An ecological response framework for post-disturbance deadwood management

Various options for post-disturbance management exist, from complete clearing to no intervention, but their pros and cons in the context of multifunctional forest management remain unresolved. In their new article in Ecology and Evolution, Martin Zwanzig, Xinying Zhou and further co-authors from the interdisciplinary 'ResEt-Fi' consortium jointly present the rationale behind different deadwood management strategies, the nested experimental design of their cross-regional field trial, as well as the envisioned ecological response framework, upscaling approaches, and future perspectives.

Putzenlechner, B.*, Zwanzig, M.*, Bässler, C., Bernhardt-Römermann, M., Ebert, J., Grieger, S., Koal, P., Oechler, H., Peter, D., Profft, I., Spalek, S., Steinebrunner, F., Tischer, A., Thorn, S., Wehnert, A., Zhou, X., Huth, F.: Reforestation under climate change - a cross-regional deadwood retention experiment to develop multifunctional forests on disturbed Norway spruce areas. Ecology and Evolution 16, no. 9: e74357. (*shared first authors)

The article is a 'Registered Report', which also contains a predefined analysis pipeline for a follow-up integrative data analysis intended to resolve the joint ecosystem responses to deadwood retention treatments within the first 3 years after implementation of the field trial. Much more detailed empirical findings are currently being published in parallel by doctoral students and project leaders of the ResEt-Fi project, and an integrative analysis will follow shortly thereafter!