Search

A great deal of biodiversity can be found in private forests, and protecting it requires taking into consideration the preferences of key stakeholders. In this study, we examine divergence in stakeholders' preferences for forest attributes across the general public, private non-industrial forest owners and public and private forest officials in Sweden by conducting a discrete choice experiment. Our results indicate that citizens have a positive valuation of biodiversity protection. Moreover, their valuation is statistically significantly higher than those of forest owners. Interestingly, our results suggest that both forest owners and forest officials have a strong orientation towards production, with higher valuation than the general public of the common management practice of even aged stands and clear felling. Even though the Swedish Forestry Act regards production and environmental goals as equally important, we find that forest officials prefer management practices that promote production rather than biodiversity protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to pressure to raise forest productivity in Sweden, there are proposals to apply more intensive forestry methods, but they could have potentially large effects on biodiversity. Here we report a compilation and evaluation of the extent and significance of such effects. We evaluated potential effects on biodiversity by introducing intensively fertilized Norway spruce plantations as a management option in Swedish forests with low conservation values on insects, vascular plants, lichens, bryophytes, and red-listed species. Due to a lack of specific studies addressing this question, we based the evaluation on a combination of available and appropriate empiric and anecdotic knowledge; literature data, and expert judgments largely available in species data bases. Our evaluations suggest that such forests will only harbor species that are common and widespread in conventionally managed stands and that species of conservation interest will be lacking, due to the low heterogeneity and light intensity of even-aged monocultures with dense canopies, short rotation times and low availability of coarse woody debris. Effects at the landscape scale are more difficult to evaluate, but will be dependent on the area utilized and the conservation value of sites used. We conclude that negative effects on biodiversity can be reduced if: (1) only land with the lowest conservational value is utilized; (2) plantations are spatially arranged to minimize fragmentation of the landscape; (3) the quality and quantity of key structural elements (e.g., coarse woody debris, old living trees and snags) are maintained at the landscape level; and (4) management intensity is relaxed on other land. For effective implementation of these measures, legislative frameworks and policy instruments need to be adjusted and new models for planning and monitoring need to be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We combine historical maps and satellite derived data to reconstruct the development of a Swedish boreal landscape over the past 300 years. The aim is to understand legacies from past use patterns in present-day forest composition and consequences for conservation objectives from a landscape perspective. We analyze landscape development in cross-tabulation matrixes, building change trajectories. These trajectories are tested in linear models to explain the distribution of present-day landscape composition of coniferous, mixed, and deciduous forests >110 years. Of 49 tested change trajectories, 11 showed a significant association. Associations for mixed and coniferous forests were similar and linked to characteristics such as forest continuity, which characterized the studied landscape. Deciduous older forests did not show any association to forest continuity but were more likely to occur on areas that specifically shifted from forests with grazing in the 1720s to open impediment (likely indicating low tree coverage) in the 1850s. There were large shifts and spatial redistribution in ownerships over time. Use patterns and legacies varied between small- and large-scale ownership categories as well as within small-scale categories. The legacies found in the study indicate a complex origin of heterogeneous landscape elements such as older deciduous forests. Additionally, the origin of the legacies indicates a potential need to diversify conservation management based on the influence of past use patterns. Despite large inconsistencies in historical and contemporary data we argue that this type of analysis could be used to further understand the distribution of landscape elements important for conservation objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Throughout the northern hemisphere old forests with high abundance of dead wood are rare features in most landscapes today, and the loss of dead wood constitutes a serious threat to the existence of many species. This study, using field surveys and dendrochronology, examines the relationship between wood-inhabiting fungi and past forest utilisation along a gradient of early logging activity. Data were collected in three late-successional Scots pine forests in northern Sweden. Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMS) was then used to assess differences in species composition among the forests. Our results show that minor forest logging (22–26 cut stumps ha−1) carried out a century ago may have continuing effects on forest characteristics, including dead wood dynamics and the wood-inhabiting fungal community – especially the abundance of red-listed species. The most important effects are lower numbers of logs in early and intermediate stages of decomposition. Additionally, numbers of species (including red-listed species) can be high in forests that have been subject to low levels of logging. Overall, the high species numbers recorded in this study (n =60–87) show that old, low-productivity pine forests harbour a considerable fraction of the total diversity of Basidiomycetes in northern Fennoscandian boreal forests. We conclude that the formation of a framework linking forest history and environmental data is vital for understanding the ecology and formulating goals for future management of these forests. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]