Aims Primary forests are critical for forest biodiversity and provide key ecosystem services. In
Europe, these forests are particularly scarce and it is unclear whether they are sufficiently …

This report presents an assessment of the knowledge and documented spatial data on
primary and old-growth forests in the EU, as well as in some neighbouring countries. The …

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 …

Trees with hollows are key features sustaining biodiversity in wooded landscapes. They host
rich assemblages of often highly specialised organisms. Hollow trees, however, have …

A fundamental problem of sustainability is how to reduce the double complexity of ecological
and social systems into simple operational terms. We highlight that the conservation concept …

Context Dead wood is a key habitat for saproxylic species, which are often used as
indicators of habitat quality in forests. Understanding how the amount and spatial distribution …

Context Small forest fragments are often the most abundant type of semi-natural habitat in
intensive agricultural landscapes. Wild pollinators can use these forest patches as nesting or …

Retention of structural elements such as deadwood and habitat trees at the level of forest
stands has been promoted to integrate biodiversity conservation into multiple‐use forest …

The COST Action BOTTOMS-UP (CA18207: https://www. bottoms-up. eu/en/) took up the
challenge to increase the degree of sustainability of European temperate forest …

The frequent occurrence of very large trees (diameter at breast height DBH≥ 80 cm) is a
typical element of both primary and secondary old-growth forests. We analyzed the …