https://www.wsl.ch/staff/niklaus.zimmermann/papers/JEnvManage_Lindner_2014.pdf

Climate change and European forests: What do we know, what are the uncertainties, and what are the implications for forest management?

A bhstrt. The design of the life cycle of pin cherry (Prlmlits Ape(/vasO i(mi L. ), a successional xpecies common on disturbed sites througlhout Much of the northern hardwood and boreal forest ecosystems, assures that its occurrence is integrated into the pattern of disturbance in the climax ecosysten. The combination of burlied seed strategy and the nobility offered through avian consuLmption of fruits ensures reasonably large populations of buried, viable seeds in the soils of forests well after the disappearance of pin cherry from a particular site. Soil sampling data indicate that Sufficient numbers of viable pin cherry seeds reside in the soils of second-growth forests in central New Hampshire to account 'for the dense stands frequently observed after cutting or burning. Further, germination of these bur-ied seeds is apparently triggered by some factor(s) associated with formation of a large gap. By ,age 25 or 30, when pin cherry individuals are dying rapidly, Sufficient numbers of seeds have been produced and disseminated in a dormant condition for the cycle to renew itself with the Subsequent occurrence of major disturbance. In high density stands pin cherry grows rapidly, with early attainment of canopy closure (high leaf area index), and rapid attainment of high values of net annual production and nutrient, accunmulaltion.

The role of pin cherry (prunus pensylvanica l.) in the maintenance of stability in northern

http://academic.oup.com/auk/article-pdf/104/4/794/30081688/auk0794.pdf

An atlas of past and Present Pollen Maps for Europe: 0-13000 Years Ago

Adaptation of forest management to climate change requires an understanding of the effects of climate on forests, industries and communities; prediction of how these effects might change over time; and incorporation of this knowledge into management decisions. This requires multiple forms of knowledge and new approaches to forest management decisions. Partnerships that integrate researchers from multiple disciplines with forest managers and local actors can build a shared understanding of future challenges and facilitate improved decision making in the face of climate change.
 Climate change presents significant potential risks to forests and challenges for forest managers. Adaptation to climate change involves monitoring and anticipating change and undertaking actions to avoid the negative consequences and to take advantage of potential benefits of those changes. This paper aimed to review recent research on climate change impacts and management options for adaptation to climate change and to identify key themes for researchers and for forest managers. The study is based on a review of literature on climate change impacts on forests and adaptation options for forest management identified in the Web of Science database, focusing on papers and reports published between 1945 and 2013. One thousand one hundred seventy-two papers were identified in the search, with the vast majority of papers published from 1986 to 2013. Seventy-six percent of papers involved assessment of climate change impacts or the sensitivity or vulnerability of forests to climate change and 11 % (130) considered adaptation. Important themes from the analysis included (i) predicting species and ecosystem responses to future climate, (ii) adaptation actions in forest management, (iii) new approaches and tools for decision making under uncertainty and stronger partnerships between researchers and practitioners and (iv) policy arrangements for adaptation in forest management. Research to support adaptation to climate change is still heavily focused on assessing impacts and vulnerability. However, more refined impact assessments are not necessarily leading to better management decisions. Multi-disciplinary research approaches are emerging that integrate traditional forest ecosystem sciences with social, economic and behavioural sciences to improve decision making. Implementing adaptation options is best achieved by building a shared understanding of future challenges among different institutions, agencies, forest owners and stakeholders. Research-policy-practice partnerships that recognise local management needs and indigenous knowledge and integrate these with climate and ecosystem science can facilitate improved decision making.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs13595-014-0446-5.pdf

Climate change impacts and adaptation in forest management: a review

European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) dieback - a conservation biology challenge.

Summary European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) is common throughout much of Europe and is a valuable broadleaved tree due to its ecological characteristics, outstanding wood properties and high economic value. It is a fast growing species, associated with several forest types and with a scattered distribution in many different forest communities. In this review, we sum up essential characteristics of European ash, relevant to the further development of silvicultural practices. The paper covers site requirements, regeneration and stand establishment, growth dynamics and wood quality, and health and robustness. The review also highlights implications for silviculture and summarizes new information on ash dieback, a phenomenon which is observed in many European countries. Ash grows best on fertile, pH-neutral, deep, freely drained soils and such sites should be favoured if the aim is for high quality timber. Ash grows well at wide spacing which can result in enlarged ring width and increased latewood percentage, making the wood denser and stronger. Relatively short rotations may be recommended, depending on site, to avoid black heart: for example, a harvesting diameter of 60 cm can be reached within 60–75 years at 60–80 ash crop trees per ha. Universal recommendations are therefore for wide spacing with heavy, regular thinning in order to get a large diameter within a relatively short rotation. The necessity for pruning depends on the stand density at establishment and the subsequent thinning regime.

/pdf/a-review-of-european-ash-fraxinus-excelsior-l-implications-qcds2gh14s.pdf

A review of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.): implications for silviculture

Silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) is one of the most valuable conifer trees in Europe for historical and economic reasons. Growing interest in the species, along with the recognition that silver fir was subjected to inappropriate silvicultural measures during the 20th century due a lack of understanding of its ecology, have spurred recent studies from various disciplines which have yielded new insights into the gene ecology, history, ecology, structure and dynamics of fir populations. In this paper, we provide a multidisciplinary, synoptical review discussing the prospects for silver fir forestry in the 21st century. We describe the main characteristics of the history and ecology of silver fir, with a particular emphasis on gene ecology and the structure and dynamics of fir populations with respect to mixed stands and fir management. Fir is a fundamental species for maintaining high biodiversity in forested ecosystems because of its shade tolerance, plasticity to environmental conditions and ability t...

Ecology and silviculture of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.): a review

Tilia is a genus in the family of Tiliaceae with about thirty species of trees, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere (10), in Asia, Europe and eastern North America; it is absent in western North America. Only four of these species occur naturally in Europe, i.e. Caucasian lime Tilia dasystyla Stev., silver lime Tilia tomentosa Moench., small-leaved lime Tilia cordata Mill. and largeleaved lime Tilia platyphyllos Scop. The latter two species are distributed almost over the whole continent of Europe except for large parts of Scandinavia. The third species, T. tomentosa, grows only in the Balkans, especially in the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. T. cordata and T. platyphyllos form natural inter-specific hybrids when individuals of these species exist in the close proximity; these forms are known as “common linden” Tilia x europaea L. syn. Tilia x vulgaris Hayne (MAURER and TABEL, 1995). The objective of this review is to synthesise the existing knowledge on different aspects of the growth of lime which are relevant to the silvicultural practice. We intend to describe the establishment and growth pattern of lime trees, to identify the various factors that may control their variability and to provide conclusions for forest management. Emphasis will be given to the specific problems of growing lime in mixture with other species. Within these objectives

/pdf/a-review-on-the-ecology-and-silviculture-of-limes-tilia-n7clofeerh.pdf

A review on the ecology and silviculture of limes (Tilia cordata Mill., Tilia platyphyllos Scop. and Tilia tomentosa Moench.) in Europe

Forests respond differently to changes in climate depending on individual site characteristics and tree status. Site conditions may buffer or boost impacts of heat, drought, and storm events. Considering contemporary changes in climate (Christensen et al. 2007), warming may increase forest productivity in those parts of Europe where growth resources like soil water are not limiting (Nabuurs et al. 2002). However, under conditions of limited resource supply and changed disturbance regime, we may expect a reduction of forest productivity and vitality (Lindner et al. 2010). Major climatic impacts on forests include both singular extreme events (changing climate variability) that are difficult to predict in time and location, as well as less obvious gradual changes (changing mean values) (Bolte et al. 2010; Reyer et al. 2013).
This study presents an analysis of the diverse aspects of climate change impacts on forests in Europe based on the expert views of local observers. Local expert knowledge provides additional (often overlooked) information on climate change impacts and fills knowledge gaps for less-described European regions. Furthermore, we used expert knowledge to highlight a set of priorities for pro- and reactive forest management, taking into account differences and similarities among regions. Finally, we wanted to define “hot spots” of climate change impacts, i.e., regions, or selected tree species/stands in these regions, which are highly vulnerable and considerably exposed to negative impacts of climate change.

/pdf/climate-change-impacts-in-european-forests-the-expert-views-tdwttcyzlx.pdf

Dorota Dobrowolska

Papers

A review of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.): implications for silviculture

Ecology and silviculture of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.): a review

A review on the ecology and silviculture of limes (Tilia cordata Mill., Tilia platyphyllos Scop. and Tilia tomentosa Moench.) in Europe

Climate change impacts in European forests: the expert views of local observers

Structure of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) natural regeneration in the `Jata' reserve in Poland