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conservation areas without any management; amenities such as recreation and tourism that rely on a mosaic of different forest types, ages, and structures as well as other land uses such as pastures; and the protection of human assets such as roads and settlements from natural hazards such as rockfall and snow avalanches. However, the share of mountain forests where management is abandoned is increasing in Europe because commercial forestry often is no longer profitable, or new landowners have no interest in forest management. Such developments are highly likely to affect the provisioning of a multitude of these ecosystem services, with partly positive (e.g., more protection from hazards at highest elevations due to new or at least denser forests) but partly also negative consequences (e.g., loss of major timber tree species). Given these circumstances and often conflicting demands, what is the role of silviculture and forest management in mountain forests so that supply meets the multiple demands for ecosystem services when facing climate change and intensifying disturbance regimes? From 7 to 9 July 2015, more than 130 scientists and forest practitioners met in the Tatra Mountains in Smokovec (Slovakia) to exchange recent research results and discuss possible future approaches to mountain forest management. A set of papers from this conference has been collected for the present Special Thematic Section following after this editorial. Ponce et al. (2017) used information from forest management plans over several decades to analyze the effects of three silvicultural systems on timber production and stand structural diversity in Scots pine forests (Pinus sylvestris) in the Spanish Central Mountain System. They showed that the expected conflicts between timber production and structural diversity were modulated by the specific implementation of a silvicultural system and by site quality. Trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services (ES) were also addressed by Lafond et al. (2017). In stands Forests in mountain regions are characterized by multiple factors, and processes that are induced by the complex topography, particularly steep ecological gradients. At high elevations, harsh environmental conditions limit productivity, slow down regeneration processes and reduce the number of tree species that are able to thrive, thus rendering mountain forests sensitive to management interventions. Over the twentieth century, climate change has been particularly pronounced in mountain regions, often reaching twice to three times the temperature increase of the global average (Pepin et al. 2015). Further warming is anticipated for the coming decades, and this will strongly affect mountain regions. Productivity will increase as long as water and nutrient supply are not limiting factors (Elkin et al. 2013); competitive relationship between tree species will change (Lindner et al. 2010); and disturbance regimes very likely will intensify (Seidl et al. 2017). Particularly wind and bark beetle disturbances have the potential to severely affect forest structure and composition and thus the delivery of ecosystem services (Temperli et al. 2013; Kulakowski et al. 2017). Human demands regarding goods and services provided by European mountain forests are diverse and include, among others, intensified biomass utilization in support of wood-based industries; increased interest in nature