Private forest owner characteristics affect European spruce bark beetle management under an extreme weather event and host tree density

De Groot, Maarten (author), Diaci, Jurij (author), Kandare, Kaja (author), Krajnc, Nike (author), Pisek, Rok (author), Ščap, Špela (author), Stare, Darja (author), Ogris, Nikica (author)

In the last few decades, an increasing number and intensity of bark beetle outbreaks have plagued the forests of Europe and North America. Bark beetle management is directly related to forest owner characteristics, although this relationship is not well understood. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of forest owner characteristics on the amount and timing of sanitary felling under different disturbance regimes and quantities of Norway spruce. We combined different databases on sanitary felling, the timing of sanitary felling, and forest owner characteristics for Slovenia from 2014 to 2018 and analyzed the amount and timing of sanitary felling in relation to forest owner characteristics. We found that the timing in winter and the amount of sanitary felling were positively associated with the distance of the owner’s residence to the forest parcel. Larger parcels were more affected by bark beetles but did not have later timing of cutting in the summer period as was hypothesized. The timing of sanitary felling decreased with property size, while with the probability of sanitary felling, the effect of property depended on the ice storm and the amount of spruce. The size of the settlement, the permanent address of the private owner, and timing of sanitary felling were positively associated but also depended on the amount of spruce. Gender and age did not have an important influence on the amount and timing of sanitary felling. Forest owners are an important factor in effective bark beetle management. This study highlights the private forest ownership characteristics that should be emphasized in order to fight bark beetle outbreaks in the event of large-scale disturbances. Governments should support forest owners who are at greater risk of bark beetle outbreaks and less efficient in managing outbreaks. Furthermore, landowner characteristics should be included when forecasting bark beetle outbreaks.

• Language: English
• Keywords: close-to-nature management, sanitary felling, Ips typographus, forest pest management, forest owner characteristics
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: 19 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 12, iss. 3, art. 346
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-125544
• UDC: 630*4:630*6
• ISSN on article: 1999-4907
• DOI: 10.3390/f12030346
• COBISS.SI-ID: 55791875
• Publication date in RUL: 31.03.2021

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Forests
• Shortened title: Forests
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1999-4907
• COBISS.SI-ID: 3872166

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 15.03.2021

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: sonaravno gospodarjenje, sanitarna sečnja, podlubniki, značilnosti lastnikov gozdov

Projects

• Funder: Other - Other funder or multiple funders
• Funding programme: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Food
• Project number: JGS
• Name: Javna gozdarska služba
• Acronym: JGS

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P4-0107
• Name: Gozdna biologija, ekologija in tehnologija