Scholarlink

Background <p>Reference forests provide essential benchmarks for conservation, forest management, and ecological restoration. However, they are commonly represented by a single old-growth condition and primarily characterized by structural attributes, overlooking both the natural variability generated by forest development under natural disturbance regimes and other ecosystem dimensions relevant to these objectives. Characterizing the natural range of variation across forest developmental stages through multiple ecological dimensions can improve the definition and selection of reference conditions by capturing the diversity of ecosystem states that occur throughout forest development. We proposed a seven developmental stages model representing the natural dynamic cycle of <i>Nothofagus pumilio</i> forests in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), encompassing both even- and uneven-aged stand structures generated by natural disturbance regimes. By integrating forest structure, soil, understory vegetation, and animal use, we aimed to identify multidimensionally reference forests within this natural range of variability for management, restoration and conservation objectives, using univariate, multivariate, and integrative index analyses.</p> Results <p>Forest developmental stages differed consistently in structural attributes, while soil, understory vegetation, and animal use exhibited more gradual or dimension-specific responses. Live tree volume, coarse woody debris, dead tree density, and soil phosphorus emerged as useful indicators of forest development, whereas several other attributes showed limited variation across stages. Dimension-specific indices identified developmental stages representing the boundaries of the natural range of variation, while multivariate analyses identified groups of stages sharing similar ecological characteristics. These results demonstrate that no single developmental stage adequately represents the full natural range of variation and that the most appropriate reference condition depends on the ecological dimension and management objective being considered.</p> Conclusions <p>Multiple forest developmental stages provide a more comprehensive representation of reference conditions than a single old-growth forest. By integrating multiple ecological dimensions, our framework captures the natural variability generated by forest development and offers ecological baselines for forest management, conservation, and ecological restoration. Beyond <i>Nothofagus pumilio</i> forests, this multidimensional approach provides a flexible basis for defining reference conditions across ecosystems with contrasting disturbance histories and may contribute to adaptive forest management under future environmental change.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Defining reference forests for management, restoration and conservation: a multidimensional evaluation of Nothofagus pumilio forests

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年8月5日

查看全文
  • Jimena E. Chaves,
  • Julián Rodríguez-Souilla,
  • Juan Manuel Cellini,
  • M. Vanessa Lencinas,
  • Pablo L. Peri,
  • Guillermo Martínez Pastur

摘要

Background

Reference forests provide essential benchmarks for conservation, forest management, and ecological restoration. However, they are commonly represented by a single old-growth condition and primarily characterized by structural attributes, overlooking both the natural variability generated by forest development under natural disturbance regimes and other ecosystem dimensions relevant to these objectives. Characterizing the natural range of variation across forest developmental stages through multiple ecological dimensions can improve the definition and selection of reference conditions by capturing the diversity of ecosystem states that occur throughout forest development. We proposed a seven developmental stages model representing the natural dynamic cycle of Nothofagus pumilio forests in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), encompassing both even- and uneven-aged stand structures generated by natural disturbance regimes. By integrating forest structure, soil, understory vegetation, and animal use, we aimed to identify multidimensionally reference forests within this natural range of variability for management, restoration and conservation objectives, using univariate, multivariate, and integrative index analyses.

Results

Forest developmental stages differed consistently in structural attributes, while soil, understory vegetation, and animal use exhibited more gradual or dimension-specific responses. Live tree volume, coarse woody debris, dead tree density, and soil phosphorus emerged as useful indicators of forest development, whereas several other attributes showed limited variation across stages. Dimension-specific indices identified developmental stages representing the boundaries of the natural range of variation, while multivariate analyses identified groups of stages sharing similar ecological characteristics. These results demonstrate that no single developmental stage adequately represents the full natural range of variation and that the most appropriate reference condition depends on the ecological dimension and management objective being considered.

Conclusions

Multiple forest developmental stages provide a more comprehensive representation of reference conditions than a single old-growth forest. By integrating multiple ecological dimensions, our framework captures the natural variability generated by forest development and offers ecological baselines for forest management, conservation, and ecological restoration. Beyond Nothofagus pumilio forests, this multidimensional approach provides a flexible basis for defining reference conditions across ecosystems with contrasting disturbance histories and may contribute to adaptive forest management under future environmental change.