Pioneer tree species accelerate restoration of tree-related microhabitats in 50-year-old reserves of Bialowieza Forest, Poland.

ABSTRACT: Retention of structural elements such as deadwood and habitat trees at the level of forest stands has been promoted to integrate biodiversity conservation into multiple-use forest management. The conservation value of habitat trees is largely determined by the presence, richness, and abundance of tree-related microhabitats (TreMs). Since TreMs are often lacking in intensively managed forests, an important question of forest conservation is how the abundance and richness of TreMs may be effectively restored. Here, we investigated whether the strict protection of forest through cessation of timber harvesting influenced TreM occurrence at tree and stand levels. For that purpose, we compared four managed and four set-aside stands (0.25 ha each) in the Białowieża Forest, with identical origin f

SUBMITTER: Spinu AP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10316124 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature