The felling, at intervals, of the mature trees in a forest of mixed age. Selective logging (combined with large tree retention) is recommended for minimizing ecological impacts; see Rüger et al. (2007) Forest Ecol. & Manage. 252, 1–3. Selective logging can, ‘together with forest management practices, significantly delay or accelerate the transition of a forest landscape to a deforested state and its return to a recovered state’ (Rondon et al. (2012 Int. J. Forestry Res. DOI:10.1155/2012/170974).