Climate change accelerates ecosystem restoration in the mountain forests of Central Europe

Restoring degraded forest ecosystems is an important element in the ongoing challenge to sustain the integrity and functioning of the biosphere. However, the evaluation of restoration success is hampered by long lead times of management measures in forests. Moreover, forest change is accelerating in the absence of management because of ongoing climate change. Yet, because a counterfactual is frequently missing, it remains unclear whether restoration measures are aided or impeded by climate change. 
Here, we analyzed the pace and success of forest restoration under climate change, combining field data and simulation modelling. We focused on the management zone of Berchtesgaden National Park (BGNP), Germany, where restoration aims to restore homogeneous Norway spruce (Picea abies) forests to structurally diverse mixed mountain forests. We evaluated three alternative restoration strategies: Two active strategies focused on planting the currently underrepresented silver fir (Abies alba) an..., , , # Climate change accelerates ecosystem restoration in the mountain forests of Central Europe

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.v15dv422r](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.v15dv422r)

The data from \"fieldData\" was collected in field experiments to measure the short-term restoration effects.
The data from \"simulationData\" was simulated using the forst simulation model iLand (https://iland-model.org) to illuminate the long-term restoration effects.

## Description of the data and file structure

**fieldData**: for each sampled plot, the tree species found in the regeneration layer were recorded

| column | description | |
| ------ | ----------- | --- |
| plot | plot identifier |
| treatment | \"No Intervention\": control sample of passive restoration; \"With Intervention\": active restoration |
| species | observed tree species; \"Bah\" = Acer pseudoplatanus; \"Bi\" = Betula pendula; \"Bu\" = Fagus sylvatica; \"BUlm\" = Ulmus glabra; \"Eibe\" = Taxus baccata; \"Erle\" = Alnus glutinosa; \"Esche\" = Fraxinus exc...