Reforesta

6-21

Authors: Vladan Ivetić, Jovana Devetaković, Zoran Maksimović

This study compares the relation of initial height and root collar diameter of bareroot hardwoods seedlings to survival and growth in first year after planting. A total of six species used in Serbian reforestation programs were tested (four native: Fagus sylvatica, Ulmus laevis, Fraxinus excelsior, and Acer pseudoplatanus and two exotic: Robinia pseudoacacia, and Quercus rubra), at 6 sites with a wide range of environmental conditions. Initial seedling height and diameter were equally related to field performance and better in forecasting growth than survival. The relation between seedlings initial morphological attributes and survival was species specific, while for all tested species growth was positively correlated to seedling size at planting. Although large seedlings kept their advantage in size, smaller seedlings grew at a higher rate. Both initial H and D should be considered as equally important in operational programs for hardwoods seedling quality testing.

32-38

Authors: Nikola Miroljub Šušić, Martin Bobinac, Ivona Kerkez, Andrijana Bauer Živković, Nikola Vojinović

In this nursery experiment, 100 one-year-old northern red oak seedlings were measured at the end of the 2016 growing season. Measured growth elements were: total height, root collar diameter and total leaf area. All seedlings were classified according to the presence of polycyclism into four types: one-flush growth, two-flush growth, three-flush growth, and four-flush growth type. The number of new flushes (shoots) is a good indicator of total height, root collar diameter and total leaf area.

50-59

Authors: Orazio La Marca, Roberto Mercurio, Leonardo Nocentini

As a consequence of past deforestation, degraded areas in Italy have been subjected to afforestation since the beginning of the XXI century. These afforestations have been done mainly with conifers (Pinus nigra, Pinus pinaster, Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinea), and with the aim to 1) protect the soil and to 2) prevent floods. Exotic forest tree species have been used for the afforestation of selected sites of the Apennine. In the case of Douglas fir, it is possible to state that after ninety years the results are very good in terms of both ecological adaptability and high growth-rate. Nowadays, the lack of silvicultural treatments, the ageing processes, insect and fungi outbreaks have led pine afforestations to a condition of an unsteady biological equilibrium in many sites. Moreover, this condition seems to be due to additional factors related to climate change such as wind storms and dryness. The restoration of these pine afforestations is therefore one of the main aims of the present Italian forest management policy which aims to increase their level of resilience. In particular, the priority of the researchers has been given to the most fragile stands where three possible objectives of restoration measures should be considered: To rehabilitate conifer stands by introducing native broadleaves when these stands are in a very degraded condition, and when the local wood energy chain needs to be started; To conserve the conifer stands in the cases where the cultural, aesthetic and recreational functions, are the prevailing obtainable ecosystem services; To foster the mixed stands, with the conifers of the old cycle and native broadleaves, which could increase resilience to the extreme events. In regards of Douglas-fir stands, new silvicultural models have been developed which aim to a) conserve these stands and to b) combine a higher growth rate with a much improved mechanical tree stability.

76-80

Authors: Bartolomeo Schirone, Iman Al-Hirsh, Nisreen Al-Qaddi, Corrado Battisti, Federico Vessella, Tatiana Marras, Maria Raffaella Ortolani

It is widely accepted that the Mediterranean Basin is a prominent hotspot of biodiversity hosting a significant richness of plant lineages and fauna. Projected trends in the context of global change suggest this area will cope with strong increases in temperature and decreases in precipitation with consequent effects on forests and ecosystem services. Upward shifts of species range and/or mass extinction are expected to occur on a broad scale, especially in the Mediterranean. Here, mountain ecosystems would undergo the most severe reduction and fragmentation events. Further human based impacts aggravate the effects of global warming. Among them, wars and civil disorders seriously affect mountain landscapes, marking them over time. Presently, many threats of war are occurring in the Mediterranean and mostly in mountain areas at a high level of biodiversity. Furthermore, these same scenarios are overlapped with global warming, thus exposing many species to an actual risk of extinction. The aim of this study was to find a solution to the disturbances created in the forest ecosystem by the consequences of war of an identified area in the Mediterranean basin.