Decision support system for studying effect of forest management on species richness in boreal forests

In this study we developed a decision support system for evaluating the effects of forest management on stand structure and wildlife species. The elements of the decision support system are an ecological simulation model and a data management system. In boreal forests, decaying wood is important from the standpoint of biological diversity. Many organisms, such as saproxylic beetles and polypores, live in decaying wood. The structure of a forest determines which species select it as a habitat, because the habitat requirements vary between species. In this study, the stand structure includes living and dead trees, their diameter distribution by tree species and the stage of decay. Forest management strongly modifies stand structure. We used the simulation model to investigate the stand structure and databases on the habitat requirements of beetle and polypore species to assess the number of species in a stand. We tested our system with four management examples and compared the results to experimental results. Both our study and the experimental results showed that intensive forest management decreases the number of large deciduous trees in boreal forests and therefore reduces the number of beetle and polypore species.