Abstract
We will study the relationship between forest productivity and biodiversity. In the implementation of international agreements and in development of forest certification standards and strategies for reserve selection, it is important to know to what extent biodiversity is preserved while protecting forests of different productivity. We are especially interested in low-productive forests, since they have been excluded from previous studies of forest biodiversity. We will study species groups and structures negatively affected by forest management by using data from the National Forest Inventory and by complementing an extensive field survey of dead wood, lichens, and beetles in central Sweden. We will make comparisons between productivity levels and between managed/unmanaged forests regarding the amount of structures, species richness, species composition, and population sizes, both per forest area and as a total in entire regions. Furthermore, we will see to what extent unmanaged low-productive forest constitute a green infrastructure, affecting species composition in managed forest landscapes. If so, this may have consequences for whether certain conservation efforts should be conducted close to unmanaged, low-productive forests.
Sweden