The thesis provides a complex insight into ongoing processes in Central European floodplain forests, one of the most threatened terrestrial ecosystems in the temperate zone. Floodplain forests are hotspots of biodiversity and provide many climate-related services of global importance. For these reasons, they have been identified as essential for climate change mitigation and key to human survival.

This publication provides readers with insights into how forest habitats have historically changed under European conditions and how these changes have affected the organisms that depend on forests or individual trees for their survival. The book includes descriptions of traditional practices as well as brief guidelines for ecological habitat restoration.