The long-lasting constancy of site conditions has been invalidated by climate change. Therefore, a fundamental reassessment of the suitability of our tree species is required. Against the background of a brief description of the climatic development in Central Europe and the changes in tree species proportions already observed in Germany, options for forest management to adapt forest stands to a changing climate are discussed. Management activities mainly concern the phase of stand establishment. i.e. the establishment of mixed stands using tree species with complementary hydraulic traits, and in managing stand density. However, these are only limited options to combat a symptom. It would be more important for society as a whole to tackle the cause of the problem, which means achieving a drastic reduction in the still high CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
Keywords: сlimate change, tree species, adaptation
Authors
Christian Ammer
University of Goettingen, Germany
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