Comparison of the distribution of phosphorus, nitrogen and BHC in temperate zone forest ecosystems in Taiwan and in Japan.

In the temperate zone windstorms and bark beetle attacks represent the main natural forest disturbances; in steep mountain areas snow avalanches also may “destroy” forest stands completely. In the densely populated and intensively used temperate zone of Europe affected forest stands will be cleared and reforested immediately after such “catastrophes”. Therefore we have only little knowledge about the influence of such natural disturbances on both the stand development and the biodiversity of native forest ecosystems. And we do not have quantitative data on to which degree forest management changes the biodiversity compared to the natural disturbances. Since about two decades several permanent plot studies have been running in European forests affected by such natural disturbances, mainly with focus on plant species. Here we first outline the importance of disturbances for biodiversity in forest ecosystems and then discuss whether it is possible to combine both biodiversity protection and forest management. For that we use four recent case studies carried out in the two oldest national parks in Germany, three of them being long-term observations on permanent plots for up to two decades. Disturbances like wind throw, bark beetle outbreak and snow avalanche strongly influences the tree layer structure, creating micro-habitats for many plant, animal and fungi species, which naturally belong to the forest ecosystem. Such disturbances in future should be included into management schemes in forestry to improve biodiversity. We found evidence that it is really possible to combine timber utilization with biodiversity protection. As long as the management impact is reduced (e.g. single tree harvesting, using natural regeneration), species diversity of several taxonomic groups (in our study: vascular plants, soil living Carabidae, and soil living fungi) may not be different significantly from a pristine forest. Interconnecting resource use with biodiversity protection will be a main task for both foresters and conservationist in the decades to come – and it seems to be a possible option for a sustainable land use in many parts of the world.doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/botor.v8i0.5552 Botanica Orientalis – Journal of Plant Science (2011) 8: 1-9

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Impact of N-input by wet deposition on N-trace gas fluxes and CH4-oxidation in spruce forest ecosystems of the temperate zone in Europe

Atmospheric Environment ◽

10.1016/s1352-2310(97)00234-3 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 32 (3) ◽

pp. 559-564 ◽

Cited By ~ 110

Author(s):

K Butterbach-Bahl ◽

R Gasche ◽

Ch Huber ◽

K Kreutzer ◽

H Papen

Keyword(s):

Wet Deposition ◽

Forest Ecosystems ◽

Temperate Zone ◽

Trace Gas ◽

Spruce Forest ◽

Ch4 Oxidation ◽

Gas Fluxes ◽

N Input ◽

Trace Gas Fluxes

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Applying landscape ecological principles in sustainable forest management of the floodplain forest in the temperate zone of Europe

Ekológia (Bratislava) ◽

10.2478/eko-2013-0034 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Ivo Machar

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Case Studies ◽

Forest Ecosystems ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Floodplain Forest ◽

Temperate Zone ◽

Floodplain Forests ◽

Landscape Processes ◽

Ecological Principles ◽

Landscape Ecological

AbstractMachar I.: Applying landscape ecological principles in sustainable forest management of the floodplain forest in the temperate zone of Europe. Ekologia (Bratislava), Vol. 32, No. 4, p. 369-375, 2013.European floodplain forests of the temperate climatic zone are an example of an ecosystem in the cultural landscape characterized by an exceptionally high biodiversity. In this usually heavy deforested landscape of the Central and South European river floodplains, which are subjected to intensive agricultural use, the preserved ecosystems of floodplain forests represent important refuges for biotic biodiversity and are invaluable for the ecological landscape stability of the entire floodplain and the wider river basin. Unlike other Central European communities, whereby constant ecological conditions of habitats tend to be preserved even upon changes in ecosystem, the floodplain forests are characterized by a long-term continuous development of ecotopes, conditioning the complex interconnected succession series of ecosystem. The ecological floodplain phenomenon is created by fluvial landscape processes and the conservation of the natural development dynamics of the said fluvial landscape processes is essential for its protection. The landscape structure of floodplain forests is significantly affected by forest management measures, including regeneration methods, silvicultural measures and felling. Floodplain forest management radically affects the biodiversity of the given ecosystems which are listed among habitats of European concern in the Natura 2000 network. Since understanding of the biological nature of forest ecosystems is essential for landscape and ecological planning and sustainable forest management, it is imperative to study ecological processes taking place in the various floodplain forest biotopes in order to be able to define the principles of their management. This article aims to contribute to the process of formulating principles of biodiversity protection and the management strategies for floodplain forest ecosystems, while applying some theories and methods of landscape ecology. The Results section of the article comes in the form of case studies for each topic and draws on original data which were published in the scientific journals or presented at scientific conferences (see References). Some of the presented case studies focus on the Protected Landscape Area Litovelske Pomoravi.

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