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1. Forest management determines to a large degree the three‐dimensional arrangement of the vegetation in production forest systems and hence has an essential influence on habitat quality for wildlife. We investigated the effects of forest structure on occurrence, activity and species composition of European bats, an ecologically important group of vertebrates known to be affected by the physical clutter of vegetation.

2. Species composition and activity of bats were assessed with acoustic monitoring on 50 one‐hectare experimental plots in a biosphere reserve in Germany. Three‐dimensional forest structure was assessed by Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and a set of 20 mathematically derived and fine‐grained structural parameters with a minimum of collinearity was used for a quantitative description of the vegetation structure.

3. Occurrence and activity of bats were positively associated with the …