| The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of climate change on native and non-native tree species and thus on the current and future management of forests. The risks of growing non-native tree species in and adjacent to protected areas from the perspective of nature conservation, as well as the opportunities of these tree species on forest sites threatened by climate change from the perspective of forestry, were identified, quantified and evaluated. This evaluation serves as a basis for recommendations for action coordinated between forestry and nature conservation, which can be used by the BML and the forestry and nature conservation departments of the federal states as a fact-based basis for decision-making.
In the study, risks and potentials of the introduction (cultivation) of non-native tree species were investigated under forest ecological, biodiversity-relevant and functional aspects in Austria’s forests. The research results contribute to the collection of data on forest ecosystem services such as erosion, water, biodiversity, and climate protection. Through the project, technical tools were developed to support silvicultural and conservation problem solving: e.g. the identification of risk areas, the generation of maps of potential growing areas of non-native tree species based on the forest ecosystem service maps or forest functional deficit maps and the climatic growing potential of non-native tree species. |