ABSTRACT

A true “natural” forest can be dened as an idealized virgin forest condition that is unin-uenced by large-scale, systematic human activity; yet human activities have been so widespread and taken place over such a long period of time that there is probably little, if any, strictly natural forest remaining on planet Earth. Nevertheless it is a valuable exercise to reconstruct as many properties of natural forest as possible in the boreal and temperate zones to provide a reference for conservation, restoration, and silviculture and to help identify the best examples of near natural forests throughout these biomes. Near-natural forests are important research sites for both conservation biologists and silviculturalists. All silvicultural systems are modications of natural systems to a greater or lesser extent, and studies of the dynamic processes within natural forest can serve as guidelines and as sources of inspiration for the development of “close-to-nature” silvicultural systems (Bradshaw et al. 1994; Larsen and Nielsen 2007). As society and forest managers seek systems that safeguard ecosystem services such as biodiversity and minimize long-term environmental impact, it seems helpful to reexamine the concept of natural and its realization in reference sites.