Effects of management and restoration on forest biodiversity: an experimental approach

Abstract

To conserve biodiversity of boreal forests, many management and restoration actions have been undertaken during the last decades. However, research based knowledge about the impacts of the currently used practices are yet largely unavailable. Here we introduce two large scale experiments on the impacts of forest management and restoration on biodiversity of boreal forests. In the first experiment we concentrate on the effects of prescribed burning on species richness of two species groups, which are known to be largely dependent on the amount and quality of decaying wood: saproxylic beetles and polypore fungi. In the second experiment, we study the immediate surroundings of small forest brooks, which are defined as valuable habitats in the Finnish Forest Act. Our aim is to determine the effect of silvicultural practices conducted at the valuable habitats or in the vicinity of them on long term persistence of the special characteristics of these habitats. Our preliminary results indicate that preserving the characteristic features of valuable brook habitats will help to preserve the overall species richness of boreal forests.