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

M. Elbakidze et al. 2010. Does forest certification contribute to boreal biodiversity conservation
555
The total number of cores in the forest pattern of Bergslagen was 11,172 (with edge of 25 m)
and 3,662 (with edge of 50 m). The size of cores ranged from 0.06 to 941 ha. The majority of
cores (almost 70% of the total number) were less than 1 ha large. Core areas from 10 to 100 ha
constituted only 6% of the total number core areas, but included more than 40% of the total core
area. The total number of core areas in Priluzje was much smaller than in Bergslagen, and
amounted to 227 with 25-m edge and 207 with 50-m edge. The minimum size of a core was
0.06 ha and the maximum was 37,397 ha. The majority of cores ranged from 0.1 to 10 ha.
However, more than 90% of the total core area were more than 1,000 ha large.
Based on analyses of the habitat selection of red-listed species (e.g., Berg et al. 1994) and the
focal species approach (e.g., Lambeck 1997) applied to boreal focal species, we selected the
most valuable cores of different forest types for focal species depending on old and old-growth
forests. We selected cores of spruce, pine, coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests in the age of
more than 110 years, which belong to the groups of old and old-growth forests in Bergslagen
and Priluzje.
There were 3,668 valuable cores in Priluzje and 4,940 cores in Bergslagen with an edge width
of 25 m. Almost 80% of old and old-growth forests’ cores in Priluzje were a part of larger cores
of forest area which were set aside for biodiversity conservation. The total number of valuable
cores in Bergslagen decreases to 1,207 if the edge width equals to 50 m, and in Priluzje the
same changes occur but not so extreme – down to 3,233 valuable cores. The total area of
valuable cores in Priluzje was almost 6 times larger then in Bergslagen (39,413 ha in Priluzje
and 6,299 ha in Sweden with the edge of 25 m). These differences increase with edge width of
50 m. The area of valuable cores decreases in both study areas but more in Bergslagen (down to
24,617 ha in Priluzje and to 2,289 ha in Bergslagen). These changes indicate that the edge size
affects the number and area of valuable habitats in Bergslagen much stronger than in Priluzje.
The sizes of valuable cores for biodiversity varied considerable in our study areas. For example,
in Priluzje total number of cores was bigger in the size interval from 1 to 10 ha.However, the
largest area of old and old-growth forests’ cores lay in the size interval from 10 to 100 ha. In
Bergslagen the core distribution was different. The majority of cores were between 0.1 to 1 ha,
and the most of the old and old-growth forest core areas were from 1 to 10 ha.
4. Discussion
Analysis of the content of the Russian and Swedish FSC standards showed that the Russian
standard contained higher biodiversity conservation ambitions, thus including maintenance of
communities of all naturally occurring species of the representative ecosystems of an eco-region.
By contrast the C&I of the Swedish FSC standard were more focused on the maintenance of
species, which are not specialised on natural forest structures or have large area requirements.
The total area of formally and informally protected areas as a proportion of the total forested
area of the forest management units in Priluzje was almost 70% larger than in Bergslagen, and
approximately half of these forests in Priluzje were set aside according to the national
legislation. In Bergslagen the area of voluntary protected forests was almost twice as large as
the area of formally protected forests. The large difference in the spatial configuration of the
forest holdings in the Bergslagen case study (a dispersed archipelago of forest holdings) and the
Priluzje case study (one contiguous patch) should be noted.
A review of the patch size requirements of individuals of different groups of species indicate
that the core patch size distribution was satisfactory in the Swedish case study mainly for plants,
fungi and lichens, but not for birds and mammals. By contrast, the majority of core areas in the
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.