engleski

The influence of silvicultural practices on the sustainability of forests in Croatia

Forests in Croatia have been managed on legal and scientific bases for over 200 years. Forest management has always been organised on the principle of sustainability, the concept underlying all legal regulations. Along with the principle of sustainability, all cutting operations have been aimed at tending and regenerating forests naturally. Today, cutting operations ensure that approximately one third of the increment remains in the forest. The implementation of the principle of multifunctional sustainability is provided both in terms of quantity and quality. The first and the second generation of forests being managed today were raised in this way. The goal of this research is to establish how forest management, with the mentioned principles, affects the sustainability and biodiversity of forests. The analyses were made on three examples: the total forest area in Croatia, a forest of Slavonian pedunculate oak and a fir-beech-forest. The analysed examples show that management based on the mentioned principles increases the volume in even-aged forest management. In a selection forest, permanent cutting retains a constant equal volume in the same area. In terms of the number of species, commercial stands show better diversity than unmanaged ones. This means that silvicultural practices of tending and regeneration under the crown cover with the shelterwood system or with selection system do not eliminate species. On the contrary, such management methods increase the natural condition and diversity of commercial forests. The analyses confirm that the application of the principles of the classical school of silviculture in forest management ensures stand sustainability and biological diversity.

silviculture; sustainability; natural regeneration; Quercus robur; Abies alba

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