Abstract
The effectiveness of protected areas to conserve biodiversity depends on conservation management strategies and their application, usually to specific protected areas. This paper presents the results of an assessment of the conservation management strategy for a protected mountain area dominated by Norway spruce forests. The study was based on the prediction of future forest ecosystem development using a SYBILA growth simulation model. This model predicts the changes of forest stand over 25 and 50 years in the context of the conservation management strategy that is part of the broader management plan. The article presents a case study of acidophilous spruce forests below the alpine tree line in the Hruby Jesenik Mountains (Czech Republic), where the forest ecosystems are protected under the Natura 2000 European network and the Czech national system of protected areas. Conserving the character of forest habitats, especially those that are historically affected by humans, is the main target of conservation management strategies. Synthesizing the growth simulation results allows an assessment of the conservation management strategy in achieving management targets. The paper highlights the importance of growth simulation models as support tools for the assessment and creation of adaptive conservation management strategies in mountain protected areas.
Highlights
In the last decade, growth simulation models have increasingly been used as a support tool for the development of forest management plans (Sedmak et al 2013), but applying these models in the conservation of biodiversity is very rare (Parviainen & Frank 2003; Simon et al 2015), despite their potential for predicting the development of forest ecosystems (Kangas et al 2008; Peng 2000; Muys et al 2010)
We applied a growth simulation model as a decision support tool for conservation management within the Litovelske Pomoravi protected area, which consists of lowland floodplain forests (Simon, Machar 2014), and we believe that growth simulation can be an important support tool for conservation management in mountain protected areas dominated by forests of Norway spruce
The conservation management strategy (CMS) for these mountain forest ecosystems is widely discussed in the contexts of adaptive spruce forest management under climate change impacts (Lindner et al 2014; Yousefpour et al 2013), of bark beetles as a driver for forest dynamics (Zeppenfeld et al 2015), and of ecosystem services of montane forests (Carnol et al 2014)
Summary
Growth simulation models have increasingly been used as a support tool for the development of forest management plans (Sedmak et al 2013), but applying these models in the conservation of biodiversity is very rare (Parviainen & Frank 2003; Simon et al 2015), despite their potential for predicting the development of forest ecosystems (Kangas et al 2008; Peng 2000; Muys et al 2010). We applied a growth simulation model as a decision support tool for conservation management within the Litovelske Pomoravi protected area, which consists of lowland floodplain forests (Simon, Machar 2014), and we believe that growth simulation can be an important support tool for conservation management in mountain protected areas dominated by forests of Norway spruce Forests with a natural dominance of Norway spruce below the alpine tree line (ATLE; see Holtmeier 2009) are the predominant type of vegetation in montane vegetation zones of temperate Europe (Svoboda et al 2010). The conservation management strategy (CMS) for these mountain forest ecosystems is widely discussed in the contexts of adaptive spruce forest management under climate change impacts (Lindner et al 2014; Yousefpour et al 2013), of bark beetles as a driver for forest dynamics (Zeppenfeld et al 2015), and of ecosystem services of montane forests (Carnol et al 2014). In the Natura 2000 European network (Natura 2000), acidophilous spruce forests are classified as habitat type 9410 (Miko 2012); within the Czech National Catalogue of Habitats (Chytrý et al 2010), they have the code L9.1
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