The effect of forest management practices on deadwood resources and structure in protected and managed montane forests during tree-stand reconstruction after dieback of Norway spruce

Abstract

Forest management practices can not only influence the amount of deadwood but also the proportions of particular elements. The goal of the present paper was to compare the amount, number of logs, stumps and snags and their dendrometrical parameters between the protected and managed forests in the Karkonosze Mts after a huge dieback of Picea abies. A massive decline of Norway spruce has been observed since the 1980s. The protected forests belong to Karkonosze National Park and the managed forests are situated in its buffer zone. In total, 1336 elements of coarse woody debris (CWD) were included in the study. They were distributed on 180 study plots (10 m × 10 m) that were randomly selected. Among the deadwood elements, spruce Picea abies dominated (80.3%) followed by beech Fagus sylvatica (14.3%). Logs were more numerous in the protected forest (57.3%) than in the managed forests (42.7%). Snags and stumps were more frequent – 56.9% and 52.8%, respectively, in the managed forests than in the protected forests – 43.1% and 47.2%, respectively. The mean volume of CWD was ca 114 m3 ha-1 in the protected forests whereas ca 70 m3 ha-1 was in managed forests.The mean number of stumps per study plot was higher in the managed forests. The mean volume and mean area of logs were higher in the protected forest as was the mean volume and diameter at breast height, whereas the height of the snags was higher in the managed forests. In terms of differences in the decomposition of deadwood between the two types of forests, the mean weighted degree of decay on a five-degree scale amounted to 2.9 in the protected forests and 2.7 in the managed forests. A larger amount of deadwood as well as a greater volume and surface area are very important for nature conservation because deadwood can function as a niche for many saproxylobiont organisms. The forest management practices and especially the weak conditions of spruce lead to a larger number of snags in a managed forest due to the reconstruction of tree-stands and the removal of deadwood by foresters.

Comparison of Random Forest, Support Vector Machines, and Neural Networks for Post-Disaster Forest Species Mapping of the Krkonoše/Karkonosze Transboundary Biosphere Reserve

“…There are lower plant layers than in other Central European mountains [55]. In the primeval forest, the species with the largest shares in the composition are spruce (53%), beech (23%), and fir (11%) [56,57]. Currently, the dominant woody species is spruce (Picea abies L. Karst), and the remaining species that have significant shares are birch (Betula pendula Roth), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), and larch (Larix decidua Mill).…”

Altitude is a better predictor of the habitat requirements of epixylic bryophytes and lichens than the presence of coarse woody debris in mountain forests: a study in Poland

“…The latter includes the type of surrounding vegetation, altitude etc. (Müller et al 2015;Vrška et al 2015;Petrillo et al 2016;Chmura et al 2016;Staniaszek-Kik et al 2019). The colonization processes of plants and lichens on deadwood have been described in many studies since Hackiewicz-Dubowska (1936) and McCullough (1948) who were the first to identify the decomposition classes of logs and snags.…”

“…In addition, in the 1980s, an ecological disaster (mostly air pollution) occurred that led to a massive dieback of the dominant tree-the spruce Picea abies L. H. Karst. At present, in both the Karkonosze National Park and its buffer zone, the restoration of the forests in which dead trees are felled and left on the forest floor is continuing (Staniaszek-Kik et al 2019). This situation enhances colonization by many epixylic lichens and bryophytes.…”

Influence of Picea Abies Logs on the Distribution of Vascular Plants in Old-Growth Spruce Forests

“…Deadwood is a significant factor determining forest biodiversity [4,5,[9][10][11]. The important role of deadwood for the diversity maintenance of different organisms-fungi [12][13][14], invertebrates [15,16], mosses, and lichens [5,13,[17][18][19], as well as vascular plants [9,[20][21][22][23][24][25]-have been shown in numerous studies. Lying deadwood is an essential substrate for the natural regeneration of some tree species [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34].…”