Old-growth forests in Bulgaria: distribution, characteristics and conservation issues

Date:
2018/06/12

Time:
15:45

Room:
A2 Wivi

Old-growth forests in Bulgaria: distribution, characteristics and conservation issues

(Oral)

Momchil Panayotov
panayotov.m@ltu.bg

UNiversity of Forestry, Bulgaria
,
Georgi Gogushev
South-West University "Neofit Rilski", Bulgaria
,
Georgi Hinkov
Forest Research Institute - Sofia, Bulgaria
,
Nikolai Tsvetanov
Universitty of Forestry - Sofia, Bulgaria
,
Alexander Dountchev
Southwest state forest enterpise, Bulgaria
,
Tzvetan Zlatanov
Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria

DOI: 10.17011/conference/eccb2018/107742

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Natural diversity of relief, climate variability, geographical as well as historical reasons contribute to the presence of old-growth forest patches in various forest types in Bulgaria. For reasons of biodiversity protection, scientific studies and forest certification several projects aimed at locating and collecting data for old-growth forests in Bulgaria. Our aim is to summarize the available findings and contribute for a general map of these forests. The sources of data combine inventory data, including fieldwork collection of forest structure data by members of our team, and verification of satellite and aerial images. Most widely distributed old-growth forests in the country are Fagus sylvatica in the Balkan Range Mountains. Isolated patches of old oak forests were preserved in the lower mountains and lowlands. Coniferous forests were preserved on hardly accessible steep slopes or deep valleys in the high mountains in southern Bulgaria. Of them most impressive are Pinus peuce and Pinus heldreichii forests in the Pirin Mountains, Picea abies forests in Rila and Rhodopes Mts., Pinus nigra in the Rhodopes and beech-fir-spruce forests in isolated locations. There is also one Juniperus excelsa forest, which although affected in the past by selective logging and pasturing, still preserves the largest species locality on the Balkan Peninsula with trees often exceeding 150-200 years.

Old-growth beech forests are characterized by numerous small-sized gaps. Dead wood amount largely varies depending of site condition and past disturbances but rarely exceeds 100 m3/ha. DBH distributions resemble a rotated sigmoidal curve (Zlatanov et al. 2013). Old-growth Picea-dominated forests are characterized by younger and older patches resulting from windthrows and rarely fires of various sizes. Dead wood often exceeds 70-100 m3/ha. DBH distribution is resembles J-reversed. Typical for old-growth pine forests in the Pirin Mts. is high number of live old and dead trees with DBH often exceeding 100 cm and age > 500. Most important disturbances were fires, avalanches and rarely windthrows (Panayotov et al. 2017). Numerous fire traces in old Pinus nigra forests show that they were shaped by periodic fires. However, present day fire exclusion and past management guide dynamics towards increase of deciduous species in the understory. The total amount of deadwood rarely exceeds 30-40 m3/ha. The biggest threat to old-growth forests in Bulgaria is logging, including the potentially desired sanitary fellings in National Parks. In few locations conflicts arise also from desires to expand tourist infrastructure in old-growth forests.

References:

1. Panayotov et al., 2017. Abiotic disturbances in Bulgarian mountain coniferous forests - an overview. Forest Ecology and Management, 388:13-28

2. Zlatanov et al., 2013. Index for identification and evaluation of old-growth forests in Bulgaria. Forest science, 17-28

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INTRO:
The abstract summarizes information on old-growth forests in Bulgaria. It lists the main forest types for which old-growth stand were detected, and briefly reports on the main structural and disturbance regime of each forest type.
MERITS:
The abstract contributes to the knowledge of forests of conservation concern in a region including areas that, although formally protected are currently threatened by productive logging. It is also remarkable the effort made by the authors to integrate remote sensing and field surveys to provide such preliminary information on a scarcely known region.
CRITIQUE:
The abstract has, in some parts, a descriptive style that weakens the focus on the study aims. For instance it starts by referring to 'diverse natural condition', while in my opinion it would have been better to refer directly to the occurrence of remote, scarcely accessible areas. Similarly, some stands are labelled as 'impressive', whereas the structural features that make them impressive should be specifically mentioned.
DISCUSSION:
In general, I think the abstract can give a valuable contribution to the session. Information on Bulgarian forests of conservation concern is needed and can promote trans-national research and conservation programmes focused on these ecosystems. I suggest the authors to try sharpen their writing stating a clear aim on which to focus throughout the abstract.

- - -
INTRO:
The authors will present some preliminary data from mapping and measurements in old-growth forests in Bulgaria, including their variability in terms of live structure and deadwood.
MERITS:
The topic is well suited to the symposium and very relevant for the conservation of old-growth forests. Indeed, although Bulgaria hosts a considerable fraction of the remaining old-growth forests of Europe, these are not well represented in international scientific literature
CRITIQUE:
I recommend the authors to make explicit what the scientific goals of the study are, and better describe its methodology, including sampling design and analytical technique used.
DISCUSSION:
Given the very relevant topic, the contribution has the potential to provide an important added value to the session. However, I recommend the authors to reorganize the abstract so to follow the commonly used structure: relevance, objectives, methods, results, implications.

- - -
INTRO:
The study provide an overview of old-growth forests in Bulgaria, a country less affected by large scale forestry than other European countries. It also adds information on the structural features of some forest types such as tree ages, dead wood and forest fire
MERITS:
Provids a summary of old forest with high natural values on Bulgaria and some quantitative information on their structure adding to our general knowledge of valuable forests across Europe.
CRITIQUE:
Although descirptive data an mapping is central for devising conservation policy and management guidelines, the current paper does not seem to have clear conservation focus. Only "logging" and "sanitary fellings" are mentioned towards the end, providing a somewhat weak link to conservation
DISCUSSION:
Although having clear merits and of relevance for the conference, the abstract somewhat fails to link the descriptive data to ongoing conservation issues in Bulgaria and/or eastern Europe. The authors might consider making these aspect more explicit in the presentation/poster.

Old-growth forests in Bulgaria: distribution, characteristics and conservation issues

Date:2018/06/12

Time:15:45

Room:A2 Wivi

Old-growth forests in Bulgaria: distribution, characteristics and conservation issues

(Oral)

SEE PEER REVIEW

SEE PEER REVIEW

Date:
2018/06/12

Time:
15:45

Room:
A2 Wivi