MicroHabitats = MHs are important features for conserving forest biodiversity. Other structural indicators of forest biodiversity have been well studied in recent decades, but these microhabitats do not, partly due to the lack of widely accepted definitions, partly due to lack of knowledge regarding them. Although the number of microhabitat studies has increased recently, the determinants of microhabitat profiles in natural forests in different geographical regions remain unknown. Some of the approaches for studying tree microhabitats used as a proxy for estimating forest biodiversity are briefly presented in this study.The concern for this domain of tree microhabitats used as a proxy for estimating forest biodiversity is a relatively new field for Romania. This brief review first describes the concept of tree microhabitats, virgin forest and managed forest, and then focuses on current approaches to the study of microhabitats, both in terms of the system proposed by the European Forestry Institute (EFI) through the Integrated + project and materialized in the Catalog of tree microhabitats, as well as through the German system, these models being developed in Europe. Comparison between natural forests and managed forests with regard tree microhabitats is not a completely new idea, from this point of view, forests have been studied in which forest management (management, harvesting of wood) was interrupted - in some cases very recently, in others a long time ago. The advantage of the study started by me is that I can collect data from truly virgin forests, in which wood was never harvested. In order to conserve the biodiversity of forest ecosystems, foresters could, through the applied forest manager, "imitate" the structural characteristics of natural forests favorable to microhabitats: a larger number of large trees and dead trees on the surface unit.Long-term scientific research on the structure, dynamics and biodiversity of high-grade forest ecosystems (virgin forests) is of particular importance for the development, adoption and implementation of forest management measures close to nature, sustainable both economically and ecologically, and favorable for biodiversity.

microhabitats, natural forest (unmanaged), managed forest, beech forests

environmental engineering

Presentation: oral