Intelligent Pubescent Oak Forests (Quercus Pubescens Wild.) From Dobroudja Plateau, Romania

Dobrudjea Plateau, located in south-east Romania, is characterized by low altitudes, old rocks, a temperate-continental climate and a silvosteppe and steppe vegetation. Pubescent oak is one of the tree species characteristic for this area. With average dimensions, this tree fulfils numerous ecosystem functions. The concept of “Climate-Smart Forestry – CSF” is recent and was adapted in this article for the pubescent oak characteristic for this area; clear and measurable criterions were also identified and applies for this species in order to identify the smart stands. Smart pubescent oak forests represent 3% of all this specie’s stands and are more common in the north part of Dobrudjea Plateau. They are characterized by advanced ages (61-70 years), 20%-30% compositions and even-aged structures. The forests are located on relatively small distances from forest roads, at altitudes of 100m - 250 m, and on west and east expositions. The present study has showed that smart pubescent oak forests can be established by taking into account 14 site (flora, soil or forest type) and stand conditions (pruning, vitality, average diameter and height, functional group and category, litter). The identification of these stands is extremely important for their protection as well as for applying the appropriate silvicultural measures

Betula pendula Ssp. distribution and growth in the sub-Carpathian curvature

Birch ssp. in the sub-Carpathians curvature can be found in composition with beech and other resinous species, unevenly distributed from the mountain peaks at around 1200 m down to 500-600, mainly from high hills to depressions at 600m, rarely seen on plain sites, crossing different geo-morphological structures and overall accounting for 3857.1 ha. The main objective of the paper was to analyze the site and stand characteristics of Betula pendula ssp. Roth. in the sub-Carpathians curvature as followed: stand structure, stand types and stand site types, soils, and different metrics, from growth to yields and its connectivity. The ecological adaptability to climate and soil and early fast growth, makes silver birch fulfill the overall requirements as a pioneer species, mostly naturally regenerated. Birch distribution is highly influenced by stand structure having low proportion in compositions, mean height of 15 m at age 50, and a diameter of 20m. Regarding site, characteristics are more commonly found on fertile soils, corrugated or fragmented site type with a slope of 20-50° and it is distributed as secondary species in stands, averaging 750m in attitude, ranging from 500 to 1200m, 90% being in mixtures with other species with a mean annual increment of approximately 7 m³/year/ha regardless of stand site type. As an early successional species, it serves as a first colonizer but secondary species and is often an ecological instrument to improve the soil characteristics and biodiversity and prevent landslides in certain sites, lacking economic value other than fuelwood or other non-wood products

The Contribution of Forests from Counties Located in Romania’s West Plain to The Area’s Long Lasting Development

The present paper reunites in an objective synthesis data from forest management plans realized in the West Plain during 1995-2008. The study focused on stands situated around cities and in their construction perimeter in order to emphasise their contribution to the area’s long lasting development. The paper’s importance derives from the fact that urban areas are in a continuous development that will incorporate heavily nearby forests. As such, through their functions, forests contribute to the long lasting development of the entire metropolitan area to which they belong. All forests from the West Plain were divided in stand elements (species of a certain age that belong to a forest’s composition). The study has taken into account all stand elements from the area that belongs to the forest category from around cities. The large number of these stand elements (2107) offers a solid base for the different realized analyses. The paper’s results show that from the entire surface of forests with recreation functions located in the West Plain, 4.670 ha are occupied by Forests from around counties, cities and villages as well as forests located in their construction perimeter. The most widespread species from this type of stand is pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.), which occupies 2072 ha. Forests from around cities from the West Plain are situated at altitudes between 80 and 400 m. The soils are predominantly common alvisol, while Arum-Pulmonaria is the most widespread flora. In the context of the long lasting development of urban areas with implications on nearby forests, the results and discussions of this article represent a first step towards knowing these forests and towards properly managing them in order to successfully fulfil their protection and recreational purposes

Considerations Concerning the Oldest Stands from Banatului Mountains, Romania

The present study was realized in Banatului Mountains (Romanian Carpathians) within Nera, Caransebeș and Băile Herculane Forest Districts, based on forest management plans from 1991-2008 and has led to the identification of 394 stand elements older than 200 years. The purpose of this paper was to analyze the trees’ main qualitative characteristics (age), the stands’ structural characteristics (consistency, composition, average diameter and average height) as well as the stational characteristics (altitude, slope, soil type). The main focus was to identify the oldest stands from Banatului Mountains.  The present paper presents the oldest 18 stands as well as their most representative characteristics: diameter, height, consistency, slope, altitude, soil, site and structure. The oldest stand identified in this area is a 260-year-old common beech stand from Nera with heights between 36-38 meters and a diameter of 98 meters. Furthermore, it has been observed that common beech stands have a normal consistency, while their structure is relatively uneven-age. The research has shown that the surface occupied by old common beech stands that have reached their exploitability age is of 60.978 ha, namely 13% of the total surface of these forests. The site conditions where they are spread are characterised by preponderantly Northeast and South-West expositions, fields with slopes of 21-30 degrees, average altitudes of 900-1000 m, eutric cambisol and luvisol soils and medium and superior reliability sites

RESEARCH CONCERNING THE ORGANIC CARBON QUANTITY OF NATIONAL PARK PIATRA CRAIULUI AND THE C/N RATIO

Abstract In our country we have 25 National and Natural Parks of 552,174.8

Management of nature-based goods and services provisioning from the urban common: a pan-European perspective

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.The role of the urban common (i.e. shared space and resources) in sustainable provisioning of goods and services to city dwellers is discussed in this paper. Focusing on tree-based green infrastructure, the study scope includes three categories of provisioning (woody biomass, food/fibre, and non-timber forest products, i.e. NTFPs), alongside three categories of supporting services (fresh water replenishment, soil nutrient restoration, building preservation). As a first step, prospects of utilizing the urban common as facilitator of nature-based solution to the earmarked provisioning services are evaluated through dedicated literature survey and expert elicitation on perceived impact of environmental change triggers and management interventions (planning and/or governance). This is followed by a structured review of the state of affairs in four European cities (London, Amsterdam, Sofia, Ljubljana), representing different macro-geographical regions with distinct socio-economic drivers in managing these provisioning services. The pan-European expert elicitation exercise noted active management of the urban common as positively impacting on the performance of the majority of provisioning services, while environmental change impacts were found to be overriding and adversely influencing the provisioning of material resources (mainly NTFPs and woody biomass). The four-city case study highlighted some regional peculiarities in connecting the city dwellers to the urban common and identified the need to overcome socio-cultural barriers for enhancing pan-European best practice sharing in the management of goods and services provisioning. This is deemed essential to pave way for an emerging perspective on sustainable utilization of the urban common as an enabler for nature-based solution, making it fit for purpose in meeting the astronomical demands of future urban living

A study regarding the parameters that influence the growth rate of Salix alba

The inventory and evaluation of growth rates for afforested surfaces is extremely important in estimating production levels and in determining the wood quantities that can be harvested. The present research was realized in southeast Romania, on a surface that contains 375h of afforested fields. The monitored surfaces are situated in Hanu-Conachi Independenta Forest, at a relatively low altitude. The study took into account only the surfaces afforested with willow (Salix alba) and extended between 2010 and 2015. The afforested surfaces’ consistency and age were evaluated based on direct observations and measurements. The used numerical analysis on different optimization methods was selected from amongst the most used series from the specialty literature. Our results have showed that evaluations of estimated production growth rates can vary significantly when different statistical analysis and numeric methods are use. By using numerical optimizing models, computer simulations can offer precise estimations regarding growth rates, and consequently, for the efficiency of a given forest inventory. Common numerical interpolation methods or the usage of neuronal networks do not always lead to consistent results. Specific numeric methods are preferable for a better evaluation of growth rates and current inventory. In addition, investments in computer simulation methods and software should be encouraged in order to reach a permanent inventory, to improve the efficiency of exploitation operations and to sustain environment protection

Desiccation and Mortality Dynamics in Seedlings of Different European Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) Populations under Extreme Drought Conditions

European beech (Fagus sylvatica L., hereafter beech), one of the major native tree species in Europe, is known to be drought sensitive. Thus, the identification of critical thresholds of drought impact intensity and duration are of high interest for assessing the adaptive potential of European beech to climate change in its native range. In a common garden experiment with one-year-old seedlings originating from central and marginal origins in six European countries (Denmark, Germany, France, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Spain), we applied extreme drought stress and observed desiccation and mortality processes among the different populations and related them to plant water status (predawn water potential, ΨPD) and soil hydraulic traits. For the lethal drought assessment, we used a critical threshold of soil water availability that is reached when 50% mortality in seedling populations occurs (LD50SWA). We found significant population differences in LD50SWA (10.5–17.8%), and mortality dynamics that suggest a genetic difference in drought resistance between populations. The LD50SWA values correlate significantly with the mean growing season precipitation at population origins, but not with the geographic margins of beech range. Thus, beech range marginality may be more due to climatic conditions than to geographic range. The outcome of this study suggests the genetic variation has a major influence on the varying adaptive potential of the investigated populations