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

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.

[1]  Mikko Mönkkönen,et al.  Co-variation and indicators of species diversity: Can richness of forest-dwelling species be predicted in northern boreal forests? , 2006 .

[2]  R. Moles,et al.  The influence of coniferous afforestation on lowland farmland bird communities in Ireland: different seasons and landscape contexts , 2005 .

[3]  O. W. Archibold.  The coniferous forests , 1995 .

[4]  R. Dettmers,et al.  Breeding bird communities , 2003 .

[5]  D. H. Knight,et al.  Aims and Methods of Vegetation Ecology , 1974 .

[6]  A. Solow,et al.  Measuring biological diversity , 2006, Environmental and Ecological Statistics.

[7]  D. Kelly,et al.  Ground flora communities in temperate oceanic plantation forests and the influence of silvicultural, geographic and edaphic factors , 2008 .

[8]  A. Beattie,et al.  Vascular Plant Diversity as a Surrogate for Bryophyte and Lichen Diversity , 1999 .

[9]  Vassiliki Kati,et al.  Testing the Value of Six Taxonomic Groups as Biodiversity Indicators at a Local Scale , 2004 .

[10]  T. Kelly,et al.  The breeding bird community of Balrath Wood, Co. Meath, 1996: A preliminary investigation. , 1997 .

[11]  M. Hermy,et al.  An integrated analysis of the effects of past land use on forest herb colonization at the landscape scale , 2003 .

[12]  M. Anand,et al.  Diversity Relationships among Taxonomic Groups in Recovering and Restored Forests , 2005 .

[13]  The ecology of woodland creation , 1996 .

[14]  Phillip B. Gibbons,et al.  Forest and woodland stand structural complexity: Its definition and measurement , 2005 .

[15]  D. Kelly.  The native forest vegetation of Killarney, south-west Ireland: an ecological account. , 1981 .

[16]  Mark W. Wilson,et al.  Investigation of experimental methods to enhance biodiversity in plantation forests , 2006 .

[17]  J. Humphrey.  Benefits to biodiversity from developing old-growth conditions in British upland spruce plantations: a review and recommendations , 2005 .

[18]  Paul M. Dolman,et al.  Ecological patterns of plant diversity in a plantation forest managed by clearfelling , 2006 .

[19]  Mark W. Wilson,et al.  Effects of growth stage and tree species composition on breeding bird assemblages of plantation forests , 2006 .

[20]  M. Hermy,et al.  Seed dispersal from a forest into adjacent cropland , 2005 .

[21]  R. Ferris,et al.  A review of potential biodiversity indicators for application in British forests , 1999 .

[22]  Kevin J. Gaston,et al.  Biodiversity : a biology of numbers and difference , 1996 .

[23]  M. Greenstone.  Determinants of web spider species diversity: Vegetation structural diversity vs. prey availability , 1984, Oecologia.

[24]  Jerry F. Franklin,et al.  Coarse Woody Debris in Douglas-Fir Forests of Western Oregon and Washington , 1988 .

[25]  H. Jactel,et al.  Plantation forests and biodiversity: oxymoron or opportunity? , 2008, Biodiversity and Conservation.

[26]  P. Legendre,et al.  SPECIES ASSEMBLAGES AND INDICATOR SPECIES:THE NEED FOR A FLEXIBLE ASYMMETRICAL APPROACH , 1997 .

[27]  Charles B. Halpern,et al.  Plant Species Diversity in Natural and Managed Forests of the Pacific Northwest , 1995 .

[28]  Hj Norussis,et al.  SPSS for Windows , 1993 .

[29]  R. Lewin,et al.  Biological flora of the British Isles , 1948 .

[30]  Mark O. Kimberley,et al.  Diversity and succession of adventive and indigenous vascular understorey plants in Pinus radiata plantation forests in New Zealand , 2003 .

[31]  T. Solhøy,et al.  Vascular plants as a surrogate species group in complementary site selection for bryophytes, macrolichens, spiders, carabids, staphylinids, snails, and wood living polypore fungi in a northern forest , 2004 .

[32]  M. Gormally,et al.  A comparison of plant and carabid beetle communities in an Irish oak woodland with a nearby conifer plantation and clearfelled site , 1998 .

[33]  S. van der Spoel.  Assessment of Biodiversity. , 1994 .

[34]  D. Lindenmayera,et al.  General management principles and a checklist of strategies to guide forest biodiversity conservation , 2006 .

[35]  C. Margules,et al.  Indicators of Biodiversity for Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management , 2000 .

[36]  I. Gordon,et al.  Distribution and abundance of small insects and arachnids in relation to structural heterogeneity of grazed, indigenous grasslands , 1998 .

[37]  J. Cross.  An outline and map of the potential natural vegetation of Ireland , 1998 .

[38]  Yrjö Haila,et al.  The importance of small-scale heterogeneity in boreal forests: variation in diversity in forest-floor invertebrates across the succession gradient , 1996 .

[39]  C. Heaney,et al.  Associations between forest type and invertebrates: ground beetle community patterns in a natural oakwood and juxtaposed conifer plantations. , 1993 .

[40]  E. W. Jones.  VEGETATION CHANGES RESULTING FROM AFFORESTATION OF ROUGH GRAZINGS IN CAEO FOREST, SOUTH WALES , 1978 .

[41]  S. Dorn,et al.  Cross-taxon congruence of species diversity and community similarity among three insect taxa in a mosaic landscape , 2005 .

[42]  David B. Lindenmayer,et al.  Future directions for biodiversity conservation in managed forests: indicator species, impact studies and monitoring programs , 1999 .

[43]  T. W. H..  Chemical Analysis , 2019, Nature.

[44]  S. Chapman,et al.  Methods in plant ecology , 1977 .

[45]  A. Magurran,et al.  Measuring Biological Diversity , 2004 .

[46]  R. Ferris,et al.  Lichens and bryophyte communities of planted and semi-natural forests in Britain: the influence of site type, stand structure and deadwood , 2002 .

[47]  J. Lawton,et al.  Rare species, the coincidence of diversity hotspots and conservation strategies , 1993, Nature.

[48]  E. Castella,et al.  An Approach to Interpretation of Lists of Insects Using Digitised Biological Information about The Species , 2001, Journal of Insect Conservation.

[49]  K. Mikkola,et al.  Forest structure classes in central Finnish Lapland , 1998 .

[50]  R. Ferris,et al.  Biodiversity in Britain's planted forests. Results from the Forestry Commission's Biodiversity Assessment Project. , 2003 .

[51]  A. Rypstra,et al.  Habitat selection in a large orb‐weaving spider: vegetational complexity determines site selection and distribution , 2000 .

[52]  S. Pitkänen.  Correlation between stand structure and ground vegetation: an analytical approach , 1997, Plant Ecology.

[53]  J. Pausas,et al.  Patterns of plant species richness in relation to different environments: An appraisal , 2001 .

[54]  S. Hodge,et al.  Deadwood in British forests: priorities and a strategy , 1998 .

[55]  P. Giller,et al.  Structural indicators of spider communities across the forest plantation cycle , 2005 .

[56]  R. Ferris,et al.  Relationships between vegetation, site type and stand structure in coniferous plantations in Britain , 2000 .

[57]  Paul H. Williams,et al.  Complementarity analysis: Mapping the performance of surrogates for biodiversity , 2006 .

[58]  R. Noss.  Indicators for Monitoring Biodiversity: A Hierarchical Approach , 1990 .

[59]  D. Sommaggio.  Syrphidae: can they be used as environmental bioindicators? , 1999 .

[60]  Mark D. Atkinson.  Betula pendula Roth (B. verrucosa Ehrh.) and B. pubescens Ehrh. , 1992 .

[61]  C. Hawes,et al.  Relationships between insect diversity and habitat characteristics in plantation forests , 1999 .

[62]  N. Mawdsley,et al.  Biodiversity inventories, indicator taxa and effects of habitat modification in tropical forest , 1998, Nature.

[63]  K. P. Reese,et al.  LANDSCAPE CHANGES WITHIN THE HISTORICAL DISTRIBUTION OF COLUMBIAN SHARP-TAILED GROUSE IN EASTERN WASHINGTON : IS THERE HOPE? , 1998 .

[64]  D. Hodáňová.  Plant strategies and vegetation processes , 1981, Biologia Plantarum.

[65]  L. Gustafsson,et al.  Threatened Plant, Animal, and Fungus Species in Swedish Forests: Distribution and Habitat Associations , 1994 .

[66]  Andrew Balmford,et al.  Complementarity and the use of indicator groups for reserve selection in Uganda , 1998, Nature.

[67]  D. Kelly.  Woodland on the western fringe: Irish oak wood diversity and the challenges of conservation , 2005 .

[68]  A. Smith.  The Moss Flora of Britain and Ireland , 1978 .

[69]  C. Bibby,et al.  Bird communities of highland birchwoods , 1989 .

[70]  John L. Innes,et al.  Biodiversity evaluation tools for European forests , 2001 .

[71]  A. Newton,et al.  The importance of conifer plantations in northern Britain as a habitat for native fungi , 2000 .

[72]  M. Hill.  THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FLORA IN EVEN-AGED PLANTATIONS , 1979 .

[73]  Mark W. Wilson,et al.  Assessment of Biodiversity at Different Stages of the Forest Cycle , 2005 .

[74]  Gerald J. Niemi,et al.  Application of Ecological Indicators , 2004 .

[75]  Neil D. Burgess,et al.  Bird Census Techniques , 1992 .

[76]  B. Jonsson,et al.  Exploring potential biodiversity indicators in boreal forests , 1999, Biodiversity & Conservation.

[77]  T. Kelly,et al.  An assessment of avian biodiversity and opportunities for enhancement in Ireland's forests: Preliminary results. , 1998 .

[78]  T. Southwood,et al.  Ecological Methods with particular reference to the study of insect populations , 1967, Pedobiologia.

[79]  Mark W. Wilson,et al.  Biodiversity in Irish plantation forests - Large Scale Project in the Environmental RTDI Programme 2001-2006 , 2006 .

[80]  C. Stace,et al.  New Flora Of The British Isles , 1998 .

[81]  B. Söderström,et al.  Species‐Richness Correlations of Six Different Taxa in Swedish Seminatural Grasslands , 2002 .

[82]  Johan Ehrlén,et al.  DISPERSAL LIMITATION AND PATCH OCCUPANCY IN FOREST HERBS , 2000 .

[83]  Madhav Gadgil,et al.  Cross-taxon surrogacy of biodiversity in the Indian Garhwal Himalaya. , 2002 .

[84]  Reed F. Noss,et al.  Assessing and monitoring forest biodiversity: A suggested framework and indicators , 1999 .