We live in a time where software is used everywhere. It is used even for creating other software by helping developers with writing or generating new code. To do this properly, metrics to measure software quality are being used to evaluate the final code. However, they are sometimes too costly to compute, or simply don't have the expected effect. Therefore, new and better ways of software evaluation are needed. In this research, we are investigating the usage of the statistical approaches used commonly in the natural language processing (NLP) area. In order to introduce and evaluate new metrics, a Java N-gram language model is created from a large Java language code corpus. Naturalness, a method-level metric, is introduced and calculated for chosen projects. The correlation with well-known software complexity metrics are calculated and discussed. The results, however, show that the metric, in the form that we have defined it, is not suitable for software complexity evaluation since it is highly correlated with a well-known metric (token count), which is much easier to compute. Different definition of the metric is suggested, which could be a target of future study and research.

This thesis explores specific ways of using female singing voice in subculture of historically informed performance of baroque music in the Czech republic. The thesis is based on principles of cultural theory and cultural analysis. Main source for my research were interviews from the years 2015 and 2016 held with female singers specialized in historically informed performance, and my own living experience first as voice student, later as a performer in the field of baroque music. I explore ways of fulfilling fundamental demand of the subculture for "historical authenticity" (which is usually defined as "how did the music sound at the time of its origin"). I come to key term of "naturalness" and I further explore how this concept is embodied by the singers, how it affects the sound of the voice and aesthetic expectations of the singers and also listeners. I put the experience of "authentic" and "natural" interpretation of baroque music in context of thinking about pleasure, especially in terms of jouissance and plaisir described by Roland Barthes.

<p>This thesis addresses two separate naturalness issues which generically come to bear on physical theories with large extra dimensions, and so a gravity scale much lower than the Planck scale. The first is related to the observed stability of the proton, wherein we determine the relevant constraints on an additional gauge boson which conserves baryon number. Although several such proposals have been previously considered, our analysis is distinctive in its interest in lighter gauge boson masses (which naturally arise in such models), and in its focus on the dependence of constraints due to kinetic mixing effects. The second is related to the main purpose of large extra dimensions---namely, to address the smallness of the observed vacuum energy---wherein we compute the leading-order quantum corrections to the four-dimensional (4D) vacuum energy resulting from loops of extra-dimensional fields. We compute the contributions from bulk scalars (spin 0), fermions (spin 1/2), and gauge fields (spin 1) in a flux-stabilized, spheroidal extra-dimensional geometry whose rugby-ball shape is due to two codimension-2 branes---one at each pole. (We also obtain the corresponding beta functions for both bulk and brane operators.) These results are then combined to obtain the net contribution from various multiplets in the context of a particular supersymmetric extra-dimensional model that has been shown to give a vanishing result for the 4D vacuum energy at the classical level. Surprisingly, we find that supersymmetry can be preserved dynamically at one loop in the case of identical branes, without arranging any particular relationship between the brane parameters. Perturbing away from the case of identical branes is shown to give a positive 1-loop contribution to the 4D vacuum energy whose size is set by the radius of the extra dimensions.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p dir="ltr">In this paper, we address the gap in people's perceptions of using artificial intelligence (AI) in animation, mainly focusing on AI-based motion capture. We aimed to understand how individuals perceived animations created by AI, manual, and AI with manual cleanup methods. We presented our participants with short, full-body animation clips created using the three methods. Participants rated the appeal and naturalness of the animations, and we asked them to discern the creation method. Results revealed differences in perceived appeal and naturalness between manually created animations and those generated through AI-involved methods, with manual animations consistently rated higher. However, participants were unable to discern creation methods regardless of animation experience level, demonstrating an accuracy equivalent to random guessing. Moreover, the qualitative analysis highlighted diverse perspectives with negative and positive views on AI use, with the most mentioned theme being the importance of quality regardless of creation method. The overwhelming majority of participants asserted that the degree of automatization would influence their perceived value and effort put into an animation. Still, this group didn't show divergent ratings, nor did it affect their overall agreeableness towards using AI in creative fields. This study contributes valuable insights into the intersection of animation and AI, informing creators about the effect of different creation methods on audience perceptions.</p>

This thesis is on Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) and its relevance for the rationality of religious beliefs. An epistemical model for rationality is developed according to which: a person (or group of persons) is rational to hold a certain belief a) if this belief can be assumed to have been generated by one or more reliable cognitive mechanisms, b) applies whether or not she is aware of what these mechanisms are, but c) only as long as it does not exist or arise some reasons (defeaters) to question the belief; if they occur, she must d) reflect on it and find other reasons or grounds to hold the belief in question.      Two different positions are examined, namely: 1) negative relevance: the findings and theories in CSR undermines the rationality of religious beliefs; 2) positive relevance: religious beliefs need not be irrational in the light of CSR, in fact CSR may actually support the rationality of religious beliefs.      Two lines of argument can be distinguished among those who argue for a negative relevance: a) the natural explanations that are provided by CSR are preferable; and b) religious beliefs are irrational because they are caused by unreliable cognitive mechanisms.      Among those who argue for positive relevance two arguments can be distinguised: a) religious beliefs seem to come naturally to humans and therefore are probably true; and b) CSR confirms empirically that we are equipped with a "divine mechanism" that there are reasons to believe is reliable.      The conclusions are: CSR has negative relevance to beliefs in "finite supernatural agency", but not for the faith of "infinite supernatural agency". First, the first type of beliefs is easier to explain by being generated by unreliable cognitive mechanisms; secondly they are difficult to integrate with what we otherwise know about the world. A category that falls outside the scope of CSR and thus not even potentially can be affected, is beliefs in "supernatural non-agency". / The Impact of Religion – Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy

Sur la base de constats globaux concernant l’importance d’appliquer des modes de gestion durable des zones forestières et le manque d’investigation concernant l’histoire passée des feux en Europe centrale, il a été entrepris de reconstruire l’histoire des événements de feux et de la dynamique forestière pour des sites d’étude en Allemagne. L’ensemble des données obtenues et analysées ont été utilisées pour l’évaluation du niveau de naturalité des sites étudiés, cette notion étant essentielle pour la mise en place d’une gestion durable, et/ou pour des projets de conservation et / ou de restauration des systèmes perturbés. Concernant les dynamiques des écosystèmes en Europe centrale, il a été souvent mis en évidence que l’homme joue un rôle essentiel depuis des millénaires. Par conséquent, l’approche historique des événements de feux et de la dynamique forestière à été réalisée sur de longues échelles temporelles. Neuf sites d’étude ont été sélectionnés incluant une large gamme de systèmes forestiers d’Europe centrale. Les sites d’études sont répartis dans deux zones générales d’étude : le nord de l’Allemagne (Schleswig-Holstein), qui comprend quatre sites d’étude, et le centre de l’Allemagne (le Harz), qui comprend cinq sites d’étude. Quatre disciplines ont été principalement utilisées. Pour définir l’état actuel des sites d’études ceux-ci ont été caractérisés, utilisant divers indicateurs dendrométriques concernant la structure et la composition des parcelles analysées. Pour obtenir des informations à propos de la dynamique forestière des peuplements forestiers en place des analyses dendroécologiques ont été utilisées. Pour analyser la dynamique forestière sur une longue échelle temporelle, à une échelle spatiale comparable, des analyses pédoanthracologiques ont été menées, combinées à des analyses de sols. De plus, des analyses anthracologiques de séquences de tourbes ont été réalisées, fournissant, combinées avec les données pedoanthracologiques, des enseignements à propos de l’histoire des incendies. L’état actuel et la dynamique forestière récente des sites étudiés indiquent divers niveaux de complexité des peuplements forestiers, correspondant souvent à divers niveaux postulés d’impact anthropique. Il a été obtenu huit chronologies moyennes, standardisées en haute et moyenne fréquences, âgées au maximum de 1744 et au minimum de 1923 ans. A partir de ces chronologies des changements dans les conditions de croissance de peuplements forestiers ont été mises en évidence. Basées sur un ensemble de 71 charbons de bois datés par radiocarbone, il a été mis en évidence, à l’échelle locale et globale, deux principales phases présentant plus d’événements de feux datés, une durant le Pléistocène supérieur/Holocène inférieur, une autre durant l’Holocène supérieur. Pour les deux phases identifiées des forçages climatique et anthropogénique ont été respectivement postulés comme déterminisme des occurrences de feux. Finalement, les différentes données collectées ont été utilisées de façon combinée pour reconstruire l’histoire des feux et des forêts des sites étudiés, afin de contribuer à l’évaluation de leur niveau de naturalité. / Considering two global observations in Central Europe of, firstly, the need for, and development of, sustainable and biological conservation practices for forest and/or woodland areas and, secondly, the lack of long-term fire history, an attempt has been made to reconstruct the fire and the forest history at several investigation sites in Germany. The overall data set gathered and analyzed has been used for on-site naturalness assessment. This latter notion is crucial for forest system conservation/restoration planning, considering the past human impact on forest dynamics. Also, in view of this past human impact on forest systems, which is well-documented for Central Europe, as occurring on a multi-millennium scale, an historical perspective perceptive that combined a long and short temporal scale of investigation was used.Nine investigation sites were selected, in order to include various and representative types of Central European forest. Therefore, the investigation sites were located in two main investigation areas. One is in Northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein) and includes four investigation sites. The other is in Central Germany (Harz Mountains) and includes five investigation sites. Four main approaches were used. To assess the current state of the investigated site, forest stand characterization was undertaken (i.e. based on various forest attributes that concern stand structure and composition). Tree ring series were analyzed to provide insights about short-term forest tree population dynamics. Then, charcoal records from soil (combined with soil analysis) and peat sequences were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. These last two approaches also provide information about the past fire history. Forest current and short-term dynamics illustrated various levels of stand complexity, often corresponding to various levels of human impact that had been postulated. Eight mean site tree-ring chronologies, standardized in high and mid-frequency signal, spanning at a maximum of up to AD 1744 and at a minimum of up to AD 1923, were obtained. The insight, about the identification of events of growing changes and the correlated temporal and, if possible, spatial patterns, was discussed. Charcoal analysis provided a long-term insight about fire history. Based on 71 charcoal radiocarbon dates, it was shown on a macro-scale that there were two phases that had a greater frequency of fire - one during the transition from the late Pleistocene to the early Holocene, and one during the mid- and late Holocene. A strong human control during the most recent fire phase has been postulated. This is supported by on-site soil and peat charcoal record analysis, allowing one to point out the event of environmental changes (disturbances), at local scales. In the end, the on-site data from the various indicators were combined to assess the fire and forest history and the naturalness level of the investigated sites, based on past insights, thereby contributing to a better understanding of the present and helping to anticipate the future.

Submitted by Maike Costa (maiksebas@gmail.com) on 2016-03-15T12:00:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 537788 bytes, checksum: f4d2088488947fc0f778709eac62f92b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T12:00:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 537788 bytes, checksum: f4d2088488947fc0f778709eac62f92b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-31 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Supersymmetry is a very useful tool for extending the Standard Model up to the grand unification scale, studying electoweak symmetry breaking and providing dark matter candidates. The presence of superpartners solves the problem of divergences, and changes the renormalization group equations in a way that allows gauge coupling unification. In a global supersymmetry the breaking scale is proportional to the vacuum energy, which makes it incompatible with the low value of the cosmological constant. Promoting SUSY to a local symmetry results in supergravity, which mandates existence of a spin-2 gravitational field, naturally integrates General Relativity and particle physics, and is required to adjust the potential and obtain a high breaking scale with low cosmological constant. This review work looks into models based on gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking. These models allow a simpler hidden sector than their gauge-mediated or anomay-mediated counterparts. And the lightest supersymmetric particles, higgsino-like, could be detected once an electron-positron collider such as ILC is ready. / A supersimetria ´e uma ferramenta muito ´util para estender o Modelo Padr˜ao at´e a escala de grande unifica¸c˜ao, para estudar a quebra de simetria eletrofraca e prover candidatos a mat´eria escura. A presen¸ca dos superparceiros resolve o problema das divergˆencias, e altera as equa¸c˜oes do grupo de renormaliza¸c˜ao de modo a permitir a unifica¸c˜ao dos acoplamentos de gauge. A escala de quebra de uma supersimetria global ´e proporcional `a energia do v´acuo, o que a tornaria incompat´ıvel com o baixo valor da constante cosmol´ogica. A promo¸c˜ao de SUSY a uma simetria local resulta na supergravidade, que obriga a existˆencia do campo gravitacional com spin-2, integra naturalmente a Relatividade Geral e a f´ısica de part´ıculas, e ´e necess´aria para ajustar o potencial e obter alta escala de quebra com constante cosmol´ogica baixa. Este trabalho de revis˜ao aborda modelos baseados na quebra de supersimetria mediada por gravita¸c˜ao. Estes modelos aceitam um setor oculto mais simples que os modelos concorrentes mediados por gauge ou por anomalias. E as part´ıculas supersim´etricas mais leves, do tipo higgsino, podem ser detectadas quando um colisor el´etron-p´ositron como o ILC estiver pronto.

Objective non-intrusive speech quality assessment aimed to emulate and correlate with human judgement has received more attention over the years. It is a difficult problem due to three reasons: data scarcity, noisy human judgement, and a potential uneven distribution of bias of mean opinion scores (MOS). In this paper, we introduce the Latent Mean-Opinion-Score Network (LaMOSNet) that leverage on individual judge’s scores to increase the data size, and new ideas to deal with both noisy and biased labels. We introduce a methodology called Optimistic Judge Estimation as a way to reduce bias in MOS in a clear way. We also implement stochastic gradient noise and mean teacher, ideas from noisy image classification, to further deal with noisy and uneven bias distribution of labels. We achieve competitive results on VCC2018 modeling MOS, and state-of-the-art modeling only listener dependent scores. / Objektiv referensfri ljudkvalitétsbedömning ämnad att härma och korrelera med mänsklig bedömning har fått mer uppmärksamhet med åren. Det är ett svårt problem på grund av tre anledningar: brist på data, varians i mänsklig bedömning, och en potentiell ojämn fördelning av bias av medel bedömningsvärde (mean opinion score, MOS). I detta papper introducerar vi Latent Mean-Opinion-Score Network (LaMOSNet) som tar nytta av individuella bedömmares poäng för att öka datastorleken, och nya idéer för att handskas med både varierande och partisk märkning. Jag introducerar en metodologi som kallas Optimistisk bedömmarestimering, ett sätt att minska partiskheten i MOS på ett klart sätt. Jag implementerar också stokastisk gradient variation och medellärare, idéer från opålitlig bild igenkänning, för att ännu mer hantera opålitliga märkningar. Jag får jämförelsebara resultat på VCC2018 när jag modellerar MOS, och state-of-the-art när jag modellerar enbart beömmarnas märkning.

Buchenwälder sind die großflächigste potenziell natürliche Vegetationsform Deutschlands und ein nach EU-FFH-Richtlinie besonders zu schützender Biotoptyp. Eine hohe Naturnähe ist auch in Wirtschaftswäldern (WiWald) notwendig, um die typischen Lebensgemeinschaften naturnaher Wälder langfristig zu erhalten, doch mangelt es an praktikablen/verifizierten Indikatoren, wie die nutzungsbedingte Abweichung vom Naturzustand ermittelt werden kann. In &amp;gt;100 Jahre alten und ~40 ha großen Tiefland-Buchenwäldern (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/Brandenburg) wurde anhand von 13 WiWäldern, vier seit &amp;lt;20 Jahren (k20) und drei seit &amp;gt;50 Jahren (r50) unbewirtschafteten Beständen den folgenden Fragen nachgegangen: Wie groß sind die strukturellen, vegetationskundlichen und carabidologischen Unterschiede zwischen bewirtschafteten, kurz- und langfristig unbewirtschafteten Buchenwäldern? Gibt es strukturelle Indikatoren und quantitative Größen zur Abschätzung des Einflusses forstlicher Bewirtschaftung auf die Biozönosen von Tiefland-Buchenwäldern? In Probekreisen (Pk) von 500 m² an Rasterpunkten (100 m x 100 m) wurden strukturelle und in Pk von 314 m² vegetationskundliche Daten erhoben. In fünf Pk/Bestand wurde jeweils eine Barberfalle über die Vegetationsperiode installiert. Ganzflächig wurden die Verteilung der Waldentwicklungsphasen (WEP)und zusätzlich zu den Pk-Aufnahmen hektarweise Sonderstrukturen aufgenommen. U. a. wurden folgende Sonderstrukturen aufgenommen: Zunderschwamm, Kronen- und Zwieselbrüche, Ersatzkronen, Blitzrinnen, Risse/Spalten, Höhlen, Mulmkörper/-taschen. Diese naturschutzfachlich wichtigen Sonderstrukturen wurden aus den Habitatansprüchen der typischen Buchenwaldfauna abgeleitet.Es konnten große Unterschiede zwischen WiWald und r50-Flächen (v. a. &amp;gt;100 Jahre unbewirtschafteten Flächen) aufgezeigt werden. Die k20-Flächen unterscheiden sich nicht wesentlich vom WiWald. Die Anzahl verschiedener WEP/ha und WEP-Patches/ha liegt in den r50-Flächen signifikant höher als im WiWald. Der Holzvorrat der r50-Flächen liegt mit ~600 m³/ha (Terminal- ~800 m³/ha, Zerfallsphase 450 m³/ha) deutlich höher als im WiWald. Charakteristisch für die r50-Flächen ist das Vorkommen von in ihrer Vitalität eingeschränkten Bäume ab 80 cm BHD und ein inhomogeneres Lichtmosaik im Bestand. Die Stammqualitäten (u. a. Astigkeit) in r50-Flächen unterscheiden sich kaum von denen in WiWald. In den r50-Flächen kommt bedeutend mehr Totholz (&amp;gt;142 m³/ha) als im WiWald (max. 34 m³/ha) vor. Im WiWald können Stubben dominieren. Verschiedene Totholzqualitäten sind im WiWald nur unvollständig vorhanden. Etwa 40 % des Totholzes besitzt keine Totholznachbarn (r50-Flächen: &amp;lt;2 %) und die Lichtverhältnisse am Totholz sind nicht so vielfältig (wenig sonnenexponiert und wenig gering besonnt). In den &amp;gt;100 Jahre unbewirtschafteten Flächen kommen ~12 Sonderstrukturtypen mit &amp;gt;200 Sonderstrukturen/ha vor. 19 von 20 Sonderstrukturen sind im WiWald signifikant seltener und 11 Sonderstrukturen sind als Naturnähe-Indikatoren geeignet.Vegetation: In der Krautschicht sind höhere Deckungsgrade, mehr (lichtanzeigende) Arten, weniger Waldarten und eine höhere Diversität zu verzeichnen. Im WiWald wird u. a. das Vorkommen von Calamagrostis epigeios, Impatiens parviflora und Rubus idaeus gefördert. Stark gefährdete Moosarten sind im WiWald seltener als in den Referenzwäldern, da sie vor allem auf liegendem Totholz und auf den Stammanläufen vorkommen. Carabiden: Im WiWald gibt es weniger Individuen und Biomasse von mesophilen Waldarten und eine geringere Anzahl von flugunfähigen Individuen. Als Indikatoren für naturnahe Tiefland-Buchenwälder können die drei Arten Carabus glabratus, C. hortensis und Cychrus caraboides bezeichnet werden. Indikatoren: Es wurden Zielgrößen für 29 Struktur-Indikatoren für naturnahe Wälder vorgeschlagen. Für WiWälder wurden gesonderte Zielgrößen festgelegt, die die nutzungsbedingte, nicht zu vermeidende Abweichung vom Naturzustand berücksichtigen. / Beech forests are the most important natural vegetation type of Germany,and they are included in annex II of the EU-FFH-Directive,which requests nature conservation for the listed habitat types.High naturalness is necessary in managed forests (w-sites) to maintain the typical biocoenosis of forests near nature. But there is a lack of practicable/verified indicators to determine the degree of alteration managed forests have compared to natural forests. In &amp;gt;100 year old and ~40 ha big lowland beech forests in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenburg, 13 w-sites, 4 study sites which are unmanaged since &amp;lt;20 years (k-sites) and 3 sites which are unmanaged since &amp;gt;50 years (r50-sites) were investigated to answer these questions: What the differences are between w-, k- and r-sites according to forest structure, vegetation and carabids? Are there valid structural indicators with thresholds to assess the impact of forestry use on the biocoenosis of lowland beech forests? At grid points(distance 100 mx 100 m),on circular sample plots (SP) of 500 m² the structural data and on SP of 314 m² the vegetation was investigated. At five SP/study site a pitfall trap was installed during the entire vegetation period. On the whole study site the distribution of forest development phases (FDP) was mapped, and on full one ha plots the special structures were investigated. The following special structures were mapped e.g. Fomes fomentarius trees, crown and crotch breakage, substitute crowns, lightning shakes,gutters/rifts, cavities, mould and bark bag. These special structures have been derived from the habitat needs of the typical beech forest fauna.The results revealed tremendous differences between w- and r50-sites. The k-sites show no clear differences to the managed sites.In the r50-sites, the number of different FDP/ha and FDP units/ ha is significant higher than in w-sites. The timber stock of the r50-sites is ~600 m³/ha (terminal phase ~800 m³/ha, decay phase ~450³/ha). A characteristic feature of the r50-sites is the occurrence of trees with 80 cm bhd or more with reduced vitality. The timber trunk) qualities of r-sites differ only slightly from managed stands. In the r50-sites the dead wood volume (&amp;gt;142 m³/ha) is much higher than in the w-sites (max. 34 m³/ha). Many different features of dead wood occur only fragmentary within w-sites. About 40 % of the dead wood objects have no &amp;quot;dead wood neighbour&amp;quot; (r50-sites: &amp;lt;2 %), and the light distribution is much less diverse. In &amp;gt;100 years unmanaged r-sites ~12 different types of special structures and 200 single special structures occur per ha. 19 out of 20 special structures are significantly less frequent in w-sites; 11 special structures are specifically valuable to be used as naturalness indicators.Vegetation: In the herb layer occur higher coverage values, more (light-indicating) species, but only few species indicating ancient forests and a higher diversity index value. In w-sites, the occurrence of e. g. Calamagrostis epigeios, Impatiens parviflora and Rubus idaeus is supported. reduced. Threatened moss species are rare in w-sites compared to r-sites, since they mainly grow on laying dead wood, which is rare in forests in use, and on inclined/rough-barked stem bases. Ground beetles: The forestry use of lowland beech forests leads to less individuals and lower biomass of so-called mesophilous forest species. Furthermore, the number of flightless individuals is lower. As proper indicators for near-natural lowland beech forests, the three species Carabus glabratus, C. hortensis und Cychrus caraboides could be identified. Indicators: 29 structural indicators were identified and thresholds were given. But even in lowland beech forests managed in a conservation-friendly way, these target values for near-natural and natural forests are unlikely to be reached. Therefore, for w-sites special threshold values have been defined, which consider the inevitable difference between managed and natural forests.

Buchenwälder sind die großflächigste potenziell natürliche Vegetationsform Deutschlands und ein nach EU-FFH-Richtlinie besonders zu schützender Biotoptyp. Eine hohe Naturnähe ist auch in Wirtschaftswäldern (WiWald) notwendig, um die typischen Lebensgemeinschaften naturnaher Wälder langfristig zu erhalten, doch mangelt es an praktikablen/verifizierten Indikatoren, wie die nutzungsbedingte Abweichung vom Naturzustand ermittelt werden kann. In &amp;gt;100 Jahre alten und ~40 ha großen Tiefland-Buchenwäldern (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/Brandenburg) wurde anhand von 13 WiWäldern, vier seit &amp;lt;20 Jahren (k20) und drei seit &amp;gt;50 Jahren (r50) unbewirtschafteten Beständen den folgenden Fragen nachgegangen: Wie groß sind die strukturellen, vegetationskundlichen und carabidologischen Unterschiede zwischen bewirtschafteten, kurz- und langfristig unbewirtschafteten Buchenwäldern? Gibt es strukturelle Indikatoren und quantitative Größen zur Abschätzung des Einflusses forstlicher Bewirtschaftung auf die Biozönosen von Tiefland-Buchenwäldern? In Probekreisen (Pk) von 500 m² an Rasterpunkten (100 m x 100 m) wurden strukturelle und in Pk von 314 m² vegetationskundliche Daten erhoben. In fünf Pk/Bestand wurde jeweils eine Barberfalle über die Vegetationsperiode installiert. Ganzflächig wurden die Verteilung der Waldentwicklungsphasen (WEP)und zusätzlich zu den Pk-Aufnahmen hektarweise Sonderstrukturen aufgenommen. U. a. wurden folgende Sonderstrukturen aufgenommen: Zunderschwamm, Kronen- und Zwieselbrüche, Ersatzkronen, Blitzrinnen, Risse/Spalten, Höhlen, Mulmkörper/-taschen. Diese naturschutzfachlich wichtigen Sonderstrukturen wurden aus den Habitatansprüchen der typischen Buchenwaldfauna abgeleitet.Es konnten große Unterschiede zwischen WiWald und r50-Flächen (v. a. &amp;gt;100 Jahre unbewirtschafteten Flächen) aufgezeigt werden. Die k20-Flächen unterscheiden sich nicht wesentlich vom WiWald. Die Anzahl verschiedener WEP/ha und WEP-Patches/ha liegt in den r50-Flächen signifikant höher als im WiWald. Der Holzvorrat der r50-Flächen liegt mit ~600 m³/ha (Terminal- ~800 m³/ha, Zerfallsphase 450 m³/ha) deutlich höher als im WiWald. Charakteristisch für die r50-Flächen ist das Vorkommen von in ihrer Vitalität eingeschränkten Bäume ab 80 cm BHD und ein inhomogeneres Lichtmosaik im Bestand. Die Stammqualitäten (u. a. Astigkeit) in r50-Flächen unterscheiden sich kaum von denen in WiWald. In den r50-Flächen kommt bedeutend mehr Totholz (&amp;gt;142 m³/ha) als im WiWald (max. 34 m³/ha) vor. Im WiWald können Stubben dominieren. Verschiedene Totholzqualitäten sind im WiWald nur unvollständig vorhanden. Etwa 40 % des Totholzes besitzt keine Totholznachbarn (r50-Flächen: &amp;lt;2 %) und die Lichtverhältnisse am Totholz sind nicht so vielfältig (wenig sonnenexponiert und wenig gering besonnt). In den &amp;gt;100 Jahre unbewirtschafteten Flächen kommen ~12 Sonderstrukturtypen mit &amp;gt;200 Sonderstrukturen/ha vor. 19 von 20 Sonderstrukturen sind im WiWald signifikant seltener und 11 Sonderstrukturen sind als Naturnähe-Indikatoren geeignet.Vegetation: In der Krautschicht sind höhere Deckungsgrade, mehr (lichtanzeigende) Arten, weniger Waldarten und eine höhere Diversität zu verzeichnen. Im WiWald wird u. a. das Vorkommen von Calamagrostis epigeios, Impatiens parviflora und Rubus idaeus gefördert. Stark gefährdete Moosarten sind im WiWald seltener als in den Referenzwäldern, da sie vor allem auf liegendem Totholz und auf den Stammanläufen vorkommen. Carabiden: Im WiWald gibt es weniger Individuen und Biomasse von mesophilen Waldarten und eine geringere Anzahl von flugunfähigen Individuen. Als Indikatoren für naturnahe Tiefland-Buchenwälder können die drei Arten Carabus glabratus, C. hortensis und Cychrus caraboides bezeichnet werden. Indikatoren: Es wurden Zielgrößen für 29 Struktur-Indikatoren für naturnahe Wälder vorgeschlagen. Für WiWälder wurden gesonderte Zielgrößen festgelegt, die die nutzungsbedingte, nicht zu vermeidende Abweichung vom Naturzustand berücksichtigen. / Beech forests are the most important natural vegetation type of Germany,and they are included in annex II of the EU-FFH-Directive,which requests nature conservation for the listed habitat types.High naturalness is necessary in managed forests (w-sites) to maintain the typical biocoenosis of forests near nature. But there is a lack of practicable/verified indicators to determine the degree of alteration managed forests have compared to natural forests. In &amp;gt;100 year old and ~40 ha big lowland beech forests in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenburg, 13 w-sites, 4 study sites which are unmanaged since &amp;lt;20 years (k-sites) and 3 sites which are unmanaged since &amp;gt;50 years (r50-sites) were investigated to answer these questions: What the differences are between w-, k- and r-sites according to forest structure, vegetation and carabids? Are there valid structural indicators with thresholds to assess the impact of forestry use on the biocoenosis of lowland beech forests? At grid points(distance 100 mx 100 m),on circular sample plots (SP) of 500 m² the structural data and on SP of 314 m² the vegetation was investigated. At five SP/study site a pitfall trap was installed during the entire vegetation period. On the whole study site the distribution of forest development phases (FDP) was mapped, and on full one ha plots the special structures were investigated. The following special structures were mapped e.g. Fomes fomentarius trees, crown and crotch breakage, substitute crowns, lightning shakes,gutters/rifts, cavities, mould and bark bag. These special structures have been derived from the habitat needs of the typical beech forest fauna.The results revealed tremendous differences between w- and r50-sites. The k-sites show no clear differences to the managed sites.In the r50-sites, the number of different FDP/ha and FDP units/ ha is significant higher than in w-sites. The timber stock of the r50-sites is ~600 m³/ha (terminal phase ~800 m³/ha, decay phase ~450³/ha). A characteristic feature of the r50-sites is the occurrence of trees with 80 cm bhd or more with reduced vitality. The timber trunk) qualities of r-sites differ only slightly from managed stands. In the r50-sites the dead wood volume (&amp;gt;142 m³/ha) is much higher than in the w-sites (max. 34 m³/ha). Many different features of dead wood occur only fragmentary within w-sites. About 40 % of the dead wood objects have no &amp;quot;dead wood neighbour&amp;quot; (r50-sites: &amp;lt;2 %), and the light distribution is much less diverse. In &amp;gt;100 years unmanaged r-sites ~12 different types of special structures and 200 single special structures occur per ha. 19 out of 20 special structures are significantly less frequent in w-sites; 11 special structures are specifically valuable to be used as naturalness indicators.Vegetation: In the herb layer occur higher coverage values, more (light-indicating) species, but only few species indicating ancient forests and a higher diversity index value. In w-sites, the occurrence of e. g. Calamagrostis epigeios, Impatiens parviflora and Rubus idaeus is supported. reduced. Threatened moss species are rare in w-sites compared to r-sites, since they mainly grow on laying dead wood, which is rare in forests in use, and on inclined/rough-barked stem bases. Ground beetles: The forestry use of lowland beech forests leads to less individuals and lower biomass of so-called mesophilous forest species. Furthermore, the number of flightless individuals is lower. As proper indicators for near-natural lowland beech forests, the three species Carabus glabratus, C. hortensis und Cychrus caraboides could be identified. Indicators: 29 structural indicators were identified and thresholds were given. But even in lowland beech forests managed in a conservation-friendly way, these target values for near-natural and natural forests are unlikely to be reached. Therefore, for w-sites special threshold values have been defined, which consider the inevitable difference between managed and natural forests.