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3. Causes and consequences of large-scale windthrow on the development of fir-beech forests in the Dinaric mountainsMatjaž Čater, Ajša Alagić, Mitja Ferlan, Jernej Jevšenak, Aleksander Marinšek, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: We investigated several aspects of windthrow that are relevant to our understanding and management of forest ecosystems. As an example, we used an extreme event in December 2017, when the strongest storm in recent history occurred in the Slovenian Dinaric High Karst. We examined influential factors such as soil properties, wind speed, precipitation and ecological consequences for the affected forests. Soil properties were measured around standing and fallen silver fir trees at all three research sites. Tree species composition in the regeneration was observed on plots with chemical and acoustic ungulate deterrents and on control plots without deterrents. Economic estimates of yield loss due to damage were calculated at the national level. A model of the potential threat from windthrow was also developed based on data collected from windthrow events and meteorological data over the past 20 years. Our results indicate that soil depth and mineral fraction depth were similar at sites with and without damaged trees and were not the determining factors for tree toppling. Plots with acoustic deterrents showed the most effective regeneration development, the least decline in silver fir and the greatest increase in noble hardwood seedlings, while plots with chemical deterrents showed the least browsing damage. The estimated economic loss of €16.1 million is 6.6% less than the harvest under normal conditions. The economic loss was relatively low due to the nature of the storm, with the predominant type of damage being uprooted trees with no damaged trunks. The windthrow hazard model revealed that a large number of consecutive events with strong winds in each section weakened the stand, which was subsequently knocked down during the next extreme wind and rainfall event.
Keywords: natural forest regeneration, windthrow, economic loss, browsing, ungulate deterrents, forest soil properties, potential threat model
Published in DiRROS: 27.06.2023; Views: 1126; Downloads: 525
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4. Tree and stand growth differ among soil classes in semi-natural forests in central EuropeAndrej Bončina, Matija Klopčič, Vasilije Trifković, Andrej Ficko, Primož Simončič, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: We determined the size of differences in stand and tree growth in semi-natural forests with respect to 16 reference soil groups. The forest area of Slovenia (11.8 thousand km2) was used as the study area, and reference soil units were derived from the national soil map at a 1:25,000 scale consisting of 10,781 polygons with an average size of 117.95 ha. Stand growth was defined as periodic stand basal area increment, while the growth of Norway spruce, silver fir, Scots pine, European beech and sessile oak trees was estimated by the periodic diameter increment of 238,349 dominant trees on 67,061 permanent sampling plots. A linear fixed-effects model and linear mixed-effect models were used for studying stand and tree growth in different site, stand and tree conditions. The soil unit was the dummy variable with Dystric Cambisols set as the reference category. Soil contributed 4.3 % to the explained variability of basal area increment and 4–27 % to the explained variability of the diameter increment of the five tree species. Soil was a stronger driver of stand and tree growth than climate or topography. Stand and tree species production rate on soil units was in the interval of −28 % to +5 % and −47 % to +14 % of that on the reference soil unit, respectively. Stand growth was the highest on Eutric Gleysols and the lowest on Histosols, and tree species generally exhibited the highest and the lowest growth rates on different soil units. We suggest that soil should be considered in growth models and studied interrelatedly with climatic, site and stand variables.
Keywords: reference soil groups, FAO soil unit, natural forest, stand growth, tree growth
Published in DiRROS: 29.12.2022; Views: 566; Downloads: 282
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5. Growing stock monitoring by European National Forest Inventories : historical origins, current methods and harmonisationThomas Gschwantner, Iciar Alberdi, Sébastien Bauwens, Susann Bender, Dragan Borota, Michal Bošela, Olivier Bouriaud, Johannes Breidenbach, Janis Donis, Christoph Fischer, Mitja Skudnik, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: Wood resources have been essential for human welfare throughout history. Also nowadays, the volume of growing stock (GS) is considered one of the most important forest attributes monitored by National Forest Inventories (NFIs) to inform policy decisions and forest management planning. The origins of forest inventories closely relate to times of early wood shortage in Europe causing the need to explore and plan the utilisation of GS in the catchment areas of mines, saltworks and settlements. Over time, forest surveys became more detailed and their scope turned to larger areas, although they were still conceived as stand-wise inventories. In the 1920s, the first sample-based NFIs were introduced in the northern European countries. Since the earliest beginnings, GS monitoring approaches have considerably evolved. Current NFI methods differ due to country-specific conditions, inventory traditions, and information needs. Consequently, GS estimates were lacking international comparability and were therefore subject to recent harmonisation efforts to meet the increasing demand for consistent forest resource information at European level. As primary large-area monitoring programmes in most European countries, NFIs assess a multitude of variables, describing various aspects of sustainable forest management, including for example wood supply, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity. Many of these contemporary subject matters involve considerations about GS and its changes, at different geographic levels and time frames from past to future developments according to scenario simulations. Due to its historical, continued and currently increasing importance, we provide an up-to-date review focussing on large-area GS monitoring where we i) describe the origins and historical development of European NFIs, ii) address the terminology and present GS definitions of NFIs, iii) summarise the current methods of 23 European NFIs including sampling methods, tree measurements, volume models, estimators, uncertainty components, and the use of air- and space-borne data sources, iv) present the recent progress in NFI harmonisation in Europe, and v) provide an outlook under changing climate and forest-based bioeconomy objectives.
Keywords: forest history, natural resources, sustainability, timber volume, sampling, remote sensing, bioeconomy, climate change
Published in DiRROS: 14.12.2021; Views: 772; Downloads: 548
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6. Alpine cultural heritage and natural hazards : where do we stand? : review and survey - framework analysis on Alpine cultural identity and natural hazardsAnže Japelj, Andreja Ferreira, Špela Planinšek, Anže Martin Pintar, 2019, professional monograph Keywords: cultural heritage, Alpine region, natural hazard, forest, capitalization process, system of natural hazards, typologies of natural disasters, policies and tools
Published in DiRROS: 18.02.2020; Views: 1805; Downloads: 860
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7. Patterns of tree microhabitats across a gradient of managed to old-growth conditions : a case study from beech dominated forests of South-Eastern SloveniaKristina Sever, Thomas Andrew Nagel, 2019, original scientific article Abstract: An inventory of tree microhabitats was done in two unmanaged forests (Kobile and Ravna gora forest reserves) and one managed beech forest in SE Slovenia. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of forest management, natural disturbances, and tree characteristics on microhabitat patterns. Forest structure and microhabitats were recorded in systematically placed plots (500 m2 in size) across each area. In total, we inventoried 849 trees on 54 plots and 1833 tree microhabitats. The results showed that forest management had no significant influence on the abundance of microhabitats per tree, but there were differences regarding microhabitat type between managed and unmanaged sites. There were substantially more microhabitats related to standing dead and live habitat trees in unmanaged forest (e.g. woodpecker cavities, insect galleries and bore holes, branch holes, dead branches and fruiting bodies of fungi), whereas in managed forests there were more tree microhabitats related to management (e.g. exposed heartwood, coarse bark, and epiphytic plants). The results also indicate that disturbance, tree diameter, vitality, and species influence the density, diversity, and occurrence of tree microhabitats.
Keywords: forest management, biodiversity, tree microhabitats, beech forests, old-growth, veteran tree, natural disturbance, dead wood
Published in DiRROS: 08.07.2019; Views: 6925; Downloads: 2936
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8. Analysis of the influece of ungulates on the regeneration of Dinaric fir-beech forests in the research site Trnovec in the Kočevje forest managementregionKristjan Jarni, Dušan Robič, Andrej Bončina, 2004, original scientific article Abstract: In the period 1970-2000, 152 fenced-in areas were built in the Kočevje Forest Management Region with an aim to protect tree seedlings and saplings from ungulatesć activity and to monitor the influence of roe and red deer on natural regeneration. The average surface area of fenced areas is 0.71 ha. Using the pair comparison technique (fenced vs. unfenced areas), the structureand the composition of the natural regeneration of tree species as well as complete shrub and herb vegetation were analysed in the research site Trnovec. Furthermore, the vegetation was investigated using the Braun-Blanquetmethod. The research results show significant differences between fenced and unfenced areas, both in tree species composition and in theheight structure of the sapling community. In fenced areas the total numberof saplings taller than 50 cm is higher and an increase is also evident in the number of saplings of silver fir Abies alba, sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus, elm Ulmus glabra and other minor tree species. There are also significant differences in species composition and in the abundance of plant species in the herb layer. The results show that natural regeneration of Dinaric fir-beech forests is successful, provided the influence of ungulates is excluded.
Keywords: natural forest regeneration, Fagus sylvatica, roe deer, fir-beech forest, Abies alba, fenced area, seedling browsing, Kočevje forest region, research site Trnovec
Published in DiRROS: 12.07.2017; Views: 4500; Downloads: 2016
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9. Razvoj inicialne faze na vetrolomni površini v pragozdnem ostanku Ravna goraAleksander Marinšek, Jurij Diaci, 2004, original scientific article Abstract: Zaradi vetroloma je leta 1983 v pragozdnem ostanku Ravna gora na Gorjancih na bukovem rastišču (Cardamini savensi-Fagetum) nastala 5,17 ha velika vrzel. Dejstvo, da je izsledkov o pomlajevanju po velikopovršinskih motnjah v pragozdovih malo, nas je vodilo k temu, da smo leta 2000 analizirali stanje indinamiko pomlajevanja vrzeli. Na treh različnih delih vrzeli smo postavili 15 raziskovalnih ploskev z dimenzijami 15 x 15 metrov, znotraj katerih smo analizirali zmes, razrast dreves, sestojno stanje po IUFRO klasifikaciji, pomladek in grobe lesne ostanke. Posebej nas je zanimalo razmerje med bukvijo (Fagus sylvatica L.) in gorskim javorjem (Acer pseudoplatanus L.). Slednjega je največ na sredini vrzeli. Pod sestojem, ki je zapolnil vrzel, je razvit pomladek bukve in javorja, ki je najgostejši na spodnjem (severnem) delu vrzeli. V pomladku prevladuje bukev. Ugotovili smo, da so bile razmere, ki so se izoblikovale po vetrolomu, bistveno drugačne od tipičnega goloseka. Predstavili smo tudi uporabne izsledke za gospodarjenje v gozdovih na podobnihrastiščih.Special attention is given to the gap, which was created in the virgin forest remnant Ravna gora in 1983 by wind throw. The gap in the optimal phase of almost pure beech and on beech site (Cardamini savensi-Fagetum) was 5.17 ha large. In 2000, owing to a lack of investigations in such conditions, we started to research the development patterns of natural regeneration within the gap. 15 sample plots (15 x 15 m) in three different positions within the gap were established. We analysed tree species mixture, architecture, stand structure according to IUFRO classification, advanced regeneration density andcoarse woody debris.The reserach concentrated in particular on the variability of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) mixture in regard to theposition within the gap. It was found out that sycamore was more abundant than beech in the center of the gap. The advanced regeneration density of beech was much higher than sycamore's, and both species were more abundant in the northern part of the gap. The results suggest that the ecological conditions after the wind throw were different when compared to a clear-cut area of similar size. Useful results for managed forests on similar sites are also presented.
Keywords: pragozd, Ravna gora, vrzel, mladje, vetrolom, naravna obnova, Fagus sylvatica, Acer pseudoplatanus, virgin forest, gap, wind throw, natural regeneration
Published in DiRROS: 12.07.2017; Views: 4559; Downloads: 2089
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