The Austrian Forest Biodiversity Index: All in one

Forest biodiversity cannot be measured and monitored directly. Indicators are needed to tackle this task and must be based on scientifically valid relationships concerning different levels of biodiversity. In addition, indicators must provide tangible goals for forest policy and other relevant stakeholders. Here, we propose a single aggregated measure – the Austrian Forest Biodiversity Index (AFBI) – which is composed of different indicator values being weighed depending on their significance for the maintenance of forest species richness and genetic diversity. The AFBI consists of nine state and four response indicators. Selection of state indicators was based on the general hypothesis that forests which mimic natural conditions or are characterised by structural elements of old-growth forests maintain a high number of forest dependent species and a high genetic richness therein. Among the response indicators we considered the establishment of natural forest reserves, genetic reserve forests, seed stands and seed orchards as most relevant. Proposed operational tools, especially for state indicators, are mainly based on the Austrian forest inventory. The sum of all weighted indicator measures is rescaled as a total score that may vary from 0 to 100, so that the AFBI is simple to communicate and straightforward to apply. The AFBI gives certain weight to genetic parameters which are often neglected in previous approaches.