20.500.12556/RUL-184136 Long-term dynamics and drivers of forest structural complexity across temperate old-growth remnants in Slovenia ABSTRACT: Forest structural complexity plays an important role in regulating forest functions and biodiversity habitat. A number of variables are known to influence structural complexity within forest stands across space, including tree species diversity and disturbance, yet less is known how such factors influence complexity over time. In temperate, old-growth forests, for example, a long-standing assumption is that continuous gap dynamics maintain relative stability in forest structure over time at stand scales, yet few datasets are available to test how this applies to structural complexity. We use permanent plot data spanning four decades to examine changes in plot-level structural complexity as a function of tree species diversity, disturbance, and tree recruitment, across a network of old-growth forest remnants in Slovenia dominated by mixtures of Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba. We modeled structural complexity as a function of time and plot-level covariates using Bayesian hierarchical generalized additive models. We found pronounced spatial and temporal variability in stand scale structural complexity. The results indicate that moderate severity disturbances play a role in driving temporal instability in structural complexity via mortality of canopy trees and subsequent recruitment of understory stems. We also found evidence linking higher structural complexity with the presence of A. alba in stands otherwise dominated by F. sylvatica. Emulating the large variation in complexity across space and time would require careful silvicultural planning, including prescriptions that mimic both small-scale gap dynamics, and use of variable retention harvesting to emulate moderate severity disturbances. beech fir forest structure intermediate disturbance permanent plot structural diversity structural heterogeneity bukev jelka zgradba gozda motnje trajna vzorčna ploskev strukturna pestrost strukturna heterogenost true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-06-30 12:22:41 2026-06-30 12:22:44 2026-07-02 03:29:36 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 10 str. art. 124041 Vol. 618 15 Oct. 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova NiDoloceno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 630*18:630*228 1872-7042 10.1016/j.foreco.2026.124041 283070723 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112726005396 1 894fcbe6-746d-11f1-9b0d-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=236654 RAZ_Fricelj_Blaz_2026.pdf RAZ_Fricelj_Blaz_2026.pdf 1 7B911A58CCE5472745ED721512B0C4BF 0e5f88aadb4603744eba8ee3c60ce90dd4f78697128b63869fbd83c8991a987b 742bd0e8-7472-11f1-9b0d-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=236656 Biotehniška fakulteta 0 0 0