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Pubblicazioni Scientifiche
Filtri di ricerca 4 risultati
Pubblicazioni per anno
One to rule them all? Assessing the performance of sustainable forest management indicators against multitaxonomic data for biodiversity conservation
Paillet
,
Yoan
,
Zapponi
,
Livia
,
Schall
,
Peter
,
Monnet
,
Jean Matthieu
,
Ammer
,
Christian
,
Balducci
,
Lorenzo
,
Boch
,
Steffen
,
Brazaitis
,
Gediminas
,
Campanaro
,
Alessandro
,
Chianucci
,
Francesco
,
Doerfler
,
Inken
,
Fischer
,
Markus
,
Gosselin
,
Marion
,
Goßner
,
Martin M.
,
Heilmann-Clausen
,
Jacob
,
Hofmeister
,
Jeňýk
,
Hošek
,
Jan
,
Jung
,
Kirsten G.
,
Kepfer-Rojas
,
Sebastian
,
Ódor
,
Péter
,
Tinya
,
Flóra
,
Trentanovi
,
Giovanni
,
Vacchiano
,
Giorgio
,
Vandekerkhove
,
Kris
,
Weisser
,
Wolfgang W.
,
Wohlwend
,
Michael Rudolf
,
Burrascano
,
Sabina
Mostra abstract
Several regional initiatives and reporting efforts assess the state of forest biodiversity through broad-scale indicators based on data from national forest inventories. Although valuable, these indicators are essentially indirect and evaluate habitat quantity and quality rather than biodiversity per se. Therefore, their link to biodiversity may be weak, which decreases their usefulness for decision-making. For several decades, Forest Europe indicators assessed the state of European forests, in particular their biodiversity. However, no extensive study has been conducted to date to assess their performance – i.e. the capacity of the indicators to reflect variations in biodiversity – against multitaxonomic data. We hypothesized that no single biodiversity indicator from Forest Europe can represent overall forest biodiversity, but that several indicators would reflect habitat quality for at least some taxa in a comprehensive way. We tested the set of Forest Europe's indicators against the species richness of six taxonomic and functional groups across several hundreds of sampling units over Europe. We showed that, while some indicators perform relatively well across groups (e.g. deadwood volume), no single indicator represented all biodiversity at once, and that a combination of several indicators performed better. Forest Europe indicators were chosen for their availability and ease of understanding for most people. However, we showed that gaps in the monitoring framework persist, and that surveying certain taxa along with stand structure is necessary to support policymaking and tackle forest biodiversity loss at the large scale. Adding context (e.g. forest type) may also contribute to increase the performance of biodiversity indicators. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd
Silvicultural regime shapes understory functional structure in European forests
Chianucci
,
Francesco
,
Napoleone
,
Francesca
,
Ricotta
,
Carlo
,
Ferrara
,
Carlotta
,
Fusaro
,
Lina
,
Balducci
,
Lorenzo
,
Trentanovi
,
Giovanni
,
Bradley
,
Owen
,
Kovács
,
Bence
,
Mina
,
Marco
,
Cerabolini
,
Bruno Enrico Leone
,
Vandekerkhove
,
Kris
,
de Smedt
,
Pallieter
,
Lens
,
Luc
,
Hertzog
,
Lionel R.
,
Verheyen
,
Kris
,
Hofmeister
,
Jeňýk
,
Hošek
,
Jan
,
Matula
,
Radim
,
Doerfler
,
Inken
,
Müller
,
Jörg C. C.
,
Weisser
,
Wolfgang W.
,
Helback
,
Jan
,
Schall
,
Peter
,
Fischer
,
Markus
,
Heilmann-Clausen
,
Jacob
,
Riis-Hansen
,
Rasmus
,
Goldberg
,
Irina
,
Aude
,
Erik
,
Kepfer-Rojas
,
Sebastian
,
Kappel Schmidt
,
Inger
,
Riis-Nielsen
,
Torben
,
Mårell
,
Anders
,
Dumas
,
Yann
,
Janssen
,
Philippe
,
Paillet
,
Yoan
,
Archaux
,
Frédéric
,
Xystrakis
,
Fotios
,
Tinya
,
Flóra
,
Ódor
,
Péter
,
Aszalós
,
Réka
,
Bölöni
,
János
,
Cutini
,
Andrea
,
Bagella
,
Simonetta
,
Sitzia
,
Tommaso
,
Brazaitis
,
Gediminas
,
Marozas
,
Vitas
,
Ujházyová
,
Mariana
,
Ujházy
,
Karol
,
Máliš
,
František
,
Nordén
,
Björn
,
Burrascano
,
Sabina
functional diversity
functional redundancy
forest understory
sustainable forest management
unmanaged forests
ecosystem resilience
silvicultural regime
Mostra abstract
Managing forests to sustain their diversity and functioning is a major challenge in a changing world. Despite the key role of understory vegetation in driving forest biodiversity, regeneration and functioning, few studies address the functional dimensions of understory vegetation response to silvicultural management. We assessed the influence of the silvicultural regimes on the functional diversity and redundancy of European forest understory. We gathered vascular plant abundance data from more than 2000 plots in European forests, each associated with one out of the five most widespread silvicultural regimes. We used generalized linear mixed models to assess the effect of different silvicultural regimes on understory functional diversity (Rao's quadratic entropy) and functional redundancy, while accounting for climate and soil conditions, and explored the reciprocal relationship between three diversity components (functional diversity, redundancy and dominance) across silvicultural regimes through a ternary diversity diagram. Intensive silvicultural regimes are associated with a decrease in functional diversity and an increase in functional redundancy, compared with unmanaged conditions. This means that although intensive management may buffer communities' functions against species or functional losses, it also limits the range of understory response to environmental changes. Policy implications. Different silvicultural regimes influence different facets of understory functional features. While unmanaged forests can be used as a reference to design silvicultural practices in compliance with biodiversity conservation targets, different silvicultural options should be balanced at landscape scale to sustain the multiple forest functions that human societies are increasingly demanding. © 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Applied Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.
Relating forest structural characteristics to bat and bird diversity in the Italian Alps
Rigo
,
Francesca
,
Paniccia
,
Chiara
,
Anderle
,
Matteo
,
Chianucci
,
Francesco
,
Obojes
,
Nikolaus
,
Tappeiner
,
Ulrike
,
Hilpold
,
Andreas
,
Mina
,
Marco
Mostra abstract
The global decline of biodiversity has affected European forests, involving many tree species and forest-dwelling threatened animals. An integrated approach linking forest structure and multi-taxon diversity is increasingly needed to maintain the multifunctionality of forest ecosystems. We investigated the relationship between forest structure, deadwood elements, canopy attributes, and tree-related microhabitats on bat and bird communities in the north-eastern Italian Alps. We collected forest attributes, bats, and bird data on 40 forest plots encompassing the diversity of forest types. To assess the different contributions of each forest attribute variables we performed a two-step statistical analysis using generalised and linear models, including bat and bird taxonomical and functional diversity indices as response variables. Our findings reveal that bats and birds respond differently to variation in forest structural characteristics. Specifically, bat species richness was higher in forests with both higher standing tree and lying deadwood volume. The Shannon diversity index for bird community was higher in forests with high volumes of coarse lying deadwood and stumps. Moreover, plots with mature trees, gaps, and heterogeneous diameter distribution fostered the presence of generalist species of bats and birds, while the abundance of tree-related microhabitats was not significant for these two taxa. This study demonstrates that the optimal habitat conditions for bats and birds in Alpine forests are multifaceted. Promoting distinctive elements within forest stands and a complex forest structure through adaptations in forest management interventions would enhance the conservation of multi-taxon forest biodiversity. © 2024 The Authors
Repeated mapped tree inventory in an oak-hornbeam planted forest in Po Valley (Foresta Carpaneta, Italy)
Mostra abstract
Stand structure and tree spatial patterns are key elements to understand natural dynamics and competition processes in forest ecosystems. We performed repeated, mapped tree inventory measures (x, y, height, diameter, vitality, etc.) to allow analysis of the spatial and temporal structure and diversity in 1 ha oak-hornbeam planted forest with pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.), established in 2003 also for the conservation of a variety of oak genotypes. Two inventories were carried out in 2009 and 2019. The use of repeated and mapped tree measures allows to investigate the changes in spatial pattern processes through time in this forest. © 2024 Istituto Sperimentale per la Selvicoltura. All rights reserved.