Abstract
Silver fir is one of the longest living and tallest trees in Europe, it has major commercial importance and may be found in various communities predominantly connected with lower mountainous locations in Central Europe. One of the northernmost ranges in the region is the Sudetes. Currently, the once numerous fir is greatly dispersed, with just several specimens to be found together at one site on average. This drastic reduction in the number of specimens is mainly attributable to intensive forest management, based on the artificial cultivation of fir, conducted in the 19th and 20th centuries, and high industrial air pollution (mainly in the 20th c.). Because practically no firs have been cultivated for the last 200 years, the remaining sites of the species that are remnants of its bigger populations should be regarded as natural. This paper compares fir locations with areas of potential natural vegetation. The obtained results indicate that firs may grow in various types of habitats, with the preferred one being fertile beech woods and richer variants of oak-hornbeam forests. In our opinion, the presented findings are of great importance for the knowledge of the ecology of the species in question and for providing appropriate forest management.
Highlights
IntroductionThe European silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) is a large tree
The European silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) is a large tree found in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe
The earlier phytosociological studies of selected fir sites in the Sudetes and a review of the phytosociological literature regarding the region [31] indicate that A. alba has a broad ecological scale, is a component of many forest communities, and that it is found most frequently at potential sites of acidophilic beech forests, whose vegetation is strongly transformed because of spruce planting
Summary
The European silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) is a large tree Black Forest were even 68 m high) found in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe. The tree is regarded as an important species from the perspective of ecology, forest functioning and maintenance of forest biodiversity. Because of the tree’s dimensions, very big numbers of specimens in forest stands, wood with good mechanical properties, and the fact that it is used for paper production, it is a commercially important species. Silver fir prefers areas with higher humidity and evenly distributed rainfall at the level of 700 to 1800 mm (with exceptions). Such areas are located at an altitude of
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