COST Action E 52 - vTI - Bund.de

Fig. 2: Selected target trees in a beech stand of the Viennese Forest (S. Spinka, 2010)
Despite the fact, that two thirds of all young forest stands in Austria originate from natural regeneration
(Schodterer 2004), beech transplants are used for the restoration of secondary coniferous stands
(see above), where mother trees are not found in sufficient number. The reproductive material for
this need must be imported to an extent of 44% (period 199 – 2006; Anonymous 2008). In 2010,
254 beech forest stands covering an area of 1,556 ha have been approved for seed procurement
according to Austrian legislation (Anonymous 2010). The responsible federal forest office BFW
targets to increase the area of approved seed stands by an extra 1, 45 ha considering the different
plant communities and forest ecoregions of Austria (Anonymous 2010).
During the decade from 199 to 2006, 5 seed harvests were carried out, in 39 stands which resulted
in the collection of 2,834 kg of viable seeds (Anonymous 2008). In general, no seed harvest was
possible for four years out of ten and a seed harvest of more than 1,000 kg was realized only in 2001
and 2003, respectively (Anonymous 2008). These numbers clearly demonstrate the demands of the
market. Since beech is a stand forming tree species abundantly occurring throughout Austria, no
seed orchards (ex situ units) have been established. In order to meet future requirements for timber
production under the climate change constraint, the installation of suitable beech plus tree seed
orchards should be discussed for Austria.
The human impact on the Fagus sylvatica gene pool in Austria, caused by historical forest exploitation
and alteration of forest communities is obvious, but a quantification impossible. Provenance research
is urgently needed, in order to define suitable provenances for the restoration of the potential beech
forest communities. The possible effects of the ongoing climate change process (Lexer et al. 2001)
should be considered when designing those provenance tests in order to define provenances with
special conformity or genetic adaptability.
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