Special Forms of Forest Use and Their Impacts
In addition to high forest management, there have been fundamentally different forms of forest use, particularly in earlier centuries: coppiced forest and middle forest management, as well as pastoral forests (= “Hutewälder”). The latter were not only subject to limited wood extraction but also grazed by cattle, goats, sheep, and especially pigs and basically represent an ancient agroforestry system Pastoral forest result in the transformation of forests into more or less open woodlands, characterized by distinct transitions between open land and closed forest. This transformation is achieved through tree cutting every 20-30 years, while retaining individual "overstorey" trees or managing the grazing. Such managed forests host diverse communities due to their semi-shaded transitional nature, which accommodates species from both open land and woodlands.
Many critically endangered, protected by law species listed in Habitats Directive Annexes II and IV are categorized as so called "light forest species," (=”Lichtwaldarten”) meaning they thrive in structurally diverse, well-lit forests (see Müller, 2015; BfN: bfn.de/arten). These species are adapted to dynamic, light-filled habitats that occur during specific stages of forest succession or through certain land-use practices. However, these conditions are challenging to maintain within typical forest management frameworks, and attempts to replicate them—such as through targeted clearings or selective cutting—are often labor- and cost-intensive. Critically endangered xylobiont beetles, including Cerambyx cerdo, Rosalia alpina, and Lucanus cervus, fall into this category. While they depend on abundant dead wood, they thrive in sunlit, open forest environments (BfN: bfn.de/arten). The lady’s slipper orchid (Cypripedium calceolus) is another classic "light forest species," site conditions with light levels between 20% and 40% of total irradiated sunlight in southern Germany (see Brunzel & Sommer, 2016). Even more notable is the preference for light forest conditions among many moth species listed in the Habitats Directive and Red Lists, especially those experiencing significant population declines. Species like Coenonympha hero, Euphydryas maturna, Satyrium ilicis, and Eriogaster catax depend on a mosaic of habitats, ranging from open land to lightly wooded areas. Consequently, most of the remaining populations of these species are located in areas where either middle forest management or coppicing is still practiced or where structures of pastoral forest woodland grazing (“Hutewald”) were maintained (Dolek et al., 2018; Reinhardt et al., 2020; BfN: bfn.de/arten).
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Sources
Brunzel, S., & Sommer, M. (2016): Conservation Measures for the Lady's Slipper Orchid: Improving the Conservation Status of Cypripedium calceolus. Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning, 48(4), 114-121.
Dolek, M., Kőrösi, Á., & Freese-Hager, A. (2018): Successful Maintenance of Lepidoptera through Government-Funded Management of Coppiced Forests. Journal for Nature Conservation, 43, 75-84.
Müller, J. (2015): Process Protection and Biodiversity: Surprises and Lessons from the Bavarian Forest. Nature and Landscape, 90, 421-425.
Reinhardt, R., Harpke, A., Caspari, S., Dolek, M., Kühn, E., Musche, M., Trusch, R., Wiemers, M., & Settele, J. (2020): Distribution Atlas of Day-Flying Butterflies and Burnet Moths in Germany. Ulmer, 428 pages.