The Holocene structure of north-west European temperate forest induced from palaeoecological data

Several threatened forest species are currently associated with semiopen, 'wood-pasture' conditions and do not thrive in present-day, nonintervention temperate forests of north-western Europe. We assess the changing importance through time of five disturbance agencies that open forest canopies and induce the past structure of these forests. The influence of browsing and grazing animals has varied through time, but was most intense from domestic animals during recent centuries. The role of large ungulates on forest structure during the early Holocene was negligible. Fires of both natural and anthropogenic origin have been of importance in the past, but have now virtually ceased. Past effects of waterlogging have been severely reduced by drainage schemes. Wind-throw has been a relatively constant factor through time, while anthropogenic influence has dominated forest structure, particularly during recent centuries. 'Natural' forest structure is probably more open and varied than found in present-day, non-intervention, reference forests, due to variable combinations of these disturbance agencies.