Short-Term Effects of Variable-Retention Logging Practices on Terrestrial Gastropods in Coastal Forests of British Columbia

Ovaska, Kristiina; Sopuck, Lennart; Robichaud, David

doi:10.3955/046.090.0304

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Out of the 11 GTR observations of harvest with no conservation measures as control, three were positive and the others were not significant. Ovaska et al (2016) found a short-term positive effect of low retention (5%) on terrestrial gastropods abundance, but the effect was not significant at medium retention. Sullivan and Sullivan (2014) found a positive effect both on mammal species richness and abundance at one location but no significant effect on the two other locations when the effect of 5-15 trees per hectare retention was examined.…”

Section: Green-tree Retention (Gtr)mentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Sullivan and Sullivan (2014) found a positive effect both on mammal species richness and abundance at one location but no significant effect on the two other locations when the effect of 5-15 trees per hectare retention was examined. When single tree, low-level retention was compared to no-harvest (n = 14), Sullivan and Sullivan (2014) found one positive observation on mammal abundance at one location, and Hyvärinen et al (2005) found a positive effect on beetle species richness and abundance, but Ovaska et al (2016) found in contrast a negative effect on gastropods species richness and abundance. The other nine observations were not significant.…”

Section: Green-tree Retention (Gtr)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The four positive observations on species richness and abundance compared to harvest with no measure taken were all from Ovaska et al (2016) that examined the effect of PR size on gastropod species richness and abundance. In contrast, when compared to no-harvest, the effect was negative on both species richness (two observations) and abundance (four observations).…”

Section: Harvest With No Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effectiveness of conservation measures to support biodiversity in boreal timber-production forests

Tange,

Sjølie,

Austrheim

2024

Silva Fenn

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Large parts of the boreal forest ecosystems have been greatly affected by human use, and the current timber-oriented forest management practice that dominates boreal forests is proven to cause biodiversity and ecosystem services declines. These negative effects are mitigated in various ways, including in-situ measures implemented upon harvest. The measures comprise trade-offs between economic and ecological aims; thus, requiring solid knowledge of their effectiveness. However, comprehensive literature review of the effectiveness of such measures is scarce. We aim to fill part of this void by reviewing the scientific literature that have gauged effects of four in-situ conservation measures: green tree retention (GTR), patch retention (PR), dead wood retention (DW) and riparian buffer zones (RB). Two outcomes were considered, species richness and species abundance across taxa. From a total of 3012 initial papers, 48 met our inclusion criteria that generated 238 unique results. Results were grouped according to control. 178 studies used mature, unlogged forest as control. Out of those, 68% of the findings were not significant, i.e., suggesting no significant impact of harvest with biodiversity measures on species richness and species abundance compared to no harvest. Eighteen percent of the observations showed negative effects and 14% of the observations showed positive effects compared to no harvest. Sixty studies used harvest with no measures as control, of which 45% showed significant positive effects, meaning that compared to harvest with no measures, harvest with conservation measures has positively effects on species richness and abundance. However, 43% of the studies found no significant effect of the implemented conservation measures compared to harvest with no measures taken. The relatively few significant results reported restrain distinct conclusions on the effectiveness of the assessed conservation measures, but some degree of conservation measure is likely to have positive effects on biodiversity in timber-production forest. However, the scientific basis does not allow for pointing to threshold levels. Higher transparency of study design and statistical results would allow us to include more studies. There is a clear need for more research of effectiveness of common conservation measures in timber-production forests in order to strengthen the knowledge basis. In particular, there are few studies that employ harvest without any conservation measure as control. This is pivotal knowledge for forest managers as well as for policymakers for preserving biodiversity and the ecosystems in forest.

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Section: Green-tree Retention (Gtr)mentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Green-tree Retention (Gtr)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Harvest With No Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effectiveness of conservation measures to support biodiversity in boreal timber-production forests

Tange,

Sjølie,

Austrheim

2024

Silva Fenn

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“…Gastropods are particularly sensitive to harvest due to their limited dispersal ability and strict moisture requirements. The response of gastropods to VR harvesting was assessed at six VRAM sites (Ovaska et al 2016). The abundance of Pristoloma species, small snails (as a group), Haplotrema vancouverense and Striatura pugetensis was lower in all harvesting treatments after 2 to 4 years, relative to pre-harvest and uncut controls at four VRAM sites with varying levels of retained aggregates, showing no benefit over clearcutting.…”

Section: Effects On Invertebrates and Below-ground Diversity Invertebmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two decades of variable retention in British Columbia: a review of its implementation and effectiveness for biodiversity conservation

et al. 2019

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Stand-level retention is an important component of sustainable forest management which aims to balance ecological, social and economic objectives. Long-term retention of mature forest structures at the time of harvesting (variable retention) is intended to produce future forest stands that more closely resemble conditions that develop after natural disturbances, thereby maintaining greater diversity of habitats for a variety of organisms. Structure includes features such as live and dead trees representing multiple canopy layers, undisturbed understory vegetation and coarse woody debris. Over the past two decades, variable retention has become common on forest lands in the temperate rainforests of coastal British Columbia (BC) and has been applied to a lesser extent in inland forest types. Our review of studies in BC and in similar forest types in our region indicates that both aggregated and dispersed retention can contribute to biodiversity conservation by providing short-term 'life-boating' habitat for some species and by enhancing the structural characteristics of future stands. For example, greater abundance of species present in the pre-harvest forest have been documented for vegetation, birds, carabid beetles, gastropods, ectomycorrhizal fungi and soil fauna in retention cutblocks compared to clearcuts. There are, however, some negative consequences for timber production such as wind damage to retained trees and reduced growth rates of tree regeneration compared to clearcuts. The authors suggest an adaptive management approach for balancing competing objectives when faced with uncertainty. This includes monitoring the implementation and effectiveness of various strategies for achieving goals. Over two decades of experience applying variable retention harvesting to industrial-scale management of forest lands in BC suggests that it is possible to balance production of wood with biodiversity conservation.

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Retention trees can benefit biodiversity without significant long-term reduction in stand regeneration in Estonian mixed forests

2019

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Short-Term Effects of Variable-Retention Logging Practices on Terrestrial Gastropods in Coastal Forests of British Columbia

Cited by 7 publications

References 29 publications

Effectiveness of conservation measures to support biodiversity in boreal timber-production forests

Effectiveness of conservation measures to support biodiversity in boreal timber-production forests

Two decades of variable retention in British Columbia: a review of its implementation and effectiveness for biodiversity conservation

Retention trees can benefit biodiversity without significant long-term reduction in stand regeneration in Estonian mixed forests

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