EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - UNESCO World Heritage

160 NOMINATION DOSSIER "ANCIENT BEECH FORESTS OF GERMANY"
Visitor routing with plankways in
Serrahn
the biodiversity of subnatural beech forests.
Especially Germany, being the heartland of
beech dis tribution, has plenty of dead beech
wood that fails to decompose rapidly due
to the geographic position, which is characterised
by cool temperate climate. For this
reason, both the dead wood volumes and
degrees of decomposition are monitored.
Large dead wood volumes and the wood being
rapidly converted upon ground contact
account for the signifi cance of the dead
wood for the nutrient regime in beech forests,
substantially aff ecting biodiversity.
Closeness to nature is an expression of functional
ecological cycles with a maximum
of structural and biological diversity. Th e
closeness to nature is to be comparatively
rated for all nominated component parts
applying a both ecological and monitoringcompatible
methodology (BUCHEN-
WALDINSTITUT in BUBLITZ 2005
and SCHNEIDER 2008). Degrees of
closeness to nature are rated according to
defi ned characteristics specifi c for natural
and / or primeval beech forests, with the
primary parameters being population
structure, dynamics, and dead wood quantities.
Biocoenoses and species
Representative sample areas within the
territories are intensively monitored for biodiversity
already today, with monitoring
intervals being based on the specifi c re quirements
of the species, i.e. their temporal
and spatial variability. Ground vegetation as
well as the relevant natural forest indicators
and endangered species of the natural
beech forests are surveyed in six-year
cycles. Typical bird indicator species in beech
forests are monitored at annual intervals
and evaluated in six-year cycles. Mammals
are also monitored periodically. According
to European legislation, particularly relevant
species are subject to intensifi ed surveillance
(EU Habitats Directive).
Th e species inventory is monitored on an
ongoing basis, e.g. in order to determine
the repopulation by plant or animal species
as well as the development of their populations.
Th is does not only apply to invasive
animals and plants but also to the natural
reconstitution of biocoenoses (e.g. wildcat,
lynx). Species and population fi gures are
determined and the impact e.g. of the
damage to the forest community caused by
game animals are monitored already today
within the scope of wildlife monitoring.
Tourism-related parameters
Th e registration of visitor numbers, hiking
trail development, and the touristic infrastructure
in the nominated component parts
provides important index numbers for
the sites to be acknowledged while also
documenting the eff ects of tourism on the
area.