Management of virgin beech forests in Serbia and the dynamics of changes in their basic structural elements

The aim of this paper is to analyze virgin beech forest stands, both those with a certain protection status and those without a legal or planned protection status that are managed by applying regular management methods. In addition, the active and passive conservation approaches to virgin beech forests are analyzed and concerns about biodiversity loss and causal links in the relationships between forest planning, management, governance and their functions are partially addressed. This paper presents the results of a study on virgin forest stands, with a special focus on beech stands, the most common tree species in the Republic of Serbia. On the one hand, these stands are generally under a high degree of protection with the status of a general or strict nature reserve, while on the other, they are also located in stands where regular management is applied. Regardless of this, according to all structural parameters, the stands investigated in this study clearly belong to the group of virgin forest stands. The values of parameters in all the stands studied, both those under several-decades-long protection and stands subjected to regular forest management, indicate a high production potential. The issue of protection approach is discussed, from passive protection on the one hand (conservation approach) to active protection, which allows the implementation of various silvicultural measures with limited intensity and periodicity. The paper concludes that the conservation approach to protection does not automatically imply that the existing state of forests is preserved, while the proactive approach to protection can contribute to its preservation and improvement.