Additional file 3. Full set of criteria for inclusion/exclusion of articles
Subjects
Included
Excluded
Forests (habitats with a tree layer) in Köppen-Geiger
climate zones Cfb, Cfc, Csb and D (as defined by Peel
et al. 2007).
Habitats where the forest canopy cover usually is
less than 10%.
Stands dominated by ponderosa pine (Pinus
ponderosa), even if located outside the climate
zones listed above.
Severely polluted or disturbed sites (e.g. landfills and
former mining or peat-cutting sites).
Interventions
Included
Excluded
Partial harvesting (characterised e.g. as single- or
group-selection harvesting, gap felling, patch
cutting, selective or diameter-limit harvesting,
green-tree retention or initial stage of shelterwood
harvesting), if at least 25% of the volume or basal
area of living and dead trees was retained and if
average gap sizes did not exceed 0.5 ha.
Clearcutting (even if up to 25% of the timber volume
or basal area was retained in patches or buffer
zones).
Thinning (precommercial, commercial or made for
conservation purposes).
Afforestation and reafforestation, e.g. forest
(re)growth on abandoned farmland or tree
encroachment on tundra or heathland.
Burning or planting on clearcut areas.
Habitat fragmentation.
Removal of understorey or ground-layer vegetation.
Wildfire.
Removal or addition of litter or humus.
Prescribed burning.
Creation of dead wood (e.g. through girdling or
felling of trees).
Addition of dead wood (from elsewhere).
Underplanting of trees and (re)introduction of native
non-tree species.
Salvage logging after wildfire, windstorm or pest
attack.
Removal of dead wood.
‘Release’ of young conifers through removal of
deciduous trees.
Introduction of exotic species.
Short-rotation coppicing on arable land.
Livestock grazing and traditional mowing, coppicing
and pollarding (continued, resumed or initiated).
Exclusion or other deliberate manipulation of wild
cervids and similar grazers/browsers.
Fertilisation.
Restrictions of public access.
Creation of artificial habitats.
Control of exotic and/or invasive species.
Climate change (natural or anthropogenic).
Hydrological restoration (e.g. blocking of drainage
ditches).
Liming and use of herbicides, if the primary goal was
conservation.
Silvicultural systems (e.g. uneven-aged or ‘nearnatural’ forestry), if no data is available on specific
interventions.
Comparators
Included
Excluded
Non-intervention (untreated stands or trees).
Untreated stands whose age or species composition
differs entirely from that of the treated stands.
Alternative levels of partial harvesting, thinning,
grazing etc. (even if no untreated control is
included).
Alternative gap sizes in partially harvested stands
(even if no data is available from areas outside gaps).
Alternative types of forest stands where dead wood
was created or added (even if the same intervention
was made in all stands).
Alternative types of created or added dead wood.
Naturally occurring dead wood (if compared to
created or added dead wood).
Outcomes
Included
Excluded
Abundance (including biomass, cover, frequency
etc.) of single species or taxonomic or functional
groups of terrestrial organisms.
Effects on regeneration (e.g. seedling/sapling
survival) and growth of commercially used tree
species, unless the intervention was specifically
intended to conserve/restore diversity.
Species richness, diversity index and composition of
taxonomic or functional groups of terrestrial
organisms.
Performance and population viability of target
species.
Changes of forest structure as immediate effects of
thinning or partial harvesting.
Survival or performance of underplanted/introduced
species (unless related to some other intervention
than the introduction itself).
Tree mortality.
Edge effects.
Abundance and diversity of dead wood.
Vertical and horizontal stand structure.
Habitat selection of single species (unless clearly
linked to relevant interventions).
Occurrence of tree microhabitats (e.g. cavities).
Genetic structure or diversity of single species.
Species abundance, diversity etc. in the soil seed
bank.
Effects on soil bacteria.
Effects on seed dispersal.
Study types
Included
Excluded
Field studies (experimental or not).
Simulation studies.
Reviews (secondary data sources).
Policy discussions and recommendations.