Rewilding beech-dominated temperate forest ecosystems: effects on carbon stocks and biodiversity indicators

doi:10.3832/ifor4600-017

Rewilding beech-dominated temperate forest ecosystems: effects on carbon stocks and biodiversity indicators

Katarína Markuljaková⁽¹⁾ , Martin Mikoláš⁽¹⁾, Marek Svitok^(1-2-3), Garrett W Meigs^(4-5), William S Keeton⁽⁶⁾, Daniel Kozák⁽¹⁾, Jakob Pavlin⁽¹⁾, Rhiannon Gloor⁽¹⁾, Michal Kalaš^(7-8), Matej Ferenčík⁽¹⁾, Dheeraj Ralhan⁽¹⁾, Michal Frankovič⁽¹⁾, Jenýk Hofmeister⁽¹⁾, Daniela Dúhová⁽¹⁾, Marek Mejstrík⁽¹⁾, Martin Dušátko⁽¹⁾, Antonín Veber⁽¹⁾, Tomáš Knír⁽¹⁾, Miroslav Svoboda⁽¹⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 18, Issue 1, Pages 1-9 (2025)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor4600-017
Published: Feb 02, 2025 - Copyright © 2025 SISEF

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Maximising carbon stock and habitat availability is a critical objective of contemporary forest management, with primary forests serving a crucial function due to their substantial carbon storage potential and biodiversity values. Given the limited extent and fragmentation of primary (mature and old-growth with minimal prior management) forests in Europe, there is a growing interest in understanding how rewilding (long-term management cessation) affects carbon stock and habitat provisioning. Further, little is known about the conditions required for secondary old-growth forests to achieve the carbon volumes and late-successional habitat features associated with primary forests if designated as rewilding areas. Rewilding of forest ecosystems in Europe is still a widely debated strategy, highlighting the importance of evidence-based examples. We compared some of the best-preserved primary old-growth forests with adjacent secondary old-growth forests which have been allowed to undergo self-development for an extended period of seven decades in the ecologically and socially important beech-dominated forests of the Carpathian Mountains. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences in carbon stock and structural biodiversity indicators between the two forest categories. Mean aboveground carbon stock was 207 Mg ha^-1 in primary and 213 Mg ha^-1 in secondary old-growth plots, which contrasts with values of 107 Mg ha^-1 found in managed beech forest stands from the same region. The aboveground biomass carbon increment was 4.3 Mg ha^-1 year^-1 in primary and 4.5 Mg ha^-1 year^-1 in secondary plots, respectively. Notably, deadwood volume exhibited the most substantial variation among forest types along with tree microhabitat diversity. Our findings underscore the vital role of protecting and restoring old-growth forest ecosystems for effective carbon stock and biodiversity conservation. We emphasise that forest heterogeneity, encompassing factors such as tree age and diameter, canopy layer, species composition, and growth patterns, are important for enabling managed forests to reach peak carbon storage capacity. Although 70 years is insufficient for secondary old-growth forests to fully recover primary forest characteristics, our study demonstrates that similar structures and functions can develop within less than a century of protection in productive temperate regions of Europe. This study supports rewilding as an effective conservation strategy and Natural Climate Solution.

Keywords

Carbon Stock, Tree Ring Increment, Carpathian Mountains, Secondary Old-growth Forests, Deadwood, Tree Microhabitats, Restoration, Large Trees

Authors’ address

(1)

0000-0003-1673-0000
0000-0002-3637-3074
0000-0003-2710-8102
0000-0002-2622-370X
0000-0001-8514-3446

0009-0002-6235-6873
0000-0003-2813-7685
0000-0003-2772-3738
0000-0002-3915-5056
0009-0004-2275-1304

0000-0002-3463-607X
0009-0001-4937-7779

0000-0003-4050-3422
Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21 Praha 6 - Suchdol (Czech Republic)

(2)

0000-0003-2710-8102
Department of Biology and General Ecology, Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Technical University in Zvolen, Masaryka 24, 960 01 Zvolen (Slovakia)

(3)

0000-0003-2710-8102
Plant Science and Biodiversity Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 23 Bratislava (Slovakia)

(4)

0000-0001-5942-691X
Washington State Department of Natural Resources, 1111 Washington Street SE, Olympia, WA 98504 (USA)

(5)

0000-0001-5942-691X
College of Forestry, Oregon State University, 3100 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331 (USA)

(6)

0000-0003-1208-470X
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT, 05405 (USA)

(7)

Department of Biology, Ecology and Environment, Faculty of Natural Sciences of Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Tajovského 40, 974 01, Banská Bystrica (Slovakia)

(8)

Administration of the Malá Fatra National Park, Hrnčiarska 197, 013 03 Varín (Slovakia)

Corresponding author

Katarína Markuljaková
markuljakovak@gmail.com

Citation

Markuljaková K, Mikoláš M, Svitok M, Meigs GW, Keeton WS, Kozák D, Pavlin J, Gloor R, Kalaš M, Ferenčík M, Ralhan D, Frankovič M, Hofmeister J, Dúhová D, Mejstrík M, Dušátko M, Veber A, Knír T, Svoboda M (2025). Rewilding beech-dominated temperate forest ecosystems: effects on carbon stocks and biodiversity indicators. iForest 18: 1-9. - doi: 10.3832/ifor4600-017

Academic Editor

Gianluca Piovesan

Paper history

Received: Mar 10, 2024
Accepted: Nov 05, 2024

First online: Feb 02, 2025
Publication Date: Feb 28, 2025
Publication Time: 2.97 months

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