Past and present pressures on forest resources have led to a drastic decrease in the surface
area of unmanaged forests in Europe. Changes in forest structure, composition, and …

This paper aims at reviewing the ecological effects of windthrow and the processes by which
the structure and composition of the boreal forest are affected. The windthrow problem has …

The extensive literature on natural disturbance in forests is reviewed in terms of the
hypotheses:(1) that disturbance is a major force moulding the development, structure and …

Small-scale gap disturbance in forests is reviewed. Caused by the death of individual or
multiple trees with subsequent fall from the canopy, gaps have been extensively studied in …

Understory vegetation is the most diverse and least understood component of North
American boreal forests. Understory communities are important as they act as drivers of …

The reviewed studies indicate that small-scale gap disturbance and gap regeneration can
be common in boreal forests that have escaped catastrophic fire disturbance for prolonged …

Foresters have traditionally managed forests with silvicultural systems that prescribe stand
homogeneity for optimized tree growth. The primacy of timber as the dominant objective is …

What maintains plant species diversity has been the subject of much debate with no general
consensus. In forest ecosystems in which understory plants account for the majority of …

Natural swamp forests are extremely rare in Sweden because of extensive drainage and
logging activities. This study reports a total of 517 species (148 vascular plants, 131 mosses …

This study presents an alternative treatment of data from a comprehensive vegetation study
in which the main gradient structure of boreal coniferous forest vegetation in southern …