Forest ecosystem services potential, synergies and trade-offs three decades after forest dieback in the Western Sudetes (Poland)

Forest ecosystems provide innumerable services to society and are especially important for biodiversity. An increase in the risk for abiotic (e.g. fires) and biotic (e.g. insect outbreaks) disturbances due to climate change, as well as changes in the age and species structure of forest stands following post-disturbance recovery, may reduce the stability of the stands and compromise their capacity to provide services. In this study, we examined the potential for and interrelationships of ecosystem services in the mountainous forest regions of the Western Sudetes (Poland), which experienced widespread spruce dieback in the 1980s and have since undergone ecological restoration through forest management. Eight ecosystem services (forest stand volume, timber harvesting, potential honey production, potential berry production, carbon storage in forests, erosion risk mitigation, relative pollination potential and suitability of forest stands for recreation) were quantified and their geographic distribution and spatial interconnections analysed. Results identified three distinct ecosystem services clusters, each characterised by specific combinations of ecosystem services and spatial patterns and primarily affected by forest stand age and species composition: ‘wood & carbon’, ‘pollinators’ and ‘multifunctional’. These findings indicate that forest management strategies promoting structural and compositional diversity at the landscape scale can enhance the potential of forest stands to provide different ecosystem services. Notably, our methodology applies a set of indicators and data sources that support its transferability to other regions.