National Forest Inventories capture the multifunctionality of managed forests in Germany

Background:Forests perform various important ecosystem functions that contribute to ecosystem services.In many parts of the world,forest management has shifted from a focus on timber production to multi-purpose forestry,combining timber production with the supply of other forest ecosystem services.However,it is unclear which forest types provide which ecosystem services and to what extent forests primarily managed for timber already supply multiple ecosystem services.Based on a comprehensive dataset collected across 150 forest plots in three regions differing in management intensity and species composition,we develop models to predict the potential supply of 13 ecosystem services.We use those models to assess the level of multifunctionality of managed forests at the national level using national forest inventory data.Results:Looking at the potential supply of ecosystem services,we found trade-offs(e.g.between both bark beetle control or dung decomposition and both productivity or soil carbon stocks)as well as synergies(e.g.for temperature regulation,carbon storage and culturally interesting plants)across the 53 most dominant forest types in Germany.No single forest type provided all ecosystem services equally.Some ecosystem services showed comparable levels across forest types(e.g.decomposition or richness of saprotrophs),while others varied strongly,depending on forest structural attributes(e.g.phosphorous availability or cover of edible plants)or tree species composition(e.g.potential nitrification activity).Variability in potential supply of ecosystem services was only to a lesser extent driven by environmental conditions.However,the geographic variation in ecosystem function supply across Germany was closely linked with the distribution of main tree species.Conclusions:Our results show that forest multifunctionality is limited to subsets of ecosystem services.The importance of tree species composition highlights that a lack of multifunctionality at the stand level can be compensated by managing forests at the landscape level,when stands of complementary forest types are combined.These results imply that multi-purpose forestry should be based on a variety of forest types requiring coordinated planning across larger spatial scales.

Romanian legal management rules limit wood production in Norway spruce and beech forests

Background： The quantitative impact of forest management on forests＇ wood resource was evaluated for Picea and Fagus mixed forests. The effects on the productivity of tendering operations, thinnings and rotation length have seldom been directly quantified on landscape scale. Methods： Two sites of similar fertility but subject to contrasted forest management were studied with detailed inventories： one in Germany, the other in Romania, and compared with the respective national forest inventories. In Romania, regulations impose very long rotations, low thinnings and a period of no-cut before harvest. In contrast, tending and thinnings are frequent and intense in Germany. Harvests start much earlier and must avoid clear cutting but maintain a permanent forest cover with natural regeneration. While Germany has an average annual wood increment representative for Central Europe, Romania represents the average for Eastern Europe. Results： The lack of tending and thinning in the Romanian site resulted in twice as many trees per hectare as in the German site for the same age. The productivity in Romanian production forests was 20 % lower than in Germany despite a similar fertility. The results were supported by the data from the national forest inventory of each country, which confirmed that the same differential exists at country scale. Furthermore, provided the difference in rotation length, two crops are harvested in Germany when only one is harvested in Romania. The losses of production due to a lower level of management in Romania where estimated to reach 12.8 million m3.y-1 in regular mountain production forests, and to 15 million m3.y-1 if managed protection forest is included. Conclusions： The productivity of Picea and Fagus mountain forests in Romania is severely depressed by the lack of tending and thinning, by overly long rotations and the existence of a 25-years no-cut period prior to harvest. The average standing volume in Germany was 50 % lower than in Romania, but the higher harvesting rate resulted in more than doubling wood production. Considering the mitigation effects of climate change by forests, it emerges that the increase in standing volume of forests in Romania is smaller than the additional harvest in Germany which serves fossil fuel substitution.

Plant diversity and community history shift colonization success from early- to mid-successional species

Aims Functional traits are supposed to play an important role in deter-mining the colonization success of new species into established communities.short-term experimental studies have documented higher resistance of more diverse grasslands against coloni-zation by new species.However,little is known about which traits colonizers should have to successfully invade diverse plant communities in the longer term and how community his-tory may modify the resistance of diverse communities against colonization.Methods In a grassland biodiversity experiment(Jena Experiment)established with different species richness(s;1,2,4,8 and 16)and functional group(Fg)number and composition(1 to 4;legumes,grasses,small herbs,tall herbs),we studied colonization of naturally dispersed species in split-plots(i)with different duration of weeding(never weeded,weeded for 3 or 6 years and then un-weeded for 1 year)and(ii)with different duration of colonization(7 years,4 years and 1 year after cessation of weeding).Important Findingsresistance against colonization by new species declined with increased duration of weeding(on average 13,17 and 22 col-onizer species in 1-,4-and 7-year-old communities,respec-tively).Communities established at low diversity accumulated more colonizer species with a longer duration of weeding than more diverse communities.Duration of colonization had only small effects on the number of colonizer species.Colonizers with early successional traits,i.e.annual life cycle,reproduction by seeds,small seeds,long-lived seeds and an earlier start of a longer flowering period,were favoured in species-poor newly established experimental plant communities(short duration of weeding)and early after cessation of weeding(short duration of colonization).a change from early-to mid-successional traits,i.e.taller growth,perennial life cycle,vegetative reproduction,characterized colonization at increased plant diversity and in communities with legumes or without grasses.legume absence/grass presence and increased duration of weeding led to a shift in colonizer strategies from rapid nutrient uptake and cycling(higher specific leaf area)to nutrient retention and symbiotic N2 fixation.our study shows that non-random trait spectra of naturally dispersed colonizers encompass trade-offs between different functions(reproduction,persistence,growth)reflected in a change from early-to mid-successional traits at increasing plant diversity,with a longer duration of weeding and a longer time of colonization.

Biodiversity and belowground interactions mediate community invasion resistance against a tall herb invader

Aims Species-rich plant communities are hypothesized to be more resistant against plant invasions because they use resources in a more efficient way.However,the relative contributions of aboveground competition and belowground interactions for invasion resistance are still poorly understood.Methods We compared the performance of Knautia arvensis transplants growing in plots differing in plant diversity both under full competition and with shoots of neighbors tied back to determine the relative strength of aboveground competition in suppressing this test invader without the confounding effect of shading.In addition,we assessed the effects of belowground competition and soil-borne pathogens on transplant performance.Important Findings Both aboveground competition and plant species richness strongly and independently affected invader performance.Aboveground biomass,height,leaf mass per area and flowering of transplanted individuals of K.arvensis decreased with increasing species richness of the host community.Species-rich and species-poor communities both imposed equally strong aboveground competition on K.arvensis.However,belowground interactions(especially belowground root competition)had strong negative effects on transplant performance.In addition,the presence of grasses in a plant community further reduced the performance of K.arvensis.Our results suggest that belowground competition can render species-rich host communities more suppressive to newly arriving species,thus enhancing community invasion resistance.