Landscapes Forest and Global Change - ESA - Escola Superior ...

M. Elbakidze et al. 2010. Does forest certification contribute to boreal biodiversity conservation
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successional stages (i.e., the third level of ambition). (4) Finally, eco-regions on the global level
encompass the spatial scale which allows maintenance of ecosystem composition, structures,
and functions linked to natural processes (Angelstam et al., 2004; Cabarle et al. 2005) (the
highest level of ambition).
The Russian and Swedish FSC standards (Russian National FSC 2008, Swedish National FSC
2010) contain criteria and indicators (C&I), concerning ecological, economic and social-cultural
dimensions of SFM. We assessed the extent to which current criteria and indicators capture the
four spatial scales of biodiversity conservation in both standards.
2.3. Area proportion of set-aside forests
The study areas contained formally (according to the national legislation) and informally
(voluntary within the FSC and company policy frameworks) protected forests, which were set
aside for biodiversity conservation. To estimate the area and area proportion of formally and
informally protected areas for biodiversity conservation we selected all forests which are
protected from relevant digital spatially explicit data bases used by the forest companies in
Priluzje and Bergslagen. Spatial analyses were made for stand types with different age and tree
species. In Priluzje the latest forest inventory was done in 1992 and was updated in 2002. In
Bergslagen the last forest inventory was done in 1990, and it was then updated yearly taking
into account the forest management activities undertaken.
2.4. Assessment of structural connectivity of forest habitats
The spatial configuration of forests set aside for biodiversity conservation is important to satisfy
the requirements of species with different levels of ambitions for biodiversity conservation.
According to Taylor et al. (1993, 2006), there are two kinds of landscape connectivity:
structural and functional. Structural connectivity describes only physical relations among habitat
patches and does not provide functional connectivity if corridors are not used by target species.
Functional connectivity is species-oriented and increases when some change in the landscape
structure increases the degree of movement or flows of organisms through the landscape.
To assess structural connectivity created by the forests set aside for biodiversity conservation in
our two case studies we used Morphological Spatial Pattern Analyses (MSPA) (Vogt et al.
2007a, 2007b; Ostapowicz et al. 2008). Following (Vogt et al. 2007a, 2007b), we considered
seven classes of forest pattern: core, islet, edge, perforation, loop, bridge and branch. The
informally and formally protected forests were merged to create the focal forest polygons for
assessment of structural connectivity of forest habitats. All focal forest polygons were classified
according to their age class and tree species composition. The vector forests maps derived from
GIS were converted into raster maps with 25-m pixels. According to Ostapowicz et al. (2008),
the MSPA classes on output maps depend on the size parameter used in the morphological
model. From a biological perspective several studies show that the edges affect the environment
in forest patches. We used the results of studies presented in (Aune et. al. 2005) that indicates
that in the boreal forests edge effects vary among species groups, but that they generally extend
at least 25 m into the forest and greater than 50 m for some groups. Therefore, in MSPA
processing we quantify connectivity in our study areas twice with edge width of 25 and 50 m.
3. Results
3.1. FSC requirements for biodiversity conservation in Russian and Swedish standards
In the Russian FSC standard biodiversity considerations were included into 14 criteria with 48
indicators, and in the Swedish FSC standard to 12 criteria with 55 indicators. Multiple
indicators considered different aspects of biodiversity conservation. The C&I in both standards
Forest Landscapes and Global Change-New Frontiers in Management, Conservation and Restoration. Proceedings of the IUFRO Landscape Ecology
Working Group International Conference, September 21-27, 2010, Bragança, Portugal. J.C. Azevedo, M. Feliciano, J. Castro & M.A. Pinto (eds.)
2010, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal.