Damages in forests in the Czech Republic

1. Damages in forests in the Czech Republic Long-standing As a student Member of the project practice Jan Svetlik contact: svetlikj@seznam.cz

2. Czech forests:forestland: 2,7 millions haforestcoverage: 34%conifers: 75% broadleaves: 25%annual felling: 15,5 milions m3

3. Game management can be more profitable than forest management

4. Forest ownerhip in the Czech Republic

5. 100 m Actual tree species composition

6. Windthrow = 50% • Barkbeetles on spruce = 20% • Armillaria = 5% • Game on new plantings (fir, larch) and unbarking middle-agged forests Very severe forest damage situation!!!Mean annual felling (in millions m3) in last 10 years

7. Czech forest health condition is poor Strong pressure of combination of stressful factors • Extreme weather • Improper tree species composition • Biotic agents (bark beetles, honey fungus…) • Extremly high populations of deer

8. Next 3 slides: Important bad years in period 2003-2012 2012 Hot temperature records in August The largest forest fire in last 15 years (180 ha) 2009 Heavy rains in summer Very hot summer Bad situation with barkbeetles (mostly spruce)

9. 2008 Spring heavy storm (EMMA) Heavy storm in June (IVAN) Very bad year 66% (=10,8 millions m3) 2007 April-only 6 mm (precipitation) The warmest year in Czech. Rep. Very strong strom (KIRILL) Very bad year more than 80% (=14,9 millions m3) Abnormal warm weather in the period Sept. 2006-Sept. 2007 Barkbeetles occurrence

10. 2006 Extremes in temperatures and precipitation Damages by wet snow 2003 Heavy drought (only ¾ of normal precipitation) Abnormally warmer 8,2 millions m3(= more than 50% of all felling) Abiotic damages in 2003

11. Sequence of dominant problems Replacing beech by spruce with geneticaly uncertain origin in current forest generation, changed environment Predisposition to windthrow, drought, snow and other extreme events Attack of barkbeetles and/or honey fungus (Armilaria)

12. Damages in mature spruce forests Highlands (an example): Journalist: What is forest health status in your region? Director: We had extreme windthrow calamities in 1991, 1995, 2003 (that was 99% salvage fellings), 2007 and 2008…. Journalist: How do you plan fellings? Director: We cannot plan fellings….. Journalist: What about changing of tree species composition? Director: Nature shows us the dirrection….

13. Comments to previous interview: • To spruce and beech regeneration were additionaly used lime, maple, oak. • Transplanting in pairs 1 spruce (on south) and 1 beech (+/- 10cm from spruce seedling). 1 x 2m; pairs are in every second line.

14. Sequence of damages in new plantations Immediate response after transplanting 1) Effect of poorly made human labor during transplanting small trees (artificially est. forest) Bad quality of seedlings Response in 1-3 years after transplanting Drought High herbs and bushes (Urtica, Sambucus…) Response in 4-(10) years after transplanting Armillaria ostoye (5-15%)

15. Production of drought tolerant seedlings • The most important for transplanting success is ratio of volume belowground / aboveground biomass. Aboveground volume should not be larger than 3x belowground volume (in case of 5x larger aboveground volume, we should expect at least 50% mortality) • In nursery You can order specific (not from greenhouses) ,,strong,, seedlings = PRICE

16. Some comments to honey fungus in Czech Republic • Development is highly corelated with climatic extremes previous year (drought, wind) • Mostly on spruces in non-native occupancy area • Mostly on rich soils, • Can affect any tree species in any age Acute attack, still green crown with no visual symptoms

17. Climate change as a designer of Czech forests in future • Climate change in Czech Republic: • Annual air temperature getting 0,2°C warmer every decade • Reduction of total precipitation • More often and longer drought periods • Longer vegetation season

18. What will happen (what we think that will happen): • Lowlands and highlands: • decreasing trend of growth • more intensive drought stress for trees • Mountains • same or better growing conditions • movement of the upper forest limit into higher altitudes Vegetation zonesmovement

19. What will happen (what we think that will happen): • Pests and pathogens: • changes their area of occupancy, population dynamics, virulence, host tree species, number of barkbeetle generations per year • Ips typographus: 1961-1990 = 1 generation/year in 2% in mountine forests • = 2 gen./y in 70% forests • = 3 gen./y in 28% forests • 2021-2050 = 2 gen./y in 46% forests • = 3 gen./y in 54% forests • 2071-2100 = 3 gen./y in 80% forests • = almost 4 gen./y in 20% forests

20. very hard to predict forest development in future

21. Czech National Forestry Program, Key Action 6 (Reduction of climate change impacts on forests) To spread the risk of damages in the future • Increase of tree biodiversity • Evaluate changes of forest types distribution • Subsidy program for silviculture methods adaptation Support of fast growing trees on argiculture land • Support of coppice forests • Reduction of invasive plants and tree species Suitable provenances Invasive Reynoutria

22. Czech National Forestry Program, Key Action 7 (Continuing and development of forest monitoring) • Repeating, methodology development and sharing data from National Forest Inventory • Monitoring of forests with spontaneous development (non-interference zones) • Continuing and methodology extension of forest health monitoring

23. Czech National Forestry Program, Key Action 8 (Forest health and forest protection improvement) • Reduction of clearcuts • Support of natural regeneration • Support reccomended tree species composition and heterogenous spatial forest structure • Development of methodology how to evaluate costs of damages • Review and re-evaluation of forest categories and forest main functions in local scale • Key action 9 - Balance between forest health and game management Who wants broadleaves?

24. Recommended tree species composition (for the future) • Compromis between economical and natural tree composition (accepted by Forest Management Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of the Environment…) • Expected effect: • Higher forest stability than nowadays • Still wood productivity and satisfaction of wood industry demands • But these changes still regiure changes in wood industry in the future

25. Actual Recommended Natural

26. Vegetation zones in Czech Republic (natural distribution before climate change)

27. Well drained soils • Current forest: spruce 80%, pine 15%, birch 5% • Natural forest: oak 70%, beech 30%, pine • Wanted: pine 60%, oak 20%, beech 10%, larch 10% • Forest management: • using clearcuts (suits to both pine and oak) • seedlings not from greenhouses • using very young seedlings (9000/ha) • beech (lime) in shelterwood groups • larch needs individual protection

28. Heavy soils (high clay contend) • Current forest: spruce 100% (rotten roundwood, low stability) • Natural forest: spruce 50%, fir 40%, beech (alder) 10% • Wanted: spruce 60%, fir 40%, beech 10%, (alder), • Forest management: • avoid large (1ha = 50x 200m) clearcuts!!! • fir in shelterwood groups 20 years ahead (beech closer), • natural regeneration – agresive plants (weed), • damages by game • negative selection of subdominant and suppressed trees 100 m

29. Market calls for spruce • Nowadays: • Developed wood industry for coniferous, but not for broadleaves (generally about half price of spruce, using mostly as a firewood, some export) • As a forest owner you have no problem to sell spruce wood, almost imposible for broadleaves • Near future: • Less wood amount of spruce and pine • Incerase of beech, oak and other broadleaves wood Looking for a compromis Spruce broadleaves

30. Thanks for Your attention And thanks to Spruce Dieback Project and tothe European Social Fund and the state budgetof the Czech Republic, Project Indicators of trees vitality Reg.No. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0265.