Ecological effects of clearcutting practices in a boreal forest (Arkhangelsk Region, Russian Federation) both with and without FSC certification

Blumroeder, Jeanette S.; Бурова, Н. В.; Winter, Susanne; Goroncy, Agnieszka; Hobson, Peter R.; Shegolev, Andrey; Dobrynin, Denis; Amosova, Irina; Ильина, О. В.; Parinova, T. A.; Волков, А. П.; Graebener, Uli Frank; Ibisch, Pierre L.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105461

Cited by 20 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…In the boreal biome, natural configuration of forest landscapes are seriously transformed by rotation forestry systems that, amongst other impacts, interrupt spatial connectivity and temporal continuity of forest cover (e.g., Boucher et al 2009;Svensson et al 2018). Given the circumpolar range, large area and rich ecological values in the boreal biome (e.g., Moen et al 2014) this transformation profoundly impacts a globally important biodiversity and ecosystem services source, disturbs ecosystem resilience to climate and land use changes (Mantyka-Pringle et al 2012;Blumroeder et al 2019), and contests sustainability-and conservation-oriented policies and environmental targets (Sverdrup-Thygesson et al 2014;Chazdon et al 2016;IPBES 2018;Angelstam et al 2020). In combination with climate change, intensive forestry and other drivers of ecosystem change, a sledgehammer effect is foreseen where boreal ecosystems as well as ecosystems in other biogeographic regions are at risk of entering new and potentially irreversible ecological states (Barnosky et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, a generic assumption is that such forests maintain, or potentially maintain, forest and forest landscape attributes that are lost or disturbed by extensive clearcutting practices elsewhere in the landscape (cf. Curtis et al 2018;Blumroeder et al 2019). Our study covered a 22.2 million ha forest-dominated region, pre-dominantly with extensive rotation forestry impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Conservation significance of intact forest landscapes in the Scandinavian Mountains Green Belt

et al. 2020

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Context As forest harvesting remains high, there is a crucial need to assess the remaining large, contiguous and intact forests, regionally, nationally and globally. Objectives Our objective was to analyze the spatial patterns and structural connectivity of intact and primary forests in northern Sweden with focus on the Scandinavian Mountain region; one of the few remaining large European intact forest landscapes. Methods Over 22 million ha with 14.5 million ha boreal and subalpine forest and with data consisting of a 60-70 year retrospective sequence, we analyzed distribution, density and connectivity of forests that have not been clear cut, using moving window and landscape analyzes derived from Circuitscape. Results We revealed a contiguous, connected and semi-connected intact forest landscape forming a distinct Green Belt south to north along the mountain range. Almost 60% of the forestland remains intact, including contiguous clusters 10,000 ha and larger. The connectivity is particularly high in protected areas with primary forests outside contributing substantially to overall connectivity. We found gaps in connectivity Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation significance of intact forest landscapes in the Scandinavian Mountains Green Belt

et al. 2020

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“…The consequences of tree harvesting on forest ecosystems generally differ markedly from those of natural disturbances, and these impacts significantly alter the characteristics of landscapes and stands in managed areas, for example, by 2 of 18 rejuvenating or fragmenting these stands [3][4][5]. Such changes can threaten biodiversity [6][7][8] and the provision of ecosystem services in these forests [9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling the Diversity of Tree Growth Patterns in Boreal Old-Growth Forests Reveals the Richness of Their Dynamics

Martin

Krause

Fenton

et al. 2020

Forests

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Research Highlights: Radial growth patterns of trees growing in old-growth boreal forests in eastern Canada can be grouped into a small number of simple patterns that are specific to different old-growth forest types or successional stages. Background and Objectives: Identifying the main radial growth trends in old-growth forests could help to develop silvicultural treatments that mimic the complex dynamics of old-growth forests. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the main radial growth patterns and determine how their frequencies change during forest succession in old-growth forests, focusing on boreal landscapes in eastern Canada. Materials and Methods: We used dendrochronological data sampled from 21 old-growth stands in the province of Quebec, Canada. Tree-ring chronologies were simplified into chronologies of equal length to retain only primary growth trends. We used k-means clustering to identify individual growth patterns and the difference in growth-pattern frequency within the studied stands. We then used non-parametric analyses of variance to compare tree or stand characteristics among the clusters. Results: We identified six different growth patterns corresponding to four old-growth forest types, from stands at the canopy breakup stage to true old-growth stands (i.e., when all the pioneer cohort had disappeared). Secondary disturbances of low or moderate severity drove these growth patterns. Overall, the growth patterns were relatively simple and could be generally separated into two main phases (e.g., a phase of limited radial increment size due to juvenile suppression and a phase of increased radial increment size following a growth release). Conclusions: The complexity of old-growth forest dynamics was observed mainly at the stand level, not at the tree level. The growth patterns observed in true old-growth forests were similar to those observed following partial or stem-selection cuts in boreal stands; thus, these silvicultural treatments may be effective in mimicking old-growth dynamics.

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“…Forest microclimate regulation can be used as a proxy indicator for forest functionality (Chen et al, 1999) and ecological effects of forest management and forest certification (Blumroeder et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forestry contributed to warming of forest ecosystems in northern Germany during the extreme summers of 2018 and 2019

Blumröder

Ibisch

2021

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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1. Forest management influences a variety of ecosystem structures and processes relevant to meso-and microclimatic regulation, but little research has been done on how forest management can mitigate the negative effects of climate change on forest ecosystems.2. We studied the temperature regulation capacity during the two Central European extreme summers in 2018 and 2019 in Scots pine plantations and European beech forests with different management-related structural characteristics.3. We found that the maximum temperature was higher when more trees were cut and canopy was more open. Logging 100 trees per hectare increased maximum temperature by 0.21-0.34 K at ground level and by 0.09-0.17 K in 1.3 m above ground.Opening the forest canopy by 10% significantly increased T max, measured 1.3 m above ground by 0.46 K (including pine and beech stands) and 0.35 K (only pine stands). At ground level, T max increased by 0.53 K for the model including pine and beech stands and by 0.41 K in pure pine stands. Relative temperature cooling capacity decreased with increasing wood harvest activities, with below average values in 2018 (and 2019) when more than 656 (and 867) trees per hectare were felled. In the pine forests studied, the relative temperature buffering capacity 1.3 m above ground was lower than average values for all sample plots when canopy cover was below 82%. In both study years, mean maximum temperature measured at ground level and in 1.3 m was highest in a pine-dominated sample plots with relatively low stand volume (177 m 3 ha −1 ) and 9 K lower in a sample plot with relatively high stock volumes of Fagus sylvatica (>565 m 3 ha −1 ). During the hottest day in 2019, the difference in temperature peaks was more than 13 K for pine-dominated sample plots with relatively dense (72%) and low (46%) canopy cover. 4. Structural forest characteristics influenced by forest management significantly affect microclimatic conditions and therefore ecosystem vulnerability to climate change. We advocate keeping the canopy as dense as possible (at least 80%) byThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Ecological effects of clearcutting practices in a boreal forest (Arkhangelsk Region, Russian Federation) both with and without FSC certification

Cited by 20 publications

References 72 publications

Conservation significance of intact forest landscapes in the Scandinavian Mountains Green Belt

Conservation significance of intact forest landscapes in the Scandinavian Mountains Green Belt

Unveiling the Diversity of Tree Growth Patterns in Boreal Old-Growth Forests Reveals the Richness of Their Dynamics

Forestry contributed to warming of forest ecosystems in northern Germany during the extreme summers of 2018 and 2019

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