Abstract

Repeated fertilization of forests to increase biomass production is an environmentally controversial proposal, the effects of which we assessed on breeding birds in stands of young Norway spruce (Picea abies), in an intensively managed forest area in southern Sweden. Our results show that fertilized stands had 38% more species and 21% more individuals than unfertilized stands. Compared with stands under traditional management, the further intensification of forestry by repeated applications of fertilizers thus seemed to enhance species richness and abundance of forest birds. We cannot conclude at this stage whether the response in the bird community was caused by changes in food resources or increased structural complexity in the forest canopy due to the skid roads used for the application of the fertilizers. Future studies should focus on structural and compositional effects of fertilization processes during the entire rotation period and at assessing its effects in a landscape context.

Keywords

Intensive forestry; Fertilization; Birds; Biodiversity; Norway spruce

Published in

AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment
2011, Volume: 40, number: 5, pages: 521-527
Publisher: SPRINGER

SLU Authors

• Edenius, Lars

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Mikusinski, Grzegorz

  • School for Forest Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Bergh, Johan

  • Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns


UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-011-0137-5

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/58737