TY - JOUR
T1 - Changes in planned and unplanned canopy openings are linked in Europe’s forests
AU - Seidl, Rupert
AU - Senf, Cornelius
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/12
Y1 - 2024/12
N2 - Canopy openings are increasing in Europe’s forests, yet the contributions of anthropogenic and ecological agents of disturbance to this increase remain debated. Here we attribute the root cause of all stand-replacing canopy disturbances identified for Europe in the period 1986–2020 from Landsat data (417,000 km²), distinguishing between planned and unplanned canopy openings (i.e., disturbance by human land use versus by wind, bark beetles, and wildfire). We show that canopy openings by humans dominate the European forest disturbance regime, accounting for 82% of the area disturbed. Both planned and unplanned canopy openings increased in the early 21st century (+24% and +30% relative to the late 20th century). Their changes are linked, with simultaneous increases in planned and unplanned canopy openings on 68% of Europe’s forest area. We conclude that an important direction for tackling disturbance change in policy and management is to break the link between planned and unplanned canopy openings in Europe’s forests.
AB - Canopy openings are increasing in Europe’s forests, yet the contributions of anthropogenic and ecological agents of disturbance to this increase remain debated. Here we attribute the root cause of all stand-replacing canopy disturbances identified for Europe in the period 1986–2020 from Landsat data (417,000 km²), distinguishing between planned and unplanned canopy openings (i.e., disturbance by human land use versus by wind, bark beetles, and wildfire). We show that canopy openings by humans dominate the European forest disturbance regime, accounting for 82% of the area disturbed. Both planned and unplanned canopy openings increased in the early 21st century (+24% and +30% relative to the late 20th century). Their changes are linked, with simultaneous increases in planned and unplanned canopy openings on 68% of Europe’s forest area. We conclude that an important direction for tackling disturbance change in policy and management is to break the link between planned and unplanned canopy openings in Europe’s forests.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85195244032&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-024-49116-0
DO - 10.1038/s41467-024-49116-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 38834542
AN - SCOPUS:85195244032
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 15
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 4741
ER -