Biodiversity in European beech forests - a review with recommendations for sustainable forest management

TLDR: The results suggest that only selectively harvested stands retaining many trees may approach the overall biodiversity of old-growth beech forests.

Abstract: In this review we compare stand-scale patterns of biodiversity in managed and unmanaged European beech Fagus sylvatica forests and discuss the implications for sustainable forest management. Beech forests managed with single stem or group harvest systems retain the multi-layered and multi-aged stand structure of old-growth beech forest, but old and senescent trees are removed and the amount of dead wood is significantly reduced. Shelterwood or clearcut management involves an additional change to large single-layered, even-aged stands. Beech forests managed with traditional shelterwood systems possess a relatively low value for the conservation of most species groups reviewed. The general sensitivity of different species groups to shelterwood forestry roughly increased in the following order: herbaceous plants 20 m 3 ha –1 dead wood are probably required to maintain a rich biodiversity in managed beech forests. The results suggest that only selectively harvested stands retaining many trees may approach the overall biodiversity of old-growth beech forests. Due to the patchy distribution of such forests, more knowledge on how rare beech forest species disperse between suitable habitats is necessary to design reliable concepts for biodiversity management at a landscape scale.