Reserves ¶

The reserves are distributed all over Switzerland with a focus in the Alps (fig 1). This allows statements to be made about the widely distributed forest types (table 1). The main focus is directed on forest types in which forests are managed – outside of the reserves – or on forests for which Switzerland bears a special responsibility in an international context. Reserves with existing data series were the preferred choice. Reserves with a mosaic-like pattern of strongly differing forest types were not considered because they are unsuitable for monitoring. We conduct intensive monitoring in 15 reserves.