Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, Brno, 613 00, Czech Republic.
Silva Tarouca Research Institute, Lidická 25/27, Brno, 60200, Czech Republic; Moravian Museum, Zelný Trh 6, Brno, 60200, Czech Republic.
J Environ Manage. 2021 Dec 15;300:113741. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113741. Epub 2021 Sep 22.
Lowland oak forests host high biodiversity throughout Europe, and to maintain their high biodiversity potential we need to understand how current silviculture practices influence these ecosystems. The most common harvest approach in oak woodlands remains clear-cutting followed by site preparation for reforestation. The site preparation can vary in intensity and possibly affect forest biodiversity in various ways. We studied the impact of site preparation intensity on ground-dwelling arthropod predators and detritivores in commercial oak woodlands. The intensive management included mechanical site preparation with soil milling, stump removal, and herbicide application. The extensive management consisted of natural succession after reforestation with only such slight disturbances as regular hand-provided mowing of vegetation. We recorded 120 spider species, 92 species of ground beetles, 10 species of centipedes, 17 species of millipedes, and 7 species of woodlice, including a relatively large number of threatened species. We found that intensive post-logging management strongly homogenized the habitat structure, and this led to low multi-trophic taxonomic and functional diversity in comparison to that under extensive management. At sites with extensive management, there was not only high functional diversity but also high functional redundancy. Species of conservation concern almost vanished from clearings under intensive management. The high multi-trophic diversity and functional redundancy indicate that extensive site preparation may enhance ecosystem multi-functionality, including primary productivity and ecosystem resilience. Extensive post-harvest management is therefore strongly preferable, and it is also economically more feasible. Intensive post-harvest management should be prohibited in lowland forests within transition zones to localities under nature protection or in natural oak forests.
低地栎林在整个欧洲拥有高度的生物多样性，为了保持其高生物多样性潜力，我们需要了解当前的造林实践如何影响这些生态系统。栎树林中最常见的采伐方法仍然是皆伐，然后进行造林地的整地。整地的强度可能会有所不同，并可能以各种方式影响森林生物多样性。我们研究了整地强度对商业栎树林中地面节肢动物捕食者和分解者的影响。集约管理包括机械整地，土壤粉碎、树桩清除和除草剂应用。粗放管理包括造林后的自然演替，仅进行常规的人工除草等轻微干扰。我们记录了 120 种蜘蛛、92 种步甲、10 种蜈蚣、17 种千足虫和 7 种鼠妇，其中包括相当数量的受威胁物种。我们发现，密集的采伐后管理强烈地使生境结构同质化，这导致与粗放管理相比，多营养层分类和功能多样性较低。在粗放管理的地点，不仅具有高功能多样性，而且具有高功能冗余性。受保护关注的物种几乎从密集管理的林窗中消失了。高多营养层多样性和功能冗余表明，广泛的整地可能会增强生态系统的多功能性，包括初级生产力和生态系统弹性。因此，广泛的采伐后管理是强烈可取的，而且在经济上也更可行。在向自然保护地或天然栎树林过渡的低地森林中，应禁止密集的采伐后管理。
