Volume 11 (2018): Edizione 3 (December 2018)

Forests cover more than one third of the area of Czechia and provide many environmental, economic, social and cultural benefits. Only a small part of the country´s forested area is left to nature. Most Czech forests are managed, with Norway spruce as the main tree species. The ongoing climate change progressively creates new conditions for the functioning of forests as important components of the landscape and providers of ecosystem services for society. Until recently, Czech forestry policy makers had not paid enough attention to climate change. As a result, Czech forests grapple with increasing instability caused by repeated windstorms, droughts and insect plagues. Traditionally applied management methods and rigid business models are not suitable for resolving the situation. Czech forestry thus takes an exceptional position within Europe. The responsibility for the development of the adaptation strategy and sustainable management policy lies in the hands of forestry policy makers. In order to restore stability and to ensure multifunctionality of forests under new climatic conditions, it will be necessary to introduce a new model of forest management. Compared to the traditional forestry model based on age classes, the new management model must be more flexible and better adapted to the new environmental situation. The principles of the new forestry policy should stem from agreement and cooperation of the forestry sector with scientific and nature protection institutions, as well as from an active discussion within society.

The starting point of the change are the documents Strategy of Adaptation to Climate Change under the Conditions of the Czech Republic and National Action Plan, elaborated in 2016 and 2017 by the Ministry of the Environment, and the Strategic Framework Czech Republic, approved by the Czech government. The chosen adaptation strategy and its implementation must not only restore the stability of forests, but also improve the future position of the Czech forestry sector among European countries.

Close to nature silviculture is an alternative to a forest management system based on the clear cutting regeneration and cultivation of even-aged coniferous monocultures. The history of close to nature silviculture dates back to the second half of the 19th century, when the first attempts were made in Central Europe for more sophisticated silvicultural practices based on natural small-scale regeneration and management of mixed stands. These activities also affected the Czech lands, where the ideas of close to nature silviculture were successfully developed by the end of the 1960s. For the next twenty years, however, under the influence of central planning, forest management has been inclined towards large-scale clear cutting system. The renaissance of close to nature forest management took place only after 1989. At present, close to nature silviculture being established not only in Central Europe, but also more and more in the boreal part of Europe as well as in North America. Currently, there is a discussion about suitability of close-to-nature silviculture for adapting temperate forests to climate change.

Forests are being increasingly studied within the framework of social sciences, especially in relation to environmental problems and global climate change. This article deals with the perception of Czech forests and their management at two basic levels: at the level of sociological analysis of in-depth interviews with experts in the field of forestry and at the level of public opinion research. The main aim of this study was to describe the attitudes of professionals and the general public towards forests and forestry, especially with regard to climate change. Qualitative analysis of interviews with professionals discerned two main categories of opinion: ecological realism and social constructionism. The results of the study show that the Czech public, in agreement with ecological realists, considers it highly important to preserve and support the non-productive environmental functions of forests. The public also prefers close-to-nature forest management practices. Czech Republic is witnessing a fundamental shift in the mindset about forests. Although the public still expects forests to retain their production function, it perceives their environmental functions as increasingly important.

The impact of climate change on forest ecosystems may manifest itself by a shift in forest vegetation zones in the landscape northward and into higher elevations. Studies of climate change-induced vegetation zone shifts in forest ecosystems have been relatively rare in the context of European temperate zone (apart from Alpine regions). The presented paper outlines the results of a biogeographic model of climatic conditions in forest vegetation zones applied in the Central European landscape. The objective of the study is a prediction of future silvicultural conditions for the Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.), which is one of the principal tree species within European forests. The model is based on a general environmental dependence of forest vegetation zones on the long-term effect of altitudinal and exposure climates defined by the mean and extreme air temperatures and the amount and distribution of atmospheric precipitation. The climatological data for the model were provided by a validated regional climate database for 2010 – 2090 according to the SRES A1B scenario, bound to specific geo-referenced points in the landscape. The geobiocoenological data in the model were provided by the Biogeography Register database which contains ecological data on the landscape bound to individual cadastres of the entire Czech Republic. The biogeographic model applies special programs (the FORTRAN programming language) in the environment of geographic information systems. The model outputs can be clearly graphically visualized as scenarios of predicted future climatic conditions of landscape vegetation zones. Modelling of the regional scenario of changes in the climatic conditions of forest vegetation zones reveals that in the prediction period of 2070 and beyond, good and very good climatic conditions for the cultivation of forests with dominant Norway spruce will be found only in some parts of its today’s native range in forest vegetation zones 5 – 8. Based on the results provided by the regional scenario, the authors of this paper recommend fundamental reassessment of the national strategy of sustainable forest management in the Czech Republic, stipulating that the current practice of spruce cultivation be reduced only to areas specifically defined by the biogeographic model. The paper shows that biogeographic models based on the concept of vegetation zoning can be applied not only in regional scenarios of climate change in the landscape but also as support tools for the creation of strategies of sustainable forest management.

This paper presents an evaluation of full-area floristic investigation of floodplain forests in Soutok forest district (Židlochovice Forest State Enterprise) based on an individual forest stand inventory. The study area encompasses 5103 ha of forests, where 1186 segments were inventoried, and 71 223 single records about presence of vascular plant species were done. We found 761 taxa (species, subspecies and hybrids), out of which 655 were herbs, 106 woody plants, 156 were endangered species and 177 adventive species. The average area of a segment was 4.3 ha. The mean number of species per segment was 64.42 in a range of 4–180.

With an annual population growth rate currently estimated at about 5 %, Virginia presents an ideal case study for anthropogenic environmental disturbances. Urbanization as a result of increasing human activities has led to fragmentation of many crucial habitats, especially forests. Analysis of the extent to which forest fragmentation and connectivity have occurred in Virginia and corresponding changes associated with these processes, is relevant for conserving forest habitats and the biodiversity that they support. This study applies FRAGSTATS, a software system developed to assess forest fragmentation and connectivity, in combination with ArcGIS, to identify changes in forest patch metrics for Virginia over a ten-year interval (2001, 2006 and 2011) using National Land Cover Datasets (NLCD) maps as data source. Results show that, over ten years, forest patches have significantly declined in size, while the number of forest patches and total length of edge areas have increased over time. Results of this study show that road density in Virginia has no significant effect on forest fragmentation between 2001 and 2011. Analysis using ArcGIS revealed that sizes of core forest areas in Virginia are declining, and that these reductions match local topographic slope. This is because the steepness of the slope of an area dictates the degree of human activities in that area. These results suggest that urban sprawl associated with areas with gentler slopes, may have significant, long-term consequences for natural forest ecosystems and ultimately, biodiversity conservation.

A primary requirement for policy objectives is reliable figures on the composition of any region. Currently there is no comprehensive, definitive set of statistics for the British Uplands, hence the present paper. An overview of the background to the region is first provided, together with some examples of the available figures and a discussion of their limitations. The paper uses a formal structure, with landscapes at the highest level followed by habitats, then vegetation, and finally species, with exact definitions of the categories applied at all levels. The figures are produced from a survey of stratified, random one kilometre squares. The tables give comprehensive figures for Great Britain (GB) as a whole, and also England, Wales and Scotland.

The Uplands are shown to cover 38 % of the country. In terms of UK Broad Habitats, Bog is the most common overall (2062 k ha). It is estimated that 41 % of upland vegetation in Britain is grazed by sheep, and Cervus elephus (red deer) are particularly evident in Scotland. Walls (mainly drystone) are the most important linear feature (84 k km) but hedgerows (30 k km) are also widespread. The major vegetation classes are those linked to moorlands and bogs (about 25 %) but those associated with fertile soils are also common (10 %). In terms of species, Potentilla erecta (tormentil) is the most frequent species with four other acid grassland species in the top ten. Calluna vulgaris (ling heather) has the highest cover in Great Britain (14.8 %).

The paper demonstrates that the British Uplands have been influenced to a great extent by policy - for example, the planting of almost a million hectares of exotic conifers since the Second World War, and the extent of designated areas. Otherwise, climate change transcends policy and is locally important to coastal and high mountain habitats. The different policies affecting the Uplands, such as the Common Agricultural Policy, are described, as are the wide range of designations such as National Parks, which may have a stabilising effect in times of great change. A new trend has started in Scotland in the last 20 years of local initiatives, such as the community ownership of Eigg, however large landowners still dominate. An impact table is presented of the habitats that make up the Uplands and their links to driving forces, with potential changes described that are likely to take place under future policies such as Brexit. Dwarf shrub heath is the habitat affected by many management drivers, whereas habitats such as Inland Rock, are relatively stable but most likely to be affected by climate change.

In the past few decades, forest policies have caused changes in forest landscape and community lifescape in the study area of Walanae Forest Management Unit (KPH Walanae), South Sulawesi Province. This research aims to analyze forest policy dynamics and their impacts on landscape and lifescape dynamics. We quantify landscape dynamics using land use and land cover change and landscape metrics in interpreting remote sensing results of four data sets obtained in 1990, 2000, 2009, and 2016. Furthermore, we investigate lifescape dynamics using qualitative/quantitative description. We found a rapid land use change in forest landscapes within the past 26 years. A significant change showed that, in 1990–2000, the primary forest that changed into the secondary forest and shrubs has changed into dry land agriculture mix shrubs. The decreased area of the forest brought an increase in economic income for people on one side and large disturbances and forest fragmentation on the other. Various forest policies influenced the forest composition and cover but were insufficiently successful in protecting the natural forest. Results showed that several forest policies that considerably impact the landscape and lifescape conditions include forest land designation, industrial forest plantation, and restoration activities. The policies on establishing KPH and social forest program have not shown the maximum result on the landscape and lifescape improvements and, therefore, must be supported.

Scenarios based on contrasting storylines can be used as a tool to explore the different ways in which the future may develop and their impacts on the sustainability of European forestry. These scenarios are neither predictions nor forecasts, but are used to create a consistent image of a future, and to help decision makers and other actors in making well informed choices. Each storyline assumes a distinctly different direction for future developments. Here we discuss characteristics of scenario studies forest large scale forest resources in general and focus on a few recent trends and their long term impact on European forests, as e.g. nature oriented management, carbon credits, and extra demand for bioenergy.

Set of phytocoenological records obtained in nineties of the twentieth century from extensively farmed patches and/or grasslands dominated by invasive grass Bromus catharticus in suburban area of Cairo, Egypt, is related to running and perspective expansion of this vegetation formation in the “city ecotone” at the metropolitan boundry.