Pacific Southwest

Title: Forest health monitoring and forestry implications in the Czech Republic

Author: Cerny, Martin; Moravcik, Pavel

Date: 1998

Source: In: Bytnerowicz, Andrzej; Arbaugh, Michael J.; Schilling, Susan L., tech. coords. Proceedings of the international symposium on air pollution and climate change effects on forest ecosystems. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-166. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 287-292

Station ID: GTR-PSW-166

Description: In recent years, a forest monitoring program in the Czech Republic was extended into more detailed monitoring that aimed to describe the extent of changes in forest vitality and identify the nature and the main causes of these changes on local and regional scales. Studies were undertaken in six mountain areas in the Czech Republic. The program of regional forest monitoring is divided into three levels according to the extent of evaluation of the parameters of forest stand health and other components of the forest ecosystem. Level 1 is large scale monitoring in a 1 by 1 km grid of permanent plots. The total number of plots in a single regional study varies from 60 to more than 500. The monitoring at level 1 plots includes a visual assessment of a broad set of features of the health state of individual trees, repeated yearly. Assessment of health includes measurement of tree diameter and height and a basic description of growing conditions. At monitoring level 2 the research assessment is extended to other parameters that characterize the forest stand and environment. The number of plots is usually 5-10 percent of level 1 plots. Monitoring level 3 includes analysis of the processes of nutrient cycling. Detailed analysis of stand structure is done at the plots, including biomass measurements. Results of field measurement are recorded into a database which allows a logical organization of a large amount of data and effective processing of them. Results of monitoring are analyzed using statistical methods and modeling. A geographical information system (GIS) is used for further analyses and for a final interpretation of results. From some studies, 4-5 years of results are now available. The studied regions cover a broad range of conditions, making it possible to assess global trends in the health of Czech forests.

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Citation

Cerny, Martin; Moravcik, Pavel  1998.  Forest health monitoring and forestry implications in the Czech Republic.   In: Bytnerowicz, Andrzej; Arbaugh, Michael J.; Schilling, Susan L., tech. coords. Proceedings of the international symposium on air pollution and climate change effects on forest ecosystems. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-166. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 287-292.