Impacts of salvage logging on biodiversity: A meta‐analysis

Abstract

Logging to "salvage" economic returns from forests affected by natural disturbances has become increasingly prevalent globally. Despite potential negative effects on biodiversity, salvage logging is often conducted, even in areas otherwise excluded from logging and reserved for nature conservation, inter alia because strategic priorities for post-disturbance management are widely lacking.A review of the existing literature revealed that most studies investigating the effects of salvage logging on biodiversity have been conducted less than 5 years following natural disturbances, and focused on non-saproxylic organisms.A meta-analysis across 24 species groups revealed that salvage logging significantly decreases numbers of species of eight taxonomic groups. Richness of dead wood dependent taxa (i.e. saproxylic organisms) decreased more strongly than richness of non-saproxylic taxa. In contrast, taxonomic groups typically associated with open habitats increased in the number of species after salvage logging.By analysing 134 original species abundance matrices, we demonstrate that salvage logging significantly alters community composition in 7 of 17 species groups, particularly affecting saproxylic assemblages. Our results suggest that salvage logging is not consistent with the management objectives of protected areas. Substantial changes, such as the retention of dead wood in naturally disturbed forests, are needed to support biodiversity. Future research should investigate the amount and spatio-temporal distribution of retained dead wood needed to maintain all components of biodiversity.

Beauty and the beast: how a bat utilizes forests shaped by outbreaks of an insect pest

“…Yet the standard management response to natural disturbances is salvage logging, i.e., the removal of affected trees (Lindenmayer, Burton & Franklin, 2012) due to concerns over forest safety, risk of wildfires, spread of pests and productivity. However, salvage logging is accompanied by many negative effects on biodiversity, it negatively affected many species of conservation importance (Jonsson, Kruys & Ranius, 2005;Russo, Cistrone & Garonna, 2011;Thorn et al, 2017) and the consideration of the positive effects of natural disturbances in forest management plans is still rare (see Schmiegelow et al, 2006 for an example in burned forests). Nevertheless, a benign-neglect strategy has allowed natural disturbance dynamics to act without human interference in many protected areas in Central Europe (Kulakowski et al, 2016).…”

Challenges for Uneven-Aged Silviculture in Restoration of Post-Disturbance Forests in Central Europe: A Synthesis

“…The potential negative effects of salvage logging on forest recovery, ecosystem function, and biodiversity have often been highlighted in the literature (e.g., [88][89][90]). In terms of tree regeneration, the Central European literature often demonstrates a negative influence of salvage logging on forest recovery following large-scale high severity disturbance in spruce (Picea abies (L.) H.…”

“…damaged trees in spite of high costs. Finally, it is important to note that although salvage logging may not hinder the long-term recovery of some forest types, the routine practice of removing dead and damaged wood has important consequences for biodiversity dependent on such post-disturbance conditions [89,90]. …”

Post-Fire Salvage Logging Imposes a New Disturbance that Retards Succession: The Case of Bryophyte Communities in a Macaronesian Laurel Forest

“…In short, the role of snags and other CWD as biological legacies that promote biodiversity, regeneration, and ecosystem functioning has been increasingly demonstrated by studies performed mostly in the last couple of decades. These studies overall provide evidence for the need of retaining part of these structures as key elements for habitat restoration and biodiversity conservation [3,[12][13][14][15][16].…”