Ancient woodlands: modern threats

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Conservation Biology
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Long-established forests, wood-pastures, and savannas globally face numerous adverse influences.
• Human impacts have shaped these ecosystems throughout the Holocene, complicating conservation goals for 'virgin forests'.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and discuss the diverse adverse influences on established forest and savanna ecosystems.
• To identify present and future threats, considering both increasing and decreasing human activities.

Main Methods:

• This study is a review, synthesizing existing knowledge on ecological threats.
• It examines a broad range of human-induced and natural factors affecting forest and savanna health.

Main Results:

• Key threats include habitat destruction, fragmentation, pollution, altered fire regimes, invasive species, climate change, and disease spread.
• The severity of threats is highly variable and context-dependent.
• Withdrawal of traditional human activities can also negatively impact ecosystems.

Conclusions:

• Recovering pristine 'virgin forests' is a complex and potentially unrealistic conservation objective.
• The globalization of plant diseases represents the most serious long-term threat to forest and savanna ecosystems worldwide.