The forests, mostly on sandy soils, comprise nutrient-poor to semi-rich habitats, with understorey vegetation dominated by mosses (Polytrichum spp.), grasses (Calamagrostis spp., Deschampsia flexuosa) and shrubs (Rubus spp., Vaccinium spp.). Moist Pine Forests found in the BPF, BF and PF were represented by Peucedano-Pinetum in its subboreal variety, and in the TF by its western equivalent, Leucobryo-Pinetum (Matuszkiewicz et al. 1993). In all cases, tree stands are composed mainly of Scots

pine (Pinus sylvestris), with a lower proportion of Norway spruce (Picea abies), oaks (Quercus spp.), birches selleckchem (Betula spp.) and Selleck Compound C occasional other species. The stand age in the forests was highly diversified and ranged from 0 years on fresh clearcuts to 100–150 years in the oldest patches. In general, forest stands are characterized as being, generally speaking, unmanaged however, most of the areas (where the scuttle-flies sampling was conducted) have been managed for timber production for decades. Clearcutting is commonly used in the four complexes as the main harvesting technique and new stands are regrown as the result of man-made afforestation. Fig. 1 Location of the study plots in Poland: Biała Forest, Tuchola Forest, Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF) and Epigenetics inhibitor Pisz Forest (Żmihorski and Durska 2011) Clearcutting is the main kind of disturbance

in the four forest complexes. However, in the Pisz Forest also a natural disturbance

recently occurred. On the 4th of July, 2002 a windstorm destroyed ca. 15,000 ha of the Pisz Forest and created one of the largest windthrows ever recorded in Poland. The windthrow was cleared (fallen, leaning and otherwise damaged trees were removed) and artificial replanting, partially fenced to protect against ungulates, was applied there. However, a small area (445 ha) of the windthrow was left to regenerate naturally and was, consequently, excluded from salvage logging and artificial replanting. This site abounded in fallen logs, leaning trees Cyclin-dependent kinase 3 and broken trunks, among which were numerous seedlings of pines, birches and oaks. I set up sampling stations in BPF, TF and BF in recently clear-cut stands and in old, closed-canopy stands (95–145 years old). In the case of PF, however, I conducted the scuttle fly sampling 3 years after the windstorm mentioned above, in the windthrow left for natural regeneration (referred to as “left-windthrow”) and in the windthrow where salvage logging was applied (referred to as “logged-windthrow”). Scuttle fly sampling Scuttle flies in BPF, TF and BF were collected in 1986 and 1987. In each of these three forest complexes the plots were randomly selected within even-aged pine plantations as well as within old-growth stands.