Tree Mortality in a Relict Scots pine forest due to climate change

An investigated old-growth Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest is located in a protected area. Climate, soil, and local hydrological conditions highly influence the health conditions of this relict forest stand. Drought symptoms are already visible thus complex analyses assessing of these site factors were investigated. Site conditions always influence vegetation. Conversely, vegetation always affects site conditions. Therefore, the relationship between forest stand vitality and stand growth becomes more complicated in the case of damage chain appearance in an elderly, resistant forest stand. Our research aimed to answer the following questions:

• How have site conditions changed in the research area in recent decades?
• Which are the most significant site-limiting factors in this case?
• Can a relict and protected ecosystem adapt to the changed conditions?

To identify the complex causes of tree mortality, climatic and soil conditions were analyzed and completed with bryological and biotic (pests) surveys. Altogether unfavorable soil conditions (coarse sand) and increasing aridity have led to a decline in tree vitality. Bark beetles have a high population density in the stand, so the beetles contributed to tree mortality. New spreading invasive moss species have appeared in the recently formed gaps, where crone projection is low. The disappearance of this relict forest stresses the urgent need for Hungarian forest management to prepare strategies for adaptive tree species selection.

This article was made in the frame of the project TKP2021-NKTA-43 which has been implemented with the support provided by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary (successor: Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary) from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the TKP2021-NKTA funding scheme.