Integrative management to sustain biodiversity and ecological continuity in Central European temperate oak (Quercus robur, Q. petraea) forests: An overview

In Japan, abandonment of forest management and underuse of forest resources are substantial challenges to environmental protection and sustainable wood production, while in many other countries, leaving a forest untouched may be perceived as positive for conserving the forest. This study thus analyses the scientific knowledge landscape on the causes and consequences of reduced human intervention in formerly managed forests and compares differences between Japan and other countries. Advanced search rules in the bibliographic databases returned 188 publications [35 for Japan and 153 for other countries] related to reduced human intervention in formerly managed forests. Reduced human intervention in formerly managed forests occurred in developed countries in the mid-twentieth century because of socio-economic changes and was primarily directed by small-scale private landowners, causing structural homogenisation, stand ageing, and canopy closure, often followed by the consequences of decreasing biodiversity and ecosystem services in Japan and other countries. In Japan, heavy dependency on wood imports at the expense of biodiversity and ecosystem services and the impending need for harvesting abundant mature forests due to the unbalanced tree age distribution possibly enhanced the recognition and urgency of underuse as a threat to biodiversity and wood security, while in other countries, multiple management objectives of diverse landowners probably dispersed the recognition of underuse. Although less recognised in other countries, the absence of forest management can pose a risk to biodiversity and ecosystem services. Hence, reactivating forest management in underused private forests can be a cost-effective precautionary approach against possible damage from underuse-induced ecosystem disservices. Policy implications for sustainable forest management in underused private forests are discussed from a perspective beyond conventional private ownership.

Causes and consequences of reduced human intervention in formerly managed forests in Japan and other countries

Formerly coppiced old growth stands act as refugia of threatened biodiversity in a managed steppic oak forest

AIM: Current species‐richness patterns are sometimes interpreted as a legacy of landscape history, but historical processes shaping the distribution of species during the Holocene are frequently omitted in biodiversity models. Here, we test their importance in modelling current species richness of vascular plants in forest and grassland vegetation. LOCATION: Western Carpathians and adjacent regions. TAXON: Vascular plants. METHODS: Numbers of all species and of habitat specialists were extracted from plot records of forest and grassland vegetation. For each plot, environmental and historical data were derived from thematic maps. Historical data related to the persistence of (a) temperate taxa during the Late Glacial and Early Holocene, (b) open‐landscape taxa during the Middle Holocene and (c) taiga taxa during the Late Holocene were based on 112 fossil pollen profiles. Boosted regression trees were used to model spatial patterns in species richness. RESULTS: Historical variables always appeared among the best predictors of current species richness. In light forests, species richness highly mirrored both the Late Glacial (12.5% contribution) and Middle‐Holocene (8.6%) landscape history. The latter factor became an important predictor also for species richness of steppe grasslands (8.3%) along with temperature seasonality (11.9%). Species richness of dark coniferous forests was best predicted by the Late‐Holocene occurrence of taiga forests (14.8%), which had an even stronger effect on the richness of habitat specialists (20.5%). MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Landscape changes since the Last Glacial Maximum are important predictors of current plant species richness. The historical effects were found to be habitat specific and, because they may interact with recent environmental conditions and anthropogenic pressures, they often show a nonlinear relationship with species richness. We provide one possible direction of incorporating past landscape changes to the models of species richness.

Holocene matters: Landscape history accounts for current species richness of vascular plants in forests and grasslands of eastern Central Europe

The habitat fragmentation and isolation threaten populations of rare species. Organisms become endangered because of the primary habitat loss, but also due to limited dispersal capacity. Whether threatened species are limited more by their dispersal capacity or by lack of suitable habitats is an unresolved question critical to effective conservation. To address the question, we investigated patterns of colonisation by light demanding woodland plants in patches (clearings) of broadleaf forest where open canopy conditions were restored by partial cutting. Six pairs of identically sized (40 × 40 m) clearings were created in closed canopy thermophilous oak forest. Each pair included a clearing isolated in the closed forest and a clearing connected to an alluvial meadow and migration corridor along a river. Within each clearing, we followed colonization success by threatened and common species for 8 years. To assess the relative role of species pool, dispersal limitation and niche-based competition processes (viewed through the plant functional traits), we compared vegetation composition of the clearings to that of surrounding habitats (closed forest, open forest, meadow, forest edge). Clearings hosted more threatened species than closed forests, forest edges and meadows. Existing patches of open forest harboured the highest diversity of threatened species. Their proximity increased colonization success of threatened plants in clearings. Higher colonization rates by threatened plants were associated with shorter distances to source habitats and higher light, higher pH and lower moisture values in the clearings. Clearing type affected composition and ecological strategies of threatened species. Connected clearings were colonized by taller light-demanding species with higher seed mass, more suitable for establishment in a highly competitive environment, while the isolated clearings were colonized by shorter species with higher specific leaf area, better equipped for a more shaded environment. Species richness of threatened species increased in the first 3 years and decreased in last years, indicating that forest thinning creates only a short-term regeneration window with tree and shrub canopy closing back relatively fast. Active intervention should be therefore repeated in short intervals, preferably as shifting mosaics of differently aged stands. Our results bring novel information on the relative importance of habitat quality, isolation, and biotic filtering on communities of threatened species and their colonization success.

Restoring diversity of thermophilous oak forests: connectivity and proximity to existing habitats matter

Transformation of coppices to high forests has caused fundamental changes in site conditions and a decline of many species across Central Europe. Nevertheless, some formerly coppiced forests still harbour a number of the declining species and have become biodiversity hotspots in the changing landscape. We focused on the best-preserved remnant of formerly grazed and coppiced subcontinental oak forest in the Czech Republic – the Dubrava forest near the town of Hodonin. To improve our understanding of the ecology of declining species, we studied local habitat requirements of vascular plants most endangered at the national level. We recorded vegetation composition and sampled important site variables in plots with the largest populations of endangered species and in additional plots placed randomly across all major forest habitats. We demonstrated that sites with endangered species have a highly uneven distribution in ecological space and that their species composition is often similar to open-canopy oak forests. Within this habitat, the endangered species are concentrated in places with a high light availability and high soil pH. Light-demanding species characteristic of subcontinental oak forests are the best indicators of these sites, while broadly distributed shade-tolerant and nutrient-demanding species avoid them. These results support the view that the occurrence of many endangered species in the Dubrava forest is a legacy of the long history of traditional management that kept the canopies open. Light-demanding species are now threatened by ongoing successional changes. Therefore, active conservation measures are recommended, including opening up the canopies, early thinning of young stands, control of expansive and invasive species and understorey grazing or mowing.

/pdf/habitat-requirements-of-endangered-species-in-a-former-y6cdija34i.pdf

Habitat requirements of endangered species in a former coppice of high conservation value

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Habitat requirements of endangered species in a former coppice of high conservation value