Rasmus Astrup
Head of Research
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Klemens Schadauer Rasmus Astrup Johannes Breidenbach Jonas Fridman Stephan Gräber Michael Köhl Kari T. Korhonen Vivian Kvist Johannsen Francois Morneau Risto Päivinen Thomas RiedelAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Forest age structure is one of the most important ecological indicators of forest sustainability in terms of biodiversity, forest history, harvesting potentials, carbon storage, and recreational values. The available information on the forest age is most often stand age from forest management plans or national forest inventories. Depending on the definition, stand age is often not a good indicator for the biological age of the dominant trees in a stand. Here, we used 6,998 increment cores from dominant Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) sampled on National Forest Inventory (NFI) plots throughout Norway to gain a better understanding of the age structure of Norway spruce and Scots pine stands in Norway, and on the relationship between the recorded stand age and the biological age of dominant trees on the NFI plots. In forest with stand ages indicating that the stand was established after the abandonment of selective harvesting in favor of even-aged management dominated by clear-cutting methods (ca.1940 C.E.), we found no systematic difference between the biological age of the sampled trees and the stand age assessed by the NFI. In older stands, there was a large difference between the stand age and the age of the overstory trees with the sampled age trees occasionally being hundreds of years older than the stand age. Our study also reveals that the area of forest with old Norway spruce and Scots pine trees ≥ 160 years old is considerably higher than the corresponding area estimate based on information derived from the stand age only. These results are important as the stand age is often used to characterize status with respect to forest naturalness, biodiversity, guide protection efforts, and describe the appropriate and allowed management activities.
Division of Forest and Forest Resources
PathFinder
Towards an Integrated Consistent European LULUCF Monitoring and Policy Pathway Assessment Framework
Division of Forest and Forest Resources
SFI SmartForest: Bringing Industry 4.0 to the Norwegian forest sector
SmartForest will position the Norwegian forest sector at the forefront of digitalization resulting in large efficiency gains in the forest sector, increased production, reduced environmental impacts, and significant climate benefits. SmartForest will result in a series of innovations and be the catalyst for an internationally competitive forest-tech sector in Norway. The fundamental components for achieving this are in place; a unified and committed forest sector, a leading R&D environment, and a series of progressive data and technology companies.