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Logging history and the study of reference conditions in Scandinavian boreal forests has tended to focus on Scots pine dominated ecosystems. This paper presents a regional study of pre-industrial forest conditions and examines the effects of the industrial exploitation of ecosystems dominated by Norway spruce in northern Sweden. Historical records...
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Citations
... The extent that humans affected fire activity in the boreal zone is currently being debated, with some studies arguing for the almost comprehensive spread of fire-supported agriculture across the European boreal zone (Aleinikov, 2017b;Degteva et al., 2015;Gromtsev, 2002), while others suggesting a strong climate control of boreal fire activity (Aakala et al., 2018;Drobyshev et al., 2016). In Europe, and in particular in the Fennoscandia, population expansion increased fire frequency and reduced the dominant fire size through the use of slash-and-burn agriculture and associated forest clear-cutting (Hellberg et al., 2009;Lehtonen & Huttunen, 1997;Niklasson & Granström, 2000;Wallenius et al., 2004). The production of charcoal (Östlund, 1993) and reindeer herding (Hörnberg et al., 2018) further affected fire activity through their impact on forest fuels. ...
... We tend to answer positively to this question. Previous studies of fire activity in Fennoscandia have consistently pointed to the strong influence of human colonization (Niklasson & Granström, 2000;Rolstad et al., 2017;Wallenius, 2011), and the impact of in forest-use practices (Hellberg et al., 2009;Lehtonen et al., 1996;Wallenius et al., 2004) on forest fires in European boreal forest. In our study, however, we observed no synchronization between the colonization waves and the dynamics of the FC. ...
Understanding long‐term forest fire histories of boreal landscapes is instrumental for parameterizing climate–fire interactions and the role of humans affecting natural fire regimes. The eastern sections of the European boreal zone currently lack a network of annually resolved and centuries‐long forest fire histories. To fill in this knowledge gap, we dendrochronologically reconstructed the 600‐year fire history of a middle boreal pine‐dominated landscape of the southern part of the Republic of Komi, Russia. We combined the reconstruction of fire cycle (FC) and fire occurrence with the data on the village establishment and climate proxies and discussed the relative contribution of climate versus human land use in shaping historic fire regimes. Over the 1340–1610 ce period, the territory had a FC of 66 years (with the 90% confidence envelope of 56.8 and 78.6 years). Fire activity increased during the 1620–1730 ce period, with the FC reaching 32 years (31.0–34.7 years). Between 1740–1950, the FC increased to 47 years (41.9–52.0). The most recent period, 1960–2010, marks FC's historic maximum, with the mean of 153 years (102.5–270.3). Establishment of the villages, often as small harbors on the Pechora River, was associated with a non‐significant increase in fire occurrence in the sites nearest the villages (p = 0.07–0.20). We, however, observed a temporal association between village establishment and fire occurrence at the scale of the whole studied landscape. There was no positive association between the former and the FC. In fact, we documented a decline in the area burned, following the wave of village establishment during the second half of the 1600s and the first half of the 1700s. The lack of association between the dynamics of FC and the dates of village establishments, and the significant association between large fire years and the early and latewood pine chronologies, used as historic drought proxy, indirectly suggests that the climate was the primary control of the landscape‐level FCs in the studied forests. Pine‐dominated forests of the Komi Republic may hold a unique position as the ecosystem with the shortest history of human‐related shifts in fire cycles across the European boreal region.
... Even though the country hosts only 0.4% of the global productive forest cover, it is among the top five exporters of products such as pulp, paper, and sawn timber to the global market (Swedish Forest Industry Federation 2022). However, this effective industrial forestry has fundamentally changed the structure and function of the majority of the forest landscape, drastically reducing structural elements such as deadwood, large trees, and deciduous trees, as well as the proportion of late-successional forest (Hellberg et al. 2009;Gauthier et al. 2015). This has had a negative impact on biological diversity (Esseen et al. 1997;Östlund et al. 1997;Bradshaw et al. 2009), and explains why environmental targets on forests are not reached (SEPA 2019) and why the year-toyear trend is negative (SEPA 2022). ...
Fennoscandian boreal forests are managed intensively for wood production, which has had a negative impact on biodiversity. The harvesting pressure on the forests is likely to increase in the future because wood is seen as an important resource in a bio-based economy. Thus, there is an urgent need to better describe the trade-offs between wood production and biodiversity, and to understand how these trade-offs can be alleviated by adapting forest management. Encompassing a broad range of biodiversity aspects, we studied how forest management can increase biodiversity indicators while maintaining or increasing current harvest levels. We found that there is considerable leeway for forestry to pursue multiple objectives simultaneously in Fennoscandian forest landscapes. We show that it is possible to both increase harvests and structural elements of importance for biodiversity compared to present levels in a forest landscape that is representative of conditions in boreal forests in northern Sweden. Achieving this requires a variation in management strategies at the landscape level, and an adaptation of management practices to explicitly consider and implement multiple objectives in the planning process. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
... Dahlström et al., 2005). This outcome may not have been intentional but rather a consequence of riparian zones in headwater streams not being as well defined as for larger streams (Hagan et al., 2006) together with fire suppression that affected landscape-scale processes (Linder et al., 1997;Hellberg et al., 2009). Regardless, we searched for studies that inventoried Fennoscandian riparian forests of streams < 3 m wide and documented that many contemporary riparian forests are dominated by Norway spruce all the way to the water's edge (Appendix A; Fig. 2). ...
... In Sweden, there is a long history of promoting commercially important conifers at the expense of broadleaved species (Esseen et al., 1997;Ö stlund et al., 1997;Enander, 2007). Forest management, including fire suppression, has also changed the natural disturbance regimes, such as wildfires, in Fennoscandia that once was more favorable for broadleaved trees, (Linder et al., 1997;Hellberg et al., 2009). This long-term land-use change from less dense multi-species forests to one more dominated by conifers, typically Norway spruce, may have had an important role in the documented browning of freshwaters (increasing dissolved organic carbon or DOC; Meyer-Jacob et al., 2015; Kritzberg et al., 2020), especially in southern Sweden. ...
Riparian buffers are the primary tool in forest management for protecting the habitat structure and function of streams. They help protect against biogeochemical perturbation, filter sediments and nutrients, prevent erosion, contribute food to aquatic organisms, regulate light and hence water temperature, contribute deadwood, and preserve biodiversity. However, in production forests of Sweden and Finland, many headwater streams have been straightened, ditched, and/or channelized, resulting in altered hydrology and reduced natural disturbance by floods, which in turn affects important riparian functions. Furthermore, in even-aged management systems as practiced in much of Fennoscandia, understory trees have usually been cleared right up to the stream’s edge during thinning operations, especially around small, headwater streams. Fire suppression has further favored succession towards shade tolerant species. In the regions within Fennoscandia that have experienced this combination of intensive management and lack of natural disturbance, riparian zones are now dominated by single-storied, native Norway spruce. When the adjacent forest is cut, thin (5 - 15m) conifer-dominated riparian buffers are typically left. These buffers do not provide the protection and subsidies, in terms of leaf litter quality, needed to maintain water quality or support riparian or aquatic biodiversity. Based on a literature review, we found compelling evidence that the ecological benefits of multi-layered, mixed-species riparian forest with a large component of broadleaved species are higher than what is now commonly found in the managed stands of Fennoscandia. To improve the functionality of riparian zones, and hence the protection of streams in managed forest landscapes, we present some basic principles that could be used to enhance the ecological function of these interfaces. These management actions should be prioritized on streams and streamside stands that have been affected by simplification either through forest management or hydrological modification. Key to these principles is the planning and managing of buffer zones as early as possible in the rotation to ensure improved function throughout the rotation cycle and not only at final felling. This is well in line with EU and national legislation which can be interpreted as requiring landscape planning at all forest ages to meet biodiversity and other environmental goals. However, it is still rare that planning for conservation is done other than at the final felling stage. Implementing this new strategy is likely to have long-term positive effects and improve the protection of surface waters from negative forestry effects and a history of fire suppression. By following these suggested management principles, there will be a longer time period with high function and greater future management flexibility in addition to the benefits provided by leaving riparian buffers at the final felling stage.
... Boreal soils tend to generate significantly higher DOC concentrations than other forested biomes because of high conifer cover with poor litter quality and relatively wet and cold soils with slow decomposition. The increased cover of Norway spruce (sometimes termed ''sprucification'') that has occurred since pre-industrial times due to forest industry demands and modern forest management practices (Hellberg et al. 2009), has important implications for DOC dynamics. In addition, suppression of natural disturbance regimes, such as recurrent wildfires in upland forests (Hellberg et al. 2009) and seasonal floods Box 1 Drivers and mechanisms that affect DOC and Fe concentrations ...
... The increased cover of Norway spruce (sometimes termed ''sprucification'') that has occurred since pre-industrial times due to forest industry demands and modern forest management practices (Hellberg et al. 2009), has important implications for DOC dynamics. In addition, suppression of natural disturbance regimes, such as recurrent wildfires in upland forests (Hellberg et al. 2009) and seasonal floods Box 1 Drivers and mechanisms that affect DOC and Fe concentrations ...
Browning of surface waters, as a result of increasing dissolved organic carbon and iron concentrations, is a widespread phenomenon with implications to the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems. In this article, we provide an overview of the consequences of browning in relation to ecosystem services, outline what the underlying drivers and mechanisms of browning are, and specifically focus on exploring potential mitigation measures to locally counteract browning. These topical concepts are discussed with a focus on Scandinavia, but are of relevance also to other regions. Browning is of environmental concern as it leads to, e.g., increasing costs and risks for drinking water production, and reduced fish production in lakes by limiting light penetration. While climate change, recovery from acidification, and land-use change are all likely factors contributing to the observed browning, managing the land use in the hydrologically connected parts of the landscape may be the most feasible way to counteract browning of natural waters.
... There are numerous studies describing the impacts of fire on the forest tree layer composition, as pioneer species in burned areas include pine, birch, alder and aspen (Axelson and Östlund, 2001;Hekkala et al., 2014;Hellberg et al., 2009;Parviainen, 1996;Viro, 1974). Deciduous pioneer tree species have also been associated with slash-and-burn areas (Heikinheimo, 1915;Hokkanen, 2006;Lehtonen 1998;Lindbladh and Bradshaw 1998;Linkola, 1987;Sarmela, 1987;Vasari, 1992). ...
Slash-and-burn cultivation has been a widespread practice in Northern Europe and large portions of modern forests have developed on former slash-and-burn land. After the decline of slash-and-burn sites, forests regenerated. The aim of the present study was to compare the environmental factors and forest ground vegetation of former rotational slash-and-burn sites and continuous forest land to determine the effects of different land-use history and discuss the results in the context of conservation management. The study was based on analyses of vegetation and environmental factors of different areas, which had been mapped as slash-and-burn land and forests during the 19th century. The results demonstrated that the differences in ground vegetation between slash-and-burn sites and continuous forests are small and up to 5.2% of vegetation variability can be explained by different land use during the 19th century. There were no differences in soil characteristics among sites. The differences in vegetation could be connected to 20th century developments as sections of former slash-and-burn sites were utilised as open fields during the opening decades of the 20th century. In terms of conservation management, forests in former slash-and-burn sites must be considered as well-restored post-agricultural forests without specific features or requirements for management.
... The change from multi-aged and multi-storied stands into homogeneous even-aged stands following organized forestry has been described previously by, for example, Ö stlund et al. (1997) and Axelsson et al. (2002). The overall trend during the last 150 years in northern and central Sweden has been a decrease in deciduous-rich forests (but see Hellberg et al. 2009). Also in southern Sweden, deciduous-rich forests have decreased (Lindbladh et al. 2014). ...
The effects of clear-cutting and potential alternatives continue to be hot topics during discussions of forestry and nature conservation. This study presents forest data from Ridön, an island in Lake Mälaren in central Sweden, where forest management and clear-cutting have been applied for almost 200 years. The main objective of the study was to identify changes in forest management and forest conditions over time. The forest transition in Sweden during the 1800s is also covered, and the importance of early forest experiments is discussed, exemplified by Ridön. This study is based on eight forest management plans and maps, from 1832 to 2014. Our results show a transformation from large, continuous areas of heterogeneous forest to small homogeneous stands. Clear-cutting has been the main logging method applied to Ridön for almost 200 years, which is in contrast with the general historical trend of selective cutting preceding clear-cutting in the Nordic countries. Our analysis shows that forestry has changed from the exploitation of resources to sustainable management. Currently, forest management at Ridön aims to create a nature reserve characterized by uneven-aged forest with an increased deciduous component. Hence, the intention is to obtain a forest similar to as it was in 1832. By analyzing spatially precise data on forest stands over long periods and in relation to contemporary silvicultural methods, it is possible to discern the impact of forest management, to understand the drivers of the long-term changes in managed forest, and it also allows for a more educated discussion on today’s forest management.
... While logging history has modified the age structure of the studied landscape (Boucher & Grondin 2012;Boucher et al. 2014) and of most managed boreal forest regions (Cyr et al. 2009;Hellberg et al. 2009), it has had a relatively minor impact on landscape composition in the study region. During the early logging period (<1965), nonmechanized clear-cutting was generally conducted during winter in pure conifer-dominated stands. ...
... During the early logging period (<1965), nonmechanized clear-cutting was generally conducted during winter in pure conifer-dominated stands. This harvesting technique protected soils and allowed the retention of preestablished coniferous seedlings, and therefore, allowed the rapid re-occupation of shade-tolerant conifers (mostly Abies) in post-harvest stands (Hatcher 1960). ...
Aims
Our study aimed to: (1) document the preindustrial (1925) forest composition prior to extensive logging; (2) document the magnitude of changes from 1925 to 2005; and (3) identify the relative influence of logging and natural disturbances as drivers of the present‐day forest composition.
Location
Boreal forest in central Quebec, eastern Canada.
Methods
We used a dense network of georeferenced historical (~1925) forest plots ( n = 30 033) to document preindustrial forest composition. We evaluated the magnitude of changes with the present‐day using modern plots (1980s to 2000s). We reconstructed a long‐term, spatially explicit history of logging, spruce budworm outbreaks ( Choristoneura fumiferana [Clem.], SBO ), and fire using historical maps and field surveys.
Results
In the preindustrial period, late successional coniferous taxa ( Abies balsamea and Picea spp.) dominated the landscape, whereas early successional deciduous taxa ( Betula spp. and Populus spp.) were confined to recently burned areas. In the present‐day landscape, large areas dominated by late successional coniferous taxa have been replaced by early successional deciduous taxa. Forest communities dominated by early successional deciduous taxa increased sharply throughout the study area. Logging has been a minor driver of these changes compared to fire and SBO s.
Conclusions
This study demonstrates the importance of documenting the long‐term history of both anthropogenic and natural disturbances in order to assess their relative contributions to the development of the present‐day forest ecosystems. Natural disturbances have remained the main drivers of forest composition during the 20th century, whereas logging played a less important role. In the current context of global change, long‐term experimental research is required to help forecast impacts of natural disturbances and forest management on boreal forest composition.
... Since then it has primarily followed clear-cutting management regimes in which all trees, regardless of size and species, are simultaneously cut in a given forest area (Kuuluvainen et al., 2012;Lundmark et al., 2013). The long-term and large-scale forestry in this area has resulted in a fundamental transformation of the forest landscape ( € Ostlund et al., 1997;Hellberg et al., 2009). Natural ecological disturbance processes have largely been substituted with man-made forestry practices, including clearcutting, planting of nursery produced tree seedlings and thinning in tree plantations. ...
Recent studies have revealed an unexpectedly high, cryptic diversity of fungi associated with boreal forest bryophytes. Forestry practices heavily influence the boreal forest and fundamentally transform the landscape. However, little is known about how bryophyte-associated fungal communities are affected by these large-scale habitat transformations. This study assesses to what degree bryophyte-associated fungal communities are structured across the forest successional stages created by current forestry practices. Shoots of Hylocomium splendens were collected in Picea abies dominated forests of different ages, and their associated fungal communities were surveyed by pyrosequencing of ITS2 amplicons. Although community richness, diversity and evenness were relatively stable across the forest types and all were consistently dominated by ascomycete taxa, there was a marked shift in fungal community composition between young and old forests. Numerous fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) showed distinct affinities for different forest ages. Spatial structure was also detected among the sites, suggesting that environmental gradients resulting from the topography of the study area and dispersal limitations may also significantly affect bryophyte-associated fungal community structure. This study confirms that Hylocomium splendens hosts an immense diversity of fungi and demonstrates that this community is structured in part by forest age, and as such is highly influenced by modern forestry practices.
Although clear-cut forestry dramatically affects fungi associated with mosses in the boreal forest, the fungal communities are able to recover within 3 years of a clear-cutting event.
Although clear-cut forestry dramatically affects fungi associated with mosses in the boreal forest, the fungal communities are able to recover within 3 years of a clear-cutting event.
... In combination with human-induced fire, it created a landscape age structure dominated by forests younger than in presettlement times. This phenomenon has also been observed elsewhere in North America (Frelich 1995;Cyr et al. 2009;Boucher and Grondin 2012) and Eurasia (Ö stlund et al. 1997;Achard et al. 2006;Hellberg et al. 2009). 123 ...
Land use history has altered natural disturbance dynamics, causing widespread modifications of the earth’s forests. The aim of this study is to reconstruct a regional, spatially-explicit, fire and logging history for a large southern boreal forest landscape (6,050 km2) of eastern Canada. We then examined the long-term influence of land use history, fires, and physiographical gradients on the area’s disturbances regimes, present-day age structure and tree species composition. Spatially-explicit fire (1820–2005) and logging (1900–2005) histories were reconstructed from forestry maps, terrestrial forest inventories and historical records (local newspapers, travel notes, regional historical reviews). Logistic regression was used to model the occurrence of major boreal tree species at the regional scale, in relation to their disturbance history and physiographical variables. The interplay of elevation and fire history was found to explain a large part of the present-day distribution of the four species studied. We conclude that human-induced fires following the colonization activities of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have increased fire frequency and the dominance of fire-adapted species at lower elevations. At higher elevations, the low historical fire frequency has fostered the dominance of fire-sensitive species. Twentieth-century forestry practices and escaped settlement fires have generated a forest landscape dominated by younger forest habitats than in presettlement times. The expected increase of wildfire activity in North America’s eastern boreal forest, in conjunction with continued forest management, could have significant consequences on the resilience of boreal forests.
... Groven et al., 2002;Josefsson et al., 2005;Ohlson et al., 1997;Storaunet et al., 2008) and there is a need for information on how the early twentieth century selective logging has affected forest structure and biodiversity at larger spatial scales. Using historical records, Hellberg et al. (2009) analysed structural changes due to the industrial transformation of a forest landscape (ca. 500 km 2 ) in northern Sweden. ...
... The forest composition (i.e. proportion of spruce, pine and deciduous trees) within the study area during the early 1900s is comparable with forest landscapes dominated by spruce in other parts of Scandinavia during the same time period (Hellberg et al., 2009;Jö nsson et al., 2009;Linder et al., 1997). In accordance with the forest landscape analysis carried out by Hellberg et al. (2009), we found that spruce was more common during the early 1900s than it is at present. ...
... proportion of spruce, pine and deciduous trees) within the study area during the early 1900s is comparable with forest landscapes dominated by spruce in other parts of Scandinavia during the same time period (Hellberg et al., 2009;Jö nsson et al., 2009;Linder et al., 1997). In accordance with the forest landscape analysis carried out by Hellberg et al. (2009), we found that spruce was more common during the early 1900s than it is at present. Today spruce makes up 68% of the average tree volume in the study area, that is, a decrease with 10% whereas pine and deciduous trees have increased to almost 20% and 13%, respectively. ...
Logging exceeded growth and timber trees were sparse in Norwegian forests in the early 1900s. Still, the forest canopy was lush green and characterised by large tree-crowns. This situation was referred to as the "Green lie'' and was advocated by foresters throughout Scandinavia as an argument in favour of forestry practices based on clear-felling. Here we examine effects of past selective loggings on forest structure and composition in a spruce forest landscape using dendroecology and historical records. Our results show that forests that were selectively logged up to the early 1900s could be structurally heterogeneous with multi-layered canopies, varying degree of openness and continuous presence of old trees across different spatial scales. Because the past forests were not clear-felled, a diverse forest structure in terms of tree species composition and age and diameter distribution was maintained over time, which could enable forest-dwelling species to persist during the early phase following the loggings in the past. This is in sharp contrast to the situation in most modern managed forest landscapes in Scandinavia. A better understanding of the link between loggings in the past- and present-day forest structure and diversity will contribute to rewarding discussions on forestry methods for the future.
