1. Patterns of deadwood volume and dynamics in slovenian forestsGal Kušar, Mathias Naumann, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: Deadwood, and its temporal and spatial variation, plays an important role in several forest ecosystem services. This study demonstrates the assessment of deadwood dynamics using data from Slovenian national forest inventory permanent sampling plots, employing a mass-balance approach. Our results reveal that deadwood volume is a highly variable metric across regions, deadwood types and tree species. Despite the influx of large volumes of new deadwood due to recent natural disturbances, only moderate increases in deadwood volume were observed between 2007 and 2018. This was mainly offset by deadwood losses due to salvage logging and decomposition. The extent of deadwood losses varied considerably by species. We discuss the implications of the calculation method on estimating changes in deadwood volume, compare these findings with existing literature on deadwood and highlight promising areas for future research activities to better understand deadwood dynamics.
Keywords: deadwood, carbon, natural disturbances, decomposition
Published in DiRROS: 21.06.2024; Views: 295; Downloads: 72
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2. River distance, stand basal area, and climatic conditions are the main drivers influencing lying deadwood in riparian forestsJanine Oettel, Martin Braun, Marcus Sallmannshofer, Maarten De Groot, Silvio Schueler, Charlotte Virgillito, Marjana Westergren, Gregor Božič, Laszlo Nagy, Srdjan Stojnić, Katharina Lapin, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: Riparian forests are among the most diverse terrestrial ecosystems, yet their biodiversity is increasingly threatened by habitat degradation, climate change, river regulation and invasive species. We investigated deadwood, widely recognized as an indicator for forest biodiversity, in riparian forests of the Mura-Drava-Danube Transboundary Biosphere Reserve. The Biosphere Reserve is a conservation area that spans five countries and three rivers located in south-eastern Europe. In detail, we analyzed the drivers of lying deadwood volume, occurrence and decay related to floodplain type, silvicultural management, and climatic conditions using regression models. Lying deadwood occurrence and volume significantly decreased as distance from the river edge increased, indicating that river dynamics likely play a role in deadwood accumulation in riparian forests. Deadwood volume was also positively influenced by stand basal area, a parameter that can be directly addressed by silvicultural management. Deadwood decay was affected positively by temperature and negatively by precipitation, highlighting the importance of climatic conditions on decay progression. However, in order to draw more accurate conclusions about the drivers and dynamics of deadwood in riparian forests, further monitoring efforts that consider river flooding and flow regime, deadwood transport and saproxylic organism activity in addition to forest management and site conditions, are needed.
Keywords: alluvial forest, hardwood floodplain, deadwood decay, Mura-Drava-Danube transboundary biosphere, reserve, riparian area, softwood floodplain, UNESCO biosphere reserve, wetlands
Published in DiRROS: 18.07.2022; Views: 649; Downloads: 508
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3. Early responses of biodiversity indicators to various thinning treatments in mountain beech forestsFabio Lombardi, Stefania Di Lella, Valeria Altieri, Simone Di Benedetto, Carmen Giancola, Bruno Lasserre, Lado Kutnar, Roberto Tognetti, Marco Marchetti, original scientific article Abstract: In recent decades, the conservation of biodiversity has become one of the main areas under consideration in managing forests in an ecologically sustainable way. Forest management practices are primary drivers of diversity and may enhance or decrease forest biodiversity, according to the measures applied (thinning options). We have focused on three beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests across a latitudinal gradient in Italy, characterised by different structures resulting from dissimilar management. We tested the short-term effects of differently-based silvicultural intervention vs. stands where no silvicultural practices were applied on biodiversity indicators and related proxies: deadwood amounts, microhabitat density, floristic richness and life form abundance. In each study area, the occurrence of the above indicators and proxies was evaluated before and after the implementation of crop tree thinning (CTT) and thinning from below (LT) methods, comparing them with control areas where no interventions were performed. After two years, the management options resulted in different responses of the investigated parameters. The CTT increased deadwood amounts in comparison with the LT ones, while stumps increased significantly after the LT thinning. Microhabitats increased significantly where intervention was not undertaken. On the contrary, they remained unaltered after the LT treatments. CTT thinning created favourable conditions for the development of microhabitats and their proliferation in the long term. Two years after the application of the CTT thinning treatment, all forest stands demonstrated a significant increase in their floristic richness and herb layer cover. Significant differences were also found in both the frequency and cover of life forms in relation to silvicultural treatment. These findings provide a better understanding of short-term effects of silvicultural treatment useful for maintaining biodiversity in mountain beech forests.
Keywords: deadwood, microhabitats, understory vegetation, mountain forests, sustainable forest management, Italian forests
Published in DiRROS: 04.10.2018; Views: 2796; Downloads: 1809
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