Plenter forests, also known as uneven-aged or continuous cover forests enhance forest resilience and resistance against disturbances compared to even-aged forests. They are considered as an adaptation option to mitigate climate change effects. In this study, we present a conceptual approach to determine the potentially suitable area for plenter forest management within central European mixed species forests and apply our approach to the case study area in Styria, the south-eastern Province of Austria. The concept is based on ecological and technical-economic constraints and considers expected future climate conditions and its impact on plenter forest management. For each 1 ​ha forest pixel, we assess the ecological conditions for plenter forest management according to the autecological growth conditions of silver fir, and at least one additional shade tolerant tree species. The technical-economic constraints are defined by slope (≤30%) and distance to the next forest road (≤100 ​m) to ensure cost-efficient harvesting. The results show that under current climate conditions 28.1% or 305,349 ​ha of the forests in Styria are potentially suitable for plenter forest management. For the years 2071–2100 and under the climate change scenario RCP 4.5, the potential area decreases to 286,098 ​ha (26.3% of the total forest area) and for the scenario RCP 8.5 to 208,421 ​ha (19.1% of the total forest area). The main reason for these changes is the unfavourable growing conditions for silver fir in the lowlands, while in the higher elevations silver fir is likely to expand. Our results may serve forest managers to identify areas suitable for plenter forests and assist in the transformation of even-aged pure forests to uneven-aged forests to increase resistance, resilience, and biodiversity under climate change.

中文翻译：

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确定适合种植林管理的地区


与偶龄林相比，普耕林，也称为不均匀树龄或连续覆盖林，可增强森林的复原力和抗干扰能力。它们被认为是减轻气候变化影响的一种适应选择。在这项研究中，我们提出了一种概念性方法，以确定中欧混交林中可能适合种植林的区域，并将我们的方法应用于奥地利东南部省份施蒂利亚州的案例研究区域。该概念基于生态和技术经济限制，并考虑了预期的未来气候条件及其对普兰特森林管理的影响。对于每 1 公顷森林像素，我们根据银冷杉的自生态生长条件和至少一种额外的耐阴树种评估 plenter 森林管理的生态条件。技术经济限制由坡度 （≤30%） 和到下一条林道的距离 （≤100 m） 定义，以确保经济高效的采伐。结果表明，在目前的气候条件下，施蒂利亚州 28.1% 或 305,349 公顷的森林可能适合进行 plent 森林管理。在 2071-2100 年以及气候变化情景 RCP 4.5 下，潜在面积减少到 286,098 公顷（占森林总面积的 26.3%），而 RCP 情景减少到 8.5 至 208,421 公顷（占森林总面积的 19.1%）。这些变化的主要原因是低地银杉的生长条件不利，而在高海拔地区，银杉可能会扩大。 我们的结果可能有助于森林管理者确定适合种植林的区域，并协助将均匀树龄的纯林转变为不均匀树龄的森林，以提高气候变化下的抵抗力、复原力和生物多样性。