DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-049-8-0027

MORTALITA SMREKA OBYČAJNÉHO INDIKOVANÁ HRÚBKOVÝM RASTOM V CHRÁNENEJ KRAJINNEJ OBLASTI POĽANA / MORTALITY OF NORWAY SPRUCE INDICATED BY DIAMETER GROWTH IN THE POĽANA PROTECTED LANDSCAPE AREA

Denisa Sedmáková¹, Peter Jaloviar¹, Marek Ježík², Patrícia Priščová¹, Zuzana Parobeková¹, Ján Pittner¹

¹ Lesnícka fakulta, Technická Univerzita vo Zvolene, T.G. Masaryka 24, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovensko

² Ústav ekológie lesa SAV, Ľ. Štúra 2, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovensko

Ongoing climate change has increased the mortality rates of tree species in temperate forests. A comparison between 77 vital and declining Norway spruce trees revealed significant differences in the stem diameter, diameter increment, growth sensitivity, occurrence of growth releases and strength of correlation with the reference chronology. The most pronounced differences between groups became evident after 1974, pointing to the impact of climatic stress. Based on selected indicators, a mortality model was created using logistic regression. The model achieved a classification accuracy of 84.42%. The results suggest that the selected predictors (stem size, growth sensitivity and growth divergence) can be effectively applied to assess vitality in Norway spruce stands. Their use in forestry practice may improve decision-making in tending strategies, the selection of resilient trees, and contribute to maintaining the productive potential of spruce forests under changing environmental conditions.

Keywords: growth performance, tree death, high mountains, climate-induced stress

pages: 27-37, Published: 2025, online: 2025