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Kubov M, Fleischer P, Tomes J, Mukarram M, Janík R, Turyasingura B, Fleischer P, Schieber B. Differential Responses of Bilberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus) Phenology and Density to a Changing Environment: A Study from Western Carpathians. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 13:2406. [PMID: 39273890 PMCID: PMC11396889 DOI: 10.3390/plants13172406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2024] [Revised: 08/18/2024] [Accepted: 08/24/2024] [Indexed: 09/15/2024]
Abstract
Environmental factors regulate the regeneration of mountain spruce forests, with drought, wind, and bark beetles causing the maximum damage. How these factors minimise spruce regeneration is still poorly understood. We conducted this study to investigate how the phenology and population dynamics of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), a dominant understory species of mountain spruce forests, are related to selected environmental factors that are modified by natural disturbances (bark beetle and wind). For this, we analysed bilberry at different sites affected by bark beetles and adjacent undisturbed forests in the Tatra National Park (TANAP) during the growing season (April-September) in 2016-2021, six years after the initial bark beetle attack. The observations were taken along an altitudinal gradient (1100-1250-1400 m a.s.l.) in two habitats (disturbed spruce forest-D, undisturbed spruce forest-U). We found that habitat and altitude influenced the onset of selected phenological phases, such as the earliest onset at low altitudes (1100 m a.s.l.) in disturbed forest stands and the latest at high altitudes (1400 m a.s.l.) in undisturbed stands. Although there were non-significant differences between habitats and altitudes, likely due to local climate conditions and the absence of a tree layer, these findings suggest that bilberry can partially thrive in disturbed forest stands. Despite temperature fluctuations during early spring, the longer growing season benefits its growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Kubov
- Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
- Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
| | - Peter Fleischer
- Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
- Administration of Tatra National Park, Tatranská Lomnica, 059 60 Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia
| | - Jakub Tomes
- Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
| | - Mohammad Mukarram
- Department of Plant Biology, Universidad de la República, Av. Gral. Eugenio Garzón 780, Montevideo 12900, Uruguay
| | - Rastislav Janík
- Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
| | - Benson Turyasingura
- Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Kabale University, Kabale P.O. Box 317, Uganda
- African Center of Excellence for Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa P.O. Box 138, Ethiopia
| | - Peter Fleischer
- Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
- Administration of Tatra National Park, Tatranská Lomnica, 059 60 Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia
| | - Branislav Schieber
- Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
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Safaei M, Kleinebecker T, Weis M, Große-Stoltenberg A. Tracking effects of extreme drought on coniferous forests from space using dynamic habitat indices. Heliyon 2024; 10:e27864. [PMID: 38560251 PMCID: PMC10981029 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Terrestrial ecosystems such as coniferous forests in Central Europe are experiencing changes in health status following extreme droughts compounding with severe heat waves. The increasing temporal resolution and spatial coverage of earth observation data offer new opportunities to assess these dynamics. Dense time-series of optical satellite data allow for computing Dynamic Habitat Indices (DHIs), which have been predominantly used in biodiversity studies. However, DHIs cover three aspects of vegetation changes that could be affected by drought: annual productivity, minimum cover, and seasonality. Here, we evaluate the health status of coniferous forests in the federal state of Hesse in Germany over the period 2017-2020 including the severe drought year of 2018 using DHIs based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for drought assessment. To identify the most important variables affecting coniferous forest die-off, a series of environmental variables together with the three DHIs components were used in a logistic regression (LR) model. Each DHI component changed significantly across non-damaged and damaged sites in all years (p-value 0.05). When comparing 2017 to 2019, DHI-based annual productivity decreased and seasonality increased. Most importantly, none of the DHI components had reached pre-drought conditions, which likely indicates a change in ecosystem functioning. We also identified spatially explicit areas highly affected by drought. The LR model revealed that in addition to common environmental parameters related to temperature, precipitation, and elevation, DHI components were the most important factors explaining the health status. Our analysis demonstrates the potential of DHIs to capture the effect of drought events on Central European coniferous forest ecosystems. Since the spaceborne data are available at the global level, this approach can be applied to track the dynamics of ecosystem conditions in other regions, at larger spatial scales, and for other Land Use/Land Cover types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mojdeh Safaei
- Division of Landscape Ecology and Landscape Planning, Institute of Landscape Ecology and Resource Management, IFZ Research Centre for Biosystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff Ring 26-32, 35392, Giessen, Germany
| | - Till Kleinebecker
- Division of Landscape Ecology and Landscape Planning, Institute of Landscape Ecology and Resource Management, IFZ Research Centre for Biosystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff Ring 26-32, 35392, Giessen, Germany
- Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU), Senckenbergstrasse 3, 35390, Giessen, Germany
| | - Manuel Weis
- Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology (HLNUG), Rheingaustraße 186, 65203, Wiesbaden, Germany
| | - André Große-Stoltenberg
- Division of Landscape Ecology and Landscape Planning, Institute of Landscape Ecology and Resource Management, IFZ Research Centre for Biosystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff Ring 26-32, 35392, Giessen, Germany
- Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU), Senckenbergstrasse 3, 35390, Giessen, Germany
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Pugh TAM, Seidl R, Liu D, Lindeskog M, Chini LP, Senf C. The anthropogenic imprint on temperate and boreal forest demography and carbon turnover. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY : A JOURNAL OF MACROECOLOGY 2024; 33:100-115. [PMID: 38516343 PMCID: PMC10952773 DOI: 10.1111/geb.13773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
Aim The sweeping transformation of the biosphere by humans over the last millennia leaves only limited windows into its natural state. Much of the forests that dominated temperate and southern boreal regions have been lost and those that remain typically bear a strong imprint of forestry activities and past land-use change, which have changed forest age structure and composition. Here, we ask how would the dynamics, structure and function of temperate and boreal forests differ in the absence of forestry and the legacies of land-use change? Location Global. Time Period 2001-2014, integrating over the legacy of disturbance events from 1875 to 2014. Major Taxa Studied Trees. Methods We constructed an empirical model of natural disturbance probability as a function of community traits and climate, based on observed disturbance rate and form across 77 protected forest landscapes distributed across three continents. Coupling this within a dynamic vegetation model simulating forest composition and structure, we generated estimates of stand-replacing disturbance return intervals in the absence of forestry for northern hemisphere temperate and boreal forests. We then applied this model to calculate forest stand age structure and carbon turnover rates. Results Comparison with observed disturbance rates revealed human activities to have almost halved the median return interval of stand-replacing disturbances across temperate forest, with more moderate changes in the boreal region. The resulting forests are typically much younger, especially in northern Europe and south-eastern North America, resulting in a 32% reduction in vegetation carbon turnover time across temperate forests and a 7% reduction for boreal forests. Conclusions The current northern hemisphere temperate forest age structure is dramatically out of equilibrium with its natural disturbance regimes. Shifts towards more nature-based approaches to forest policy and management should more explicitly consider the current disturbance surplus, as it substantially impacts carbon dynamics and litter (including deadwood) stocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas A. M. Pugh
- Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem ScienceLund UniversityLundSweden
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental ScienceUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUK
- Birmingham Institute of Forest ResearchUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUK
| | - Rupert Seidl
- Ecosystem dynamics and forest management groupTechnical University of MunichFreisingGermany
- Berchtesgaden National ParkBerchtesgadenGermany
| | - Daijun Liu
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental ScienceUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUK
- Birmingham Institute of Forest ResearchUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUK
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity ResearchUniversity of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Mats Lindeskog
- Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem ScienceLund UniversityLundSweden
| | - Louise P. Chini
- Department of Geographical SciencesUniversity of MarylandCollege ParkMarylandUSA
| | - Cornelius Senf
- Ecosystem dynamics and forest management groupTechnical University of MunichFreisingGermany
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Lantschner MV, Corley JC. Spatiotemporal outbreak dynamics of bark and wood-boring insects. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2023; 55:101003. [PMID: 36596399 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2022.101003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Bark and wood-boring insects (BWI) can cause important disturbances in forest ecosystems, and their impact depends on their spatiotemporal dynamics. Populations are usually at stable, low densities but can be disrupted by stochastic perturbations that trigger a transition to an epidemic phase. For less aggressive species, outbreaks die out quickly once the perturbation is removed, while aggressive species exhibit density-dependent feedback mechanisms facilitating persistent landscape-scale outbreaks. The interactions of attributes of tree, stand, landscape- and regional-scale stressors, and insect life history and behavior determine system-specific dynamics. However, most of our knowledge is based on a few species of mainly Holarctic bark beetles. With global change, it is becoming increasingly important to improve our understanding of the frequency and severity of BWI outbreaks.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Victoria Lantschner
- Grupo de Ecología de Poblaciones de Insectos, Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB), INTA - CONICET, Bariloche, Argentina.
| | - Juan C Corley
- Grupo de Ecología de Poblaciones de Insectos, Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB), INTA - CONICET, Bariloche, Argentina; Departamento de Ecología, CRUB Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Bariloche, Argentina
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Begović K, Schurman JS, Svitok M, Pavlin J, Langbehn T, Svobodová K, Mikoláš M, Janda P, Synek M, Marchand W, Vitková L, Kozák D, Vostarek O, Čada V, Bače R, Svoboda M. Large old trees increase growth under shifting climatic constraints: Aligning tree longevity and individual growth dynamics in primary mountain spruce forests. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2023; 29:143-164. [PMID: 36178428 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
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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Affiliation(s)
- Krešimir Begović
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jonathan S Schurman
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Marek Svitok
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Biology and General Ecology, Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia
| | - Jakob Pavlin
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Thomas Langbehn
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Kristyna Svobodová
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Mikoláš
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Janda
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Synek
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - William Marchand
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Lucie Vitková
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Daniel Kozák
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Ondrej Vostarek
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Vojtech Čada
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Radek Bače
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Miroslav Svoboda
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
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Korznikov K, Kislov D, Doležal J, Petrenko T, Altman J. Tropical cyclones moving into boreal forests: Relationships between disturbance areas and environmental drivers. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 844:156931. [PMID: 35772527 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Tropical cyclones (TCs) are common disturbance agents in tropical and subtropical latitudes. With global warming, TCs began to move to northern latitudes, with devastating effects on boreal forests. However, it remains unclear where and when these extraordinary events occur and how they affect forest structure and ecosystem functioning. Hence knowing which geomorphological features, landforms, and forest types are most susceptible to severe wind disturbance is vital to better predict the future impacts of intensifying tropical cyclones on boreal forests. In October 2015, catastrophic TC Dujuan hit the island of Sakhalin in the Russian Far East. With a wind speed of 63 m·s-1, it became the strongest wind recorded in Sakhalin, damaging >42,000 ha of native forests with different levels of severity. We used high-resolution RGB satellite images, DEM-derived geomorphological patterns, and the U-Net-like convolutional neural network to quantify the damaged area in specific landform, forest type, and windthrow patch size categories. We found that large gaps (>1 ha) represent >40 % of the damaged area while small gaps (<0.1 ha) only 20 %. The recorded canopy gaps are very large for the southern boreal forest. We found that the aspect (slope exposure) is the most important in explaining the damaged area, followed by canopy closure and landform type. Closed-canopy coniferous forests on steep, west-facing slopes (typical of convex reliefs such as ridges, spurs, and peaks) are at a much higher risk of being disturbed by TCs than open-canopy mountain birch forests or coniferous forests and broadleaved riparian forests in concave reliefs such as valley bottoms. We suggest that the projected ongoing poleward migration of TCs will lead to an unprecedentedly large area of disturbed forest, which results in complex changes in forest dynamics and ecosystem functioning. Our findings are crucial for the development of mitigation and adaptation strategies under future changes in TC activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirill Korznikov
- Institute of Botany, the Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň 379 01, Czech Republic; Botanical Garden-Institute, the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690024, Russia.
| | - Dmitry Kislov
- Botanical Garden-Institute, the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690024, Russia
| | - Jiří Doležal
- Institute of Botany, the Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň 379 01, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice 370 05, Czech Republic
| | - Tatyana Petrenko
- Botanical Garden-Institute, the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690024, Russia
| | - Jan Altman
- Institute of Botany, the Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň 379 01, Czech Republic; Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague 6 -, Suchdol 165 21, Czech Republic
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7
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Aszalós R, Thom D, Aakala T, Angelstam P, Brūmelis G, Gálhidy L, Gratzer G, Hlásny T, Katzensteiner K, Kovács B, Knoke T, Larrieu L, Motta R, Müller J, Ódor P, Roženbergar D, Paillet Y, Pitar D, Standovár T, Svoboda M, Szwagrzyk J, Toscani P, Keeton WS. Natural disturbance regimes as a guide for sustainable forest management in Europe. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e2596. [PMID: 35340078 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Revised: 11/13/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
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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Affiliation(s)
- Réka Aszalós
- Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Vácrátót, Hungary
| | - Dominik Thom
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
- Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
- Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest- and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
| | - Tuomas Aakala
- School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland
| | - Per Angelstam
- School for Forest Management, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skinnskatteberg, Sweden
- Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Koppang, Norway
| | | | | | - Georg Gratzer
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
| | - Tomáš Hlásny
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Klaus Katzensteiner
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
| | - Bence Kovács
- Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Vácrátót, Hungary
| | - Thomas Knoke
- Institute of Forest Management, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
| | - Laurent Larrieu
- University of Toulouse, INRAE, UMR DYNAFOR, Castanet-Tolosan, France
- CNPF-CRPF Occitanie, Tarbes, France
| | - Renzo Motta
- Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Sciences (DISAFA), University of Turin, Grugliasco, Italy
| | - Jörg Müller
- Field Station Fabrikschleichach, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Rauhenebrach, Germany
- Bavarian Forest National Park, Grafenau, Germany
| | - Péter Ódor
- Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Vácrátót, Hungary
| | - Dušan Roženbergar
- Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Yoan Paillet
- University Grenoble - Alpes, INRAE, LESSEM, Saint-Martin-D'Hères, France
| | - Diana Pitar
- National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry "Marin Dracea", Voluntari, Romania
| | - Tibor Standovár
- Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Miroslav Svoboda
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jerzy Szwagrzyk
- Department of Forest Biodiversity, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Krakow, Poland
| | - Philipp Toscani
- Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Economics, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
| | - William S Keeton
- Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
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Historical Agricultural Landforms—Central European Bio-Cultural Heritage Worthy of Attention. LAND 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/land11070963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Knowledge about past agricultural land management can bring solutions for future needs. One undervalued historical type of historical rural landscape in temperate Europe is termed plužiny. It consists of individual historical agricultural landforms framed by linear woody vegetation. Our multidisciplinary research quantified the distribution of plužiny in Czechia, utilizing archive materials, geographic information systems, and field surveys for verification. Several case studies give merit to the societal relevance of plužiny and justification for their protection and inclusion in landscape planning. We have assessed the contribution of plužiny to secondary geodiversity by describing the landforms morphometrically, using geophysical imaging of their inner structure, and assessing the possible downslope erosive segregation of soil particles. The results of these analyses prove the positive effect of these landscape features on secondary geodiversity and biodiversity at the species level through the process of induced landscape diversification. The results also document management changes during the last 170 years and provide a basis for assessing their present-day endangerment. Although plužiny are less known compared to bocage landscapes of Western Europe, they are similarly valuable. Landscape managers should better recognize the ecological, cultural, and aesthetic values of plužiny as historical agricultural landforms and protect them as a bio-cultural heritage.
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Thom D, Rammer W, Laux P, Smiatek G, Kunstmann H, Seibold S, Seidl R. Will forest dynamics continue to accelerate throughout the 21st century in the Northern Alps? GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2022; 28:3260-3274. [PMID: 35170829 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Observational evidence suggests that forests in the Northern Alps are changing at an increasing rate as a consequence of climate change. Yet, it remains unclear whether the acceleration of forest change will continue in the future, or whether downregulating feedbacks will eventually decouple forest dynamics from climate change. Here we studied future forest dynamics at Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany by means of a process-based forest landscape model, simulating an ensemble of 22 climate projections until the end of the 21st century. Our objectives were (i) to assess whether the observed acceleration of forest dynamics will continue in the future, (ii) to analyze how uncertainty in future climate translates to variation in future forest disturbance, structure, and composition, and (iii) to determine the main drivers of future forest dynamics. We found that forest dynamics continue to accelerate in the coming decades, with a trend towards denser, structurally more complex and more species rich forests. However, changes in forest structure leveled off in the second half of the 21st century regardless of climate scenario. In contrast, climate scenarios caused trajectories of tree species change to diverge in the second half of the 21st century, with stabilization under RCP 2.6 and RCP 4.5 scenarios and accelerated loss of conifers under RCP 8.5. Disturbance projections were 3 to 20 times more variable than future climate, whereas projected future forest structure and composition varied considerably less than climate. Indirect effects of climate change via alterations of the disturbance regime had a stronger impact on future forest dynamics than direct effects. Our findings suggest that dampening feedbacks within forest dynamics will decelerate forest change in the second half of the 21st century. However, warming beyond the levels projected under RCP 4.5 might profoundly alter future forest disturbance and composition, challenging conservation efforts and ecosystem service supply.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominik Thom
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
- Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
| | - Werner Rammer
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
| | - Patrick Laux
- Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Campus Alpin, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
- Institute of Geography, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
| | - Gerhard Smiatek
- Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Campus Alpin, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
| | - Harald Kunstmann
- Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Campus Alpin, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
- Institute of Geography, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
| | - Sebastian Seibold
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
- Berchtesgaden National Park, Berchtesgaden, Germany
| | - Rupert Seidl
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
- Berchtesgaden National Park, Berchtesgaden, Germany
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10
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Automatic Identification of Forest Disturbance Drivers Based on Their Geometric Pattern in Atlantic Forests. REMOTE SENSING 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/rs14030697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Monitoring forest disturbances has become essential towards the design and tracking of sustainable forest management. Multiple methodologies have been developed to detect these disturbances. However, few studies have focused on the automatic detection of disturbance drivers, an essential task as each disturbance has different implications for the functioning of the ecosystem and associated management actions. Wildfires and harvesting are two of the major drivers of forest disturbances across different ecosystems. In this study, an automated methodology is presented to automatically distinguish between the two once the disturbance is detected, using the properties of its geometry and shape. A cluster analysis was performed to automatically individualize each disturbance and afterwards calculate its geometric properties. Using these properties, a decision tree was built that allowed for the distinction between wildfires and harvesting with an overall accuracy of 91%. This methodology and further research relating to it could pose an essential aid to national and international agencies for incorporating forest-disturbance-driver-related information into forest-focused reports.
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11
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Sturtevant BR, Fortin MJ. Understanding and Modeling Forest Disturbance Interactions at the Landscape Level. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.653647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Disturbances, both natural and anthropogenic, affect the configuration, composition, and function of forested ecosystems. Complex system behaviors emerge from the interactions between disturbance regimes, the vegetation response to those disturbances, and their interplay with multiple drivers (climate, topography, land use, etc.) across spatial and temporal scales. Here, we summarize conceptual advances and empirical approaches to disturbance interaction investigation, and used those insights to evaluate and categorize 146 landscape modeling studies emerging from a systematic review of the literature published since 2010. Recent conceptual advances include formal disaggregation of disturbances into their constituent components, embedding disturbance processes into system dynamics, and clarifying terminology for interaction factors, types, and ecosystem responses. Empirical studies investigating disturbance interactions now span a wide range of approaches, including (most recently) advanced statistical methods applied to an expanding set of spatial and temporal datasets. Concurrent development in spatially-explicit landscape models, informed by these empirical insights, integrate the interactions among natural and anthropogenic disturbances by coupling these processes to account for disturbance stochasticity, disturbance within and across scales, and non-linear landscape responses to climate change. Still, trade-offs between model elegance and complexity remain. We developed an index for the degree of process integration (i.e., balance of static vs. dynamic components) within a given disturbance agent and applied it to the studies from our systematic review. Contemporary model applications in this line of research have applied a wide range process integration, depending on the specific question, but also limited in part by data and knowledge. Non-linear “threshold” behavior and cross-scaled interactions remain a frontier in temperate, boreal, and alpine regions of North America and Europe, while even simplistic studies are lacking from other regions of the globe (e.g., subtropical and tropical biomes). Understanding and planning for uncertainty in system behavior—including disturbance interactions—is paramount at a time of accelerated anthropogenic change. While progress in landscape modeling studies in this area is evident, work remains to increase model transparency and confidence, especially for understudied regions and processes. Moving forward, a multi-dimensional approach is recommended to address the uncertainties of complex human-ecological dynamics.
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12
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Pöpperl F, Seidl R. Effects of stand edges on the structure, functioning, and diversity of a temperate mountain forest landscape. Ecosphere 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Pöpperl
- Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest‐ and Soil Sciences University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna Peter Jordan Straße 82 Wien 1190 Austria
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group Technical University of Munich Hans‐Carl‐von‐Carlowitz‐Platz 2 Freising 85354 Germany
| | - Rupert Seidl
- Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest‐ and Soil Sciences University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna Peter Jordan Straße 82 Wien 1190 Austria
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group Technical University of Munich Hans‐Carl‐von‐Carlowitz‐Platz 2 Freising 85354 Germany
- Berchtesgaden National Park Doktorberg 6 Berchtesgaden 83471 Germany
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13
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Thom D, Seidl R. Accelerating Mountain Forest Dynamics in the Alps. Ecosystems 2021; 25:603-617. [PMID: 35509678 PMCID: PMC9016046 DOI: 10.1007/s10021-021-00674-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Climate change alters forest development pathways, with consequences for ecosystem services and biodiversity. As the rate of warming increases, ecosystem change is expected to accelerate. However, ecosystem dynamics can have many causes unrelated to climate (for example, disturbance and stand development legacies). The compound effects of multiple drivers remain largely unclear. Here, we assessed forest dynamics over 28 years at Berchtesgaden National Park (BGNP), Germany, quantifying the spatiotemporal patterns and unraveling the drivers of forest change. We analyzed high-density forest inventory data, consisting of three consecutive censuses of 3759 permanent sample plots (132,866 tree records in total). We used semi-variograms to analyze spatial patterns of change, and boosted regression trees to quantify the effect of 30 covariates on changes in nine indicators of forest structure and composition. Over the 28 years investigated, the forests of BGNP were becoming denser, structurally more complex, and more species rich. Changes in forest structure were more pronounced and spatially correlated on the landscape than changes in tree species composition. Change rates of all indicators increased over time, signifying an acceleration of forest dynamics since the 1980s. Legacies and climate were the most important drivers of change, but had diverging impacts. Although forest change accelerated with increasing temperature, high legacy levels typical for late development stages dampened it. We here provide evidence for accelerating forest dynamics in mountain forests of the Alps, with potentially far-reaching consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem processes. We highlight that unmanaged forest development toward old-growth conditions could counteract climate-mediated acceleration of forest change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominik Thom
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
- Department of Forest- and Soil Sciences, Institute of Silviculture, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Peter-Jordan-Straße 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria
- Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, 617 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05405 USA
| | - Rupert Seidl
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
- Department of Forest- and Soil Sciences, Institute of Silviculture, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Peter-Jordan-Straße 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria
- Berchtesgaden National Park, Doktorberg 6, 83471 Berchtesgaden, Germany
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14
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Senf C, Buras A, Zang CS, Rammig A, Seidl R. Excess forest mortality is consistently linked to drought across Europe. Nat Commun 2020; 11:6200. [PMID: 33273460 PMCID: PMC7713373 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19924-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Pulses of tree mortality caused by drought have been reported recently in forests around the globe, but large-scale quantitative evidence is lacking for Europe. Analyzing high-resolution annual satellite-based canopy mortality maps from 1987 to 2016 we here show that excess forest mortality (i.e., canopy mortality exceeding the long-term mortality trend) is significantly related to drought across continental Europe. The relationship between water availability and mortality showed threshold behavior, with excess mortality increasing steeply when the integrated climatic water balance from March to July fell below -1.6 standard deviations of its long-term average. For -3.0 standard deviations the probability of excess canopy mortality was 91.6% (83.8-97.5%). Overall, drought caused approximately 500,000 ha of excess forest mortality between 1987 and 2016 in Europe. We here provide evidence that drought is an important driver of tree mortality at the continental scale, and suggest that a future increase in drought could trigger widespread tree mortality in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cornelius Senf
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany.
| | - Allan Buras
- Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany
| | - Christian S Zang
- Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany
| | - Anja Rammig
- Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany
| | - Rupert Seidl
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany
- Berchtesgaden National Park, Doktorberg 6, 83471, Berchtesgaden, Germany
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15
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Čada V, Trotsiuk V, Janda P, Mikoláš M, Bače R, Nagel TA, Morrissey RC, Tepley AJ, Vostarek O, Begović K, Chaskovskyy O, Dušátko M, Kameniar O, Kozák D, Lábusová J, Málek J, Meyer P, Pettit JL, Schurman JS, Svobodová K, Synek M, Teodosiu M, Ujházy K, Svoboda M. Quantifying natural disturbances using a large-scale dendrochronological reconstruction to guide forest management. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2020; 30:e02189. [PMID: 32506652 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2019] [Revised: 02/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Estimates of historical disturbance patterns are essential to guide forest management aimed at ensuring the sustainability of ecosystem functions and biodiversity. However, quantitative estimates of various disturbance characteristics required in management applications are rare in longer-term historical studies. Thus, our objectives were to (1) quantify past disturbance severity, patch size, and stand proportion disturbed and (2) test for temporal and subregional differences in these characteristics. We developed a comprehensive dendrochronological method to evaluate an approximately two-century-long disturbance record in the remaining Central and Eastern European primary mountain spruce forests, where wind and bark beetles are the predominant disturbance agents. We used an unprecedented large-scale nested design data set of 541 plots located within 44 stands and 6 subregions. To quantify individual disturbance events, we used tree-ring proxies, which were aggregated at plot and stand levels by smoothing and detecting peaks in their distributions. The spatial aggregation of disturbance events was used to estimate patch sizes. Data exhibited continuous gradients from low- to high-severity and small- to large-size disturbance events. In addition to the importance of small disturbance events, moderate-scale (25-75% of the stand disturbed, >10 ha patch size) and moderate-severity (25-75% of canopy disturbed) events were also common. Moderate disturbances represented more than 50% of the total disturbed area and their rotation periods ranged from one to several hundred years, which is within the lifespan of local tree species. Disturbance severities differed among subregions, whereas the stand proportion disturbed varied significantly over time. This indicates partially independent variations among disturbance characteristics. Our quantitative estimates of disturbance severity, patch size, stand proportion disturbed, and associated rotation periods provide rigorous baseline data for future ecological research, decisions within biodiversity conservation, and silviculture intended to maintain native biodiversity and ecosystem functions. These results highlight a need for sufficiently large and adequately connected networks of strict reserves, more complex silvicultural treatments that emulate the natural disturbance spectrum in harvest rotation times, sizes, and intensities, and higher levels of tree and structural legacy retention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vojtěch Čada
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Volodymyr Trotsiuk
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, Birmensdorf, CH-8903, Switzerland
| | - Pavel Janda
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Mikoláš
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
- PRALES, Odtrnovie 563, Rosina, SK-01322, Slovakia
| | - Radek Bače
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Thomas A Nagel
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
- Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 83, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia
| | - Robert C Morrissey
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Alan J Tepley
- Division of Biological Sciences, W.A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, 59812, USA
| | - Ondřej Vostarek
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Krešimir Begović
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Oleh Chaskovskyy
- Faculty of Forestry, Ukrainian National Forestry University, Gen. Chuprynka 103, Lviv, 790 57, Ukraine
| | - Martin Dušátko
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Ondrej Kameniar
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Daniel Kozák
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Jana Lábusová
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Jakub Málek
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Peter Meyer
- North West German Forest Research Institute, Grätzelstrasse 2, Göttingen, D-37079, Germany
| | - Joseph L Pettit
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Jonathan S Schurman
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Kristýna Svobodová
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Synek
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Marius Teodosiu
- "Marin Drăcea" National Research-Development Institute in Forestry, Station Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Calea Bucovinei 73b, Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Suceava, 725100, Romania
- Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Universităţii 13, Suceava, 720229, Romania
| | - Karol Ujházy
- Technical University in Zvolen, T.G. Masaryka 24, Zvolen, 96053, Slovakia
| | - Miroslav Svoboda
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Prague, 165 00, Czech Republic
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16
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Dobor L, Hlásny T, Zimová S. Contrasting vulnerability of monospecific and species-diverse forests to wind and bark beetle disturbance: The role of management. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:12233-12245. [PMID: 33209284 PMCID: PMC7663067 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Revised: 08/27/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Wind and bark beetle disturbances have increased in recent decades, affecting Europe's coniferous forests with particular severity. Management fostering forest diversity and resilience is deemed to effectively mitigate disturbance impacts, yet its efficiency and interaction with other disturbance management measures remain unclear.We focused on Central Europe, which has become one of the hotspots of recent disturbance changes. We used the iLand ecosystem model to understand the interplay between species composition of the forest, forest disturbance dynamics affected by climate change, and disturbance management. The tested measures included (a) active transformation of tree species composition toward site-matching species; (b) intensive removal of windfelled trees, which can support the buildup of bark beetle populations; and (c) reduction of mature and vulnerable trees on the landscape via modified harvesting regimes.We found that management systems aiming to sustain the dominance of Norway spruce in the forest are failing under climate change, and none of the measures applied could mitigate the disturbance impacts. Conversely, management systems fostering forest diversity substantially reduced the level of disturbance. Significant disturbance reduction has been achieved even without salvaging and rotation length reduction, which is beneficial for ecosystem recovery, carbon, and biodiversity. Synthesis and applications: We conclude that climate change amplifies the contrast in vulnerability of monospecific and species-diverse forests to wind and bark beetle disturbance. Whereas forests dominated by Norway spruce are not likely to be sustained in Central Europe under climate change, different management strategies can be applied in species-diverse forests to reach the desired control over the disturbance dynamic. Our findings justify some unrealistic expectations about the options to control disturbance dynamics under climate change and highlight the importance of management that fosters forest diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Dobor
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood SciencesCzech University of Life Sciences PraguePragueCzech Republic
| | - Tomáš Hlásny
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood SciencesCzech University of Life Sciences PraguePragueCzech Republic
| | - Soňa Zimová
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood SciencesCzech University of Life Sciences PraguePragueCzech Republic
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17
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Thom D, Sommerfeld A, Sebald J, Hagge J, Müller J, Seidl R. Effects of disturbance patterns and deadwood on the microclimate in European beech forests. AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY 2020; 291:108066. [PMID: 35646194 PMCID: PMC7612769 DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2020.108066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
More frequent and severe disturbances increasingly open the forest canopy and initiate tree regeneration. Simultaneously, increasing weather extremes, such as drought and heat, are threatening species adapted to cool and moist climate. The magnitude of the microclimatic buffering capacity of forest canopies to mitigate hot and dry weather conditions and its disturbance-induced reduction remains poorly quantified. Also, the influence of disturbance legacies (e.g., deadwood) on forest microclimate is unresolved. In a unique manipulation experiment we investigated (i) the microclimatic buffering capacity of forest canopies in years with different climatic conditions; (ii) the impacts of spatial disturbance patterns on surface light and microclimate; and (iii) the effect of deadwood presence and type on microclimate. Treatments included two disturbance patterns (i.e., aggregated and distributed), four deadwood types (i.e., standing, downed, standing and downed, removed), and one untreated control (i.e., nine treatments in total), replicated at five sites dominated by European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in southeastern Germany. We measured forest floor light conditions and derived diurnal extremes and variation in temperature (T) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) during four consecutive summer seasons (2016 - 2019). The buffering capacity of intact forest canopies was higher in warm and dry years. Surface light was significantly higher in spatially aggregated disturbance gaps compared to distributed disturbances of similar severity. An increase in surface light by 10 % relative to closed canopies elevated Tmax and VPDmax by 0.42°C and 0.04 kPa, respectively. Deadwood presence and type did not affect the forest microclimate significantly. Microclimatic buffering under forest canopies can dampen the effects of climate change. However, increasing canopy disturbances result in more light penetrating the canopy, reducing the microclimatic buffering capacity of forests. We conclude that forest management should foster microclimatic buffering in forests as one element of a multi-pronged strategy to counter climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominik Thom
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
- Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest- and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Peter-Jordan-Straße 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria
- Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
| | - Andreas Sommerfeld
- Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest- and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Peter-Jordan-Straße 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Julius Sebald
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
- Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest- and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Peter-Jordan-Straße 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Jonas Hagge
- Forest Nature Conservation, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Jörg Müller
- Ecological Field Station Fabrikschleichach, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, Glashüttenstraße 5, 96181 Rauhenebrach, Germany
- Bavarian Forest National Park, Freyunger Strasse 2, 94481 Grafenau, Germany
| | - Rupert Seidl
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
- Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest- and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Peter-Jordan-Straße 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria
- Berchtesgaden National Park, Doktorberg 6, 83471 Berchtesgaden, Germany
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18
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Albrich K, Rammer W, Seidl R. Climate change causes critical transitions and irreversible alterations of mountain forests. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:4013-4027. [PMID: 32301569 PMCID: PMC7317840 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Revised: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/30/2020] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Mountain forests are at particular risk of climate change impacts due to their temperature limitation and high exposure to warming. At the same time, their complex topography may help to buffer the effects of climate change and create climate refugia. Whether climate change can lead to critical transitions of mountain forest ecosystems and whether such transitions are reversible remain incompletely understood. We investigated the resilience of forest composition and size structure to climate change, focusing on a mountain forest landscape in the Eastern Alps. Using the individual-based forest landscape model iLand, we simulated ecosystem responses to a wide range of climatic changes (up to a 6°C increase in mean annual temperature and a 30% reduction in mean annual precipitation), testing for tipping points in vegetation size structure and composition under different topography scenarios. We found that at warming levels above +2°C a threshold was crossed, with the system tipping into an alternative state. The system shifted from a conifer-dominated landscape characterized by large trees to a landscape dominated by smaller, predominantly broadleaved trees. Topographic complexity moderated climate change impacts, smoothing and delaying the transitions between alternative vegetation states. We subsequently reversed the simulated climate forcing to assess the ability of the landscape to recover from climate change impacts. The forest landscape showed hysteresis, particularly in scenarios with lower precipitation. At the same mean annual temperature, equilibrium vegetation size structure and species composition differed between warming and cooling trajectories. Here we show that even moderate warming corresponding to current policy targets could result in critical transitions of forest ecosystems and highlight the importance of topographic complexity as a buffering agent. Furthermore, our results show that overshooting ambitious climate mitigation targets could be dangerous, as ecological impacts can be irreversible at millennial time scales once a tipping point has been crossed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Albrich
- Institute of SilvicultureUniversity of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) ViennaViennaAustria
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management GroupTechnical University of MunichFreisingGermany
| | - Werner Rammer
- Institute of SilvicultureUniversity of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) ViennaViennaAustria
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management GroupTechnical University of MunichFreisingGermany
| | - Rupert Seidl
- Institute of SilvicultureUniversity of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) ViennaViennaAustria
- Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management GroupTechnical University of MunichFreisingGermany
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19
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Automatic Windthrow Detection Using Very-High-Resolution Satellite Imagery and Deep Learning. REMOTE SENSING 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/rs12071145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Wind disturbances are significant phenomena in forest spatial structure and succession dynamics. They cause changes in biodiversity, impact on forest ecosystems at different spatial scales, and have a strong influence on economics and human beings. The reliable recognition and mapping of windthrow areas are of high importance from the perspective of forest management and nature conservation. Recent research in artificial intelligence and computer vision has demonstrated the incredible potential of neural networks in addressing image classification problems. The most efficient algorithms are based on artificial neural networks of nested and complex architecture (e.g., convolutional neural networks (CNNs)), which are usually referred to by a common term—deep learning. Deep learning provides powerful algorithms for the precise segmentation of remote sensing data. We developed an algorithm based on a U-Net-like CNN, which was trained to recognize windthrow areas in Kunashir Island, Russia. We used satellite imagery of very-high spatial resolution (0.5 m/pixel) as source data. We performed a grid search among 216 parameter combinations defining different U-Net-like architectures. The best parameter combination allowed us to achieve an overall accuracy for recognition of windthrow sites of up to 94% for forested landscapes by coniferous and mixed coniferous forests. We found that the false-positive decisions of our algorithm correspond to either seashore logs, which may look similar to fallen tree trunks, or leafless forest stands. While the former can be rectified by applying a forest mask, the latter requires the usage of additional information, which is not always provided by satellite imagery.
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20
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Harvey JE, Smiljanić M, Scharnweber T, Buras A, Cedro A, Cruz-García R, Drobyshev I, Janecka K, Jansons Ā, Kaczka R, Klisz M, Läänelaid A, Matisons R, Muffler L, Sohar K, Spyt B, Stolz J, van der Maaten E, van der Maaten-Theunissen M, Vitas A, Weigel R, Kreyling J, Wilmking M. Tree growth influenced by warming winter climate and summer moisture availability in northern temperate forests. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:2505-2518. [PMID: 31860143 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2019] [Accepted: 10/30/2019] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
The role of future forests in global biogeochemical cycles will depend on how different tree species respond to climate. Interpreting the response of forest growth to climate change requires an understanding of the temporal and spatial patterns of seasonal climatic influences on the growth of common tree species. We constructed a new network of 310 tree-ring width chronologies from three common tree species (Quercus robur, Pinus sylvestris and Fagus sylvatica) collected for different ecological, management and climate purposes in the south Baltic Sea region at the border of three bioclimatic zones (temperate continental, oceanic, southern boreal). The major climate factors (temperature, precipitation, drought) affecting tree growth at monthly and seasonal scales were identified. Our analysis documents that 20th century Scots pine and deciduous species growth is generally controlled by different climate parameters, and that summer moisture availability is increasingly important for the growth of deciduous species examined. We report changes in the influence of winter climate variables over the last decades, where a decreasing influence of late winter temperature on deciduous tree growth and an increasing influence of winter temperature on Scots pine growth was found. By comparing climate-growth responses for the 1943-1972 and 1973-2002 periods and characterizing site-level growth response stability, a descriptive application of spatial segregation analysis distinguished sites with stable responses to dominant climate parameters (northeast of the study region), and sites that collectively showed unstable responses to winter climate (southeast of the study region). The findings presented here highlight the temporally unstable and nonuniform responses of tree growth to climate variability, and that there are geographical coherent regions where these changes are similar. Considering continued climate change in the future, our results provide important regional perspectives on recent broad-scale climate-growth relationships for trees across the temperate to boreal forest transition around the south Baltic Sea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jill E Harvey
- Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Northern Forestry Centre, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Marko Smiljanić
- Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Tobias Scharnweber
- Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Allan Buras
- Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, TUM School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Freising, Germany
| | - Anna Cedro
- Faculty of Geosciences, Szczecin University, Szczecin, Poland
| | - Roberto Cruz-García
- Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Igor Drobyshev
- Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
- Institut de recherche sur les forêts, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), Val-d'Or, QC, Canada
| | - Karolina Janecka
- Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Āris Jansons
- Latvian State Forest Research Institute, Salaspils, Latvia
| | - Ryszard Kaczka
- Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland
| | - Marcin Klisz
- Department of Silviculture and Forest Tree Genetics, Forest Research Institute, Raszyn, Poland
| | - Alar Läänelaid
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | | | - Lena Muffler
- Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Albrecht von Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Kristina Sohar
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Barbara Spyt
- Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland
| | - Juliane Stolz
- Chair of Forest Growth and Woody Biomass Production, Dresden, Germany
| | | | | | - Adomas Vitas
- Centre of Environmental Research, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Robert Weigel
- Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Albrecht von Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Jürgen Kreyling
- Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Martin Wilmking
- Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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Dobor L, Hlásny T, Rammer W, Zimová S, Barka I, Seidl R. Spatial configuration matters when removing windfelled trees to manage bark beetle disturbances in Central European forest landscapes. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2020; 254:109792. [PMID: 31731030 PMCID: PMC7612771 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2019] [Revised: 10/18/2019] [Accepted: 10/26/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Windfelled Norway spruce (Picea abies) trees play a crucial role in triggering large-scale outbreaks of the European spruce bark beetle Ips typographus. Outbreak management therefore strives to remove windfelled trees to reduce the risk of outbreaks, a measure referred to as sanitation logging (SL). Although this practice has been traditionally applied, its efficiency in preventing outbreaks remains poorly understood. We used the landscape simulation model iLand to investigate the effects of different spatial configurations and intensities of SL of windfelled trees on the subsequent disturbance by bark beetles. We studied differences between SL applied evenly across the landscape, focused on the vicinity of roads (scenario of limited logging resources) and concentrated in a contiguous block (scenario of spatially diversified management objectives). We focused on a 16 050 ha forest landscape in Central Europe. The removal of >80% of all windfelled trees is required to substantially reduce bark beetle disturbances. Focusing SL on the vicinity of roads created a "fire break effect" on bark beetle spread, and was moderately efficient in reducing landscape-scale bark beetle disturbance. Block treatments substantially reduced outbreaks in treated areas. Leaving parts of the landscape untreated (e.g., conservation areas) had no significant amplifying effect on outbreaks in managed areas. Climate change increased bark beetle disturbances and reduced the effect of SL. Our results suggest that past outbreak management methods will not be sufficient to counteract climate-mediated increases in bark beetle disturbance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Dobor
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Tomáš Hlásny
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic.
| | - Werner Rammer
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Peter Jordan Straße 82, 1190, Wien, Austria
| | - Soňa Zimová
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Ivan Barka
- National Forest Centre - Forest Research Institute Zvolen, T. G. Masaryka 22, 960 92, Zvolen, Slovak Republic
| | - Rupert Seidl
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Peter Jordan Straße 82, 1190, Wien, Austria
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Potential Solar Radiation as a Driver for Bark Beetle Infestation on a Landscape Scale. FORESTS 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/f10070604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
In recent decades, Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) forests of the High Tatra Mountains have suffered unprecedented tree mortality caused by European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus L.). Analysis of the spatiotemporal pattern of bark beetle outbreaks across the landscape in consecutive years can provide new insights into the population dynamics of tree-killing insects. A bark beetle outbreak occurred in the High Tatra Mountains after a storm damaged more than 10,000 ha of forests in 2004. We combined yearly Landsat-derived bark beetle infestation spots from 2006 to 2014 and meteorological data to identify the susceptibility of forest stands to beetle infestation. We found that digital elevation model (DEM)-derived potential radiation loads predicted beetle infestation, especially in the peak phase of beetle epidemic. Moreover, spots attacked at the beginning of our study period had higher values of received solar radiation than spots at the end of the study period, indicating that bark beetles prefer sites with higher insolation during outbreak. We conclude that solar radiation, easily determined from the DEM, better identified beetle infestations than commonly used meteorological variables. We recommend including potential solar radiation in beetle infestation prediction models.
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23
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Fire, CO2, and climate effects on modeled vegetation and carbon dynamics in western Oregon and Washington. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0210989. [PMID: 30682107 PMCID: PMC6347276 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2018] [Accepted: 01/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
To develop effective long-term strategies, natural resource managers need to account for the projected effects of climate change as well as the uncertainty inherent in those projections. Vegetation models are one important source of projected climate effects. We explore results and associated uncertainties from the MC2 Dynamic Global Vegetation Model for the Pacific Northwest west of the Cascade crest. We compare model results for vegetation cover and carbon dynamics over the period 1895-2100 assuming: 1) unlimited wildfire ignitions versus stochastic ignitions, 2) no fire, and 3) a moderate CO2 fertilization effect versus no CO2 fertilization effect. Carbon stocks decline in all scenarios, except without fire and with a moderate CO2 fertilization effect. The greatest carbon stock loss, approximately 23% of historical levels, occurs with unlimited ignitions and no CO2 fertilization effect. With stochastic ignitions and a CO2 fertilization effect, carbon stocks are more stable than with unlimited ignitions. For all scenarios, the dominant vegetation type shifts from pure conifer to mixed forest, indicating that vegetation cover change is driven solely by climate and that significant mortality and vegetation shifts are likely through the 21st century regardless of fire regime changes.
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Etzold S, Ziemińska K, Rohner B, Bottero A, Bose AK, Ruehr NK, Zingg A, Rigling A. One Century of Forest Monitoring Data in Switzerland Reveals Species- and Site-Specific Trends of Climate-Induced Tree Mortality. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2019; 10:307. [PMID: 30967884 PMCID: PMC6438887 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2019] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Climate-induced tree mortality became a global phenomenon during the last century and it is expected to increase in many regions in the future along with a further increase in the frequency of drought and heat events. However, tree mortality at the ecosystem level remains challenging to quantify since long-term, tree-individual, reliable observations are scarce. Here, we present a unique data set of monitoring records from 276 permanent plots located in 95 forest stands across Switzerland, which include five major European tree species (Norway spruce, Scots pine, silver fir, European beech, and sessile and common oak) and cover a time span of over one century (1898-2013), with inventory periods of 5-10 years. The long-term average annual mortality rate of the investigated forest stands was 1.5%. In general, species-specific annual mortality rates did not consistently increase over the last decades, except for Scots pine forests at lower altitudes, which exhibited a clear increase of mortality since the 1960s. Temporal trends of tree mortality varied also depending on diameter at breast height (DBH), with large trees generally experiencing an increase in mortality, while mortality of small trees tended to decrease. Normalized mortality rates were remarkably similar between species and a modest, but a consistent and steady increasing trend was apparent throughout the study period. Mixed effects models revealed that gradually changing stand parameters (stand basal area and stand age) had the strongest impact on mortality rates, modulated by climate, which had increasing importance during the last decades. Hereby, recent climatic changes had highly variable effects on tree mortality rates, depending on the species in combination with abiotic and biotic stand and site conditions. This suggests that forest species composition and species ranges may change under future climate conditions. Our data set highlights the complexity of forest dynamical processes such as long-term, gradual changes of forest structure, demography and species composition, which together with climate determine mortality rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia Etzold
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
- *Correspondence: Sophia Etzold,
| | - Kasia Ziemińska
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Brigitte Rohner
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Alessandra Bottero
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
- SwissForestLab, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Arun K. Bose
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Nadine K. Ruehr
- Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research – Atmospheric Environmental Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
| | - Andreas Zingg
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Rigling
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
- Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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25
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Schelhaas MJ, Fridman J, Hengeveld GM, Henttonen HM, Lehtonen A, Kies U, Krajnc N, Lerink B, Ní Dhubháin Á, Polley H, Pugh TAM, Redmond JJ, Rohner B, Temperli C, Vayreda J, Nabuurs GJ. Actual European forest management by region, tree species and owner based on 714,000 re-measured trees in national forest inventories. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0207151. [PMID: 30418996 PMCID: PMC6231657 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND European forests have a long record of management. However, the diversity of the current forest management across nations, tree species and owners, is hardly understood. Often when trying to simulate future forest resources under alternative futures, simply the yield table style of harvesting is applied. It is now crucially important to come to grips with actual forest management, now that demand for wood is increasing and the EU Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Regulation has been adopted requiring 'continuation of current management practices' as a baseline to set the Forest Reference Level carbon sink. METHODS Based on a large dataset of 714,000 re-measured trees in National Forest inventories from 13 regions, we are now able to analyse actual forest harvesting. CONCLUSIONS From this large set of repeated tree measurements we can conclude that there is no such thing as yield table harvesting in Europe. We found general trends of increasing harvest probability with higher productivity of the region and the species, but with important deviations related to local conditions like site accessibility, state of the forest resource (like age), specific subsidies, importance of other forest services, and ownership of the forest. As a result, we find a huge diversity in harvest regimes. Over the time period covered in our inventories, the average harvest probability over all regions was 2.4% yr-1 (in number of trees) and the mortality probability was 0.4% yr-1. Our study provides underlying and most actual data that can serve as a basis for quantifying 'continuation of current forest management'. It can be used as a cornerstone for the base period as required for the Forest Reference Level for EU Member States.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mart-Jan Schelhaas
- Wageningen Environmental Research (WENR, previously Alterra), Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jonas Fridman
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Umeå, Sweden
| | - Geerten M. Hengeveld
- Biometris, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Aleksi Lehtonen
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Nike Krajnc
- Slovenian Forestry Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Bas Lerink
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Áine Ní Dhubháin
- Forestry Section, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Heino Polley
- Thünen Institute of Forest Ecosystems, Eberswalde, Germany
| | - Thomas A. M. Pugh
- School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
- Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - John J. Redmond
- Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Wexford, Ireland
| | - Brigitte Rohner
- Resource Analysis, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Cristian Temperli
- Resource Analysis, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | | | - Gert-Jan Nabuurs
- Wageningen Environmental Research (WENR, previously Alterra), Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- * E-mail:
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26
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Sommerfeld A, Senf C, Buma B, D'Amato AW, Després T, Díaz-Hormazábal I, Fraver S, Frelich LE, Gutiérrez ÁG, Hart SJ, Harvey BJ, He HS, Hlásny T, Holz A, Kitzberger T, Kulakowski D, Lindenmayer D, Mori AS, Müller J, Paritsis J, Perry GLW, Stephens SL, Svoboda M, Turner MG, Veblen TT, Seidl R. Patterns and drivers of recent disturbances across the temperate forest biome. Nat Commun 2018; 9:4355. [PMID: 30341309 PMCID: PMC6195561 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06788-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2018] [Accepted: 09/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Increasing evidence indicates that forest disturbances are changing in response to global change, yet local variability in disturbance remains high. We quantified this considerable variability and analyzed whether recent disturbance episodes around the globe were consistently driven by climate, and if human influence modulates patterns of forest disturbance. We combined remote sensing data on recent (2001-2014) disturbances with in-depth local information for 50 protected landscapes and their surroundings across the temperate biome. Disturbance patterns are highly variable, and shaped by variation in disturbance agents and traits of prevailing tree species. However, high disturbance activity is consistently linked to warmer and drier than average conditions across the globe. Disturbances in protected areas are smaller and more complex in shape compared to their surroundings affected by human land use. This signal disappears in areas with high recent natural disturbance activity, underlining the potential of climate-mediated disturbance to transform forest landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Sommerfeld
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Institute of Silviculture, Peter Jordan Straße 82, 1190, Wien, Austria.
| | - Cornelius Senf
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Institute of Silviculture, Peter Jordan Straße 82, 1190, Wien, Austria
- Geography Department, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany
| | - Brian Buma
- Dept. of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado, 1151 Arapahoe, Denver, CO, 80204, USA
| | - Anthony W D'Amato
- University of Vermont, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, Aiken Center Room 204E, Burlington, VT, 05495, USA
| | - Tiphaine Després
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
- Institut de Recherche sur les Forêts, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 boulevard de l'Université, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, J9X 5E4, Canada
| | - Ignacio Díaz-Hormazábal
- Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales y Recursos Naturales Renovables, Universidad de Chile, Av. Santa Rosa 11315, La Pintana, 8820808, Santiago, Chile
| | - Shawn Fraver
- University of Maine, School of Forest Resources, 5755 Nutting Hall, Orono, Maine, 04469, USA
| | - Lee E Frelich
- Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, 1530 Cleveland Ave. N., St.Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Álvaro G Gutiérrez
- Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales y Recursos Naturales Renovables, Universidad de Chile, Av. Santa Rosa 11315, La Pintana, 8820808, Santiago, Chile
| | - Sarah J Hart
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Brian J Harvey
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Hong S He
- School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China
| | - Tomáš Hlásny
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Andrés Holz
- Department of Geography, Portland State University, Portland, OR, 97201, USA
| | - Thomas Kitzberger
- INIBIOMA, CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral 1250, Bariloche, 8400, Rio Negro, Argentina
| | - Dominik Kulakowski
- Clark University, Graduate School of Geography, Worcester, MA, 01602, USA
| | - David Lindenmayer
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Akira S Mori
- Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, 240-8501, Japan
| | - Jörg Müller
- Field Station Fabrikschleichach, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Glashüttenstraße 5, 96181, Rauhenebrach, Germany
- Bavarian Forest National Park, Freyunger Str. 2, 94481, Grafenau, Germany
| | - Juan Paritsis
- INIBIOMA, CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral 1250, Bariloche, 8400, Rio Negro, Argentina
| | - George L W Perry
- School of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
| | - Scott L Stephens
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Miroslav Svoboda
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Monica G Turner
- Department of Integrative Biology, Birge Hall, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Thomas T Veblen
- Department of Geography, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA
| | - Rupert Seidl
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Institute of Silviculture, Peter Jordan Straße 82, 1190, Wien, Austria
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Kortmann M, Heurich M, Latifi H, Rösner S, Seidl R, Müller J, Thorn S. Forest structure following natural disturbances and early succession provides habitat for two avian flagship species, capercaillie ( Tetrao urogallus) and hazel grouse ( Tetrastes bonasia). BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 2018; 226:81-91. [PMID: 35633892 PMCID: PMC7612776 DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2018.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Boreal and mountainous forests are a primary focus of conservation efforts and are naturally prone to large-scale disturbances, such as outbreaks of bark beetles. Affected stands are characterised by biological legacies which persist through the disturbance and subsequent succession. The lack of long-term monitoring data on post-disturbance forest structure precludes understanding of the complex pathways by which natural disturbances affect forest structure and subsequently species presence. We analysed the response of capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) and hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia) to bark beetle infestations. We combined high-resolution airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) with a 23-year time series of aerial photography to quantify present-day forest structure and stand disturbance history. Species presence was assessed by collecting droppings of hazel grouse and capercaillie in a citizen science project. Structural equation models showed that the probability of hazel grouse presence increased with increasing disturbance, and the probability of both hazel grouse and capercaillie presence increased with succession. Indirect effects of bark beetle infestations, such as a reduced abundance of deciduous trees and an enhanced herb layer cover, were positively associated with capercaillie presence. Decreasing canopy cover increased the probability of hazel grouse presence. The high temporal and spatial heterogeneity of bark beetle infestations created forest structures that meet the contrasting habitat requirements of both, capercaillie and hazel grouse. This heterogeneity resulted from biological legacies such as decomposing snags, and the simultaneous regrowth of natural regeneration. A benign-neglect strategy towards bark beetle infestations could hence foster capercaillie and hazel grouse in mountainous forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mareike Kortmann
- Field Station Fabrikschleichach, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter University of Würzburg Glashüttenstraße 5, 96181 Rauhenebrach, Germany
| | - Marco Heurich
- Bavarian Forest National Park, Zoology, Department of Conservation and Research, Freyunger Str. 2, 94481 Grafenau, Germany
- Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Management, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacherstrasse 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Hooman Latifi
- Faculty of Geodesy and Geomatics, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, P.O Box 15875-4416, Tehran, Iran
- Department of Remote Sensing, University of Würzburg, Oswald Külpe Weg 86, 97074 Würzburg Germany
| | - Sascha Rösner
- Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Karl-von-Frisch-Straße 8, 35037 Marburg, Germany
| | - Rupert Seidl
- Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest- and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Peter Jordan Straße 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Jörg Müller
- Field Station Fabrikschleichach, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter University of Würzburg Glashüttenstraße 5, 96181 Rauhenebrach, Germany
- Bavarian Forest National Park, Zoology, Department of Conservation and Research, Freyunger Str. 2, 94481 Grafenau, Germany
| | - Simon Thorn
- Field Station Fabrikschleichach, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter University of Würzburg Glashüttenstraße 5, 96181 Rauhenebrach, Germany
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