Abstract. Strong winds may uproot and break trees and represent a major natural disturbance for European forests. Wind disturbances have intensified over the last decades globally and are expected to further rise in view of the effects of climate change. Despite the importance of such natural disturbances, there are currently no spatially explicit databases of wind-related impact at a pan-European scale. Here, we present a new database of wind disturbances in European forests (FORWIND). FORWIND is comprised of more than 80 000 spatially delineated areas in Europe that were disturbed by wind in the period 2000–2018 and describes them in a harmonized and consistent geographical vector format. The database includes all major windstorms that occurred over the observational period (e.g. Gudrun, Kyrill, Klaus, Xynthia and Vaia) and represents approximately 30 % of the reported damaging wind events in Europe. Correlation analyses between the areas in FORWIND and land cover changes retrieved from the Landsat-based Global Forest Change dataset and the MODIS Global Disturbance Index corroborate the robustness of FORWIND. Spearman rank coefficients range between 0.27 and 0.48 (p value < 0.05). When recorded forest areas are rescaled based on their damage degree, correlation increases to 0.54. Wind-damaged growing stock volumes reported in national inventories (FORESTORM dataset) are generally higher than analogous metrics provided by FORWIND in combination with satellite-based biomass and country-scale statistics of growing stock volume. The potential of FORWIND is explored for a range of challenging topics and scientific fields, including scaling relations of wind damage, forest vulnerability modelling, remote sensing monitoring of forest disturbance, representation of uprooting and breakage of trees in large-scale land surface models, and hydrogeological risks following wind damage. Overall, FORWIND represents an essential and open-access spatial source that can be used to improve the understanding, detection and prediction of wind disturbances and the consequent impacts on forest ecosystems and the land–atmosphere system. Data sharing is encouraged in order to continuously update and improve FORWIND. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.9555008 (Forzieri et al., 2019).

Abstract. Strong winds may uproot and break trees and represent one of the major natural disturbances for European forests. Wind disturbances have intensified over the last decades globally and are expected to further rise in view of the climate change effects. Despite the importance of such natural disturbances, there are currently no spatially-explicit databases of wind-related impact at Pan-European scale. Here, we present a new database of wind disturbances in European forests (FORWIND). FORWIND comprises more than 80,000 spatially delineated areas in Europe that were disturbed by wind in the period 2000–2018, and describes them in a harmonized and consistent geographical vector format. Correlation analyses performed between the areas in FORWIND and land cover changes retrieved from the Landsat-based Global Forest Change dataset and the MODIS Global Disturbance Index corroborate the robustness of FORWIND. Spearman rank coefficients range between 0.27 and 0.48 (p-value<0.05). When recorded forest areas are rescaled based on their damage degree, correlation increases to 0.54. Wind-damaged growing stock volumes reported in national inventories (FORESTORM dataset) are generally higher than analogous metrics provided by FORWIND in combination with satellite-based biomass and country-scale statistics of growing stock volume. Overall, FORWIND represents a valuable and open-access spatial source to improve our understanding of the vulnerability of forests to winds and develop large-scale monitoring/modelling of natural disturbances. Data sharing is encouraged in order to continuously update and improve FORWIND. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.9555008 (Forzieri et al., 2019).

This study was focused on the evaluation of beech adaptation on test plots in the Góra Śląska and Świebodzin Forest Districts. For this purpose, we examined offspring from seed stands of beech growing in the Regional Directorates of State Forests in Szczecin, Szczecinek, Piła, Zielona Góra and Poznań, which were brought to both test plots. The aim was to determine the adaptive response of the offspring from these stands after five years of growth with respect to the changed environmental conditions compared to the site of origin. Our analysis revealed a relatively low survival rate, which was 60.8% and 72.2% in Góra Śląska and Świebodzin respectively. Interestingly, beeches grown on the plot in Góra Śląska were about 40% higher than those grown in Świebodzin (77.6 cm). The trees from both plots were significantly different from each other in terms of the analysed features and a significant interaction was observed between the test plot and the site of origin. However, the variability in the adaptive response of the seedlings was large. Using a regression coefficient and the average height value, we determined the seedlings’ stability, which indicated high quality in offspring from the beech stand in the Łopuchówko Forest District (Buczyna forest range, sub-compartment 95n) and a high degree of adaptation to growth in adverse environmental conditions. Our results also indicate a low survival rate and reduced height of beech offspring from commercial seed stands (local standard).

In Poland, active protection of the fat dormouse started relatively late. The pilot reintroduction programme was initially undertaken in the Sieraków Landscape Park in 1997 and was successful. The population has adapted to the settled area and is now stable. In 2003, the next stage of fat dormouse reintroduction in Poland began. The Szczecin National Park was chosen for this purpose. Fat dormice settled in the Puszcza Bukowa Wilderness in the Trawiasta Buczyna reserve, and then in 2004 in the Kolowskie Parowy reserve. In 2005, no reproduction was observed as it was not a beech mast seeding year, but in 2006 a juvenile individual was spotted. In 2011, the next stage of reintroduction began, this time in western Poland. Ultimatelly, the Barlinek-Gorzów Landscape Park was chosen. The process of active protection of the fat dormouse is supported by educating the local community, enriching the nutritional offer, and increasing the number of nesting boxes for the rodent.