3 research outputs found
Salvage logging effects on regulating ecosystem services and fuel loads
We thank several authors who generously provided data
for this meta-analysis
(WebPanel 2). ABL acknowledges the
support of mobility grants from Universidad de AlcalĆ” and
Spanish Ministry of Education, postdoctoral fellowships from
the Spanish Ministry of Economy and the Alexander von
Humboldt Foundation, and Project AS2013/MAE-2719
āREMEDINAL-3ā
from the Government of Madrid. The
data underlying this paper are available through an institutional
repository (http://hdl.handle.net/10481/62260).Salvage logging, or logging after natural disturbances such as wildfires, insect outbreaks, and windstorms, is carried out to recover
some of a forestās natural and/or economic capital. However, trade-offs
between management objectives and a lack of consensus
on the ecological consequences of salvage logging impair science-based
decision making on the management of forests after natural
disturbances. We conducted a global meta-analysis
of the impacts of salvage logging on regulating ecosystem services and on
fuel loads, as a frequent post-disturbance
objective is preventing subsequent wildfires that could be fueled by the accumulation of
dead trunks and branches. Salvage logging affected ecosystem services in a moderately negative way, regardless of disturbance type
and severity, time elapsed since salvage logging, intensity of salvage logging, and the group of regulating ecosystem services being
considered. However, prolonging the time between natural disturbance and salvage logging mitigated negative effects on regulating
ecosystem services. Salvage logging had no overall effect on surface fuels; rather, different fuel types responded differently
depending on the time elapsed since salvage logging. Delaying salvage logging by ~2ā4 years may reduce negative ecological
impacts without affecting surface fuel loads.Project AS2013/MAE-2719 āREMEDINAL-3ā from the Government of Madri