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Because of the limited spatial extent and comprehensiveness of protected areas, an increasing emphasis is being placed on conserving habitats which promote biodiversity within production forest. For this reason, alternative silvicultural programs need to be evaluated with respect to their implications for forest biodiversity, especially if these programs are likely to be adopted. Here we simulated the effect of varied rotation length and associated thinning regimes on habitat availability in Scots pine and Norway spruce production forests, with high and low productivity. Shorter rotation lengths reduced the contribution made by production trees (trees grown for industrial use) to the availability of key habitat features, while concurrently increasing the contribution from retention trees. The contribution of production trees to habitat features was larger for high productivity sites, than for low productivity sites. We conclude that shortened rotation lengths result in losses of the availability of habitat features that are key for biodiversity conservation and that increased retention practices may only partially compensate for this. Ensuring that conservation efforts better reflect the inherent variation in stand rotation lengths would help improve the maintenance of key forest habitats in production forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rotation length is a key component of even-aged forest management systems. Using Fennoscandian forestry as a case, we review the socio-ecological implications of modifying rotation lengths relative to current practice by evaluating effects on a range of ecosystem services and on biodiversity conservation. The effects of shortening rotations on provisioning services are expected to be mostly negative to neutral (e.g. production of wood, bilberries, reindeer forage), while those of extending rotations would be more varied. Shortening rotations may help limit damage by some of today's major damaging agents (e.g. root rot, cambium-feeding insects), but may also increase other damage types (e.g. regeneration pests) and impede climate mitigation. Supporting (water, soil nutrients) and cultural (aesthetics, cultural heritage) ecosystem services would generally be affected negatively by shortened rotations and positively by extended rotations, as would most biodiversity indicators. Several effect modifiers, such as changes to thinning regimes, could alter these patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary forest succession and tree planting are contributing to the recovery of the Cabo Rojo refuge (Headquarters and Salinas tracts) and Laguna Cartagena refuge (Lagoon and Tinaja tracts) of the Fish and Wildlife Service in southwestern Puerto Rico. About 80 species, mainly natives, have been planted on 44 ha during the past 25 y in an effort to reduce the threat of grass fires and to restore wildlife habitat. A 2007 survey of 9-y-old tree plantings on the Lagoon tract showed satisfactory growth rates for 16 native species. Multiple stems from individual trees at ground level were common. A sampling of secondary forest on the entire 109 ha Tinaja tract disclosed 141 native tree species, or 25% of Puerto Rico's native tree flora, along with 20 exotics. Five tree species made up about 58% of the total basal area, and seven species were island endemics. Between 1998 and 2003, tree numbers and basal area, as well as tree heights and diameter at breast height values (diameter at 1.4 m above the ground), increased on the lower 30 ha of the Tinaja tract. In this area, much of it subject to fires and grazing through 1996, exotic trees made up 25% of the species. Dry forest throughout the tropics is an endangered habitat, and its recovery (i.e., in biomass, structure, and species composition) at Tinaja may exceed 500 y. Future forests, however, will likely contain some exotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]