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Forests
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Mixed Species Forests: Risks, Resilience and Management
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Mixed Species Forests: Risks, Resilience and Management

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 May 2023) | Viewed by 7929

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Pasquale A. Marziliano

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Science, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Via dell'Università, 25, 89124 Reggio Calabria, RC, Italy
Interests: environment; biodiversity; ecology; ecosystem ecology; natural resource management; plant ecology; environmental science; vegetation; forest ecology; landscape ecology; measurement; forest management; forest conservation; vegetation ecology; ecosystems; forestry; silviculture; biomass; agroforestry; trees; reforestation; tree ecology; community forestry; tropical forest ecology; tree plantation; fire ecology; forest biology; forest; dendrochronology; tree growth; dendroecology; eucalyptus; sample size; dendrology; tree phenology; forest genetics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

An increase in the frequency and severity of drought events, and disturbances in general, as predicted for the coming decades, may have dramatic implications for the resilience of forest ecosystems, particularly in the case of forest stands with a simplified vertical structure, as generally shown by even-aged pure stands. In the face of climate change, fostering mixed-species forests, with species adapted to various climatic conditions, is considered one of the most important measures to use in the climate-adopted forest management of many forests in Europe. On the other hand, the diversity of tree species was one of the quantitative indicators of sustainable forest management in Europe adopted by the 7th Ministerial Conference in Madrid. The heterogeneity of species composition belongs to ecological attributes which make forests a complex adaptive system. Mixed-species forests may deliver forest functions and ecosystem services more effectively than monocultures, particularly in threatened mountain environments. These forests show complementary resource use, with positive consequences for productivity, higher carbon storage capacity, ecosystem health and vitality, resistance and resilience, and their spread is an important option to adapt European mountain forests and forestry to future disturbances and extreme events. Information on how resistance and resilience can be affected in relation to tree species composition is, therefore, essential for decision making in adaptive forestry, especially where forest planning and thinning activities favor the occurrence of mixed-species stands. Nevertheless, though mixed-species forestry is gaining popularity in Europe, and a greater understanding of mixed-species forest dynamics for modeling risk assessment and forest functions aimed at fostering alternative silvicultural practices in harsh environments is needed.

Prof. Dr. Pasquale A. Marziliano
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • mixed-species stands
  • mountain forests
  • resistance and resilience
  • climate adaptation
  • climate change
  • risk distribution
  • climate-adopted forest management
  • diversity of tree species

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 4819 KiB  
Article
Comparison of the Foraging Activity of Bats in Coniferous, Mixed, and Deciduous Managed Forests
by Andrzej Węgiel, Witold Grzywiński, Radosław Jaros, Agnieszka Łacka and Jolanta Węgiel
Forests 2023, 14(3), 481; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14030481 - 27 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1426
Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare the foraging activity of bats in coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forests and to test whether this activity was subject to seasonal variation. Sample points were selected in stands of similar spatial structure in coniferous ( [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to compare the foraging activity of bats in coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forests and to test whether this activity was subject to seasonal variation. Sample points were selected in stands of similar spatial structure in coniferous (Pinus sylvestris L.), in mixed (Pinus sylvestris and Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.), and in deciduous (Quercus petraea) managed forests in western Poland. Bat calls were recorded using automated ultrasound recording devices (Batcorder 3.0, ecoObs, Nürnberg, Germany) during five consecutive nights from May to September in each of the six stands. A total of 4250 bat passes were recorded. Overall, 63.1% of bat passes were identified to species, 31.6% were identified to genus or sonotype group, and 5.3% remained unidentified. In total, eight species of bats and seven sonotype groups were recorded. The dominant species in all types of forests were Pipistrellus pygmaeus (44.5% of recorded bat passes), followed by Nyctalus noctula (10.3%) and Pipistrellus nathusii (5.7%). There were no significant differences in the total activity of bats between the three types of forests; however, high seasonal fluctuations in bat foraging activity were found. This study demonstrates that when coniferous, deciduous, and mixed stands with similar spatial structure are compared, forest type does not affect the foraging activity of bats. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mixed Species Forests: Risks, Resilience and Management)
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12 pages, 10236 KiB  
Article
Disturbance of Wind Damage and Insect Outbreaks in the Old-Growth Forest of Changbai Mountain, Northeast China
by Yuan Zhang, Anzhi Wang, Yage Liu, Lidu Shen, Rongrong Cai and Jiabing Wu
Forests 2023, 14(2), 368; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14020368 - 12 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1401
Abstract
The changing climate is worsening the threats to forests, such as insect outbreaks, fires, and drought, especially old-growth forest, which is more susceptible to disturbance. Therefore, it is important to detect the disturbance areas, identify the disturbance agents, and evaluate the disturbance intensity [...] Read more.
The changing climate is worsening the threats to forests, such as insect outbreaks, fires, and drought, especially old-growth forest, which is more susceptible to disturbance. Therefore, it is important to detect the disturbance areas, identify the disturbance agents, and evaluate the disturbance intensity in old-growth forest. We tried to derive the forest disturbance information based on multiple remote sensing datasets (Global Forest Change, MODIS, and ERA5-Land) from 2000 to 2021 in Changbai Mountain, Northeast China, and explored their relationship with climate factors. The results showed that (1) wind damage and insect outbreaks are two main forest disturbance agents, (2) the increasing temperature during overwintering periods and the decreasing precipitation during activity periods increase the risk of insect outbreaks, and (3) disturbances lead to significant changes in forest structure and functional indices, which can be well captured by the remote sensing data. In the study, we creatively combined low-frequency remote sensing images and high-frequency meteorological data to determine the specific time of wind damage. The final results suggested that the vulnerability of old-growth forest to climate change may be mainly reflected through indirect implications, such as the increased risk of strong winds and insect disturbances. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mixed Species Forests: Risks, Resilience and Management)
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17 pages, 1647 KiB  
Article
Growth Dynamics of Young Mixed Norway Spruce and Birch Stands in Finland
by Saija Huuskonen, Tuulia Lahtinen, Jari Miina, Karri Uotila, Simone Bianchi and Pentti Niemistö
Forests 2023, 14(1), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14010056 - 28 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1898
Abstract
Mixed-species forests in Fennoscandia are of increasing interest because they may improve resilience, biodiversity, and productivity. Currently there is scarce knowledge available of the early growth dynamics of mixed spruce–birch stands in even-aged managed production forests with artificial regeneration of spruce. The main [...] Read more.
Mixed-species forests in Fennoscandia are of increasing interest because they may improve resilience, biodiversity, and productivity. Currently there is scarce knowledge available of the early growth dynamics of mixed spruce–birch stands in even-aged managed production forests with artificial regeneration of spruce. The main objective of our study was to examine the present state and the past growth dynamics of current single-storied, young spruce–birch (Picea abies (L.) Karst., Betula pendula Roth, Betula pubescens Ehrh.) stands (age 17–29 years), where spruce was planted and birch naturally regenerated, and juvenile management practices (early cleaning and precommercial thinning) were carried out. We inventoried ten such stands in Southern Finland, for a total of twenty plots. For 160 spruces and 160 birch trees, we reconstructed the past diameter and height growth through stem analysis. We analyzed mean stand characteristics by tree species, and we modelled the individual tree height and diameter growth using the mixed effects Chapman–Richards model. Spruces had slower initial height growth, but by the age of about 20 years their height growth rate eventually approached and exceeded that of birches regenerated naturally at the time of spruce planting. The diameter growth of planted spruce exceeded that of birches even sooner (at the age of about 10 years). Thus, spruces are not suppressed by birches, and they may coexist in the same canopy layer in managed stands. Contrary to earlier guidelines, due to the fast growth of planted spruces, birch mixture needs to be maintained already in the first juvenile stand management (i.e., early cleaning). The growth dynamics of young, planted spruce, and naturally regenerated birch allow the establishment and management of such mixtures and also maintenance of the mixture in the future until the end of the rotation, thus improving biodiversity in boreal, planted spruce forests. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mixed Species Forests: Risks, Resilience and Management)
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19 pages, 2022 KiB  
Article
Response of Poplar Leaf Transcriptome to Changed Management and Environmental Conditions in Pure and Mixed with Black Locust Stands
by Oleksandra Kuchma, Jessica Rebola-Lichtenberg, Dennis Janz, Konstantin V. Krutovsky, Christian Ammer, Andrea Polle and Oliver Gailing
Forests 2022, 13(2), 147; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020147 - 19 Jan 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2271
Abstract
Mixed cropping in short rotation coppice can be an alternative to monocultures. To design optimized mixtures, field trials are needed. Poplar, as an economically important and fast-growing species, and black locust, as a nitrogen-fixing species, are promising candidates for such studies. RNA sequencing [...] Read more.
Mixed cropping in short rotation coppice can be an alternative to monocultures. To design optimized mixtures, field trials are needed. Poplar, as an economically important and fast-growing species, and black locust, as a nitrogen-fixing species, are promising candidates for such studies. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to monitor effects of mixed and pure cultivations on the gene expression of poplar along with growth measurements during 2017 and 2018. Both biomass production and leaf transcriptomes revealed a strong competition pressure of black locust and the abiotic environment on poplar trees. Gene expression differed between the two study sites and pure and mixed stands. Shading effects from black locust caused the downregulation of photosynthesis and upregulation of shade avoidance genes in mixed stands in 2017. As a result of higher light availability after cutting black locust, plant organ development genes were upregulated in mixed stands in 2018. Drought conditions during the summer of 2018 and competition for water between the two species caused the upregulation of drought stress response genes in mixed stands and at the unfavorable growing site. Further investigations are required to discover the mechanisms of interspecific competition and to develop stand designs, which could increase the success and productivity of mixed plantations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mixed Species Forests: Risks, Resilience and Management)
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