Interactions between windthrow, bark beetles and forest management in the Tatra national parks

- We used Landsat time series to map forest disturbances in the Tatra Mts (2003-2014).
- Classified forest disturbance maps were highly accurate (overall accuracy ∼0.95).
- Spatiotemporal dynamics of large-scale disturbances vary by type of management.
- Salvage logging lowers beetles infestations two years after the execution.
- Sanitation felling only marginally reduced beetle population.

Natural disturbances such as windthrow and bark beetle Ips typographus L. outbreak often affect protected areas with non-intervention type of management located in close proximity to managed forest stands. This raises concerns about the migration of the beetle outbreak from non-intervention zones to adjacent managed forests. In this study we analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of large-scale disturbances by intervention and non-intervention type of management in the Tatra mountains (Central Europe). We collected a time series of Landsat images from 2003 to 2014, and applied maximum likelihood classification to map the extent of forest, windthrow, clear-cuts, beetle outbreak and fire. Our classified maps achieved high overall accuracies: 0.93 ± 0.03 ⩽ OA ⩽ 0.96 ± 0.03. The extent of forest declined over the study period. We found higher rate of beetle induced tree mortality in non-intervention versus intervention zone. Within two growing seasons after the windthrow, beetle infestation occurred in close proximity to uncleared windthrow (<∼250 m), which suggest the positive effect of salvage logging (removal of windthrown trees) on lowering the risk of beetle outbreak. The two times higher sum of disturbances in intervention then in non-intervention zone indicated the limited impact of sanitation felling (removal of standing beetle infested trees) to reduce beetle population. However, sanitation felling highly contributed to the decline of the forest cover. Overall, our results document the dynamics of windthrow, bark beetle and clear-cuts by type of management, and limited impact of logging activities in reducing beetle outbreak in neighboring areas with intervention and non-intervention type of management.

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