Regeneration response to post‐disturbance forest management in Central Europe

Le résumé fourni par la source

Abstract Forest disturbances are increasing in many parts of the world. To ensure the continuous provisioning of ecosystem services, a rapid recovery of disturbed sites is frequently an important objective of forest management. However, as management interventions are costly and can have unintended ecological consequences, there is an ongoing debate about whether active post‐disturbance management is necessary to support forest recovery and shape the reorganization of forest ecosystems. Studying forests after the largest disturbance event observed in Central Europe in the past 170 years, caused mainly by drought and subsequent bark beetle outbreaks, we quantified the effect of different post‐disturbance management activities on regeneration outcomes. In 2023, we surveyed 868 plots situated in disturbance hotspot areas across 11 countries to assess the prevalence of different post‐disturbance management activities and evaluate their effects on forest regeneration 3–5 years after disturbance. We found signs of active post‐disturbance management on 93.9% of all surveyed plots. Regeneration cover, sapling density, tree species richness and early‐seral species increased when a combination of management measures—salvage logging followed by tree planting and protection against ungulate browsing—was applied. In contrast, salvage logging alone did not have strong effects on regeneration except shifting species composition towards early‐seral stages. Tree height of post‐disturbance regeneration was not influenced by management. Synthesis and applications . Active management significantly enhanced post‐disturbance tree regeneration in Central European disturbance hotspots. We found that the widespread recuperation of timber value by salvage logging had no detrimental effects on tree regeneration and subsequent stand development. Tree planting and browsing protection reduced the share of Norway spruce—a species increasingly maladapted under climate change—and increased tree species diversity, indicating active climate adaptation in Central European forestry. We conclude that carefully managing the short window of reorganization after disturbance provides high leverage for shaping the future of forests in Central Europe.

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