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Abstract: It is expected that climate change as well as abiotic and anthropogenic disturbances will strongly influence temperate forests. Besides changes in the main climate variables, various disturbance factors may significantly worsen conditions for mesic Slovenian forests (SE Europe) dominated by European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Norway spruce (Picea abies) and European silver fir (Abies alba). In Slovenia, the climate has warmed in recent decades, with an average annual rate of increase of about 0.4°C per decade or even more than 0.5°C per decade in summer. In addition, disturbances have caused considerable damage to trees in the most extensive forest types in Slovenia, starting with a widespread ice storm in 2014, followed by bark beetle outbreaks, windthrows and salvage logging interventions. After 2014, salvage logging increased from about one third to two thirds of the total annual felling. Over the last two decades, we have observed a decline in Norway spruce growing stock, with the highest rate of decrease in areas below 500 m a.s.l., and an increasing trend for European beech. Overall, the three dominant species (beech, spruce, silver fir), which together account for more than 70% of the total growing stock, have shown a declining trend over the last 20 years. The patterns observed are broadly consistent with earlier predictions developed for different climate change scenarios and with those reported in many other European countries. Adaptive forest management, which implements close-to-nature silviculture, has been traditionally practised in the region under study and has the potential to play an important role in reducing the risks associated with the impacts of climate change and disturbances in the future.
Keywords: climate warming, disturbance factors, ice storm, bark beetle outbreaks, spruce decline, salvage logging, tree species composition, temperate forest, Slovenia
DiRROS - Published: 03.01.2022; Views: 176; Downloads: 116
Fulltext (2,55 MB)

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
DiRROS - Published: 14.12.2021; Views: 205; Downloads: 119
Fulltext (17,73 MB)

Keywords: karst hydrogeology, global environmental changes, large-scale forest disturbances, aquifer recharge, water monitoring
DiRROS - Published: 03.12.2021; Views: 288; Downloads: 150
Fulltext (277,79 KB)

Abstract: Na podlagi meritev v obdobju 1962–2017 smo na raziskovalnih ploskvah na nekdanjih novinah v katastrski občini Koprivna izračunali debelinske, višinske in volumenske prirastke za najpomembnejši drevesni vrsti - smreko in macesen. Na raziskovalnih ploskvah, ki so bile prepuščene naravnemu razvoju, so srednjetemeljnični premeri manjši, število dreves pa večje od tistih v primerljivih gospodarskih gozdovih. V zadnjih tridesetih letih se je zaradi visokih sestojnih gostot zmanjšalo debelinsko priraščanje dreves smreke in macesna. Z dendrokronološko analizo smo ocenili vpliv klimatskih dejavnikov na priraščanje smreke in macesna. Na podlagi dendrokronološke analize smo ugotovili, da se leta z negativnim odzivom dreves v debelinskem prirastku od leta 1984 pojavljajo pogosteje.
Keywords: raziskovalne ploskve, smreka, macesen, debelinski prirastek, volumenski prirastek, indeks gostote SDI, dendrokronološka analiza
DiRROS - Published: 02.12.2021; Views: 823; Downloads: 495
Fulltext (1,27 MB)

Abstract: In this study, we investigated the health status of balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera L.) trees in a residential area of the city of Bratsk (Irkutsk Oblast, Russia). Visual and instrumental assessment of the health status of pruned and unpruned trees was performed. The identified internal defects in the tree were analyzed with a Resistograph device, which enabled the extent of decayed wood to be determined. Visual analysis revealed various types of damage: dried branches, brittle crowns, frost cracks, mechanical damage, curvature of trunks, decay and inclusions of foreign bodies. We compared trees with and without canopy pruning. We found that pruned trees were significantly more damaged than non-pruned trees. Decomposing wood at different stages of development was found in all the trees studied. A tree passport combining the visual and instrumental assessment data was compiled for each tree. The results of the research were used to formulate conclusions and recommendations for improving the management of urban trees in order to restore their ecological and aesthetic functions.
Keywords: Populus balsamifera L., visual analysis, Resistograph, urban area, wood, decay
DiRROS - Published: 01.12.2021; Views: 765; Downloads: 511
Fulltext (1,84 MB)