Joining of the historical research and future prediction as a support tool for the assessment of management strategy for European beech-dominated forests in protected areas

Ivo Machar,Petr Fulnecek,Jan Brus,Vit Vozenilek,Vilém Pechanec,Tomas Vitek,Jaroslav Simon

doi:10.3897/natureconservation.22.12902

Abstract

European beech-dominated forests are crucial for maintaining biodiversity in forested mountain landscapes of the European temperate zone. This paper presents the results of research and assessment of management strategy for mountain beech-dominated forests in the Jeseníky Mountains (Czech Republic). Our approach is based on combining research on historical development of the forest ecosystem, assessment of its current state, and predictions of future dynamics using a forest growth simulation model. Using such a method makes it possible to understand the current state of the mountain beech-dominated forest ecosystem and predict its future development as a response to specific management strategies. The application of this method is therefore appropriate for assessing the suitability of selected management strategies in mountain protected areas. Our results show that a non-intervention management for mountain beech forest in the next 80 years complies with the Natura 2000 requirement to maintain the existing character of the forest habitat. Thus, the current management plan for the beech-dominated forests in the Jeseníky Mountains does not require significant corrections in the context of its conservation targets (i.e. maintaining biodiversity and current character of the forest ecosystem dominated by beech). The results of this study suggest that combining the knowledge on historical development with forest growth simulation can be used as a suitable support tool to assess management strategies for forest habitats in protected areas.

Highlights

Because most of the forests in Europe have been influenced by human activity, primeval forests currently account for less than 1 % of the total area of European forests (Vanbergen et al 2005)
Changes of tree composition within the cycle are the exception – in European beech forest light-demanding tree pioneer species seem to be restricted to rather small patches under natural conditions (Yamamoto 2000), in contrast to the big developmental cycle in boreal spruce forest, where the role of pioneer tree species in forest natural dynamics is very important in large areas (Angelstam and Kuuluvainen 2004)
The main objective of this paper is to show the importance of integrating historical research of forest ecosystems for the assessment of forest management strategy, using an example of protected mountain beech and fir-beech forests of temperate Europe

Summary

Introduction

Because most of the forests in Europe have been influenced by human activity, primeval forests currently account for less than 1 % of the total area of European forests (Vanbergen et al 2005). Primeval European beech forests consist of a mosaic of sub-stands which can be typified to the developmental stage (phase) by the structure of the tree layer (Fischer 1997). The key to understanding the natural dynamics of primeval European beech forests is the concept of the small development cycle (Standovár and Kenderes 2003). Natural cyclic regeneration of primeval European beech forests mainly includes the tree species of the terminal phases, especially the beech itself. Changes of tree composition within the cycle are the exception – in European beech forest light-demanding tree pioneer species seem to be restricted to rather small patches under natural conditions (Yamamoto 2000), in contrast to the big developmental cycle in boreal spruce forest, where the role of pioneer tree species in forest natural dynamics is very important in large areas (Angelstam and Kuuluvainen 2004)

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Results