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Integrative forest management attempts to simultaneously fulfill both wood production and biodiversity conservation in a given forest region, and presumably supplants the need for unmanaged forest reserves. This is the dominant management paradigm in the temperate zone of Europe, yet few studies have examined the validity of this approach. We used Slovenia as a test bed to examine how the long-term practice of integrative forest management has influenced two structural components of mature forest conditions, namely coarse woody debris (CWD) and large living trees, as well as the distribution of the White-backed Woodpecker, a species dependent on such conditions. Data were compiled from national inventory plots, coupled with separate surveys in 51 forest reserves. The mean volume of CWD and density of large beech trees across managed forests in Slovenia was 15 m 3 ha − 1 and 6 ha − 1 , respectively; these mean values were significantly higher (165 m 3 ha − 1 and 55 ha − 1 ) in old-growth reserves. CWD was primarily comprised of small diameter pieces in managed forest, whereas large diameter pieces in multiple stages of decay represented most of the volume in reserves. These results, coupled with the limited distribution of the woodpecker across the country, suggest that integrative management practiced over a large scale may be insufficient for maintaining biodiversity dependent on mature forest conditions at current levels of wood extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary forests, defined here as forests where the signs of human impacts, if any, are strongly blurred due to decades without forest management, are scarce in Europe and continue to disappear. Despite these losses, we know little about where these forests occur. Here, we present a comprehensive geodatabase and map of Europe's known primary forests. Our geodatabase harmonizes 48 different, mostly field-based datasets of primary forests, and contains 18,411 individual patches (41.1 Mha) spread across 33 countries. When available, we provide information on each patch (name, location, naturalness, extent and dominant tree species) and the surrounding landscape (biogeographical regions, protection status, potential natural vegetation, current forest extent). Using Landsat satellite-image time series (1985-2018) we checked each patch for possible disturbance events since primary forests were identified, resulting in 94% of patches free of significant disturbances in the last 30 years. Although knowledge gaps remain, ours is the most comprehensive dataset on primary forests in Europe, and will be useful for ecological studies, and conservation planning to safeguard these unique forests., (© 2021. The Author(s).)