Ranking the Key Forest Habitats in Ecosystem Function Provision: Case Study from Morava River Basin

Floodplain forests are considered important forest ecosystems, and providers of ecosystem functions and services. The subject of this research was to assess the level of provision of five selected ecosystem functions (climate regulation and regulation of short water cycle, biomass production, oxygen production, and carbon sequestration) and biodiversity by relevant groups of forest habitats, and their mutual comparison. Assessment of ecosystem functions was performed in biophysical units based on published data, our own research, and expert knowledge. The results showed the high importance of floodplain forests. In the majority of the services that were studied, this habitat reached high values and, in comparison with the other habitats, took one of the leading positions. When comparing the ranking in the provision of individual ecosystem functions per unit area, the best-assessed habitat in all assessed functions was floodplain and wetland forests, followed by ravine forests and beech forests, but the analysis of the rate of ecosystem function provision, related to the total area of interest, showed a different order of values. Understanding the context of the individual ecosystem functions of natural ecosystems and those close to nature, in comparison with anthropogenically altered ecosystems is a suggested route for ecologically and economically balanced landscape decision-making, which may increase the efficiency of nature and landscape protection.