Identifying practical indicators of biodiversity for stand-level management of plantation forests |
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Authors: | George F Smith Tom Gittings Mark Wilson Laura French Anne Oxbrough Saoirse O’Donoghue John O’Halloran Daniel L Kelly Fraser J G Mitchell Tom Kelly Susan Iremonger Anne-Marie McKee Paul Giller |
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Institution: | (1) BIOFOREST Project, Department of Botany, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland;(2) BIOFOREST Project, Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland;(3) Present address: Atkins, 150–155 Airside Business Park, Swords, Co. Dublin, Ireland |
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Abstract: | Identification of valid indicators of biodiversity is a critical need for sustainable forest management. We developed compositional,
structural and functional indicators of biodiversity for five taxonomic groups—bryophytes, vascular plants, spiders, hoverflies
and birds—using data from 44 Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior) plantation forests in Ireland. The best structural biodiversity indicator was stand stage, defined using a multivariate
classification of forest structure variables. However, biodiversity trends over the forest cycle and between tree species
differ among the taxonomic groups studied. Canopy cover was the main structural indicator and affected other structural variables
such as cover of lower vegetation layers. Other structural indicators included deadwood and distances to forest edge and to
broadleaved woodland. Functional indicators included stand age, site environmental characteristics and management practices.
Compositional indicators were limited to more easily identifiable plant and bird species. Our results suggest that the biodiversity
of any one of the species groups we surveyed cannot act as a surrogate for all of the other species groups. However, certain
subgroups, such as forest bryophytes and saproxylic hoverflies, may be able to act as surrogates for each other. The indicators
we have identified should be used together to identify stands of potentially high biodiversity or to evaluate the biodiversity
effects of silvicultural management practices. They are readily assessed by non-specialists, ecologically meaningful and applicable
over a broad area with similar climate conditions and silvicultural systems. The approach we have used to develop biodiversity
indicators, including stand structural types, is widely relevant and can enhance sustainable forest management of plantations. |
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Keywords: | Biodiversity Forest management Indicator Plantation Species richness Stand structure Sustainable forest management |
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