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At the end of the 1970s, when signs of destabilization of forests became visible in Eu rope on a large scale, it soon became obvious that the syndrome called "forest de cline" was caused by a network of interrelated factors of abiotic and biotic origin. All attempts to explain the wide-spread syndrome by a single cause, and there were many of them, failed or can only be regarded as a single mosaic stone in the network of caus es behind the phenomenon. Forest ecosystems are highly complex natural or quasi natural systems, which exhibit different structures and functions and as a conse quence different resilience to internal or external stresses. Moreover, forest ecosys tems have a long history, which means that former impacts may act as predisposing factors for other stresses. The complexity and the different history of forest ecosys tems are two reasons that make it difficult to assess the actual state and future devel opment of forests. But there are two other reasons: one is the large time scale in which forests react, the other is the idiosyncrasy of the reactions on different sites. Due to the slow reaction and the regional complexity of the abiotic environment of forest ecosys tems, a profound analysis of each site and region is necessary to identify the underly ing causes and driving forces when attempting to overcome the destruction of forest ecosystems.
List of contents
1 Abstract.- 2 Introduction.- 3 Study areas and basic data.- 3.1 Study areas.- 3.2 Basic data.- 4 Statistical methods for regionalization of ecological state variables.- 4.1 Ordinary Kriging.- 4.2 Trend surface prediction.- 4.3 Kriging with trend.- 4.4 Crossvalidation.- 5 Spatial prediction of climate, soil, and macrofauna.- 5.1 Geomorphological and topoclimatic predictors derived from a DEM ..- Schulz, Mues, Jansen, Judas, Saborowski.- 5.2 Regionalization of climatic elements in Lower Saxony.- Mues, Jansen, Sloboda, Radler, Saborowski.- 5.3 Regionalization of soil chemical variables in the Harz mountains.- Jansen, Eberl, Beese.- 5.4 Regionalization of macrofauna populations.- Judas, Schaefer.- 6 Spatial models for site evaluation and forest planning.- 6.1 Forecast classification for the mapping of forest site properties.- Schulz, Judas.- 6.2 Modelling of forest growth areas in Lower Saxony.- Jansen, StUber, Wachter, Schulz, Schmidt, Saborowski, Mues, Eberl, Sloboda.- 6.3 Modelling of natural woodland communities in the Harz mountains.- Jansen, Schmidt, StUber, Wachter, Naeder, Weckesser, Knauft.- 7 GIS based investigations of effects of the LÖWE program in the Harz mountains.- 7.1 Scenarios of long-term forest stand development in the Harz mountains.- Jansen, Schulz, Konitzer, Sloboda.- 7.2 Economic effects of the LÖWE program in the Harz mountains.- Konitzer, Bitter, jansen.- List of Figures.- List of Tables.
Summary
At the end of the 1970s, when signs of destabilization of forests became visible in Eu rope on a large scale, it soon became obvious that the syndrome called "forest de cline" was caused by a network of interrelated factors of abiotic and biotic origin. All attempts to explain the wide-spread syndrome by a single cause, and there were many of them, failed or can only be regarded as a single mosaic stone in the network of caus es behind the phenomenon. Forest ecosystems are highly complex natural or quasi natural systems, which exhibit different structures and functions and as a conse quence different resilience to internal or external stresses. Moreover, forest ecosys tems have a long history, which means that former impacts may act as predisposing factors for other stresses. The complexity and the different history of forest ecosys tems are two reasons that make it difficult to assess the actual state and future devel opment of forests. But there are two other reasons: one is the large time scale in which forests react, the other is the idiosyncrasy of the reactions on different sites. Due to the slow reaction and the regional complexity of the abiotic environment of forest ecosys tems, a profound analysis of each site and region is necessary to identify the underly ing causes and driving forces when attempting to overcome the destruction of forest ecosystems.
Additional text
From the reviews:
"This book focuses on the integration of spatial statistics, GIS-technology, ecosystem studies, and scenario modelling. Its main aim is to extend the information gained at the stand level to larger spatial scales, i.e. to forest districts, forest landscapes or to the total area of Lower Saxony. … This book is an indispensable tool for scientists and those involved in forest management." (Annals of Forest Science, Issue 1, 2003)
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From the reviews:
"This book focuses on the integration of spatial statistics, GIS-technology, ecosystem studies, and scenario modelling. Its main aim is to extend the information gained at the stand level to larger spatial scales, i.e. to forest districts, forest landscapes or to the total area of Lower Saxony. ... This book is an indispensable tool for scientists and those involved in forest management." (Annals of Forest Science, Issue 1, 2003)
