Estimates of historical disturbance patterns are essential to guide forest management aimed at ensuring the sustainability of ecosystem functions and biodiversity. However, quantitative estimates of various disturbance characteristics required in management applications are rare in longer-term historical studies. Thus, our objectives were to (1) quantify past disturbance severity, patch size, and stand proportion disturbed and (2) test for temporal and subregional differences in these characteristics. We developed a comprehensive dendrochronological method to evaluate an approximately two-century-long disturbance record in the remaining Central and Eastern European primary mountain spruce forests, where wind and bark beetles are the predominant disturbance agents. We used an unprecedented large-scale nested design data set of 541 plots located within 44 stands and 6 subregions. To quantify individual disturbance events, we used tree-ring proxies, which were aggregated at plot and stand levels by smoothing and detecting peaks in their distributions. The spatial aggregation of disturbance events was used to estimate patch sizes. Data exhibited continuous gradients from low- to high-severity and small- to large-size disturbance events. In addition to the importance of small disturbance events, moderate-scale (25-75% of the stand disturbed, >10 ha patch size) and moderate-severity (25-75% of canopy disturbed) events were also common. Moderate disturbances represented more than 50% of the total disturbed area and their rotation periods ranged from one to several hundred years, which is within the lifespan of local tree species. Disturbance severities differed among subregions, whereas the stand proportion disturbed varied significantly over time. This indicates partially independent variations among disturbance characteristics. Our quantitative estimates of disturbance severity, patch size, stand proportion disturbed, and associated rotation periods provide rigorous baseline data for future ecological research, decisions within biodiversity conservation, and silviculture intended to maintain native biodiversity and ecosystem functions. These results highlight a need for sufficiently large and adequately connected networks of strict reserves, more complex silvicultural treatments that emulate the natural disturbance spectrum in harvest rotation times, sizes, and intensities, and higher levels of tree and structural legacy retention.

Department of Forest Ecology Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Kamýcká 129 Praha 6 Suchdol Prague 165 00 Czech Republic

Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources University of Ljubljana Večna pot 83 Ljubljana 1000 Slovenia

Division of Biological Sciences W A Franke College of Forestry and Conservation University of Montana Missoula Montana 59812 USA

Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Kamýcká 129 Praha 6 Suchdol Prague 165 00 Czech Republic

Faculty of Forestry Ukrainian National Forestry University Gen Chuprynka 103 Lviv 790 57 Ukraine

Marin Drăcea National Research Development Institute in Forestry Station Câmpulung Moldovenesc Calea Bucovinei 73b Câmpulung Moldovenesc Suceava 725100 Romania

North West German Forest Research Institute Grätzelstrasse 2 Göttingen D 37079 Germany

PRALES Odtrnovie 563 Rosina SK 01322 Slovakia

Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava Universităţii 13 Suceava 720229 Romania

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL Zürcherstrasse 111 Birmensdorf CH 8903 Switzerland

Technical University in Zvolen T G Masaryka 24 Zvolen 96053 Slovakia

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Natural disturbance impacts on trade-offs and co-benefits of forest biodiversity and carbon

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Dryad
10.5061/dryad.08kprr507