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Predicting global change mitigations based on environmental variables, like temperature and water availability, although yielding insightful hypothesis still lacks the integration of environmental responses. Physiological limits should be assessed to obtain a complete representation of a species’ fundamental niche. Detailed ecophysiological studies on the response of trees along the latitudinal gradient are rare. They could shed light on the behaviour under different light intensities and other studied traits. The forests of the Dinaric Mountains and the Carpathians represent the largest contiguous forest complexes in south-eastern Europe. In uneven-aged Carpathian (8 plots) and Dinaric Mountain (11 plots) forests, net assimilation (Amax) and maximum quantum yield (Φ) were measured for beech and fir in three predefined light intensity categories according to the indirect site factor (ISF%) obtained by the analysis of hemispherical photographs in managed and old growth forests, all located above 800 m a.s.l. The measurements were carried out under fixed environmental conditions in each light category per plot for three consecutive years. Data from the last 50-year average period from the CRU TS 4.01 dataset were used for the comparison between Amax, Φ, and climate. The highest Φ for beech were observed in the central part of the Dinaric Mountains and in the south westernmost and northwesternmost part of the Carpathians for both beech and fir, while they were highest for fir in the Dinaric Mountains in the northwesternmost part of the study area. The Φ-value of beech decreased in both complexes with increasing mean annual temperature and was highest in the open landscape. For fir in the Carpathians, Φ decreased with increasing mean annual temperature, while in the Dinaric Mountains it increased with higher temperature and showed a more scattered response compared to the Carpathians. Short-term ecophysiological responses of beech and fir were consistent to long-term radial growth observations observed on same locations. The results may provide a basis and an indication of the future response of two tree species in their biogeographical range to climate change in terms of competitiveness, existence and consequently forest management decisions.

We investigated several aspects of windthrow that are relevant to our understanding and management of forest ecosystems. As an example, we used an extreme event in December 2017, when the strongest storm in recent history occurred in the Slovenian Dinaric High Karst. We examined influential factors such as soil properties, wind speed, precipitation and ecological consequences for the affected forests. Soil properties were measured around standing and fallen silver fir trees at all three research sites. Tree species composition in the regeneration was observed on plots with chemical and acoustic ungulate deterrents and on control plots without deterrents. Economic estimates of yield loss due to damage were calculated at the national level. A model of the potential threat from windthrow was also developed based on data collected from windthrow events and meteorological data over the past 20 years. Our results indicate that soil depth and mineral fraction depth were similar at sites with and without damaged trees and were not the determining factors for tree toppling. Plots with acoustic deterrents showed the most effective regeneration development, the least decline in silver fir and the greatest increase in noble hardwood seedlings, while plots with chemical deterrents showed the least browsing damage. The estimated economic loss of €16.1 million is 6.6% less than the harvest under normal conditions. The economic loss was relatively low due to the nature of the storm, with the predominant type of damage being uprooted trees with no damaged trunks. The windthrow hazard model revealed that a large number of consecutive events with strong winds in each section weakened the stand, which was subsequently knocked down during the next extreme wind and rainfall event.

Increased frequency and intensity of drought events consequently affect oak high forests with the process of further decline, compromised growth and questionable natural regeneration. To overcome such difficulties, new adaptive strategies are required. Coppicing, as the oldest way of forest management, might provide some solutions. In our study two contrasting management systems, sessile oak coppice and high forest, were compared at the initial stages of regeneration and forest development. The transpiration of young oak sprouts and seedlings was monitored using sap flow systems during the 2015 growing season. The study of transpiration also included leaf water potential measurements during three measurement campaigns with contrasting weather conditions. Coppice sprouts transpired significantly more than seedlings on the individual tree and stand level during the entire growing season 2015; particularly large differences were observed during drought conditions. Coppice sprouts experienced lower water limitations due to the voluminous and deeper root system as indicated by leaf water potential results. Presented results attribute young coppices as one of the promising adaptable forest management types with a better adaptive strategy at the extreme sites under water limiting conditions.

Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) forests in Slovenia are experiencing widespread mortality. Changes in lowlands are reflected in decline of complete forest complexes, high mortality, uneven stand structure and associated forest regeneration problems. Prediction of the present-tree response in disturbed forest ecosystems may significantly contribute to better guideline policies for the silvicultural and forest management practice in the changing environment in both stressed and stabile forest ecosystems. Data from annual crown condition surveys in the 1995-2014 period from four permanent plots have been compared with parameters from hemispherical photo analysis and hydrometeorological data. Good agreement has been confirmed between crown defoliation and total openness; all parameters from the hemispherical photo analysis, which were corrected for winter period values, also indicated a better agreement. Mortality rate and crown defoliation correlated well with extreme drought events. Pattern of agreement among compared parameters was different for the Krakovski gozd and Dobrava plots on one hand and Cigonca and Hraščica plots on the other hand. Mortality is influenced by the average air temperatures much more than by precipitation and groundwater table oscillations

This volume should be interpreted as a manual of best practices for sustainable forest management deriving from the experience of the project LIFE09ENV/IT/000078 ManFor C.BD coordinated by the National Research Council through the Institute of Agro-environmental and Forest Biology (CNR-IBAF). The other Project partners are: the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), the University of Molise (UNIMOL), the Slovenian Forestry Institute (SFI) and the regions of Veneto and Molise. In addition, the National Centre for Forest Biodiversity of Verona and the Regional Office to biodiversity of Castel di Sangro of the Italian National Forest Service (CFS), as well as the Slovenian Forest Service (SFS) collaborated to the project. This manual consists of several individual articles dealing with specific issues related to the project. These articles are conceptually organized into five categories that from the description of the project and of its activities arrive at providing operative indications for forestry operators.