increase of the importance of the standard layer over time. The analysis also showed how wood production could be successfully combined with other sources of income like grazing and pannage. We conclude that former managers of Meerdaal Forest, notwithstanding their lack of scholarship and reference works, developed a state-of-the-art sustainable and flexible management regime that allowed to provide high revenues during many centuries.

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The analysis of spatio-temporal forest changes (1775–2000) in Flanders (northern Belgium) indicates habitat-specific levels of fragmentation and area loss

Cited by 38 publications

References 39 publications

Changes in forest cover in Sudety Mountains during the last 250 years: patterns, drivers, and landscape-scale implications for nature conservation

Changes in forest cover in Sudety Mountains during the last 250 years: patterns, drivers, and landscape-scale implications for nature conservation

Landgebruiksveranderingen waarderen in Vlaanderen

500 years of coppice-with-standards management in Meerdaal Forest (Central Belgium)

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