The ghost of forest past — natural disturbance regimes as a basis for reconstruction of biologically diverse forests in Europe

Abstract

Europe stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural mountains, and the forests of Europe range from the Mediterranean evergreen forests to the temperate deciduous forests in central Europe, and the boreal coniferous forest in the north (Mayer, 1984). The greatest single factor in the evolution of European civilization has been the removal and modification of the forests that once covered most of the European continent (Brouwer et al., 1991; Patterson and Backman, 1988; Thirgood, 1989). However, the uses of the forests of Europe have a very complex history, and the duration of impacts varies greatly among different regions. Alteration, fragmentation and loss of natural forest habitats and landscapes started in the Middle East (Hobbs and Hopkins, 1990). In the central parts of Europe, forests have been thoroughly altered for more than 5000 years (Amman, 1988; Anderberg, 1991; Rackham, 1988; Berglund, 1991; Jahn, 1991) and most of the present agricultural areas were colonized not later than during the medieval period (Birks et al., 1988; Dodgshon, 1988; Jahn, 1991). At the other extreme, the clearing of original forest habitats both for agricultural purposes and for timber is only now being carried out in the boreal forests of northern Russia.