Over the last 25 years, the prominent forest certification system established by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has used by many companies worldwide for claiming responsible forest management. The objectives of the Russian National FSC standard to decrease the size of clearcuts and the retention of forest elements such as residual seed trees need on-site validation to proof the effectiveness of FSC. To assess the ecological impacts of harvesting practices and benefits of FSC certification, we geospatially compared logging activities with and without FSC certification. Within a sample area covering approximately 3,000 km2 in the east of the Russian Arkhangelsk Region, we used available data on tree cover loss and satellite images to assess secondary impacts of clearcuttings on adjacent remnant forests and to quantify the logging intensity. Additionally, the size and structure as well as the density of skidding trails of ten specific clearcuttings located within the sample area were surveyed using satellite images and in the field observation to delineate the boundaries of clearcuts and forested remnants within the clearcuts. We found a significant increase of small-scale tree cover loss in the proximity of the clearcuts. Patchy dieback is possibly linked to the scale and intensity of logging in the surroundings. On the investigated clearcuts, FSC failed to reduce the size, to increase the retention of forest remnants including seed trees on logged areas, and to maintain larger tracts of undisturbed ground and soil compared to clearcuts that were logged before they received FSC-certification. Trees and forest remnants remaining inside an increasingly stressed forest ecosystem matrix may not resist further harvesting-related and climate change-induced stresses and disturbances. Large-scale clearcuttings seem to have negative impacts even in adjacent forests and undermine the ecological effectiveness of FSC certification in the study area. The Russian FSC standard is not clearly setting effective guidelines that induce a change in clearcutting practices in order to reduce ecological risks.

中文翻译：

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砍伐和相关的次生枯萎破坏了北方森林中FSC认证的生态有效性

在过去的25年中，由森林管理委员会（FSC）建立的著名森林认证体系已被全球许多公司用于要求负责任的森林管理。俄罗斯国家FSC标准的目标是减少砍伐面积和保留剩余种子树等森林元素，需要现场验证以证明FSC的有效性。为了评估采伐方式对生态的影响以及FSC认证的好处，我们在地理空间上比较了有无FSC认证的伐木活动。在俄罗斯阿尔汉格尔斯克州以东约3,000 km2的一个样本区域内，我们使用了树木覆盖率损失和卫星图像的可用数据来评估砍伐森林对邻近残余森林的次要影响并量化伐木强度。此外，还使用卫星图像和在野外观察中对位于样本区域内的十个特定清除林的大小，结构以及集材径进行了调查，以划定清除林和清除林内残余物的边界。我们发现，在伐木区附近，小规模树木的覆盖率显着增加。斑驳的枯萎可能与环境中伐木的规模和强度有关。与已获得FSC认证之前进行采伐的伐木相比，在所调查的伐木上，FSC未能减小尺寸，没有增加伐木区的森林残余物（包括种子树）的保留，并保持了大片未受干扰的地面和土壤。在日益紧张的森林生态系统矩阵中残留的树木和森林残留物可能无法抵抗与采伐有关的以及气候变化引起的压力和干扰。大规模的砍伐似乎对相邻森林也有负面影响，并且破坏了研究区域FSC认证的生态有效性。俄罗斯FSC标准并未明确规定有效的准则，这些准则可导致改变明晰的做法以降低生态风险。