Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Recovery of boreal forest structures near abandoned villages in Western White Sea Karelia, Russia

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 29; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/02827581.2014.881543

1651-1891

Olli‐Pekka Tikkanen, Anna Ruokolainen, Raimo Heikkilä,

Archaeological Research and Protection

AbstractRegeneration of natural forest structures and dead wood has a key role in the long-term maintenance of biodiversity in most parts of the boreal zone. In order to obtain benchmarks for practical dead wood management rapidly, we utilised unintended historical experiments in land use by studying the recovery of forests surrounding abandoned villages along 2.5-km transects in NW Russia. The signs of past human forest use declined as a function of distance from villages. We found that the closest forests were 130 yr old or younger and contained very few elements typical of natural forests. Forests at a distance of between 1 and 1.5 km were older than 150 yr but showed marks of selective cuttings and had a less complete continuum of dead wood than forests that were 2–2.5 km from the villages. The most remote stands, which were generally older than 200 yr, predominantly had no signs of past forest use and had the most diverse dead wood composition. Our study shows that full recovery of the dead wood continuum in middle boreal forests is a slow process and also that less intensive past forest use can have a significant effect on the dead wood continuum.Keywords: afforestationbiodiversity managementdead wood continuumforest history AcknowledgementsWe wish to thank directors S. Tarkhov and S. Poznyakov for their support to our study and the staff of Kostomuksha Strict Nature Reserve and Kalevala National Park for logistic arrangements in the field. We thank B.G. Jonsson, S. Neuvonen, and an anonymous referee who gave many valuable and constructive comments that helped us greatly to improve the manuscript.FundingThe fieldwork for this study was funded by the Friendship Park Research Centre of the Finnish Environment Institute. Preparation of the manuscript was supported by the Academy of Finland [grant number 258447/2012], and the research was also conducted as part of the Petrozavodsk State University Strategic Development Programme for 2012–2016, within the framework of complex measures aimed at developing scientific research.Additional informationFundingFunding: The fieldwork for this study was funded by the Friendship Park Research Centre of the Finnish Environment Institute. Preparation of the manuscript was supported by the Academy of Finland [grant number 258447/2012], and the research was also conducted as part of the Petrozavodsk State University Strategic Development Programme for 2012–2016, within the framework of complex measures aimed at developing scientific research.