Journal Home > Volume 4 , Issue 1
Forest Ecosystems 2017, 4(1): 20 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-016-0079-2
Research | Open Access | Issue | Published: 02 September 2016

Romanian legal management rules limit wood production in Norway spruce and beech forests

Show Author's Information Olivier Bouriaud1 ( ),  Gheorghe Marin1,  Laura Bouriaud2,  Dominik Hessenmöller3,  Ernst-Detlef Schulze3
National Forest Inventory, National Research and Development Institute for Forestry INCDS, Eroilor Bd. 128, Voluntari, Romania
University Stefan cel Mare Suceava, Romania, Universitatii str. 13, Suceava 720229, Romania
Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Hans-Knoell-Str. 10, Jena 07745, Germany
Keywords:
Forest, Forest management, Forest productivity, Legal rules, Sylviculture, Operations, Wood resource
Cite this article:
Bouriaud O, Marin G, Bouriaud L, et al. Romanian legal management rules limit wood production in Norway spruce and beech forests. Forest Ecosystems, 2017, 4(1): 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-016-0079-2
Download citation
EndNote(RIS)
BibTeX

393

Views

3

Downloads

Citations

14

Crossref

N/A

WoS

14

Scopus

0

CSCD

Abstract Full text About this article
Background

The quantitative impact of forest management on forests' wood resource was evaluated for Picea and Fagus mixed forests. The effects on the productivity of tendering operations, thinnings and rotation length have seldom been directly quantified on landscape scale.

Methods

Two sites of similar fertility but subject to contrasted forest management were studied with detailed inventories: one in Germany, the other in Romania, and compared with the respective national forest inventories. In Romania, regulations impose very long rotations, low thinnings and a period of no-cut before harvest. In contrast, tending and thinnings are frequent and intense in Germany. Harvests start much earlier and must avoid clear cutting but maintain a permanent forest cover with natural regeneration. While Germany has an average annual wood increment representative for Central Europe, Romania represents the average for Eastern Europe.

Results

The lack of tending and thinning in the Romanian site resulted in twice as many trees per hectare as in the German site for the same age. The productivity in Romanian production forests was 20 % lower than in Germany despite a similar fertility. The results were supported by the data from the national forest inventory of each country, which confirmed that the same differential exists at country scale. Furthermore, provided the difference in rotation length, two crops are harvested in Germany when only one is harvested in Romania. The losses of production due to a lower level of management in Romania where estimated to reach 12.8 million m3.y-1 in regular mountain production forests, and to 15 million m3.y-1 if managed protection forest is included.

Conclusions

The productivity of Picea and Fagus mountain forests in Romania is severely depressed by the lack of tending and thinning, by overly long rotations and the existence of a 25-years no-cut period prior to harvest. The average standing volume in Germany was 50 % lower than in Romania, but the higher harvesting rate resulted in more than doubling wood production. Considering the mitigation effects of climate change by forests, it emerges that the increase in standing volume of forests in Romania is smaller than the additional harvest in Germany which serves fossil fuel substitution.


menu
Abstract
Full text
Outline
About this article

Romanian legal management rules limit wood production in Norway spruce and beech forests

Show Author's information Olivier Bouriaud1 ( ), Gheorghe Marin1, Laura Bouriaud2, Dominik Hessenmöller3, Ernst-Detlef Schulze3
National Forest Inventory, National Research and Development Institute for Forestry INCDS, Eroilor Bd. 128, Voluntari, Romania
University Stefan cel Mare Suceava, Romania, Universitatii str. 13, Suceava 720229, Romania
Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Hans-Knoell-Str. 10, Jena 07745, Germany

Abstract

Background

The quantitative impact of forest management on forests' wood resource was evaluated for Picea and Fagus mixed forests. The effects on the productivity of tendering operations, thinnings and rotation length have seldom been directly quantified on landscape scale.

Methods

Two sites of similar fertility but subject to contrasted forest management were studied with detailed inventories: one in Germany, the other in Romania, and compared with the respective national forest inventories. In Romania, regulations impose very long rotations, low thinnings and a period of no-cut before harvest. In contrast, tending and thinnings are frequent and intense in Germany. Harvests start much earlier and must avoid clear cutting but maintain a permanent forest cover with natural regeneration. While Germany has an average annual wood increment representative for Central Europe, Romania represents the average for Eastern Europe.

Results

The lack of tending and thinning in the Romanian site resulted in twice as many trees per hectare as in the German site for the same age. The productivity in Romanian production forests was 20 % lower than in Germany despite a similar fertility. The results were supported by the data from the national forest inventory of each country, which confirmed that the same differential exists at country scale. Furthermore, provided the difference in rotation length, two crops are harvested in Germany when only one is harvested in Romania. The losses of production due to a lower level of management in Romania where estimated to reach 12.8 million m3.y-1 in regular mountain production forests, and to 15 million m3.y-1 if managed protection forest is included.

Conclusions

The productivity of Picea and Fagus mountain forests in Romania is severely depressed by the lack of tending and thinning, by overly long rotations and the existence of a 25-years no-cut period prior to harvest. The average standing volume in Germany was 50 % lower than in Romania, but the higher harvesting rate resulted in more than doubling wood production. Considering the mitigation effects of climate change by forests, it emerges that the increase in standing volume of forests in Romania is smaller than the additional harvest in Germany which serves fossil fuel substitution.

Keywords: Forest, Forest management, Forest productivity, Legal rules, Sylviculture, Operations, Wood resource

References(54)

Aussenac G (2000) Interactions between forest stands and microclimate: ecophysiological aspects and consequences for silviculture. Ann For Sci 57(3):287-301
DOI Google Scholar

Aussenac G, Granier A (1988) Effects of thinning on water stress and growth in Douglas-fir. Can J For Res 18(1):100-105
DOI Google Scholar

Babst F, Poulter B, Trouet V, Tan K, Neuwirth B, Wilson R, Carrer M, Grabner M, Tegel W, Levanic T, Panayotov M, Urbinati C, Bouriaud O, Ciais P, Frank D (2013) Site- and species-specific responses of forest growth to climate across the European continent. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 22(6):706-717
DOI Google Scholar

Babst F, Bouriaud O, Alexander R, Trouet V, Frank D (2014a) Toward consistent measurements of carbon accumulation: A multi-site assessment of biomass and basal area increment across Europe. Dendrochronologia 32:153-161
DOI Google Scholar

Babst F, Bouriaud O, Papale D, Gielen B, Janssens IA, Nikinmaa E, Ibrom A, Wu J, Bernhofer C, Kostner B, Grunwald T, Seufert G, Ciais P, Frank D (2014b) Above-ground woody carbon sequestration measured from tree rings is coherent with net ecosystem productivity at five eddy-covariance sites. New Phytologist 201:1289-1303
DOI Google Scholar

Bakker JD (2005) A new, proportional method for reconstructing historical tree diameters. Can J For Res 35(10):2515-2520
DOI Google Scholar

Bates D, Maechler M, Bolker B, Walker S (2014) lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4. R package version, 1(7)
Google Scholar

Bellassen V, Viovy N, Luyssaert S, Le Maire G, Schelhaas M-J, Ciais P (2011) Reconstruction and attribution of the carbon sink of European forests between 1950 and 2000. Glob c Biol 17(11):3274-3292
DOI Google Scholar
Bouriaud L, Marzano M (2014) Conservation, extraction and corruption: Is sustainable forest management possible in Romania? In: Gilberthrope E, Hilson G (ed) Natural Resource Extraction and Indigenous Livelihoods, Development Challanges in Era of Globalization. Ashgate, London, p 221-240

Bouriaud L, Nichiforel L, Weiss G, Bajaktari A, Curovic M, Dobsinska Z, Glavonjic P, Jarský V, Sarvasova Z, Teder M, Zalite Z (2013) Governance of private forests in Eastern and central Europe: an analysis of forest harvesting and management rights. Ann For Res 56(1):199-215
Google Scholar

Bréda N, Granier A, Aussenac G (1995) Effects of thinning on soil and tree water relations, transpiration and growth in an oak forest (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.). Tree Physiol 15(5):295-306
DOI Google Scholar
Burschel P, Huss J (2003) Grundriss des Waldbaus. Ulmer, Stuttgart, p 487
Callister D (1999) Corrupt and Illegal Activities in the Forestry Sector: Current Understandings and Implications for World Bank Forest Policy, Working Paper. World Bank, Washington

Campioli M, Vicca S, Luyssaert S, Bilcke J, Ceschia E, Chapin III FS, Ciais P, Fernández-Martínz M, Malhi Y, Obersteiner M, Olefeldt D, Papale D, Piao SL, Penuelas J, Sullivan PF, Wang X, Zenone T, Janssens IA (2015) Biomass production efficiency controlled by management in temperate and boreal ecosystems. Nat Geosci. doi:10.1038/NGEO2553
DOI Google Scholar

Charru M, Seynave I, Morneau F, Bontemps J-D (2010) Recent changes in forest productivity: an analysis of national forest inventory data for common beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in north-eastern France. For Ecol Manage 260(5):864-874
DOI Google Scholar
Contreras-Hermosilla A (2002) Law Compliance in the Forestry Sector: An Overview. WBI Working Papers. World Bank Institute, The World Bank 2002. Also available at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/232581468763471728/Law-compliance-in-the-forestry-sector-an-overview. Accessed July 2016

Coomes AD, Holdaway RJ, Kobe RK, Lines ER, Allen RB (2012) A general integrative framework for modelling woody biomass production and carbon sequestration rates in forests. J Ecol 100:42-64
DOI Google Scholar

de Vries W, Solberg S, Dobbertin M, Sterba H, Laubhann D, Van Oijen M, Evans C, Gundersen P, Kros J, Wamelink GWW, Reinds GJ, Sutton MA (2009) The impact of nitrogen deposition on carbon sequestration by European forests and heathlands. For Ecol Manage 258(8):1814-1823
DOI Google Scholar
Döbbeler H, Albert M, Schmidt M, Nagel J, Schröder J (2006) BWINPro. Programm zur Bestandesanalyse und Prognose. Handbuch zur Version 6.3. 125 p with a list of allometric functions for single tree volume

Forrester DI, Collopy JJ, Beadle CL, Baker TG (2013) Effect of thinning, pruning and nitrogen fertiliser application on light interception and light-use efficiency in a young Eucalyptus nitens plantation. For Ecol Manage 288:21-30
DOI Google Scholar
Goldmann K, Schöning I, Buscot F, Wubet T (2016) Management significantly influences diversity and communities of soil fungi in temperate forests, Soil Biology and Biochemistry., reviewhttps://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01300
DOI

Gossner MM, Wende B, Levick S, Schall P, Floren A, Linsenmair KE, Steffan-Dewenter I, Schulze ED, Weisser WW (2016) Exposing logs of 13 tree species in forests shows that maximizing the diversity of deadwood-living species can be achieved using few tree species. Biol Conserv 201:92-102
DOI Google Scholar

Hansen AJ, Spies TA, Swanson FJ, Ohmann JL (1991) Conserving biodiversity in managed forests. BioScience 41(6):382-392
DOI Google Scholar

Houghton RA (2003) Revised estimates of the annual net flux of carbon to the atmosphere from changes in land use and land management 1850-2000. Tellus B 55(2):378-390
DOI Google Scholar

Hynynen J, Salminen H, Ahtikoski A, Huuskonen S, Ojansuu R, Siipilehto J, Lehtonen M, Eerikäinen K (2015) Long-term impacts of forest management on biomass supply and forest resource development: a scenario analysis for Finland. Eur J For Res 134(3):415-431
DOI Google Scholar

Janssens IA, Dieleman W, Luyssaert S, Subke JA, Reichstein M, Ceulemans R, Ciais P, Dolman AJ, Grace J, Matteucci G, Papale D, Piao SL, Schulze E-D (2010) Reduction of forest soil respiration in response to nitrogen deposition. Nat Geosci 3(5):315-322
DOI Google Scholar

Jucker T, Avăcăriței D, Bărnoaiea I, Duduman G, Bouriaud O, Coomes DA (2015) Climate modulates the effects of tree diversity on forest productivity. J Ecol 104(2):388-398
DOI Google Scholar

Kuemmerle T, Hostert P, Radeloff VC, Perzanowski K, Kruhlov I (2007) Post-socialist forest disturbance in the Carpathian border region of Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine. Ecol Appl 17(5):1279-1295
DOI Google Scholar

Kuemmerle T, Hostert P, Radeloff VC, van der Linden S, Perzanowski K, Kruhlov I (2008) Cross-border comparison of post-socialist farmland abandonment in the Carpathians. Ecosystems 11(4):614-628
DOI Google Scholar

Lagergren F, Lankreijer H, Kučera J, Cienciala E, Mölder M, Lindroth A (2008) Thinning effects on pine-spruce forest transpiration in central Sweden. For Ecol Manage 255(7):2312-2323
DOI Google Scholar
Levick SR, Hessenmoeller D, Schulze ED (2016) Scaling wood volume estimates from inventory plots to landscapes with airborne LiDAR in temperate deciduous forest Carbon Balance Management 11: doi: 10.1186/s13021-016-0048-7https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-016-0048-7
DOI

Mund M, Kummetz E, Hein M, Bauer GA, Schulze E-D (2002) Growth and carbon stocks of a spruce forest chronosequence in central Europe. For Ecol Manage 171(3):275-296
DOI Google Scholar
Nabuurs G-J, Masera O, Andrasko K, Benitez-Ponce P, Boer R, Dutschke M, Elsiddig E, Ford-Robertson J, Frumhoff P, Karjalainen T, Krankina O, Kurz W, Matsumoto M, Oyhantcabal W, Ravindranath NH, Sanz Sanchez MJ, Zhang X, Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) Forestry. In: Metz B, Davidson OR, Bosch PR, Dave R, Meyer LA (eds) In Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York

Naudts K, Chen Y, McGrath MJ, Ryder J, Valade A, Otto J, Luyssaert S (2016) Europe's forest management did not mitigate climate warming. Science 351(6273):597-600
DOI Google Scholar

Noormets A, Epron D, Domec JC, McNulty SG, Fox T, Sun G, King JS (2015) Effects of forest management on productivity and carbon sequestration: a review and hypothesis. For Ecol Manage 355:124-140
DOI Google Scholar

Paillet Y, Berges L, Hjälten J, Odor P, Avon C, Bernhardt-Römermann M, Bijlsma R-J, de Bruyn L, Fuhr M, Grandin U, Kanka R, Lundin L, Luque S, Magura R, Matesanz S, Mészaros I, Sebastia T, Schmidt W, Standovár T, Tóthmérész B, Uotila A, Valladares F, Vellak K, Virtanen R (2010) Biodiversity differences between managed and unmanaged forests: meta-analysis of species richness in Europe. Conserv Biol 24:101-112
DOI Google Scholar
Popescu G, Pătrăşcoiu N, Georgescu V (2004) Pădurea şi omul. Editura Nord Carta, Suceava

Pretzsch H, Biber P, Schütze G, Uhl E, Rötzer T (2014) Forest stand growth dynamics in Central Europe have accelerated since 1870. Nat Com 5:4967. doi:10.1038/ncomms5967
DOI Google Scholar

Pussinen A, Nabuurs GJ, Wieggers HJ, Reinds GJ, Wamelink GW, Kros J, Mol-Dijkstra JP, De Vries W (2009) Modelling long-term impacts of environmental change on mid-and high-latitude European forests and options for adaptive forest management. For Ecol Manage 258(8):1806-1813
DOI Google Scholar

Schelhaas MJ, Nabuurs GJ, Hengeveld G, Reyer C, Hanewinkel M, Zimmermann NE, Cullmann D (2015) Alternative forest management strategies to account for climate change-induced productivity and species suitability changes in Europe. Reg Env Change 15(8):1581-1594
DOI Google Scholar

Schulze E-D, Körner C, Law BE, Haberl H, Luyssaert S (2012) Large-scale bioenergy from additional harvest of forest biomass is neither sustainable nor greenhouse gas neutral. Glob Change Biol Bioenergy 4(6):611-616
DOI Google Scholar

Schulze ED, Bouriaud L, Bussler H, Gossner M, Walentowski H, Hessenmöller D, Bouriaud O, van Gadow K (2014) Opinion Paper: Forest management and biodiversity. Web Ecology 14(1):3-10
DOI Google Scholar
Schulze E-D, Boch S, Müller J, Levick S, Schumacher J (2016) Die Häufigkeit seltener und gefährdeter Gefäßpflanzen, Moose und Flechten ist im Laubwald unabhängig von Naturschutz und Bewirtschaftung. Allgemeine Forstzeitschrift (in press)

Seidl R, Rammer W, Lexer MJ (2011a) Adaptation options to reduce climate change vulnerability of sustainable forest management in the Austrian Alps. Can J For Res 41(4):694-706, 10.1139/x10-235.
DOI Google Scholar

Seidl R, Schelhaas MJ and Lexer MJ (2011b) Unraveling the drivers of intensifying forest disturbance regimes in Europe. Glob Change Biol 17(9):2842-2852
DOI Google Scholar

Simonin K, Kolb TE, Montes-Helu M, Koch GW (2007) The influence of thinning on components of stand water balance in a ponderosa pine forest stand during and after extreme drought. Agr For Met 143(3):266-276
DOI Google Scholar
Spellmann H, Meesenburg H, Schmidt M, Nagel RV, Sutmöller J, Albert M (2015) Klimaanpassung ist Vorsorge für den wald. ProWald, November 2015, 4-10
TBFRA-2000 (2000) Forest resources of Europe, CIS, North America, Australia, Japan and New Zealand. Nain Report, United Nations, New York, Geneva, page 169
Thueringen Forst (2015) Dienstanordnung Waldbau −2.8: Anweisung zum Waldbau im Staatswald der Landesforschungsanstalt. Thüringen Forst. Erfurt
Thüringer Waldgesetz (2008) From 6th August 1993, renewed GVBl. 2008, p 327

Ťupek B, Zanchi G, Verkerk PJ, Churkina G, Viovy N, Hughes JK, Lindner M (2010) A comparison of alternative modelling approaches to evaluate the European forest carbon fluxes. For Ecol Manage 260(3):241-251
DOI Google Scholar

van der Plas F, Manning P, Allan E, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Verheyen K, Wirth C, Zavala M, Hector A, Ampoorter E, Baeten L, Barbaro L, Bauhus J, Benavides R, Benneter A, Berthold F, Bonal D, Bouriaud O, Bruelheide H, Bussotti F, Carnol M, Castagneyrol B, Charbonnier Y, Coomes D, Coppi A, Bastias C, Dawud S, De Wandeler H, Domisch T, Finér L, Gessler A, Granier A, Grossiord C, Guyot V, Hattenschwiler S, Jactel H, Jaroszewicz B, Joly F-X, Jucker T, Koricheva J, Milligan H, Müller S, Muys B, Nguyen D, Pollastrini M, Raulund-Rasmussen K, Selvi F, Stenlid J, Valladares F, Vesterdal L, Zielínski D, Fischer M (2016) 'Jack-of-all-trades' effects drive biodiversity-ecosystem multifunctionality relationships in European forests. Nat Com 7:11109. doi:10.1038/ncomms11109
DOI Google Scholar

Vetter M, Wirth C, Böttcher H, Churkina G, Schulze ED, Wutzler T, Weber G (2005) Partitioning direct and indirect human‐induced effects on carbon sequestration of managed coniferous forests using model simulations and forest inventories. Glob Change Biol 11(5):810-827
DOI Google Scholar

Wirth C, Schumacher J, Schulze ED (2004) Generic biomass functions for Norway spruce in Central Europe—a meta-analysis approach toward prediction and uncertainty estimation. Tree Physiol 24(2):121-139
DOI Google Scholar
Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Rights and permissions

Publication history

Received: 15 March 2016
Accepted: 22 August 2016
Published: 02 September 2016
Issue date: March 2017

Copyright

© 2016 The Author(s).

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

Authors are thankful to Iulian Dănilă, Ulrich Pruchitzki for their valuable help during the inventory. We thank Gheorghe Ștefan for the tree-rings preparation and measurement. We thank Adrian Indreica, University of Brasov, and Reiner Boecker, Uni Hohenheim, for help with plant identification, and Ludwig Leidinger for help with processing the data. We thank Dr Shawn Levick for editorial comments on the manuscript. OB acknowledges support by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0781. LB acknowledges support by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS – UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-0017.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Return