Swedish Forest Agency: Selective cutting supports biodiversity

The Swedish Forest Agency (Skogsstyrelsen) concludes in a research overview on how continuous-cover forestry affects biodiversity that selective harvests—i.e., selective cutting (plockhuggning)—tend to leave forests with a species composition broadly similar to untouched forests.

The report also discusses comparative studies between stands managed with selective cutting and stands that were final felled. Species groups that particularly benefit in selectively cut stands include lichens and ground fungi (including common edible mushrooms). In these studies, their occurrence in selectively cut stands was comparable to untouched stands, while declines were pronounced in final-felled stands that had undergone site preparation—something done after most final fellings. Site preparation is not needed to the same extent with selective cutting, since the canopy suppresses competing vegetation.

The biggest difference between untouched forests and selectively cut forests is the occurrence of species that depend on large old trees and dead wood in different stages of decay. In selectively cut forests, the largest trees are gradually removed over time, while they remain in untouched stands. However, this can be compensated for by retaining “forever trees” (evighetsträd), just as in clearcut forestry (trakthyggesbruk).

Finally, the Swedish Forest Agency notes that species which require continuous tree cover—i.e., the presence of trees with retained canopy cover—benefit from selective cutting.

Read the full overview here: https://www.skogsstyrelsen.se/nyhetslista/unik-kunskapssammanstallning-hyggesfritt-minskar-paverkan-pa-biologisk-mangfald/

For forest owners who want to manage their forest in a way that’s sustainable—economically and ecologically—the research points in the same direction as Hyggligt. Selective cutting is a way forward. By creating and maintaining a multi-layered structure, you create the conditions for a living ecosystem and stable timber removals over time.