Report on specific risk analysis in regional forests of Europe under various Forest Management Alternatives

Abstract

The main objective of specific risk analyses conducted in EFORWOOD project is to develop and implement response functions and quantitative models to evaluate the effects of various levels of forest management - as defined in conceptual framework of FMAs in WP2.1- on the magnitude of damage in several European forests and regional case studies. Analyses focused on five major pests and abiotic hazards that cause two types of damage: tree mortality and reduction in tree growth. The modelling described in this report was based on the hypotheses that (i) FMAs have an effect on some forest stand characteristics (e.g. composition and structure); (ii) some stand characteristics drive susceptibility to damaging agents and hazards; and (iii) some damages result in wood volume loss through tree mortality and reduced tree growth. The report describes and discusses materials, methods and modelling results obtained for 6 specific cases combining 5 regions, 4 different tree species and 5 hazards resulting in wood volume loss