Identifying practical indicators of biodiversity for stand-level management of plantation forests

By George F. Smith, T. Gittings, Mark W. Wilson, L. French, Anne Oxbrough, S. O’Donoghue, John O'Halloran, D. Kelly, F. Mitchell, Tom Kelly and 3 more. Biodiversity and Conservation, 2008

114 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Identification of valid indicators of biodiversity is a critical need for sustainable forest management. We developed compositional, structural and functional indicators of biodiversity for five taxonomic groups—bryophytes, vascular plants, spiders, hoverflies and birds—using data from 44 Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior) plantation forests in Ireland. The best structural biodiversity indicator was stand stage, defined using a multivariate classification of forest structure variables. However, biodiversity trends over the forest cycle and between tree species differ among the taxonomic groups studied. Canopy cover was the main structural indicator and affected other structural variables such as cover of lower vegetation layers. Other structural indicators included deadwood and distances to forest edge and to broadleaved woodland. Functional indicators included stand age, site environmental characteristics and management practices. Compositional indicators were limited to more easily identifiable plant and bird species. Our results suggest that the biodiversity of any one of the species groups we surveyed cannot act as a surrogate for all of the other species groups. However, certain subgroups, such as forest bryophytes and saproxylic hoverflies, may be able to act as surrogates for each other. The indicators we have identified should be used together to identify stands of potentially high biodiversity or to evaluate the biodiversity effects of silvicultural management practices. They are readily assessed by non-specialists, ecologically meaningful and applicable over a broad area with similar climate conditions and silvicultural systems. The approach we have used to develop biodiversity indicators, including stand structural types, is widely relevant and can enhance sustainable forest management of plantations.

Subfields: Global and Planetary Change, Insect Science, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/00f60dd9173f27b07e9c0c6ef6ec93d3dd9ca3a8

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Citations in the corpus

Arthropods as bioindicators of sustainable forest management, with a focus on plantation forests (2009, methodology): “In fragmented forests, the distance from the forest edge and broadleaf woodland habitats played major roles in arthropod assemblages (Smith et al., 2008).”
Influence of tree characteristics and forest management on tree microhabitats (2011, background): “Indeed, despite significant advances in the recent years (e.g. Lindenmayer et al., 2006; Smith et al., 2008), further research is still needed to provide well-documented and scientifically-based quantitative methods and indicators to assess sustainable forest management (Barbier et al., 2009).”
Plantations of exotic tree species in Britain: irrelevant for biodiversity or novel habitat for native species? (2010, methodology): “Species exhibit varying responses to alterations in ecosystem structure and function such that changes in one species group are not necessarily mirrored by changes in others (Smith et al. 2008).”
Forest biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services (2017, background): “For instance, at the early stages of tree establishment a range of open habitat and generalist invertebrate and plant species coexist (Smith et al. 2008), a role which may be important in landscapes dominated by intensive agriculture with low overall biodiversity (O’Callaghan et al.”