Integrative forest management using variable retention balancing timber and biodiversity conservation in Southern Patagonia

SOLER, ROSINA MATILDE; SCHINDLER, STEFAN; LENCINAS, MARIA VANESSA; PERI, PABLO LUIS; MARTÍNEZ PASTUR, GUILLERMO

Tartu

Congreso; IUFROLE WG Conference; 2015

Forests provide several ecosystem services, but traditional management is focused in provision, disregarding other services and conservation. Variable retention harvesting (VR) was suggested to maintain postharvest original structure and diversity. Here, we test the performance of VR in conserving biodiversity, synthesizing results from long-term data in Nothofagus forests. We included 533 study cases measured 1 to 8 years postharvest (YAH), comparing the effect of aggregated (AR) and dispersed retention (DR) with primary forests (PF). We calculated z-effect sizes for each comparison and used random-effect models with categorical data. Species typical of PF kept its populations in AR, but not in DR. Species from other habitats were negatively affected by AR, but positively by DR. The temporal trends showed an increase of richness (highest values for 1-2 YAH) and abundance (highest values for 5-8 YAH), due to allochthonous plants, being stronger in DR than AR. VR impacted in harvested areas, mainly in DR, due to the increase of allochthonous species and thoseautochthonous from other associated non-timber habitats. However, in AR, plants, insects and birds of primary forests were maintained in seemingly stable populations and similar conditions to forests with natural dynamics.