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Abstract |
Forests cover one third of the land area of Germany. They are among the most important land use forms in the country and provide important ecosystem services (ESS). After centuries of human influence, only a few forests develop without human interferences. In particular, the core zones of large-scale protected areas like national parks have to be mentioned here. One characteristic feature of natural forest development is deadwood, which occurs in most managed forests only to a small extent. However, deadwood is an important factor for biodiversity and long-term health of forests and should be preserved instead of removing it (Thorn et al. 2020). The importance of deadwood for forests was also recognized in the German National Biodiversity Strategy of 2007. This also includes programs for the enrichment of deadwood in mainly commercially used forests which are often visited for recreational purposes. Thus, the question of how the general public will react to different deadwood management measures in terms of recreational behavior is of great interest. Ultimately, the goal of this research was to identify trade-offs that arise between a more biodiversity-oriented forestry and recreational values of forest. |
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