Summary1. Fires are nowadays small, yet frequent, in temperate Central European conifer forests, but little is known about the fire history in this region. This is likely due to the lack of intact forests that contain old trees and dead wood from which fire history may be reconstructed. An exception is the Białowie_ za Primeval Forest (BPF) in Poland for which we were able to reconstruct the fire history in detail. 2. From 886 tree ring samples collected in a 13-ha conifer-dominated area, we reconstructed fire events and tree establishment back to the mid 1600s. From 1653 to the late 1700s fires were very frequent, with mean point (single tree) fire intervals of 18 years and mean stand scale fire intervals of 6 years. After 1781, the intervals between the fires increased dramatically, and since 1874 no major fire was recorded. 3. Tree establishment underwent substantial changes, closely tracking shifts in fire frequency. When fires were frequent, Pinus sylvestris establishment occurred only sporadically. Later, less frequent fires promoted massive establishment of both P. sylvestris and Picea abies. At present, only P. abies and a few deciduous trees regenerate. 4. Synthesis. We present the first high-resolution fire history in the Central European temperate lowland forest area. The discovery of old P. sylvestris trees and stumps with fire scars in many conifer-dominated parts of BPF show that fire was a major component in the past dynamics of this forest. We also show that historically, fires were recurring at very close intervals, supporting an open, Pinus-dominated forest. These result contrasts with the written history of BPF, which focus on a few, large fires from the past. Human influence on the fire regime was probably substantial, although the disentangling of climatic and human impacts needs further studies. We propose that fire should be increasingly taken into consideration in models of disturbance, vegetation development and forest openness in the whole Central European lowland forest region.

Two-year old needles were collected from 272 standing trees of Pinus sylvestris L., representing 8 Polish populations. The needles were studied in respect to IS morphological and anatomical traits. The obtained data were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis in an attempt to delineate interpopulational variability. Multivariate analysis of variance with testing of statistical hypotheses and discriminant analysis were conducted. Mahalanobis distances were calculated between each of population in pairs and their significance was estimated using Hotelling T² statistics. On the basis of the shortest Mahalanobis distances a minimum spanning tree was constructed and on the basis of Euklidean distances hierarchy grouping was performed. A large majority of the populations was found to differ significantly from the remaining populations. The population from Bolewice proved to be most divergent. The principal variables which proved capable of discriminating between populations were found to include: needle length, the number of stomata on the flat side of the needle and the number of resin canals. Using Bryant's test, the studied populations were found to belong to two geographic groups: the North-Polish one or the South-Polish one

Abstract. Vegetative progeny were obtained from 46 elms (Ulmus glabra Huds.) by grafting. These grafted trees were planted in 2009 in a clone archive in forest plot 264j in the Bielsk Forest District.After one year of growth, elm clone survival ranged from 38% to 100% (89% on average). Although all clones were of similar age and were grown under similar conditions, their average height was highly variable and ranged from 99.0 cm (clone no. 9473z) to 186.6 cm (clone no. 9645z), while average root collar diameter ranged from 8.4 mm (clone no. 9473z) to 18.0 mm (clone no. 9645z).There were large differences crown architectural among the different clones, and variation in average shape of the crown was high (from 2.6 in clone no. 9655 to 3.8 in clone no. 9446z).Index breeding values determined on the standardized data for height, root collar diameter, crown shape and survival, ranged from -0.71 (clone no. 9473z) to 0.61 (clone no. 9645z). Clones from Czerwony Dwór reached a better breeding value (0.17) than clones from Gołdap (-0.0266), and variation in their average breeding values was high (0.197).

Two-year old cones were collected from 257 standing Pinus sylvestris L. trees, representing 8 Polish populations of the species. The cones were analyzed in respect to 11 morphological traits. The obtained data were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis to determine interpopulation variability. Multivariate analysis of variance was performed with testing of statistical hypothesis, Mahalanobis distances for each pair of populations were calculated and their significance was estimated using Hotelling T2 statistics. Using the shortest Mahalanobis distances a dendrite was constructed while Euklidean distances provided grounds for hierarchy grouping. Most of the populations were found to differ significantly from the remaining ones. The population from Ruciane proved to be most distinct. Cone setting angle was the trait of the highest discriminating power in interpopulational comparisons. Using the Bryant's test, the discussed populations were found to form two geographic groups: the north-eastern population group and the south-western one

The Białowiez · a Primeval Forest is located northeastern Poland. It is one of Europe's most precious old growth forests in terms of abundance and richness of vegetation, retaining features of a primeval lowland forest which cannot be found anywhere else on the European continent. The aim of the study was to assess the genetic heterogeneity of the naturally regenerated Picea abies population using five chloroplast microsatellite markers. In total, 290 trees representing five age classes were studied. Clear patterns of genetic differentiation in relation to demographic substructuring were found within the population. The class of embryos exhibited the greatest genetic richness as evident from the highest number of alleles and haplotypes, the highest mean number of private alleles and haplotypes and the highest haplotype diversity. In the subsequent age classes, a significant decrease in the level of genetic variation was observed. Our data demonstrate that long-lived, highly outcrossing tree species growing in continuous stands can be genetically heterogeneous on a small geographic scale. The heterogeneity is related to age structure and it is likely due to the underlying mating system and selection processes.

Abstract. Prior to 1800 no artificial regeneration or planting took place in the Augustowska Forest, therefore any trees currently more than 200 years come, genetically, from the native population. For preservation the gene resources such trees one ceated the clone archive. Between 1986 and 1990, 92 pine trees of 200-years old or more were inventoried: this census included 26 trees from fresh-coniferous forest habitat, 54 trees from fresh-mixed-coniferous forest habitat, and 12 trees from fresh-mixed-broadleaved forest habitat. These trees were vegetatively propagated to create a clone bank by grafting current the years' shoots onto 2-year-old rootstocks. Two clone banks containing grafted strains of 60 native pines were planted in 1999 in the Augustowska Forest, Pomorze Forest District: BG-So-P1 located in compartment 637d, and BG-So-P2 and BG-So-P3 both in compartment 960a,b. Eleven years after planting out, the survival rate of 13-year old pine clones was: 79 % in the BG-So-P1, 63 % in BG-So-P2 and 86% in BG-So-P3. An evaluation of seed-bearing trees revealed differences among banks of these 13-year old clones. In BG-So-P1, were fruiting was plentiful (70%); but in BG-So-P3 17% of the clones bore seeds, and in BG-So-P2 only 3% of the clones bore seeds.

Białowie_ za Primeval Forest lies within the boreal part of the Norway spruce range, which, according to pollen data, was formed by a refugium located in the Russian Upland. However, recent genetic studies have indicated that spruce from the Eastern Carpathian refugium also occurs in Białowie_ za Forest. In order to investigate whether the Norway spruce from the Eastern Carpathian refugium migrated naturally into the boreal part of the Norway spruce range, we assessed the refugial origin of 234 of the oldest Norway spruce individuals from Białowie_ za Forest using mitochondrial marker mt15-D02. Out of the trees that we studied, 64.8% carried mitotype 1, which is specific to the Carpathian refugium, while 35.2% had mitotype 3, specific to the Russian refugium. Our genetic analysis, combined with historical data on forest management in this part of Europe, argues for a natural contribution of spruce from the Eastern Carpathian refugium during postglacial recolonization of Białowie_ za Primeval Forest.

Silver firs (Abies alba Mill.) of natural origin occurring in the Belorussian part of the Białowieża Primeval Forest constitute an enclave situated 120 km to the north-east of a dense fir stand in the Polish part of the forest. In order to protect this population a reserve called ‘Tisovik’ was established. In this study, plant communities occurring in the ‘Tisovik’ reserve were described and its fir population (20 trees) was characterised in terms of its genetic structure.