Adriano Mazziotta | Natural Resources Institute Finland (original) (raw)

Papers by Adriano Mazziotta

Forests, Jun 22, 2024

In European mountains most beech forest areas have been managed for timber production. This pract... more In European mountains most beech forest areas have been managed for timber production. This practice has reduced the availability of biomass for the whole forest-dwelling species assemblage and of deadwood for the saproxylic community. Despite most of Italy's beech stands having a long history of management, its effects on forest species remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we studied beetle abundance and diversity in five beech-dominated forests with increasing management intensity in central Italy's Apennines (Tuscany). We assessed if forests with similar management intensity exhibited comparable patterns in beetle diversity, abundance, and commonness versus rarity. Three forests were managed with even-aged shelterwood; one was managed with continuous cover forestry; and one was old-growth. We found 25 beetle families and 195 species across all sites with similar total abundance and richness. However, the representation of the most abundant families varied among sampling sites (ANOVA test: always significant for the total abundance of the most abundant families: F ≥ 2.77, d.f. = 4, p ≤ 0.038). The old-growth forest harbored more threatened species than managed sites. Saproxylic assemblages were similar between the recently cut site and the old-growth forest, and between shelterwood and continuous cover sites. While the similarity gradient among the whole species assemblages reflected geographical proximity, the similarity gradient among saproxylic assemblages reflected the successional proximity among forest management systems. Our research underscores the effects of management on beetle diversity, offering insights for sustainable forestry.

Forest ecology and management, Jul 1, 2024

The characteristic spatial scale at which species respond strongest to forest structure is unclea... more The characteristic spatial scale at which species respond strongest to forest structure is unclear and species-specific and depends on the degree of landscape heterogeneity. Research often analyzes a pre-defined spatial scale when constructing species distribution models relating forest variables with occupancy patterns. This is a limitation, as forest characteristics shape the species use of habitat at multiple spatial scales. To explore the drivers of this relationship, we conducted an in-depth investigation into how scaling forest variables at biologically relevant spatial scales affects occupancy of grouse species in boreal forest. We used 4,790 grouse observations (broods and adults) collected over 39,303 stands for 15 years of four forest grouse species (capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, and willow grouse) obtained from comprehensive Finnish wildlife triangle census data and forest variables obtained from Airborne Laser Scanning and satellite data originally sampled at 16 m resolution. We fitted Generalized Additive Mixed Models linking grouse presence/absence in the Finnish boreal forest with forest stand structure and composition. We estimated the effects of predictor variables aggregated at three spatial scales reflecting the species use of the landscape: local level at stand scale, home range level at 1 km radius, and regional level at 5 km radius. Multi-grain models considering forest-species relationships at multiple scales were used to evaluate whether there is a specific scale at which forest characteristics best predict local grouse occupancy. We found that that the spatial scale affected the predictive capacity of the grouse occupancy models and the characteristic scale of habitat selection was the same (i.e., stand scale) among species. Different grouse species exhibited varying optimal spatial scales for occupancy prediction. Forest structure was more important than compositional diversity in predicting grouse occupancy irrespective of the scale. A limited number of forest predictors related to availability of multi-layered vegetation and of suitable thickets explained the occupancy patterns for all the grouse species at different scales. In conclusion, modeling grouse occupancy using forest predictors at different spatial scales can inform forest managers about the scale at which the species perceive the landscape. This evidence calls for an integrated multiscale approach to habitat modelling for forest species.

Journal of Forestry Research, Jan 10, 2024

Stochastic environmental research and risk assessment, Jan 26, 2024

Data acquisition for sustainable forest management has focused on obtaining high quality informat... more Data acquisition for sustainable forest management has focused on obtaining high quality information to estimate biomass. Improving the quality of non-timber sustainability indicators, like deadwood volume, has been a minor interest. To explore how inventory approaches could be improved, we applied a Global Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis (GUSA) to evaluate which factors propagate more errors in deadwood modelling and how better data collection can minimize them. The impact of uncertainty on deadwood characteristics (diameter, collapse ratio, decay class, tree species, and position) was explored under stakeholders´ preferences, management actions, and climate change scenarios. GUSA showed that removing the prediction error in deadwood tree species and diameter would alter the most the total uncertainty in deadwood volume. We found that assessment of high deadwood volume was less uncertain for the scenarios where small deadwood items were left decaying on the forest floor (BAU) and for high-end climate change scenario (RCP8.5) which resulted in lower deadwood accumulation in forest stands and therefore also in lower likelihood of erroneous estimates. Reduced uncertainty in tree species and diameter class will elevate the certainty of deadwood volume to a similar level achieved in living biomass estimation. Our uncertainty and sensitivity analysis was successful in ranking factors propagating errors in estimate of deadwood and identified a strategy to minimize uncertainty in predicting deadwood characteristics. The estimation of uncertainty in deadwood levels under the scenarios developed in our study can help decision makers to evaluate risk of decreasing deadwood value for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.

Forests, 2024

In European mountains most beech forest areas have been managed for timber production. This pract... more In European mountains most beech forest areas have been managed for timber production. This practice has reduced the availability of biomass for the whole forest-dwelling species assemblage and of deadwood for the saproxylic community. Despite most of Italy's beech stands having a long history of management, its effects on forest species remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we studied beetle abundance and diversity in five beech-dominated forests with increasing management intensity in central Italy's Apennines (Tuscany). We assessed if forests with similar management intensity exhibited comparable patterns in beetle diversity, abundance, and commonness versus rarity. Three forests were managed with even-aged shelterwood; one was managed with continuous cover forestry; and one was old-growth. We found 25 beetle families and 195 species across all sites with similar total abundance and richness. However, the representation of the most abundant families varied among sampling sites (ANOVA test: always significant for the total abundance of the most abundant families: F ≥ 2.77, d.f. = 4, p ≤ 0.038). The old-growth forest harbored more threatened species than managed sites. Saproxylic assemblages were similar between the recently cut site and the old-growth forest, and between shelterwood and continuous cover sites. While the similarity gradient among the whole species assemblages reflected geographical proximity, the similarity gradient among saproxylic assemblages reflected the successional proximity among forest management systems. Our research underscores the effects of management on beetle diversity, offering insights for sustainable forestry.

Forest Ecology and Management, 2024

The characteristic spatial scale at which species respond strongest to forest structure is unclea... more The characteristic spatial scale at which species respond strongest to forest structure is unclear and species-specific and depends on the degree of landscape heterogeneity. Research often analyzes a pre-defined spatial scale when constructing species distribution models relating forest variables with occupancy patterns. This is a limitation, as forest characteristics shape the species use of habitat at multiple spatial scales. To explore the drivers of this relationship, we conducted an in-depth investigation into how scaling forest variables at biologically relevant spatial scales affects occupancy of grouse species in boreal forest. We used 4,790 grouse observations (broods and adults) collected over 39,303 stands for 15 years of four forest grouse species (capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, and willow grouse) obtained from comprehensive Finnish wildlife triangle census data and forest variables obtained from Airborne Laser Scanning and satellite data originally sampled at 16 m resolution. We fitted Generalized Additive Mixed Models linking grouse presence/absence in the Finnish boreal forest with forest stand structure and composition. We estimated the effects of predictor variables aggregated at three spatial scales reflecting the species use of the landscape: local level at stand scale, home range level at 1 km radius, and regional level at 5 km radius. Multi-grain models considering forest-species relationships at multiple scales were used to evaluate whether there is a specific scale at which forest characteristics best predict local grouse occupancy. We found that that the spatial scale affected the predictive capacity of the grouse occupancy models and the characteristic scale of habitat selection was the same (i.e., stand scale) among species.
Different grouse species exhibited varying optimal spatial scales for occupancy prediction. Forest structure was more important than compositional diversity in predicting grouse occupancy irrespective of the scale. A limited number of forest predictors related to availability of multi-layered vegetation and of suitable thickets explained the occupancy patterns for all the grouse species at different scales. In conclusion, modeling grouse occupancy using forest predictors at different spatial scales can inform forest managers about the scale at which the species perceive the landscape. This evidence calls for an integrated multiscale approach to habitat modelling for forest species.

Iforest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Jun 30, 2023

Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 2024

Data acquisition for sustainable forest management has focused on obtaining high quality informat... more Data acquisition for sustainable forest management has focused on obtaining high quality information to estimate biomass. Improving the quality of non-timber sustainability indicators, like deadwood volume, has been a minor interest. To explore how inventory approaches could be improved, we applied a Global Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis (GUSA) to evaluate which factors propagate more errors in deadwood modelling and how better data collection can minimize them. The impact of uncertainty on deadwood characteristics (diameter, collapse ratio, decay class, tree species, and position) was explored under stakeholders´ preferences, management actions, and climate change scenarios. GUSA showed that removing the prediction error in deadwood tree species and diameter would alter the most the total uncertainty in deadwood volume. We found that assessment of high deadwood volume was less uncertain for the scenarios where small deadwood items were left decaying on the forest floor (BAU) and for high-end climate change scenario (RCP8.5) which resulted in lower deadwood accumulation in forest stands and therefore also in lower likelihood of erroneous estimates. Reduced uncertainty in tree species and diameter class will elevate the certainty of deadwood volume to a similar level achieved in living biomass estimation. Our uncertainty and sensitivity analysis was successful in ranking factors propagating errors in estimate of deadwood and identified a strategy to minimize uncertainty in predicting deadwood characteristics. The estimation of uncertainty in deadwood levels under the scenarios developed in our study can help decision makers to evaluate risk of decreasing deadwood value for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.

Journal of Forestry Research, 2024

Forest degradation induced by intensive forest management and temperature increase by climate cha... more Forest degradation induced by intensive forest management and temperature increase by climate change are resulting in biodiversity decline in boreal forests. Intensive forest management and high-end climate emission scenarios can further reduce the amount and diversity of deadwood, the limiting factor for habitats for saproxylic species in European boreal forests. The magnitude of their combined effects and how changes in forest management can affect deadwood diversity under a range of climate change scenarios are poorly understood. We used forest growth simulations to evaluate how forest management and climate change will individually and jointly affect habitats of red-listed saproxylic species in Finland. We simulated seven forest management regimes and three climate scenarios (reference, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) over 100 years. Management regimes included set aside, continuous cover forestry, business-as-usual (BAU) and four modifications

Climatic Change, Jan 12, 2016

Species climate change vulnerability, their predisposition to be adversely affected, has been ass... more Species climate change vulnerability, their predisposition to be adversely affected, has been assessed for a limited portion of biodiversity. Our knowledge of climate change impacts is often based only on exposure, the magnitude of climatic variation in the area occupied by the species, even if species sensitivity, the species ability to tolerate climatic variations determined by traits, plays a key role in determining vulnerability. We analyse the role of species´ habitat associations, a proxy for sensitivity, in explaining vulnerability for two poorly-known but species-rich taxa in boreal forest, saproxylic beetles and fungi, using three IPCC emissions scenarios. Towards the end of the 21 st century we projected an improvement in habitat quality associated with an increase of deadwood, an important resource for species, as a consequence of increased tree growth under high emissions scenarios. However, climate change will potentially reduce habitat suitability for ~9-43% of the threatened deadwood-associated species. This loss is likely caused by future increase in timber extraction and decomposition rates causing higher deadwood turnover, which have a strong negative effect on boreal forest biodiversity. Our results are species-and scenario-specific. Diversified forest management and restoration ensuring deadwood resources in the landscape would allow the persistence of species whose capacity of delivering important supporting ecosystem services can be undermined by climate change.

Basic and Applied Ecology, Nov 1, 2017

Highlights  Species interaction type may determine their network structure.  We investigate whe... more Highlights  Species interaction type may determine their network structure.  We investigate whether trophically different organisms show also different networks.  We found higher modularity for heterotrophs reflecting their trophism.  We found stronger nestedness for autotrophs reflecting their commensalism.  We conclude that the type of interaction defines the properties of each network.

Journal of Environmental Management, Sep 1, 2016

Resource allocation to multiple alternative conservation actions is a complex task. A common trad... more Resource allocation to multiple alternative conservation actions is a complex task. A common trade-off occurs between protection of smaller, expensive, high-quality areas versus larger, cheaper, partially degraded areas. We investigate optimal allocation into three actions in boreal forest: current standard forest management rules, setting aside of mature stands, or setting aside of clear-cuts. We first estimated how habitat availability for focal indicator species and economic returns from timber harvesting develop through time as a function of forest type and action chosen. We then developed an optimal resource allocation by accounting for budget size and habitat availability of indicator species in different forest types. We also accounted for the perspective adopted towards sustainability, modeled via temporal preference and economic and ecological time discounting. Controversially, we found that in boreal forest set-aside followed by protection of clear-cuts can become a winning cost-effective strategy when accounting for habitat requirements of multiple species, long planning horizon, and limited budget. It is particularly effective when adopting a long-term sustainability perspective, and accounting for present revenues from timber harvesting. The present analysis assesses the cost-effective conditions to allocate resources into an inexpensive conservation strategy that nevertheless has potential to produce high ecological values in the future.

Journal of Applied Ecology, Oct 14, 2016

1. The boreal biome, representing approximately one third of remaining global forests, provides a... more 1. The boreal biome, representing approximately one third of remaining global forests, provides a number of crucial ecosystem services. A particular challenge in forest ecosystems is to reconcile demand for increased timber production with provisioning of other ecosystem services and biodiversity. However, there is still little knowledge about how forest management could help solve this challenge. Hence, studies that investigate how to manage forests to reduce trade-offs between ecosystem services and biodiversity are urgently needed to help forest owners and policy-makers take informed decisions. 2. We applied seven alternative forest management regimes using a forest growth simulator in a large boreal forest production landscape. First, we estimated the potential of the landscape to provide harvest revenues, store carbon and maintain biodiversity across a 50year time period. Then, we applied multiobjective optimization to identify trade-offs between these three objectives, and to identify the optimal combination of forest management regimes to achieve these objectives. 3. It was not possible to achieve high levels of either carbon storage or biodiversity if the objective of forest management was to maximize timber harvest revenues. Moreover, conflicts between biodiversity and carbon storage became stronger when simultaneously targeting high levels of timber revenues. However, with small reductions of timber revenues it was possible to greatly increase the multifunctionality of the landscape, especially the biodiversity indicators. 4. Forest management actions, alternative to business-as-usual management, such as reducing thinnings, extending the rotation period and increasing the amount of area set-aside from forestry may be necessary to safeguard biodiversity and non-timber ecosystem services in Fennoscandia. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results show that no forest management regime alone is able to maximize timber revenues, carbon storage and biodiversity individually or simultaneously, and that a combination of different regimes is needed to resolve the conflicts among these objectives. We conclude that it is possible to reduce the trade-offs between different objectives by applying diversified forest management planning at the boreal landscape-level and that we need to give up the all-encompassing objective of very intensive timber production, which is prevailing particularly in Fennoscandian countries.

Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Jun 1, 2023

Many of the intrinsic facets of forest planning are surrounded by uncertainty. Decision makers st... more Many of the intrinsic facets of forest planning are surrounded by uncertainty. Decision makers strive to improve their understanding of the sources of uncertainty and their impact on the decision-making process. However, uncertainty is rarely integrated into real-world forestry applications or into decision support tools used in forest planning problems. To identify the needs, interests, and challenges of managing uncertainty in forest planning, we interviewed forestry professionals. All the interviewees indicated the positive potential of a tool that could address some facets of uncertainty. Additionally, we conducted a review of the most recent literature on this topic to understand current hot topics and future trends that could help address real-world challenges. This study highlights the next steps to incorporate uncertainty into the decision support systems for forest planning. However, to strengthen the bond between the practical needs of forestry professionals and the theoretical approaches proposed by recent literature, more effort should be placed on defining terminology and formulating a theoretical framework for uncertainty analysis. This will provide the forestry community with a common language and typology, help increase its general understanding, and improve communication between forestry researchers, forestry professionals, and other stakeholders.

Global Change Biology, Aug 10, 2022

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Forest Ecology and Management, Dec 1, 2016

Silva Fennica, 2017

Quantifying and resolving conservation conflicts in forest landscapes via multiobjective optimiza... more Quantifying and resolving conservation conflicts in forest landscapes via multiobjective optimization.

Global Change Biology, Jul 28, 2014

ISBN 978-951-39-5783-4 (PDF) Yhteenveto: Ilmaston lämpeneminen, metsäluonnon monimuotoisuus ja lu... more ISBN 978-951-39-5783-4 (PDF) Yhteenveto: Ilmaston lämpeneminen, metsäluonnon monimuotoisuus ja luonnonsuojelun strategiat pohjoisissa metsämaisemissa Diss. Climate change represents today an important driver of species extinction the importance of which is increasing, acting in synergy with habitat destruction and fragmentation. Here, I studied the effects of climate change on the processes sustaining biodiversity in boreal forest in Finland via a forest ecosystem simulator. Furthermore I analysed the effect of management in altering these processes jointly with climate. Then I evaluated the roles of climate exposure and sensitivity in determining the vulnerability of forest species to climate change. I combined climate vulnerability with the current conservation capacity of the landscape to prioritize forest stands into categories of response to climate change for Finland. I associated each response category to adaptation measures, conservation and management actions to halt the loss of biodiversity induced by climate change. Finally I employed an optimization framework to allocate in cost-efficient way conservation and management actions in the landscape, with the goal of maximizing the habitat for biodiversity, under the assumption of long-term economic and ecological sustainability. The results of my thesis shed light on the mechanisms by which climate change and management modify habitat for forest biodiversity in boreal forest. My results predict that by the end of the 21 st century there will be both an increase in the number of winners, i.e., species associated with dead wood gaining more habitat due to higher forest growth under climate change, and of losers, i.e., species which will face reduced habitat availability as a consequence of adjusting forest management to improved forest growth. The results of the prioritization indicate that the Finnish landscape is likely to be dominated by a high proportion of sensitive and susceptible forest patches, increasing uncertainty for landscape managers in the choice of conservation strategies. However the thorough use of an optimization framework may facilitate conservation managers, when dealing with limited resources, to face the challenges imposed by climate change for sustainability.

Journal of Applied Ecology, Apr 28, 2022

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial ... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Data in Brief, Dec 1, 2016

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "Restoring hydrol... more The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "Restoring hydrology and old-growth structures in a former production forest: Modelling the long-term effects on biodiversity" (A. Mazziotta, J. Heilmann-Clausen, H. H.Bruun, Ö. Fritz, E. Aude, A.P. Tøttrup) [1]. This article describes how the changes induced by restoration actions in forest hydrology and structure alter the biodiversity value of a Danish forest reserve. The field dataset is made publicly available to enable critical or extended analyses.

Forests, Jun 22, 2024

In European mountains most beech forest areas have been managed for timber production. This pract... more In European mountains most beech forest areas have been managed for timber production. This practice has reduced the availability of biomass for the whole forest-dwelling species assemblage and of deadwood for the saproxylic community. Despite most of Italy's beech stands having a long history of management, its effects on forest species remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we studied beetle abundance and diversity in five beech-dominated forests with increasing management intensity in central Italy's Apennines (Tuscany). We assessed if forests with similar management intensity exhibited comparable patterns in beetle diversity, abundance, and commonness versus rarity. Three forests were managed with even-aged shelterwood; one was managed with continuous cover forestry; and one was old-growth. We found 25 beetle families and 195 species across all sites with similar total abundance and richness. However, the representation of the most abundant families varied among sampling sites (ANOVA test: always significant for the total abundance of the most abundant families: F ≥ 2.77, d.f. = 4, p ≤ 0.038). The old-growth forest harbored more threatened species than managed sites. Saproxylic assemblages were similar between the recently cut site and the old-growth forest, and between shelterwood and continuous cover sites. While the similarity gradient among the whole species assemblages reflected geographical proximity, the similarity gradient among saproxylic assemblages reflected the successional proximity among forest management systems. Our research underscores the effects of management on beetle diversity, offering insights for sustainable forestry.

Forest ecology and management, Jul 1, 2024

The characteristic spatial scale at which species respond strongest to forest structure is unclea... more The characteristic spatial scale at which species respond strongest to forest structure is unclear and species-specific and depends on the degree of landscape heterogeneity. Research often analyzes a pre-defined spatial scale when constructing species distribution models relating forest variables with occupancy patterns. This is a limitation, as forest characteristics shape the species use of habitat at multiple spatial scales. To explore the drivers of this relationship, we conducted an in-depth investigation into how scaling forest variables at biologically relevant spatial scales affects occupancy of grouse species in boreal forest. We used 4,790 grouse observations (broods and adults) collected over 39,303 stands for 15 years of four forest grouse species (capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, and willow grouse) obtained from comprehensive Finnish wildlife triangle census data and forest variables obtained from Airborne Laser Scanning and satellite data originally sampled at 16 m resolution. We fitted Generalized Additive Mixed Models linking grouse presence/absence in the Finnish boreal forest with forest stand structure and composition. We estimated the effects of predictor variables aggregated at three spatial scales reflecting the species use of the landscape: local level at stand scale, home range level at 1 km radius, and regional level at 5 km radius. Multi-grain models considering forest-species relationships at multiple scales were used to evaluate whether there is a specific scale at which forest characteristics best predict local grouse occupancy. We found that that the spatial scale affected the predictive capacity of the grouse occupancy models and the characteristic scale of habitat selection was the same (i.e., stand scale) among species. Different grouse species exhibited varying optimal spatial scales for occupancy prediction. Forest structure was more important than compositional diversity in predicting grouse occupancy irrespective of the scale. A limited number of forest predictors related to availability of multi-layered vegetation and of suitable thickets explained the occupancy patterns for all the grouse species at different scales. In conclusion, modeling grouse occupancy using forest predictors at different spatial scales can inform forest managers about the scale at which the species perceive the landscape. This evidence calls for an integrated multiscale approach to habitat modelling for forest species.

Journal of Forestry Research, Jan 10, 2024

Stochastic environmental research and risk assessment, Jan 26, 2024

Data acquisition for sustainable forest management has focused on obtaining high quality informat... more Data acquisition for sustainable forest management has focused on obtaining high quality information to estimate biomass. Improving the quality of non-timber sustainability indicators, like deadwood volume, has been a minor interest. To explore how inventory approaches could be improved, we applied a Global Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis (GUSA) to evaluate which factors propagate more errors in deadwood modelling and how better data collection can minimize them. The impact of uncertainty on deadwood characteristics (diameter, collapse ratio, decay class, tree species, and position) was explored under stakeholders´ preferences, management actions, and climate change scenarios. GUSA showed that removing the prediction error in deadwood tree species and diameter would alter the most the total uncertainty in deadwood volume. We found that assessment of high deadwood volume was less uncertain for the scenarios where small deadwood items were left decaying on the forest floor (BAU) and for high-end climate change scenario (RCP8.5) which resulted in lower deadwood accumulation in forest stands and therefore also in lower likelihood of erroneous estimates. Reduced uncertainty in tree species and diameter class will elevate the certainty of deadwood volume to a similar level achieved in living biomass estimation. Our uncertainty and sensitivity analysis was successful in ranking factors propagating errors in estimate of deadwood and identified a strategy to minimize uncertainty in predicting deadwood characteristics. The estimation of uncertainty in deadwood levels under the scenarios developed in our study can help decision makers to evaluate risk of decreasing deadwood value for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.

Forests, 2024

In European mountains most beech forest areas have been managed for timber production. This pract... more In European mountains most beech forest areas have been managed for timber production. This practice has reduced the availability of biomass for the whole forest-dwelling species assemblage and of deadwood for the saproxylic community. Despite most of Italy's beech stands having a long history of management, its effects on forest species remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we studied beetle abundance and diversity in five beech-dominated forests with increasing management intensity in central Italy's Apennines (Tuscany). We assessed if forests with similar management intensity exhibited comparable patterns in beetle diversity, abundance, and commonness versus rarity. Three forests were managed with even-aged shelterwood; one was managed with continuous cover forestry; and one was old-growth. We found 25 beetle families and 195 species across all sites with similar total abundance and richness. However, the representation of the most abundant families varied among sampling sites (ANOVA test: always significant for the total abundance of the most abundant families: F ≥ 2.77, d.f. = 4, p ≤ 0.038). The old-growth forest harbored more threatened species than managed sites. Saproxylic assemblages were similar between the recently cut site and the old-growth forest, and between shelterwood and continuous cover sites. While the similarity gradient among the whole species assemblages reflected geographical proximity, the similarity gradient among saproxylic assemblages reflected the successional proximity among forest management systems. Our research underscores the effects of management on beetle diversity, offering insights for sustainable forestry.

Forest Ecology and Management, 2024

The characteristic spatial scale at which species respond strongest to forest structure is unclea... more The characteristic spatial scale at which species respond strongest to forest structure is unclear and species-specific and depends on the degree of landscape heterogeneity. Research often analyzes a pre-defined spatial scale when constructing species distribution models relating forest variables with occupancy patterns. This is a limitation, as forest characteristics shape the species use of habitat at multiple spatial scales. To explore the drivers of this relationship, we conducted an in-depth investigation into how scaling forest variables at biologically relevant spatial scales affects occupancy of grouse species in boreal forest. We used 4,790 grouse observations (broods and adults) collected over 39,303 stands for 15 years of four forest grouse species (capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, and willow grouse) obtained from comprehensive Finnish wildlife triangle census data and forest variables obtained from Airborne Laser Scanning and satellite data originally sampled at 16 m resolution. We fitted Generalized Additive Mixed Models linking grouse presence/absence in the Finnish boreal forest with forest stand structure and composition. We estimated the effects of predictor variables aggregated at three spatial scales reflecting the species use of the landscape: local level at stand scale, home range level at 1 km radius, and regional level at 5 km radius. Multi-grain models considering forest-species relationships at multiple scales were used to evaluate whether there is a specific scale at which forest characteristics best predict local grouse occupancy. We found that that the spatial scale affected the predictive capacity of the grouse occupancy models and the characteristic scale of habitat selection was the same (i.e., stand scale) among species.
Different grouse species exhibited varying optimal spatial scales for occupancy prediction. Forest structure was more important than compositional diversity in predicting grouse occupancy irrespective of the scale. A limited number of forest predictors related to availability of multi-layered vegetation and of suitable thickets explained the occupancy patterns for all the grouse species at different scales. In conclusion, modeling grouse occupancy using forest predictors at different spatial scales can inform forest managers about the scale at which the species perceive the landscape. This evidence calls for an integrated multiscale approach to habitat modelling for forest species.

Iforest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Jun 30, 2023

Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 2024

Data acquisition for sustainable forest management has focused on obtaining high quality informat... more Data acquisition for sustainable forest management has focused on obtaining high quality information to estimate biomass. Improving the quality of non-timber sustainability indicators, like deadwood volume, has been a minor interest. To explore how inventory approaches could be improved, we applied a Global Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis (GUSA) to evaluate which factors propagate more errors in deadwood modelling and how better data collection can minimize them. The impact of uncertainty on deadwood characteristics (diameter, collapse ratio, decay class, tree species, and position) was explored under stakeholders´ preferences, management actions, and climate change scenarios. GUSA showed that removing the prediction error in deadwood tree species and diameter would alter the most the total uncertainty in deadwood volume. We found that assessment of high deadwood volume was less uncertain for the scenarios where small deadwood items were left decaying on the forest floor (BAU) and for high-end climate change scenario (RCP8.5) which resulted in lower deadwood accumulation in forest stands and therefore also in lower likelihood of erroneous estimates. Reduced uncertainty in tree species and diameter class will elevate the certainty of deadwood volume to a similar level achieved in living biomass estimation. Our uncertainty and sensitivity analysis was successful in ranking factors propagating errors in estimate of deadwood and identified a strategy to minimize uncertainty in predicting deadwood characteristics. The estimation of uncertainty in deadwood levels under the scenarios developed in our study can help decision makers to evaluate risk of decreasing deadwood value for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.

Journal of Forestry Research, 2024

Forest degradation induced by intensive forest management and temperature increase by climate cha... more Forest degradation induced by intensive forest management and temperature increase by climate change are resulting in biodiversity decline in boreal forests. Intensive forest management and high-end climate emission scenarios can further reduce the amount and diversity of deadwood, the limiting factor for habitats for saproxylic species in European boreal forests. The magnitude of their combined effects and how changes in forest management can affect deadwood diversity under a range of climate change scenarios are poorly understood. We used forest growth simulations to evaluate how forest management and climate change will individually and jointly affect habitats of red-listed saproxylic species in Finland. We simulated seven forest management regimes and three climate scenarios (reference, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) over 100 years. Management regimes included set aside, continuous cover forestry, business-as-usual (BAU) and four modifications

Climatic Change, Jan 12, 2016

Species climate change vulnerability, their predisposition to be adversely affected, has been ass... more Species climate change vulnerability, their predisposition to be adversely affected, has been assessed for a limited portion of biodiversity. Our knowledge of climate change impacts is often based only on exposure, the magnitude of climatic variation in the area occupied by the species, even if species sensitivity, the species ability to tolerate climatic variations determined by traits, plays a key role in determining vulnerability. We analyse the role of species´ habitat associations, a proxy for sensitivity, in explaining vulnerability for two poorly-known but species-rich taxa in boreal forest, saproxylic beetles and fungi, using three IPCC emissions scenarios. Towards the end of the 21 st century we projected an improvement in habitat quality associated with an increase of deadwood, an important resource for species, as a consequence of increased tree growth under high emissions scenarios. However, climate change will potentially reduce habitat suitability for ~9-43% of the threatened deadwood-associated species. This loss is likely caused by future increase in timber extraction and decomposition rates causing higher deadwood turnover, which have a strong negative effect on boreal forest biodiversity. Our results are species-and scenario-specific. Diversified forest management and restoration ensuring deadwood resources in the landscape would allow the persistence of species whose capacity of delivering important supporting ecosystem services can be undermined by climate change.

Basic and Applied Ecology, Nov 1, 2017

Highlights  Species interaction type may determine their network structure.  We investigate whe... more Highlights  Species interaction type may determine their network structure.  We investigate whether trophically different organisms show also different networks.  We found higher modularity for heterotrophs reflecting their trophism.  We found stronger nestedness for autotrophs reflecting their commensalism.  We conclude that the type of interaction defines the properties of each network.

Journal of Environmental Management, Sep 1, 2016

Resource allocation to multiple alternative conservation actions is a complex task. A common trad... more Resource allocation to multiple alternative conservation actions is a complex task. A common trade-off occurs between protection of smaller, expensive, high-quality areas versus larger, cheaper, partially degraded areas. We investigate optimal allocation into three actions in boreal forest: current standard forest management rules, setting aside of mature stands, or setting aside of clear-cuts. We first estimated how habitat availability for focal indicator species and economic returns from timber harvesting develop through time as a function of forest type and action chosen. We then developed an optimal resource allocation by accounting for budget size and habitat availability of indicator species in different forest types. We also accounted for the perspective adopted towards sustainability, modeled via temporal preference and economic and ecological time discounting. Controversially, we found that in boreal forest set-aside followed by protection of clear-cuts can become a winning cost-effective strategy when accounting for habitat requirements of multiple species, long planning horizon, and limited budget. It is particularly effective when adopting a long-term sustainability perspective, and accounting for present revenues from timber harvesting. The present analysis assesses the cost-effective conditions to allocate resources into an inexpensive conservation strategy that nevertheless has potential to produce high ecological values in the future.

Journal of Applied Ecology, Oct 14, 2016

1. The boreal biome, representing approximately one third of remaining global forests, provides a... more 1. The boreal biome, representing approximately one third of remaining global forests, provides a number of crucial ecosystem services. A particular challenge in forest ecosystems is to reconcile demand for increased timber production with provisioning of other ecosystem services and biodiversity. However, there is still little knowledge about how forest management could help solve this challenge. Hence, studies that investigate how to manage forests to reduce trade-offs between ecosystem services and biodiversity are urgently needed to help forest owners and policy-makers take informed decisions. 2. We applied seven alternative forest management regimes using a forest growth simulator in a large boreal forest production landscape. First, we estimated the potential of the landscape to provide harvest revenues, store carbon and maintain biodiversity across a 50year time period. Then, we applied multiobjective optimization to identify trade-offs between these three objectives, and to identify the optimal combination of forest management regimes to achieve these objectives. 3. It was not possible to achieve high levels of either carbon storage or biodiversity if the objective of forest management was to maximize timber harvest revenues. Moreover, conflicts between biodiversity and carbon storage became stronger when simultaneously targeting high levels of timber revenues. However, with small reductions of timber revenues it was possible to greatly increase the multifunctionality of the landscape, especially the biodiversity indicators. 4. Forest management actions, alternative to business-as-usual management, such as reducing thinnings, extending the rotation period and increasing the amount of area set-aside from forestry may be necessary to safeguard biodiversity and non-timber ecosystem services in Fennoscandia. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results show that no forest management regime alone is able to maximize timber revenues, carbon storage and biodiversity individually or simultaneously, and that a combination of different regimes is needed to resolve the conflicts among these objectives. We conclude that it is possible to reduce the trade-offs between different objectives by applying diversified forest management planning at the boreal landscape-level and that we need to give up the all-encompassing objective of very intensive timber production, which is prevailing particularly in Fennoscandian countries.

Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Jun 1, 2023

Many of the intrinsic facets of forest planning are surrounded by uncertainty. Decision makers st... more Many of the intrinsic facets of forest planning are surrounded by uncertainty. Decision makers strive to improve their understanding of the sources of uncertainty and their impact on the decision-making process. However, uncertainty is rarely integrated into real-world forestry applications or into decision support tools used in forest planning problems. To identify the needs, interests, and challenges of managing uncertainty in forest planning, we interviewed forestry professionals. All the interviewees indicated the positive potential of a tool that could address some facets of uncertainty. Additionally, we conducted a review of the most recent literature on this topic to understand current hot topics and future trends that could help address real-world challenges. This study highlights the next steps to incorporate uncertainty into the decision support systems for forest planning. However, to strengthen the bond between the practical needs of forestry professionals and the theoretical approaches proposed by recent literature, more effort should be placed on defining terminology and formulating a theoretical framework for uncertainty analysis. This will provide the forestry community with a common language and typology, help increase its general understanding, and improve communication between forestry researchers, forestry professionals, and other stakeholders.

Global Change Biology, Aug 10, 2022

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Forest Ecology and Management, Dec 1, 2016

Silva Fennica, 2017

Quantifying and resolving conservation conflicts in forest landscapes via multiobjective optimiza... more Quantifying and resolving conservation conflicts in forest landscapes via multiobjective optimization.

Global Change Biology, Jul 28, 2014

ISBN 978-951-39-5783-4 (PDF) Yhteenveto: Ilmaston lämpeneminen, metsäluonnon monimuotoisuus ja lu... more ISBN 978-951-39-5783-4 (PDF) Yhteenveto: Ilmaston lämpeneminen, metsäluonnon monimuotoisuus ja luonnonsuojelun strategiat pohjoisissa metsämaisemissa Diss. Climate change represents today an important driver of species extinction the importance of which is increasing, acting in synergy with habitat destruction and fragmentation. Here, I studied the effects of climate change on the processes sustaining biodiversity in boreal forest in Finland via a forest ecosystem simulator. Furthermore I analysed the effect of management in altering these processes jointly with climate. Then I evaluated the roles of climate exposure and sensitivity in determining the vulnerability of forest species to climate change. I combined climate vulnerability with the current conservation capacity of the landscape to prioritize forest stands into categories of response to climate change for Finland. I associated each response category to adaptation measures, conservation and management actions to halt the loss of biodiversity induced by climate change. Finally I employed an optimization framework to allocate in cost-efficient way conservation and management actions in the landscape, with the goal of maximizing the habitat for biodiversity, under the assumption of long-term economic and ecological sustainability. The results of my thesis shed light on the mechanisms by which climate change and management modify habitat for forest biodiversity in boreal forest. My results predict that by the end of the 21 st century there will be both an increase in the number of winners, i.e., species associated with dead wood gaining more habitat due to higher forest growth under climate change, and of losers, i.e., species which will face reduced habitat availability as a consequence of adjusting forest management to improved forest growth. The results of the prioritization indicate that the Finnish landscape is likely to be dominated by a high proportion of sensitive and susceptible forest patches, increasing uncertainty for landscape managers in the choice of conservation strategies. However the thorough use of an optimization framework may facilitate conservation managers, when dealing with limited resources, to face the challenges imposed by climate change for sustainability.

Journal of Applied Ecology, Apr 28, 2022

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial ... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Data in Brief, Dec 1, 2016

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "Restoring hydrol... more The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "Restoring hydrology and old-growth structures in a former production forest: Modelling the long-term effects on biodiversity" (A. Mazziotta, J. Heilmann-Clausen, H. H.Bruun, Ö. Fritz, E. Aude, A.P. Tøttrup) [1]. This article describes how the changes induced by restoration actions in forest hydrology and structure alter the biodiversity value of a Danish forest reserve. The field dataset is made publicly available to enable critical or extended analyses.

Progettazione di un modello di idoneitá ambientale per la coturnice (Alectoris graeca) nella regione Lazio, 2006