European Forest Reserves Initiative (EuFoRIa)

We compiled metadata on the forest inventories carried out on hundreds of permanent plots in primeval forests and forest reserves across Europe, with a focus to date on temperate forests. This includes data on forest type, species composition, deadwood amounts, regeneration surveys and biodiversity data such as the presence of habitat structures, fungi, birds and insects. Additionally, there is a compilation of associated data from remote sensing, and on soil and site characteristics as well as dendrochronology data.
In the framework of two projects focusing on demographic rates, we compiled a large data set of 5722 survey plots covering 8858 ha of forests and a time span from 1936 to 2020. It includes 1.2 Mio records of around 0.5 Mio trees. All permanent plots included in the data set are located in primeval forests or in forests that have been unmanaged for at least one decade, but in most cases many decades to centuries (see Käber et al. 2023, Idoate-Lacasia et al. 2025). With in the EU Horizon project WILDCARD a database is compiled at the moment.

The topic of the WILDCARD  project are rewilding approaches to solve the climate and biodiversity crises and the project is funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme. The two main rewilding approaches research is focusing on are: rewilding of abandoned agricultural lands and the halting of forest management (proforestation). The project runs from January 2024 to December 2027 and is implemented by 16 partners in 9 European countries. It was initiated by a group of EuFoRIa members and involves other members through data contracts.

Idoate-Lacasia, J., Stillhard, J., Portier, J., Bigler, C., Bugmann, H., Nagel, T.A., Casanelles-Abella, J., Käber, Y., Aakala, T., Blaschke, M., Brzeziecki, B., Carrer, M., Cateau, E., Frank, G., Fraver, S., Holik, J., Kucbel, S., Leyman, A., Meyer, P., Motta, R., Samonil, P., Seebach, L., Svoboda, M., Szwagrzyk, J., Vandekerkhove, K., Vostarek, O., Zlatanov, T., Hobi, M.L., 2025. Trends in background mortality in unmanaged forests across Europe over the last century. Journal of Ecolgy, 113, 2905-2920: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.70135

Bono, A., Alberti, G., Berretti, R., Curovic, M., Dukic, V. & Motta R. (2024). The largest European forest carbon stocks are in the Dinaric Alps old-growth forests: comparison of direct measurements and standardised approaches. Carbon Balance Manage, 19 (15). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-024-00262-4

Díaz-Yáñez, O., Käber, Y., Anders, T., Bohn, F., Kristin H. Braziunas, K. H., Brůna, J., Fischer, R., … Bugmann H. (2024). Tree Regeneration in Models of Forest Dynamics: A Key Priority for Further Research. Ecosphere, 15(3), e4807. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4807

Käber, Y., Bigler, C., HilleRisLambers, J., Hobi, M., Nagel, T.A., Aakala, T., Blaschke, M., Brang, P., Brzeziecki, B., Carrer, M., Cateau, E., Frank, G., Fraver, S., Idoate-Lacasia, J., Holik, J., Kucbel, S., Leyman, A., Meyer, P., Motta, R., Samonil, P., Seebach, L., Stillhard, J., Svoboda, M., Szwagrzyk, J., Vandekerkhove, K., Vostarek, O., Zlatanov, T., Bugmann, H., 2023. Sheltered or suppressed? Tree regeneration in unmanaged European forests. Journal of Ecolgy, 111, 2281-2295:  https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14181

Käber, Y., Hartig, F., and Bugmann, H. (2024). Inferring the tree regeneration niche from inventory data using a dynamic forest model. Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2727–2753, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2727-2024