Authors: Tarčak, Sonja; Župunski, Milan;Borišev, Milan;

Conservation of forests in Serbia almost entirely relies on protected areas where biodiversity preservation and wood production are simultaneous goals. The real outcomes of this strategy, however, are still under question. The present work examined the ecological impacts of logging in the national park “Fruška gora”. We analysed whether and how plant species and functional composition varies with gradient of logging intensity over the period of 20 years. Spatial and temporal changes in forest cover were analyzed by means of remote sensing techniques. Functional composition maps were generated through up-scaling of in situ data on functional traits of dominant tree species. Logging intensity gradient was obtained through forest canopy density model. Linear mixed models were used to analyse the influence of logging intensity on functional composition. Results show intensification of logging in the national park from 1994 to 2015, with effect on changes in functional composition. Significant effect occurred when forest canopy density lowered from > 65% to 50-65%. Functional composition changed towards species with more acquisitive traits, largely driven by expansion of more competitive species Tilia tomentosa. We argue that current management practice in forest protected areas may not be supportive of conservation goals.