- Download PDF - 

SEEFOR 2 (1): 43-48
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15177/seefor.11-05 

Professional paper

Some Indicators of Beech Forests Vitality in the Republic of Serbia in Period 2004-2009

Radovan Nevenić ^1*, Ljubinko Rakonjac ¹, Svetlana Bilibajkić ¹, Tomislav Stefanović ¹,  Zoran Poduška ¹, Renata Gagić-Serdar ¹, Ilija Đorđević¹, Goran Češljar ¹  

¹ Institute of Forestry, Beograd, Serbia, Kneza Višeslava 3, 11030 Belgrade, Serbia

* Corresponding author: e-mail:  

Citation:
NEVENIĆ R, RAKONJAC LJ, BILIBAJKIĆ S, STEFANOVIĆ T, PODUŠKA Z, GAGIĆ-SERDAR R, ĐORĐEVIĆ I, ČEŠLJAR G 2011 Some Indicators of Beech Forests Vitality in the Republic of Serbia in Period 2004-2009. South-east Eur for 2 (1): 43-48. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15177/seefor.11-05   

Cited by:        CrossRef        Google Scholar

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Forests monitoring is one of the largest forest bio-monitoring systems that is carried out in order to record changes by using the most important environmental parameters. The National Focal Centre for forest monitoring in the Republic of Serbia, within the Institute of Forestry of the Republic of Serbia has been taking an active part in an international program of ICP Forest, with a view to improving its working activities and harmonizing them with other approaches to monitoring forests and forest ecosystems.
Material and Methods: In order to determine forest ecosystem processes, it is necessary to carry out detailed research of ecological and socio-economic consequences of forest deterioration and to study the impacts of regional climate changes on forest communities. In the period from 2004 to 2009, observations were performed on 130 sample plots and data necessary for further analysis were collected. These plots are systematically arranged in either a 16x16 km or a 4 x 4 km grid system. The main parameters assessed on the sample plots are the degree of defoliation and discolouration as well as the extent of damage. A comparative analysis of the data obtained in this period will provide a better insight into the present state of beech forests in Serbia as well the effects of defoliation and discolouration trends.
Results and Conclusion: Beech is the most common broadleaved tree species on the Level I sample plots. Its health state is the result of adverse effects of complex factors of abiotic and biotic origin (i.e. effects of both living organisms and complex natural processes within the beech forests habitats). This paper presents some indicators of beech forest vitality whose occurrence show certain regularity and which can be interpreted as a trend. The annual values of the health state elements and the fluctuations of these parameters from year to year present important indicators of vitality of beech forests in Serbia.

Keywords: health state, pollution, crown, beech

REFERENCES

1. Fourth Ministerial Conference On the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE) 2003 Conference Proceedings, Vienna, Austria, p 211-222
2. UN EC ICP Forests 2010 Manual on methods and criteria for harmonized sampling, assessment, monitoring and analysis of the effects of air pollution on forests, Part I - Mandate of ICP Forests and Programme Implementation, updated: 05/2010
3. UN EC ICP Forests 2010 Manual on methods and criteria for harmonized sampling, assessment, monitoring and analysis of the effects of air pollution on forests, Part IV -Visual Assessment of Crown Condition and Damaging Agents, updated: 05/2010. Available at: http://www.icp-forests.org/pdf/FINAL_Crown.pdf
4. UN EC ICP Forests 2010 Manual on methods and criteria for harmonized sampling, assessment, monitoring and analysis of the effects of air pollution on forests, Part II -Basic design principles for the ICP Forests Monitoring Networks, ICP Forests, 2010, updated: 05/2010. Available at: http://www.icp-forests.org/pdf/FINAL_part2.pdf
5. DE VRIES W, BAKKER DJ 1998 Manual for calculating critical loads of heavy metals for terestial ecosystems. Guidelines for critical limits, calculation methods and input data, Wageningen, DLO, Winand Staring Centre, Report 166, p 144
6. NEVENIĆ R et al. 2010 Praćenje i procena uticaja zagađenja vazduha i njegovih efekata u šumskim ekosistemima na teritoriji Republike Srbije.NFC Srbije – Nacionalni fokal centar Srbije, Godišnji izveštaj za 2009, Institut za šumarstvo. Monitoring and Impact Assessment of Air Pollution and its Effects in Forest Ecosystems on the Territory of the Republic of Serbia. NFC Serbia – National Focal Center Serbia, Annual Report for 2009, Institute of forestry, Belgrade, p 1-220
7. TABAKOVIĆ–TOŠIĆ М, MARKOVIĆ М 2004 The influence of phytophagous   insects on the health status of coppice beech forests of eastern Serbia. Collected Works, Collection Tom 50-51, Institute of Forestry, Belgrade, p 56
8. MIHAJLOVIĆ LJ 2008Forest Entomology. Textbook, Faculty of Forestry, Belgrade, ISBN  978-86-7299-152-9, p 499
9. KARADŽIĆ D 2010Forest Phytopathology. Textbook, Faculty of Forestry, Belgrade Faculty of Forestry, Banja Luka, ISBN 978-86-7299-177-2, p 330
10. NEVENIĆ R, TABAKOVIĆ–TOŠIĆ М, RAKONJAC LJ 2009 Some indicators of the vitality of forests of the Republic of Serbia 2004-2008. Monographs, Institute of Forestry, Belgrade, ISBN 978-86-80439-18-1. UDC 630th p 1-134

© 2015 by the Croatian Forest Research Institute. This is an Open Access paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0).