Work

Owner attitudes and landscape parameters drive stand structure and valuable habitats in small-scale private forests of Lower Saxony (Germany)

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: Small-scale private forests cover large areas in Europe and often contain structures and habitats of high nature conservation value that are increasingly put under pressure due to a rising interest in fuelwood and wood products. We investigate the distribution of variables like living wood and deadwood volumes, management intensity, diversity and density of tree-related microhabitats recorded in 81 small-scale private forest parcels in the Lower Saxon Hills (northwest Germany). We provide an assessment of the influence of predictors like the individual forest owners’ goals and activities, as stated by them in a quantitative survey, as well as topographical parameters like parcel size, slope, landscape fragmentation and forest continuity. Our results indicate that there are two types of valuable structures in small-scale private forests: (a) slowly evolving structures like large-diameter living wood and tree-related microhabitats which mostly depend on topographical parameters that act on longer time scales, and (b) fast evolving structures like deadwood that are influenced by both owner attitudes and topographical parameters. The resulting implications for integrative forest and conservation management are discussed.

Source: European Journal of Forest Research

DOI: 10.1007/s10342-023-01571-y

Authors: Peter Hansen, Malin Tiebel, Tobias Plieninger, Andreas Mölder

Institutions: Nordwestdeutsche Forstliche Versuchsanstalt, University of Göttingen, University of Kassel

Language: English

Topic: Forest Management and Policy

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,590