Contrasting multi-taxa diversity patterns between abandoned and non-intensively managed forests in the southern Dolomites

doi:10.3832/ifor2181-010

Contrasting multi-taxa diversity patterns between abandoned and non-intensively managed forests in the southern Dolomites

Tommaso Sitzia⁽¹⁾ , Thomas Campagnaro⁽¹⁾, Matteo Dainese⁽¹⁾, Michele Cassol⁽²⁾, Marialuisa Dal Cortivo⁽³⁾, Enzo Gatti⁽³⁾, Fabio Padovan⁽⁴⁾, Monica Sommacal⁽³⁾, Juri Nascimbene⁽⁵⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 10, Issue 5, Pages 845-850 (2017)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2181-010
Published: Oct 26, 2017 - Copyright © 2017 SISEF

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Geo-mapping

The abandonment of silvicultural activities can lead to changes in species richness and composition of biological communities, when compared to those found in managed forests. The aim of this study was to compare the multi-taxonomical diversity of two mature silver fir-beech-spruce forests in the southern Dolomites (Italy), corresponding to the European Union habitat type 9130. The two sites share similar ecological and structural characteristics, but differ in their recent management histories. In the last 50 years, one site underwent non-intensive management, while the other was left unmanaged and was included in a forest reserve. The species richness and composition of eight taxa were surveyed in the two sites between 2009 and 2011. The difference in mean species richness between the two forest management types was tested through permutation tests, while differences in species composition were tested by principal coordinates analysis and the permutational multivariate analysis of variance. Mean species richness of soil macrofungi, deadwood lichens, bark beetles, and longhorn beetles were significantly higher in the abandoned than in the non-intensively managed forests. Deadwood fungi and epiphytic lichens did not differ in mean species richness between the two study sites, while mean species richness of ground beetles and birds were higher in the non-intensively managed than in the abandoned forest. Significant differences in species composition between the two sites were found for all the taxa, except for longhorn beetles. These results indicate that improving forest landscape heterogeneity through the creation of a mosaic of abandoned and extensively managed forests should better fulfill the requirements of ecologically different taxa.

Keywords

Asperulo-Fagetum, Forestry Abandonment, Biodiversity Conservation, Selection Cutting, Natura 2000, Silver Fir

Authors’ address

(1)

Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Università degli Studi di Padova, v.le dell’Università 16, I-35020 Legnaro, Padova (Italy)

(2)

Cassol & Scariot Forest and Wildlife Professionals, v. Stadio 18, I-32036 Sedico, Belluno (Italy)

(3)

Raggruppamento Carabinieri Biodiversità - Reparto Biodiversità di Belluno, v. Gregorio XVI 8, I-32100 Belluno (Italy)

(4)

Mycologist, v. Mier 73, I-32100 Belluno (Italy)

(5)

Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, v. Irnerio 42, I-40126, Bologna (Italy)

Corresponding author

Tommaso Sitzia
tommaso.sitzia@unipd.it

Citation

Sitzia T, Campagnaro T, Dainese M, Cassol M, Cortivo MD, Gatti E, Padovan F, Sommacal M, Nascimbene J (2017). Contrasting multi-taxa diversity patterns between abandoned and non-intensively managed forests in the southern Dolomites. iForest 10: 845-850. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2181-010

Academic Editor

Matteo Garbarino

Paper history

Received: Jul 28, 2016
Accepted: Jun 30, 2017

First online: Oct 26, 2017
Publication Date: Oct 31, 2017
Publication Time: 3.93 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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