Forest Condition in Europe - ICP Forests

22 Forest Condition in Europe 2013
Table 3.1.2-3: Percentages of trees in defoliation classes and mean defoliation according to European Forest
Types (EFT)
Forest type Percentage of trees in defoliation class mean defoliation
0-10 >10-25 0-25 >25-60 >60 dead >25
Boreal forest 47.0 37.8 84.7 12.6 2.3 0.4 15.3 16.3
Hemiboreal forest and nemoral coniferous and
mixed broadleaved-coniferous forest 25.7 51.0 76.7 21.8 1.0 0.6 23.3 20.9
Alpine coniferous forest 26.4 41.6 68.0 28.7 2.2 1.1 32.0 23.4
Acidophilous aok and oak-birch forest 19.0 52.5 71.5 25.2 2.5 0.7 28.5 23.8
Mesophytic deciduous forest 20.7 44.0 64.7 31.6 3.1 0.6 35.3 25.2
Beech forest 40.2 37.3 77.5 20.8 1.4 0.3 22.5 18.6
Mountainous beech forest 34.7 42.8 77.5 20.3 1.9 0.3 22.5 20.0
Thermophilous deciduous forest 26.0 42.2 68.2 26.5 3.6 1.6 31.8 24.6
Broadleaved evergreen forest 9.7 59.8 69.5 26.1 4.1 0.3 30.5 25.7
Coniferous forests of the Mediterranean Anatolian
and Macaronesian regions 21.2 59.9 81.1 15.2 2.3 1.3 18.9 21.7
Mire and swamp forest 52.8 42.7 95.5 2.1 0.0 2.4 4.5 14.1
Floodplain forest 40.4 37.7 78.1 18.2 1.3 2.5 21.9 19.9
Non riverine alder, birch, or aspen forests 38.7 42.5 81.2 15.9 1.9 1.0 18.8 19.0
Plantations and selv-self-sown exotic forest 40.2 35.5 75.7 19.6 2.9 1.8 24.3 20.5
In view of the species richness (about 130) recorded within the transnational forest monitoring
only the most abundant species could be evaluated. For other, also important but less abundant
species the following groups were created and evaluated in this report:
Deciduous temperate oak: (Quercus robur and Q. petraea) accounting together for
6.7% of the assessed trees,
Mediterranean lowland pines: (Pinus brutia, P. pinaster, P. halepensis and P. pinea)
accounting together for 6.1% of the assessed trees,
Deciduous (sub-) temperate oak: (Quercus frainetto, Q. pubescens, Q. pyrenaica
and Q. cerris) accounting together for 5.5% of the assessed trees,
Evergreen oak: (Quercus coccifera, Q. ilex, Q. rotundifolia and Q. suber) accounting
together for 3.9% of the assessed trees.
For all evaluations of related to a particular tree species a criterion had to be set up to decide if
a given plot represents this species or not. This criterion was that the number of trees of the
particular species had to be three or more per plot. The mean plot defoliation for the particular
species was then calculated as the mean defoliation of the trees of the species on that plot
based on sample size N ≥ 3.
In Fig. 3.1.2-2 to 3.1.2-8 mean plot defoliation for Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies, Fagus sylvatica
and the four species groups Deciduous temperate oak, Mediterranean lowland
pines, Deciduous (sub-) temperate oak and Evergreen oak (see above) is mapped. The
spatial distribution of these species and species groups will be described in relation to Tab.
3.1.2-2. According to this table the highest level of mean defoliation had deciduous temperate
oaks (24.4%). For the evergreen oaks a mean defoliation of 21.2% (Tab. 3.1.2-2) was calculated
but the majority of the plots namely 71.1% have a mean defoliation lying between 11
and 25% (Fig. 3.1.2-8).