Fig 3- - uploaded by Tommaso Sitzia
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Principle coordinates analysis (Sørensen's dissimilarity matrix) of (a) deadwood macrofungi, (b) soil macrofungi, (c) epiphytic lichen, (d) deadwood lichen, (e) bark beetle, (f) longhorn beetle, (g) ground beetle, and (h) bird community composition. Each point represents the composition of a sampling plot (filled dots: abandoned forests; open dots: non intensively managed forests). The plots report the P-values of a PERMANOVA used to test differences in composition between the two types of forest management types. Sites are plotted only when at least one species was recorded.
Source publication
The abandonment of silvicultural activities can lead to changes in species richness and composition of biological communities, when compared to those found in managed forests. The aim of this study was to compare the multi-taxonomical diversity of two mature silver fir-beech-spruce forests in the southern Dolomites (Italy), corresponding to the Eur...
Citations
... Although World War II led to the devastation of Europe's forest heritage through extensive clearcuts in stark contrast to the CNFM, these management practices have managed to persist in some areas as evidence of responsible management that is truly possible. In Slovenia, Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain and Northern Italy they became a common practice (Diaci and Firm, 2011;Helliwell and Wilson, 2012;Schütz et al., 2016;Sitzia et al., 2017). However, most of these examples focused on temperate, mixed forest dominated by beech fir and spruce. ...
Recent European Commission documents emphasize the need for guidelines to implement Closer-to-Nature Forest Management (CNFM). However, current technical guidelines miss providing detailed practices suited to diverse environmental contexts. We propose a simple, universal tool to complement existing strategies for implementing CNFM. Empirical data and theoretical models suggest that old-growth forests tend to achieve a structure consistent with the Energy Equivalence Principle (EEP), where changes in size-class abundance are balanced by changes in individual resource use. We applied the EEP approach as a management tool in two Mediterranean evergreen holm oak forests in Sardinia, Italy: one old-growth (OG) and one recently disturbed (IoS). Using basic tree metrics-height, diameter, crown length, radius and crown volume (as a proxy for resource use)-we predicted EEP individual tree distributions. Results showed that holm oak dominated the top layer of both forest types (98 %), but species diversity was higher in the OG regeneration. The scaling of holm oak crown volume with height was α = 3.00 (CI±0.19). The exponent of potential EEP diameter distribution was β =-2.44, while the actual status of the forest structure was represented by significantly different slopes β =-1.99 (CI±0.11) and β=-1.36 (CI±0.21) for OG and IoS respectively. OG structure closely resembled EEP distribution, whereas IoS reflected the typical intermediate stage structure found in forest stands. Comparing EEP-based distribution with current forest structures enabled identification of precise intervention targets in each silvi-cultural class, guiding forest managers to design community structures more aligned with natural processes, enhancing forest multifunctionality.
... Although World War II led to the devastation of Europe's forest heritage through extensive clearcuts in stark contrast to the CNFM, these management practices have managed to persist in some areas as evidence of responsible management that is truly possible. In Slovenia, Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain and Northern Italy they became a common practice (Diaci and Firm, 2011;Helliwell and Wilson, 2012;Schütz et al., 2016;Sitzia et al., 2017). However, most of these examples focused on temperate, mixed forest dominated by beech fir and spruce. ...
... Studies conducted across Europe on the effect of management on lichen and bryophyte richness show contrasting results. For lichen richness, there are studies that show no effect of management ( [76], comparing intensively managed and non-intensively managed environments), but most studies show a clear effect: either negative, with more intensive management leading to lower lichen diversity [77][78][79][80][81], or positive, in line with our study, e.g., Ref. [82] in beech forests in NE Germany. As for lichens, most studies on bryophytes have shown their sensitivity to management practices (e.g., [35] and references therein), with either positive or negative effects, which may not apply to all species [42,82]. ...
This study delves into the impact of contrasting management practices on epiphytic bryolichenic communities, shedding light on their divergent responses to management regimes on Castanea sativa Mill. orchards. Lichens and bryophytes were sampled in managed and abandoned plots, in 95 trees, in north and south sides and at two heights in Galicia (NW Spain). The studied groups exhibited opposing reactions to these management practices; bryophytes suffered adverse effects in managed stands, experiencing reduced cover and species richness compared to abandoned orchards, while lichens displayed heightened cover and species diversity. The size of trees, included as a covariate in our analyses, displayed no significant impact on the overall species richness of lichens or bryophytes, although it did influence the cover of specific functional traits. These differing outcomes may be linked to alterations in environmental conditions brought by management interventions. Furthermore, the study uncovered divergent responses within the taxonomic and functional composition of epiphytic communities. Different species and functional groups exhibited varying reactions to changing environmental conditions, making predictions a complex endeavour. In conclusion, this research emphasizes the need for management strategies that account for the diverse ecological requirements of different species and functional groups since no single management regime will suit all species or functional groups.
... Studies conducted across Europe on the effect of management on lichen and bryophyte richness show contrasting results. For lichen richness, there are studies that show no effect of management ( [61] comparing intensively managed and non-intensively managed environments), but most studies show a clear effect, either negative, with the more intensive the management leading to lower lichen diversity [62][63][64][65][66], or positive, in line with our study, e.g. [67] in beech forests in NE Germany. ...
This study delves into the impact of contrasting management practices on epiphytic bryolichenic communities, shedding light on their divergent responses to management regimes on Castanea sativa orchards. Lichens and bryophytes were sampled in managed and abandoned plots, in 95 trees, in north and south sides and at two heights in Galicia (NW Spain). The studied groups exhibit opposing reactions to these management practices, bryophytes suffer adverse effects in managed stands, experiencing reduced cover and species richness compared to abandoned orchards, while lichens displayed heightened cover and species diversity. The size of trees, included as a covariate in our analyses, displayed no significant impact on the overall species richness of lichens or bryophytes, although it did influence the cover of specific functional traits. These differing outcomes are linked to alterations in environmental conditions brought by management interventions. Furthermore, the study uncovers divergent responses within the taxonomic and functional composition of epiphytic communities. Different species and functional groups exhibit varying reactions to changing environmental conditions, making predictions a complex endeavor. In conclusion, this research emphasizes the need for management strategies that account for the diverse ecological requirements of different species and functional groups. Since no single management regime will suit all species or functional groups.
... Stand structural data have been related to forest biodiversity via a wide set of research applications. In general, forest biodiversity changes among the different stand structures induced by different management intensities (Paillet et al., 2010;Sitzia et al., 2017;Burrascano et al., 2021). The relation between stand structural data and a range of taxonomic groups of forest biodiversity has been investigated both through local observations (Ranius and Jansson, 2000;Grove, 2002;Nascimbene et al., 2007;Noreika et al., 2019) and by using species habitat suitability models (Edenius and Mikusiński, 2007;Flaherty et al., 2012). ...
Natura 2000 is a European network of protected sites that should enable natural habitats to be maintained or restored at a favorable conservation status. Progress toward this objective must be periodically reported by states members of the European Union. We investigated how forest management plans might provide data to support the reporting. The study was done in the forests of the Dolomites and Venetian Prealps, Italy. Here, about 200 forest management plans, divided into several forest compartments, have been drawn up and revised every 10–15 years. Stand structure variables were retrieved from past (OR, 1970–1980) and more recent revisions (NR, 2000–2010) of 331 forest compartments ranging between 0.35 and 53.1 ha. In the beech and spruce forest habitat types (coded 9130 and 9410 in Annex I of the Directive 92/43/EEC, respectively), we found an increase from OR to NR in the density of large trees (from 32 to 46/ha and from 31 to 50/ha, respectively for the two habitats), basal area (from 27.3 to 31.5 m2/ha and from 31 to 34.5 m2/ha), mean diameter (from 34.1 to 36.2 cm and from 33.9 to 36 cm) and Gini index (from 0.35 to 0.37 and from 0.33 to 0.36). Pursuant to the Directive 92/43/EEC, the conservation status of these two habitat types should be taken as “favorable” with regards to the criterion related to the habitats’ specific structure and functions that are necessary for its long-term maintenance. We conclude that forest management plans provide a great portion of the information needed for assessing and monitoring the conservation status of forest habitat types in the Natura 2000 framework.
... The two forest management strategies (RF and MF) in our study yielded similar cumulative fungal species richness and Shannon, evenness, and Simpson's dominance index values for biodiversity, suggesting that at a given stage of stand development, the changes in fungal species richness and diversity are rather slow and not easy to grasp after 50-65 years of abandonment of forest management. Such results confirm our first hypothesis and corroborate reports of other authors based on surveys of sporocarps or soil DNA analyses (Paillet et al., 2015;Sitzia et al., 2017;Leidinger et al., 2020;Lynikienė et al., 2020;Kujawska et al., 2021). ...
We report the first robust estimate of macrofungal assemblages in European mixed coniferous forest to better understand species diversity under two management strategies (managed vs. not managed) and to rate the recovery of forest reserves, transformed from formerly managed stands, to their natural state. Following extensive repeated sampling in three regions of Poland, we found 318 fungal species from different trophic groups. The two forest management strategies showed similar cumulative fungal species richness and values for Shannon, evenness, and Simpson’s dominance indices, suggesting that both management strategies did not generate factors stimulating or limiting species richness and biodiversity. In contrast, site as well as forest management strategy affected the composition of all fungal trophic groups, with site being a stronger influencing factor. Different fungal ecological groups responded differently to environmental drivers, with ectomycorrhizal symbionts and parasites being more tightly linked to tree traits than saprotrophs, which were affected mostly by climate and substrate. Indicator species associated mainly with managed forests comprised predominantly wood-inhabiting fungi. Conservation-relevant species (red-listed in Poland) were noted in both forest reserves and managed forests; however, they predominated in the former. The results indicated a rather slow process of transformation of fungal communities in forest reserves originating from previously managed forests. The major conclusion of this study is that managed forests complement forest reserves in fungal diversity conservation.
... The need to retain unmanaged forests to maintain all species is well established, as well as the idea that forest protection suffers from geographical biases. Even previously-managed protected forests host greater species richness and different species communities for most taxa, compared to low-intensity managed forest (Sitzia et al., 2017). However, how much protected forest is necessary, and which drivers of betadiversity need to be accounted for in evaluating their representativeness, remain open questions. ...
How to manage forest for biodiversity conservation is an ongoing debate. We argue that maximizing biodiversity in managed forest landscapes requires a diversity of forest management regimes in space and time. This will generate high levels of habitat heterogeneity at a landscape scale, which in turn will support various groups of forest species. Based on concepts from landscape ecology, we formulate five hypotheses on how management diversity, i.e. combining various management approaches can benefit overall biodiversity across a production forest landscape. First, management diversity will increase habitat diversity and, therefore, beta diversity (the habitat diversity hypothesis). Second, asynchrony in management timing will enhance long-term availability of different habitat types (the spatio-temporal heterogeneity hypothesis). Third, management to create spatial adjacency or proximity of stands with different management or successional stages will increase biodiversity by providing simultaneous access to multiple resources (the interspersion hypothesis). Fourth, heterogeneous unmanaged set-aside forests, interspersed with managed forests, are needed for complete biodiversity conservation (the natural forest hypothesis). Fifth, management diversity will create functional landscape connectivity between protected forests for multiple species through time (the temporary corridor hypothesis). Although strongly grounded in landscape and forest ecology, these five hypotheses remain largely under-investigated, and we suggest methods for how they can be tested. In the meantime, we suggest that increasing forest management diversity represents a risk-spreading approach for adaptation to global change, and therefore is likely a reasonable objective for sustainable forestry moving forward.
... The two forest management strategies (RF and MF) in our study yielded similar cumulative fungal species richness and Shannon, evenness, and Simpson's dominance index values for biodiversity, suggesting that at a given stage of stand development, the changes in fungal species richness and diversity are rather slow and not easy to grasp after 50-65 years of abandonment of forest management. Such results confirm our first hypothesis and corroborate reports of other authors based on surveys of sporocarps or soil DNA analyses (Paillet et al., 2015;Sitzia et al., 2017;Leidinger et al., 2020;Lynikienė et al., 2020;Kujawska et al., 2021). ...
... On the other hand, several research programs are primarily focused on forest multi-taxon biodiversity and on its response to forest management (e.g., Lelli et al., 2019;Remm et al., 2013;Sitzia et al., 2017). These studies range from local to regional and national spatial scales and are mostly based on the sampling of multiple plots or stands across single or multiple sites. ...
... On the other hand, several research programs are primarily focused on forest multi-taxon biodiversity and on its response to forest management (e.g., Elek et al., 2018;Lelli et al., 2019;Paillet et al., 2018;Remm et al., 2013;Sitzia et al., 2017). These studies range from local to regional and national spatial scales and are mostly based on the sampling of multiple plots or stands across single or multiple sites. ...
Forests host most terrestrial biodiversity and their sustainable management is crucial to halt biodiversity loss. Although scientific evidence indicates that sustainable forest management (SFM) should be assessed by monitoring multi-taxon biodiversity, most current SFM criteria and indicators account only for trees or consider indirect biodiversity proxies. Several projects performed multi-taxon sampling to investigate the effects of forest management on biodiversity, but the large variability of their sampling approaches hampers the identification of general trends, and limits broad-scale inference for designing SFM. Here we address the need of common sampling protocols for forest structure and multi-taxon biodiversity to be used at broad spatial scales. We established a network of researchers involved in 41 projects on forest multi-taxon biodiversity across 13 European countries. The network data structure comprised the assessment of at least three taxa, and the measurement of forest stand structure in the same plots or stands. We mapped the sampling approaches to multi-taxon biodiversity, standing trees and deadwood, and used this overview to provide operational answers to two simple, yet crucial, questions: what to sample? How to sample? The most commonly sampled taxonomic groups are vascular plants (83% of datasets), beetles (80%), lichens (66%), birds (66%), fungi (61%), bryophytes (49%). They cover different forest structures and habitats, with a limited focus on soil, litter and forest canopy. Notwithstanding the common goal of assessing forest management effects on biodiversity, sampling approaches differed widely within and among taxonomic groups. Differences derive from sampling units (plots size, use of stand vs. plot scale), and from the focus on different substrates or functional groups of organisms. Sampling methods for standing trees and lying deadwood were relatively homogeneous and focused on volume calculations, but with a great variability in sampling units and diameter thresholds. We developed a handbook of sampling methods (SI 3) aimed at the greatest possible comparability across taxonomic groups and studies as a basis for European-wide biodiversity monitoring programs, robust understanding of biodiversity response to forest structure and management, and the identification of direct indicators of SFM.
