2025/10/30 by Henrike Wild, Peter Meyer, Wild, Henrike +9
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies #FOS: Biological sciences #Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies #Tree-ring climate responses #beech and oak forests #canopy layer #climate change #deadwood #forest habitat types #tree species composition
paper · doi:10.14471/2025.45.017
openalex publication_date 2025/10/30 · openalex created_date 2025/12/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
In recent years, forests in Germany have experienced considerable disturbances, yet there is limited information on the extent to which forests within the Europe-wide Natura 2000 network of protected areas (Directive 92/43/ECC) have also been affected. However, calls for greater flexibility of the Habitats Directive to address potential climate change effects have already been made. The objective of this study was to analyze changes in selected forest habitat types by comparing current recording results with those from approximately ten years ago. We analyzed a selection of forest stands (n = 224) encompassing the forest habitat types 9110, 9130, 9170, 9180*, and 91E0* within four Natura 2000 sites in the Harz Mountains and Harz Foothills in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, and focused on stand structure and tree species composition. The following parameters were recorded and evaluated: (1) canopy layer cover, (2) large deadwood pieces per hectare, (3) tree species compo- sition and (4) vitality of selected individual trees by recording crown defoliation. The study revealed (1) a decline in the upper canopy layer cover, consisting of older and larger trees, as well as an increase in tree regeneration. In addition, (2) greater large deadwood density per hectare and (3) a change in tree species composition were observed. Our analysis indicates that (4) forest stand structure has a greater influence on crown defoliation than site characteristics. Our study shows that forest habitat types studied in the Harz region have changed significantly over the course of a decade. However, we contend that there is currently no compelling rationale to chal- lenge the protective status of the forests examined at the regional level or the delineations of forest habitat types at the European level. To effectively address climate change impacts, it is essential to ex- pand the methodological approach in the future, e.g. by incorporating satellite data into regular moni- toring activities.