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The knowledge about the impact of selection silviculture on deadwood components is fairly scarce. This study compared two Dinaric old-growth forests (OGFs) with adjacent managed forests (MFs) in which the single-tree selection system has been applied for a century. The comparisons were made in terms of the current amounts of coarse woody debris (CWD), distribution of its decay stages, and diameter structure of different CWD types (snags, logs, stumps). The relationship between the volume of live and dead trees was also examined. In both OGFs and MFs, the most snags were found in the third decay stage, while the volume of logs and stumps increased from the first to fifth decay class. The study showed the clear advantage of OGFs over adjacent selection MFs in terms of CWD volume, whereas the basal area of live trees and growing stock were not always reliable indicators for distinguishing between MFs and OGFs. The diameter distribution of individual CWD types (snags, logs, stumps) also differed significantly between selection MFs and OGFs in all tested pairs. This fact, along with the significant differences in CWD volume, indicates that selection silviculture should be amended to incorporate practices that ensure more natural management of deadwood components.

The conservation of ecological processes should be recognized as a further and most vital step in the conservation movement, going beyond species and habitat preservation. This cannot be achieved without a comprehensive understanding of the operation of ecosystems as dynamic entities. Presently, our knowledge of particular ecosystems is inadequate for the  detailed conservation management of ecological patterns and processes. In view of the exponentially increasing threats to natural and semi-natural ecosystems, it is imperative to ensure long term, systematic  monitoring and experimental manipulation of ecological processes, and to integrate dynamic process­ oriented   thinking   as  part  of  any  conservation, management or development programme.  These are the major challenges facing both  ecologists and conservationists.

The papers in this special section address the use of geodiversity as a coarse filter strategy for conserving biodiversity. A coarse filter strategy conserves representative samples of broadly defined environments as a way to conserve most species. However, geodiversity first entered conservation planning for its own sake, not for its ability to support biodiversity. For example, the first national park in the world (Yellowstone [established 1872]), the second national park in the US (Yosemite [1890]), Canada’s first national park (Banff [1885]), and New Zealand’s first national park (Tongariro [1887]) were each set aside primarily to protect spectacular geophysical features and their associated recreational and cultural values. This history helps explain why some protected area networks do a better job of protecting rocks than biodiversity (Scott et al. 2001). Although ecologists have long recognized geodiversity as a key driver of biodiversity and species distribution patterns (Lawler et al. 2015), conservation biologists were slow to consider using geodiversity to prioritize areas for biological conservation. 

The purpose of this review is to examine a few aspects of global change effects on forest genetic resources and their interaction. Genetic resources can provide many opportunities for the development of adaptive forest management in the Mediterranean region. At the same time, forestry and its various disciplines can offer manifold chances to develop methods and techniques for the in situ and ex situ protection, as well as for the correct management of species and populations at risk because of climate change. Among these aspects, the studies on the Marker Assisted Selection are particularly taken into consideration, as well as the phenotypic plasticity and the different types of assisted migration. A special emphasis is given to genetic resources growing at marginal peripheral populations, which need to be safeguarded as possible containers of adaptive diversity. They are subjected, in fact, to an extreme climatic stress more than others.