Abstract
A current ongoing unprecedented outbreak of Ips typographus (L.) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) in the Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF) has nearly eliminated Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst) as a major forest tree species there, since over 1 million trees have died. In this part of Europe, Norway spruce has grown for hundreds of years, previously accounting for 30% of forest species composition. The aim of this study was to evaluate 47 “Monuments of Nature” of Norway spruce as follows: (i) their current health status in the managed forests of Białowieża Forest District; (ii) possible causes and changes in their health during the last bark beetle outbreak; and (iii) potential losses from the gene pool. Our findings from ground and remote sensing inventories showed that only 12 out of 47 (25%) monumental trees protected by law survived until 2017 in the study area. The rest (75%) of the investigated trees had died. An analysis of meteorological data from Białowieża suggested that the beginning of the I. typographus outbreak in 2012 was associated with diminishing precipitation during growing seasons prior to this time and subsequent increases in annual temperature, coupled with heavy storms in 2017 toppling weakened trees. A comparison of old-growth “Monuments of Nature” spruce in the region (n = 47, average age 225 years) to seven reference spruce stands (n = 281, average age 132 years) revealed a loss of unique genetic features based on frequencies of eleven nuclear microsatellite loci. Although all studied populations had similar genetic background (FST(without NA) = 0.003 and no STRUCTURE clustering), all monumental spruce trees shared the highest parameters such as the mean observed and expected number of alleles per locus (Na = 15.909 and Ne = 7.656, respectively), mean allelic richness (AR(11) = 8.895), mean private alleles (Apriv = 0.909), and mean Shannon diversity index (I = 1.979) in comparison to the younger stands. Our results demonstrate that the loss of the old spruce trees will entail the loss of genetic variability of the Norway spruce population within the exceptionally valuable Białowieża Primeval Forest.
Highlights
From a historical perspective, old trees have long been protected in the Białowieża Forest, which includes the UNESCO site (142,000 ha), and the Białowieża Forest National Park (308,000 ha), containing impressive 30–50 m tall, old-growth Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) trees
The monumental trees more than 200 years old are of a particular value for a Białowieża Primeval Forest ecosystem, especially since they possess private alleles not found in the other populations
Among the ecologically valuable Norway spruce trees protected by law by 1996 as Monuments of Nature in the Białowieża Forest District (BFD), 74% have died by the year 2017
Summary
Old trees have long been protected in the Białowieża Forest, which includes the UNESCO site (142,000 ha), and the Białowieża Forest National Park (308,000 ha), containing impressive 30–50 m tall, old-growth Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) trees. In the Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF, 63,000 ha in Poland), the largest remnant of a primeval old-growth forest, 47 spruce trees were designated “Monuments of Nature” between 1986 to 1996, and protected by law in Poland [1]. In part of the Białowieża Forest National Park (and its reserves), spruce is a major component of the three forest districts operating in BPF, namely Browsk, Hajnówka and Białowieża. It is likely that the loss of individual veteran trees, designated as “Monuments of Nature” entail the loss of part of the forest gene pool
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