Engineering Methods of Forest Environment Protection against Meteorological Drought in Poland

Abstract

The forest cover in Poland reaches almost 30% of the country’s area. Polish forests are characterized by high biodiversity. Unfortunately, in recent years, the forests of Central Europe have been affected by climate change problems, in particular meteorological drought. In Poland, even those stands which consist of species that were widely recognized as drought tolerant and easily adaptable to environmental changes are beginning to die. The article presents engineering methods applicable to forest environment protection, largely developed at the University of Life Sciences in Poznań and implemented by the State Forests—National Forest Holding in Poland, to minimize the effects of drought. Among the issues raised are ways to protect forests against fires, modern technologies for fire road surface construction and small-scale water retention in forests. A comprehensive solution to problems related to progressive drought is a must. Scientists and foresters are observing the dying of large areas of stands and, at the same time, intensification of wildlife migration due to the search for new habitats as a consequence of the drought. Therefore, the issue of building animal crossings during the current dynamic expansion of the road network in Poland has also been presented in the paper. Another subject pointed to in the text is forest tourism. Forests provide opportunities for recreation and rest to society. However, the increasing tourist pressure in some regions may cause adverse environmental effects. Finally, the paper shows some examples of supporting forest environment protection using remote sensing techniques. Generally, the aim of the paper is to present experiences and comprehensive solutions implemented in Poland.

Effects of Forestry Transformation on the Landscape Level of Biodiversity in Poland’s Forests

“…The protection of wet forest habitats in the form of water-conservation forests began in the socialism era (with greater intensity at the end of this period), however, appropriately intense activities in this regard were undertaken only in the democracy era (Table 5). This resulted from: changes in the forest management model towards ecological dimension; the objectives of biodiversity conservation at a global level [85]; factual implementation of the Ramsar Convention [86]; active participation of Poland in the processes of the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (FOREST EUROPE) [55] as well as a recognized need to take into account climate change effects (e.g., periodic droughts [87]).…”

“…Extreme weather events. The presence of forest landscapes can be threatened by extreme events due to climate change, such as catastrophic storms [17,87,102], which haunted Sweden and Central Europe in the past decade [1,31]. A large storm that passed over Poland on 11 August 2017 toppled or broke about 25 million trees in the northwestern part of the country [31].…”

“…Droughts. Under Poland's conditions, periods of rainfall shortage due to climate change occur more and more frequently [7,87]. Drought threatens forests directly, as water deficiency can lead to death of trees, and indirectly-as it increases a risk of wildfires.…”

“…For example, in the very dry year 2015, there broke out 3897 fires in state-owned forests managed by the SF, more than twice many when compared to the year with high precipitation, i.e., 2010 (1777 forest fires recorded) [7,30]. Due to the high risk of fires, affecting over 80% of forest area in Poland, the fire protection system has been developed since 1945 [7,87,104]. As a result, the number of fires and the average area of a single fire have been gradually decreasing over the last 20-30 years, which is a good prognosis in the context of climate change [104].…”

“…In 2020, of all the abiotic negative factors, the impact of extreme drought was the most detrimental, and tree stand damages were reported on nearly 62,500 hectares [46]. In response to this problem, since the 1990s, in forests managed by the SF, there have been carried out activities to restore small-scale retention [7,87], disrupted by land melioration implemented almost until the end of the socialism era [83]. In view of the forest landscape conservation needs (also those of habitats and species), it is important to continue retention work in all forest areas where it is possible and needed.…”