Fig. 1

Forested landscapes typically represent a wide range in harvesting intensities, from strictly protected reserves to intensively managed plantations harvested on short rotation. However, harvested forests include also forests that are selectively logged, where the majority of the stand remains intact. Hence comparisons between protected or unharvested forests and harvested forests (e.g. Paillet et al. 2010) can only be regarded as a rough analytical approach, unless the type and intensity of management is comparable in the harvested forests. In addition, in this type of comparison, much valuable information related to the impact of different degrees of harvesting intensity is lost. Alternative analytical approaches quantify management intensity across the whole range of forest types from strictly protected reserves to intensively managed stands, e.g. Kahl and Bauhus (2014) or Schall and Ammer (2013). These approaches consider that management intensity is different from harvesting intensity and that therefore currently unharvested areas may be still influenced by a legacy of management in the past