Laura Ķēniņa

• PhD
• Researcher at Latvian State Forest Research Institute "Silava"

Intensive forest management has promoted an increase in deer (Cervidae) population density. Various silvicultural activities, such as pre-commercial thinning, can change the feeding conditions for deer species, therefore impacting browsing pressure on target tree species. In this study, we analyzed how several factors, including the density of the...

The European Union Nature Restoration Law requires increasing trends for soil organic carbon stock (SOC stock) in the mineral soil at a depth of 0 to 30 cm and in the litter layer (O horizon) in forest ecosystems until satisfactory level is reached, thus assessing and monitoring this indicator remains challenging at the national scale. This report...

Carbon accounting in the land sector requires a reference level from which to calculate past losses of carbon and potential for gains using a stock-based target. Carbon carrying capacity represented by the carbon stock in primary forests is an ecologically-based reference level that allows estimation of the mitigation potential derived from protect...

Tree biomass and soils (especially organic soils) are significant carbon pools in forest ecosystems, therefore forest management practices, in order to ensure carbon storage in these pools and to mitigate climate change, are essential in reaching climate neutrality goals set by the European Union. Overall studies have focused on diverse aspects of...

Information on the capacity of organic soils to capture and store carbon in old‐growth forests in the hemiboreal forest zone is scarce and fragmented. However, fine‐root data can provide valuable insights into soil carbon fluxes. Thus, the aim of the current study was to provide estimates of the fine‐root biomass (FRB), fine‐root production (FRP),...

The currently observed aging trend in large parts of Europe’s forests have significantly increased the amount of woody biomass and therefore carbon stock accumulated in forests over the past decades, which come to their maximum (Vilén et al. 2012; Nabuurs et al. 2013; Senf et al. 2021). Old-growth forests contribute to biodiversity conservation fun...

Birch (Betula pendula Roth, Betula pubescens Ehrh.) and European aspen (Populus tremula L.) stands dominate the deciduous forests of Northern Europe. Due to increasing forest protections, more deciduous stands will reach the old-growth stage. Thus, data on the carbon storage potential in such areas are essential. We aimed to establish a benchmark f...

For the last three decades, the area of old-growth forest stands in Europe has continued to increase as has their importance in achieving forest-related policy goals. This has triggered an increase in research interest in old-growth forests, both from climate change mitigation and biodiversity protection perspectives. However, carbon stock in old-g...

Organic soils store a large amount of carbon stock, but they are also a large source of greenhouse gas emissions in a forest. Results of previous studies do not provide whole-country representative data of carbon stock in drained fertile organic soil forests in Europe, as the effects of stand age and dominant tree species are significant. Moreover,...

Assessments of carbon storage capacity in different ecosystems is essential to guide the decisions on effective climate change mitigation. In Latvia, 22% of the total forest area are located on peat soils and among them 9%, i.e. 352,650 ha, are classified as naturally wet peatland forests according to the National forest inventory (NFI). Old-growth...

Importance of unmanaged forests for biodiversity aspects in unquestionable, while their role in climate change mitigation is still unclear due to the large heterogeneity of these forests in different bioclimatic regions; therefore, requiring data of biomass distribution for their inclusion in national and regional carbon reporting systems. The aim...

Carbon sequestration is crucial to mitigate climate changes,therefore it is important to have accurate estimates of carbon pools in the forest. So far, data on carbon pools in old-growth forests are very scarce, therefore aim of the study was to assess the carbon pools in old-growth Scots pine stands on organic soil and carbon concentration in dead...

Old-growth forests are widely recognised for the benefits they provide for biodiversity; however, a more comprehensive understanding of their role in climate change mitigation must still be established to find the optimal balance between different forest ecosystem services at a national or regional scale. Very few studies have assessed carbon pools...

Old unmanaged forests are commonly assumed to be carbon neutral; however, there is still a lack of reference studies available to increase the recognition of carbon stock changes in these forests. Studies of old forest carbon storage from hemiboreal regions are very rare compared to temperate and boreal forests in Europe; therefore, the aim of this...

The increasing interest in carbon budget estimation and the growing use of woody biomass in bioenergy production raises the necessity for precise estimates of belowground biomass and soil carbon pools in forest ecosystems, particularly in terms of changes in the age structure of forests. The aim of this study was to estimate the belowground biomass...

Fast growing hybrid poplars (Populus spp.) could be successfully used for bioenergy as well as wood production. Productivity of clones had been studied in Baltic States recently, however, little is known about the impact of weather conditions on poplar height growth, thus the potential effect of climate change. Therefore, the aim of this study was...

Forest ecosystems play crucial role in global carbon cycling, therefore, increasing afforestation of agricultural land in Europe has been recognized as important contribution of carbon sequestration. In carbon reporting systems, root carbon content (CC) default value has been set to 50%. The study aimed to estimate CC in below-ground biomass and in...