Conclusions

The presented methodology allows a transparent and, thus, reproducible quantitative assessment and mapping of ecosystem services in the pristine condition of wood ecosystems, which can be compared with those under current and expected future conditions considering nitrogen and sulphur deposition and climate change. The ordinal classification of ecosystem service potentials is used to derive the necessity and the type and scope of measures to restore the highest possible performance from the comparison of ecosystem service potentials in the pristine condition with current and expected future ecosystem service potentials. The rule-based classification of ecosystem types proposed enables the transfer of the methodology to areas outside Germany, especially to Central Europe. The methodology is also applicable to other spatial scales.