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Description
In connection with the bark beetle calamity, extensive damage occurs in forests. In our project, we focus on the implementation of innovative procedures for restoration in the forests of Forest cooperative of municipalities (FCM) Přibyslav, which we will further share as an example of good practice. Our goal is to improve the state of biodiversity and forest ecosystems. The design of the procedures will be based on the results of research projects solved by Forestry and Game Management Research Institute (FGMRI) in previous years. Measures to support biodiversity will include: a combination of natural regeneration and artificial afforestation or the use of two-phase regeneration to foster species, age and spatial diversity of emerging stands; consistent support for the presence of mother tree; leaving part of dead wood in the forest for spontaneous colonization by other organisms; selection and preservation of habitat trees.
Summary of project results
The restoration of forest stands on large-scale clearings that arose as a result of the bark beetle calamity is currently a challenging task for many forest owners. In addition to the issue of considerable financial investments, it is also necessary to secure the work in terms of working capacities, of which there is a critical shortage in forestry. At the same time, many especially small forest owners do not have enough information and expertise and are solving the question "How to do it?". And it was the project "Implementation of innovative forest regeneration procedures on large-scale clearings with regard to the support of biodiversity and increasing the functionality of forest ecosystems" that tried to provide forest owners with a practical answer to this question. In this project, we focused on the application of new forest restoration procedures on large-scale clearings after bark beetle outbreak, which will ensure the establishment of new diverse stands. Such stands are more stable and better able to withstand climate changes and pest attacks.
On the property of the project partner Forest Cooperative of Municipalities (FCM) Přibyslav, we implemented forest restoration using innovative procedures. This resulted in examples of good practice that show different alternative options for establishing a new generation of forest on clearings. The first example shows the process of forest restoration in several stages, when fast-growing so-called pioneer tree species (birch, aspen) are first planted on the clearing, or they can spread naturally, and with an interval of 10-15 years, shade-loving trees (beech, fir), which do not thrive in free open areas, are planted under the cover of this preparatory stand. The second example of good practice is the cultivation procedure using a combination of artificial afforestation and natural regeneration (i.e. spontaneously germinated seedlings of forest trees), which allows us to establish a new stand as a diverse mixture of tree species. The third example demonstrates the establishment of new young stands on small patches in the surrounding mature spruce stands. With this procedure, we can prevent the formation of extensive clearings in the future, if an adult spruce stand breaks down, either as a result of an attack by bark beetles or a wind storm. The application of these procedures leads to a higher age, species and spatial diversity of stands. A large number of different species of herbs thrive in the diverse forest, and we can also find here more species of animals, especially insects. When reforesting, we also took care to leave a certain amount of dead wood, which is home to specific species of fungi and insects. In the vicinity of each clearing, we also selected old trees that provide shelter for many species of birds, small mammals, insects and fungi. We call such trees habitat trees and the foresters leave them in the forest for life. The varied composition of tree species, left dead wood and old trees are among the effective measures that increase the biological diversity of forest ecosystems and contribute to the preservation and protection of the natural value of the forest.
The main outputs of the project are three examples of good practice, which show different alternative options for establishing a new generation of forest on clearings to create diverse and resistant forests for the future. Other outputs of the project are detailed maps that describe the site condition on clearings before afforestation and also the occurrence of mother trees (a source of seeds for the future forest) and habitat trees (usually old trees that provide shelter for a wide range of species) in the vicinity of clearings. Furthermore, we have prepared expert reports from the vegetation survey, the survey of small soil animals, the ornithological survey and the survey of fungi. An integral part of the project was the active promotion of the project with a focus on the professional and lay public. We promote the project among the professional public in the framework of two realized workshops and an article in the professional forestry journal Zprávy lesnického výzkumu (Reports of forest research). Lectures as part of the Night of Scientists or the Novo Expo fair, as well as an article in the regional periodical Novinky Žďársko, were aimed at the lay public. We tried to reach children and young people as part of an event for schools, where children could learn in a fun way directly in the forest how a new forest is established and how it grows, and who lives in it. The final beneficiaries of the project are forest owners and managers affected by the bark beetle outbreak. Through implemented examples of good practice, the project showed how to establish diverse forests in alternative ways, and how to use simple and cheap measures (leaving dead wood, preserving habitat trees) to increase biodiversity, which not only increases the natural value of the area, but is the key to future stability and the resilience of forests and therefore the key to economically sustainable forest management. The project brought an immediate change to the project partner FCM Přibyslav, where earlier tree species composition was completely dominated by spruce (84.4%), which occurred in pure stands of the same age. The representation of other tree species such as pine, beech and alder was low and hovered around 4%. Other tree species occurred only sporadically. The project significantly expanded the tree species spectrum used, including species that had not been used at all during the restoration before, for example pedunculate oak, birch, aspen, cherry or wych elm. In addition, we have planned the establishment of new stands in such way that the resulting forest is a diverse mosaic made up of small patches of different tree species. As part of the project, a total of 39.4 ha of forest land was restored on the FCM property.
The essential contribution of the project consists in the realization of examples of good practice, which give the forest owners and managers practical instructions on how to proceed with the forest restoration on large-scale clearings, in order to create a new diverse forest resistant to climate changes and insect pests. The project also showed how it is possible to increase the biodiversity of the site by using simple measures (leaving part of the dead wood in the forest, preserving habitat trees), which do not limit forest management in any way. By being able to directly apply knowledge from research projects solved by researchers from Forestry and Game Management Research Institute in previous years, the project significantly helped the transfer of research results into practice. We expect long-term sustainability for the realized outputs, both from the side of FCM Přibyslav, where there is an interest in properly caring for the established stands and applying new knowledge about alternative methods of forest restoration to other clearings within their property, and on the other hand from the professional public, they noted a great interest not only in new procedures for restoring stands, but also in information or instructions on how to continue the silvicultural treatment of such stands. The question of the subsequent care of species-varied stands, where trees with different growth strategies are combined (fast-growing pioneer trees versus slow-growing light-loving or shade-loving trees) is a hot topic at this time. Many forest owners and managers consider this an urgent problem due to the lack of experience with such types of stands and also due to the lack of workers who would carry out silvicultural treatment in young stands. Therefore, in the coming years, we want to continue to cooperate with FCM Přibyslav and through consultations guide the tending of young stands.