Background: Livestock grazing and 'overabundance' of large wild herbivores in forested areas have long been perceived as conflicting with the aims of both silviculture and forest conservation; however, certain kinds of herbivory can help to maintain habitat values in forest ecosystems. Management of mammalian herbivory in protected forests can, therefore, be a critical tool for biodiversity conservation. The primary aim of this systematic review was to examine how forest vegetation and invertebrates are affected by manipulation of the grazing/browsing pressure by livestock or wild ungulates. The ultimate purpose was to investigate whether such manipulation is useful for conserving or restoring biodiversity in forest set-asides. Methods: We considered studies of manipulated ungulate herbivory in forests anywhere within the boreal and temperate zones, not only in protected areas but also in production forest. Non-intervention or alternative levels of intervention were used as comparators. Relevant outcomes included abundance, diversity and composition of plants and invertebrates, tree regeneration, and performance of focal/target species. Studies were mainly selected from a recent systematic map of the evidence on biodiversity effects of forest management relevant to protected areas. Additional studies were identified through updated searches online and in bibliographies of existing reviews. Relevant studies were critically appraised, and studies with low or unclear validity were excluded from the review. Quantitative outcomes were extracted from 103 articles, and summary effect sizes were derived by meta-analysis. Results: Most of the 144 studies included in the review had been conducted in North America, Europe or Australia/ New Zealand. The intervention most commonly studied was experimental exclusion (or enclosure) of wild and/or domestic ungulates by fencing. Other studies examined culling of wild ungulates or compared forests long grazed by livestock to ungrazed forests. Effects on vegetation and invertebrates were reported in 135 and 23 of the studies, respectively. We found negative responses to herbivory in the abundance of understorey vegetation as a whole, woody understorey and bryophytes, and also in the species richness of woody understorey vegetation, whereas the richness of forbs and bryophytes responded positively. Several effects depended on ungulate origins: Understorey abundance responded negatively to livestock and to ungulates introduced into the wild, but not to native ones. In contrast, understorey species richness responded positively to livestock but not to wild ungulates. The duration and intensity of herbivory had few significant effects on vegetation-exceptions included woody understorey abundance

1. Dead wood (DW) provides critical habitat for thousands of species in forests, but its amount, quality and diversity have been heavily reduced by forestry. Therefore, interventions aiming to increase DW might be necessary to support its associated biodiversity, even in protected forests, which may be former production forests.Our aim was to synthesize the current state of knowledge drawn from replicated experimental studies into solid quantitative evidence of the effects of DW manipulation on forest biodiversity, with a focus on protected forests.2. We conducted a full systematic review of effects of DW manipulation on forest biodiversity in boreal and temperate regions. We included three intervention types: creation of DW from live trees at the site, addition of DW from outside the site and prescribed burning. Outcomes included abundance and species richness of saproxylic insects, ground insects, wood-inhabiting fungi, lichens, reptiles and cavity-nesting birds. In total, we included 91 studies, 37 of which were used in meta-analyses.3. Although meta-analysis outcomes were heterogeneous, they showed that increasing the amount of DW ("DW enrichment") has positive effects on the abundance and richness of saproxylic insects and fungi. The positive effect on saproxylic pest insect abundance tended to be less than that on saproxylic insects in general. No significant effects were found for ground insects or cavity-nesting birds.4. Although reviewed studies were mainly short term, our results support that management that increases DW amounts has the potential to increase the abundance of DW-dependent species and, in most cases, also their species richness. Studies of burning showed positive effects on the abundance of saproxylic insects similar to those of other interventions, even though burning on average resulted in a smaller enrichment of DW amounts.5. Policy implications. The findings of the review suggest that manipulating dead wood (DW) can be an effective part of conservation management to support biodiversity in protected areas. The findings also indicate that the diversity of DW | 1771Journal of Applied Ecology SANDSTRÖM eT Al.

Background:The biodiversity of forests set aside from forestry is often considered best preserved by non-intervention. In many protected forests, however, remaining biodiversity values are legacies of past disturbances, e.g. recurring fires, grazing or small-scale felling. These forests may need active management to keep the characteristics that were the reason for setting them aside. Such management can be particularly relevant where lost ecological values need to be restored. In this review, we identified studies on a variety of interventions that could be useful for conserving or restoring any aspect of forest biodiversity in boreal and temperate regions. Since the review is based on Swedish initiatives, we have focused on forest types that are represented in Sweden, but such forests exist in many parts of the world. The wide scope of the review means that the set of studies is quite heterogeneous. As a first step towards a more complete synthesis, therefore, we have compiled a systematic map. Such a map gives an overview of the evidence base by providing a database with descriptions of relevant studies, but it does not synthesise reported results.Methods: Searches for literature were made using online publication databases, search engines, specialist websites and literature reviews. Search terms were developed in English, Finnish, French, German, Russian and Swedish. We searched not only for studies of interventions in actual forest set-asides, but also for appropriate evidence from commercially managed forests, since some practices applied there may be useful for conservation or restoration purposes too. Identified articles were screened for relevance using criteria set out in an a priori protocol. Descriptions of included studies are available in an Excel file, and also in an interactive GIS application that can be accessed at an external website.Results: Our searches identified nearly 17,000 articles. The 798 articles that remained after screening for relevance described 812 individual studies. Almost two-thirds of the included studies were conducted in North America, whereas most of the rest were performed in Europe. Of the European studies, 58 % were conducted in Finland or Sweden. The interventions most commonly studied were partial harvesting, prescribed burning, thinning, and grazing or exclusion from grazing. The outcomes most frequently reported were effects of interventions on trees, other vascular plants, dead wood, vertical stand structure and birds. Outcome metrics included e.g. abundance, richness of species (or genera), diversity indices, and community composition based on ordinations. Conclusions:This systematic map identifies a wealth of evidence on the impact of active management practices that could be utilised to conserve or restore biodiversity in forest set-asides. As such it should be of value to e.g.

Background: Livestock grazing and 'overabundance' of large wild herbivores in forested areas have long been perceived as conflicting with the aims of both silviculture and forest conservation; however, certain kinds of herbivory can help to maintain habitat values in forest ecosystems. Management of grazing/browsing in protected forests can, therefore, be a critical tool for biodiversity conservation. However, it is not clear what impacts of wild ungulates or livestock are tolerable or desirable in forests set aside for conservation or restoration. The primary aim of the proposed systematic review is to clarify how the diversity of plants and invertebrates is affected by manipulation of the grazing/ browsing pressure by livestock or wild ungulates. The ultimate purpose of the review is to investigate whether such manipulation is useful as a means of conserving or restoring biodiversity in forest set-asides. Methods:The review will examine primary field studies of how fencing or other kinds of manipulation of the grazing/browsing pressure by livestock or wild ungulates affects plants or invertebrates. We will consider studies made in boreal or temperate forests anywhere in the world, incorporating investigations made not only in protected areas but also in stands under commercial management. Non-intervention or alternative levels of grazing pressure will be used as comparators. Relevant outcomes include abundance, diversity and composition of plants and invertebrates, tree regeneration, and performance of focal/target species. Relevant studies will mainly be selected from a recent systematic map of the evidence on biodiversity impacts of active management in forest set-asides. A search update will be made with a subset of the search terms used for the systematic map. Searches for additional literature will be made in bibliographies of existing reviews. Relevant studies will be subject to critical appraisal and categorised as having high, medium or low susceptibility to bias. Studies with high susceptibility to bias will be excluded from the review. Useful outcomes and data on interventions and other potential effect modifiers will be extracted from included articles. A narrative synthesis will describe the quality and findings of all studies in the review. Where studies report similar outcomes, meta-analysis will be performed.

Background: The traditional approach to limiting impacts of forestry on