Forest Condition in Europe

Brüssel

1992

117 S.; Anhang 44 S.

Bandaufführung

83199

The main objective of the present report is a description of the condition of forests in Europe, as it has been assessed in the framework of the national and transnational surveys of UN/ECE and EC by means of the methods and criteria laid down in the ICP-Forests Manual and in Commission Regulation (EEC) 1696/87. The report presents survey results from 28 European countries, referring to about 36 000 sample plots with about 700 000 sample trees. Of 214 million hectares of forests in Europe (including major parts of the forests in the western Russian Federation), around 168 million hectares or roughly 78% have been covered in the 1991 surveys (6 million hectares more than in 1990). This means that the first objective of the UN/ECE and EC programmes has been achieved. The survey results, however, hardly permit conclusions to be drawn about causal factors, because of the problems already mentioned. In the future, cause-effect relationships will be investigated by means of long-term observations and ecosystems analysis on permanent plots. Council regulation (EEC) 3528/86 also provides for pilot projects and field experiments in order to improve the understanding of the effects of atmospheric pollution, to improve methods of observing and measuring damage and to establish methods for the restoration of damaged forests. The ICP Forests of UN/ECE and the EC also strive for special investigations and ecosystems analysis, for which methodological components have already been integrated into the ICP-Forests Manual. Submanuals on soil surveys and on increment analyses have been drafted, the submanual on soil studies being in its final stage of editorial work. The search for causal effects calls for a synopsis of the comprehensive set of representative data on forests and site conditions for the whole of Europe with those databases established by other international programmes which are monitoring air pollution and its effects. The close cooperation between EC and UN/ECE can be a first step towards an approach for an integrative evaluation of data compiled by various programmes in years to come. The content of the present report has been structured as follows: Chapter 2 describes the principles of the methods of both the transnational and the national surveys. For methodological details the ICP-Forests Manual and the above mentioned Council Regulations of EC should be consulted. Chapter 3 presents the results of the 1991 surveys. Particular emphasis has been put on the results of the transnational survey, because they are representative for the overwhelming part of Europe, especially now that the database has been greatly enlarged due to the participation of many non-EC countries. Correlations between the vitality and site parameters are dicumented, though not yet interpreted. The results of the national surveys are presented in a different way from ...