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How do we record forest naturalness? Background information

How do we record forest naturalness?

The interpretation of naturalness in the National Forest Inventory refers exclusively to the tree species of the forest. To assess naturalness, we compare the presently occurring tree species with those of the natural forest community (or the “present potential natural vegetation,” which is the vegetation that would develop under the present site conditions without human intervention).

Naturalness categories

The National Forest Inventory uses a five-level scale to describe naturalness. The further removed the existing tree species composition is from that which would naturally occur, the lower the naturalness is categorized.