Owner attitudes and landscape parameters drive stand structure and valuable habitats in small-scale private forests of Lower Saxony (Germany)

Abstract

Small-scale private forests cover large areas in Europe and often contain structures and habitats of high nature conservation value that are increasingly put under pressure due to a rising interest in fuelwood and wood products. We investigate the distribution of variables like living tree and deadwood volumes, management intensity, diversity and density of tree-related microhabitats recorded in 81 small-scale private forest parcels in the Lower Saxon Hills (northwest Germany). We provide an assessment of the influence of predictors like the individual forest owners’ goals and activities, as stated by them in a quantitative survey, as well as landscape parameters like parcel size, slope, landscape fragmentation and forest continuity. Our results indicate that there are two types of structures of conservation value in small-scale private forests: slowly evolving structures (type A) like large-diameter living trees and tree-related microhabitats which mostly depend on landscape parameters that act on longer time scales, and fast evolving structures (type B) like deadwood that are influenced by both owner attitudes and landscape parameters. The resulting implications for integrative forest and conservation management are discussed. When considering the conservation of the slowly evolving type A structures, long-term commitments to conservation legislation, financial incentives and generation-spanning education of forest owners are necessary. Efforts to promote the faster evolving type B structures might prove particularly advantageous in small-scale private forests given the structural diversity of the stands, but also the often strong identification of owners with their land.Graphical abstract