Abstract
Wood bioenergy may decrease the reliance on fossil carbon and mitigate anticipated increases in temperature. However, increased use of wood bioenergy may have large impacts on forest biodiversity primarily through the loss of dead wood habitats. We evaluated both the large-scale and long-term effects of different bioenergy extraction scenarios on the availability of dead wood and the suitability of the resulting habitat for saproxylic species, using a spatially explicit forest landscape simulation framework applied in the Swedish boreal forest. We demonstrate that bioenergy extraction scenarios, differing in the level of removal of biomass, can have significant effects on dead wood volumes. Although all of the scenarios led to decreasing levels of dead wood, the scenario aimed at species conservation led to highest volumes of dead wood (about 10 m3 ha−1) and highest connectivity of dead wood patches (mean proximity index of 78), whilst the scenario aimed at reaching zero fossil fuel targets led to the lowest levels (about 8 m3 ha−1) and least connectivity (mean proximity index of 7). Our simulations stress that further exploitation of dead wood from sites where volumes are already below suggested habitat thresholds for saproxylic species will very likely have further negative effects on dead wood dependent species.
Highlights
Reducing reliance on fossil carbon will likely play a key role in any strategy aimed at mitigating global warming
Dead wood decreased after an initial increase in the first two decades. This means that in landscapes dominated by young and middle-aged stands dead wood levels can be expected to decrease in the long term if no natural disturbances occur
We can conclude that bioenergy extraction does have significant impacts on the levels of dead wood in the landscape
Summary
Reducing reliance on fossil carbon will likely play a key role in any strategy aimed at mitigating global warming. In forested regions of the world, wood bioenergy has the potential to become a significant source of bioenergy, while simultaneously mitigating climate change. Managing forest resources will become increasingly important; given recent legislative efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increased use of renewable energy sources Strategies to mitigate or adapt to climate change are likely to conflict with environmental goals, such as biodiversity conservation [2]. This is because intensive bioenergy extraction is likely to have a negative impact on forest species, such as those that are associated with dead wood [3,4]. Several studies have shown short-term negative effects of biofuel extraction on biodiversity [5,6]
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