How do recent management and historical land use affect mountain forests' susceptibility to disturbances?
In a paper recently published in Forest Ecology and Management, Ana Stritih and colleagues investigated the effects of land-use legacies and recent management on the susceptibility of mountain forests in Graubünden to natural disturbances.
Mountain forests are increasingly exposed to natural disturbances, such as windthrow, bark beetle outbreaks, and forest fires. These disturbances are a challenge for forest managers and may jeopardize the forests’ capacity to provide important ecosystem services, such as protection from natural hazards. We found that forests established on former agricultural lands during the 20th century are more susceptible to disturbances than older forests, and that recent management interventions can increase the risk of disturbances on the short term. These findings highlight the need to consider multiple interactive drivers to better understand forest disturbance regimes, which can help integrate risk into forest management planning.
Read more here: external pagehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.118950call_made