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Influence of forest management and climate on Silver fir trees and stand growth dynamics in Croatian Dinarides – review of the research project in progress

Silver fir is an important tree species of mixed mountain forests across Europe, Dinaric silver fir- European beech forests in Croatia being a typical example. A strong decline with high mortality, and subsequent recovery of silver fir in the Dinaric Mountains was documented for the second half of the 20th century, probably due to high SO2 emissions, forest management, and climate change. Recently, climate change noticeably influences the growth and structure of Dinaric forests. However, response of silver fir to environmental and management factors has not been studied yet. Therefore the main objective of our project is to analyze growth, regeneration, and mortality of silver fir in regard to stand and site characteristics, environmental factors, forest management regime, and recent natural disturbances. The research is based on 80 permanent plots (1, 963.5 m2 each) for long-term monitoring of silver fir. The sample net of permanent plots is located across the entire Dinaric Mountains in Croatia (180, 000 ha) and includes a huge gradient of studied variables (climate, emission, site and stand conditions, diverse forest management). At each plot tree-specific (tree position, dbh, height, crown diameter/length, health status, periodic diameter increment), site-specific (elevation, aspect, slope, relief, soil) and stand-specific variables (management system, stand structure, developmental stage, quality, naturalness, regeneration, deadwood) are measured and estimated. At selected plots additional measurements are carried out (e.g. daily increment, trunk sap flow, micro-climate variables). Main dependent variables are radial growth of silver fir, volume increment of forest stands, and indicators of stand vulnerability (e.g. mortality crown defoliation, increment). The poster presents the structure and some preliminary results of the four-year project (FirGroDin, IP-2018- 01- 8820) which started in 2018 and is financed by the Croatian Science Foundation. We expect the research results will be useful for adaptation of silver fir management to a changeable environment.

stand development, Silver fir, management regime, climate change, dendrochronology, natural disasters

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