Habitatbäume im Wirtschaftswald: ökologisches Potenzial und finanzielle Folgen für den Betrieb

Abstract Habitat trees are important elements to maintain forest biodiversity. An effective way to provide habitats for species depending on old growth structures may be the conservation of a certain number of habitat trees integrated in managed forests. It has been suggested to maintain at least five such habitat trees per hectare for this purpose. In order to evaluate the number of existing potential trees as well as the financial consequences for the forest owner, we sampled all trees greater than 40 centimetres at breast height on sample plots of the forest inventory in the forest of Baden, Switzerland. Based on a catalogue of important traits of old trees which are important for the survival of five groups of organisms (insects, birds, bats, lichen, fungi), we assessed the ecological value of all trees. We also estimated their economic value in terms of net wood value for each tree. Results show that the conservation of five currently existing habitat trees per hectare would cause significant financi...