Forest health status impacts biodiversity of invertebrates. An example from spruce forests of a sandstone landscape, Bohemian Switzerland National Park, Central Europe

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F44555601%3A13520%2F25%3A43899680" target="_blank" >RIV/44555601:13520/25:43899680 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112725003731" target="_blank" >https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112725003731</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122865" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122865</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Forest health status impacts biodiversity of invertebrates. An example from spruce forests of a sandstone landscape, Bohemian Switzerland National Park, Central Europe

Original language description

This study examines the impact of forest health, structure and management on forest biodiversity, using an example of ground beetle (Carabidae) and spider (Araneae) assemblages in Norway spruce forests in Bohemian Switzerland National Park, Czech Republic, affected by bark beetle outbreak. A total of 28 sites were surveyed, covering a gradient from healthy stands to salvage-logged clearings. Environmental conditions analyzed using laser scanning, remote sensing, and vegetation surveys. Ground beetles and spiders were collected using pitfall traps to assess biodiversity changes along the disturbance gradient. Analysis of environmental factors confirmed that species diversity is strongly influenced by habitat openness, and environmental factors such as light availability and temperature were identified as key drivers of species turnover. Results revealed an increase in species richness for both ground beetles and spiders with increasing habitat disturbance. The highest diversity was recorded at salvage-logged clearings, where ground beetles reached 19.43???5.91 species per site, and spiders 46.00???7.56 species per site. However, more significant than the overall species increase were shifts in community composition, particularly in relation to habitat preference. Clearings, created by salvage logging after bark beetle outbreak, showed a notable decline in relatively rare forest-associated species occupying dark and moist habitats of closed forests, and a corresponding increase in open-habitat specialists. Compared to healthy forest sites, the proportion of forest-dependent species decreased in clearings from 76?% to 38?% for ground beetles and from 61?% to 38?% for spiders, while open-habitat species increased accordingly. Contrary to expectations, neither forest health nor the presence of understory played a significant role in shaping invertebrate biodiversity. Our findings highlight that although forest health deterioration influences invertebrate diversity and community composition, management plays a crucial role. The fact that the most significant changes were not caused by the forest die-off, but rather by the subsequent salvage logging, signifies that even a dry forest was still capable of maintaining many ecosystem services and supporting the biodiversity of forest organisms. This research underscores the need for adaptive forest management strategies to support biodiversity in post-disturbance protected landscapes, where natural processes should be preferred over salvage logging practices.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10511 - Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7)

Project

—

Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Forest Ecology and Management

ISSN

0378-1127

e-ISSN

1872-7042

Volume of the periodical

2025

Issue of the periodical within the volume

593

Country of publishing house

NL - THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS

Number of pages

9

Pages from-to

"nestrankovano"

UT code for WoS article

001513370700004

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105007657537