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Genetic resources of beech in Europe – current state<br />
Introductory Note<br />
European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is a major and wi<strong>de</strong>-spread forest tree species with a natural<br />
occurrence from Scandinavian to Mediterranean countries and ranging from the Atlantic influenced<br />
climate in West-Europe to the more continentally influenced regions in Central and South-Central<br />
Europe, covering an area of roughly 14 million ha of forest land. Beech is not only of interest for<br />
economic reasons. It is also of high ecological and silvicultural value and acts to stabilise forest<br />
ecosystems. Beech forests are beneficial for the production of ground water and the regeneration of<br />
<strong>de</strong>pleted soils.<br />
Beech is a dominating species in many forest ecosystems. Other species of these ecosystems <strong>de</strong>pend<br />
on co-existence with beech. Beech is thus viewed as a flagship species of many ecosystems because<br />
they would not exist in this form if beech were not present.<br />
As a wi<strong>de</strong>ly spread tree species, European beech and its ecosystems will be affected by climate change<br />
differently in different regions. Conditions in the north and north-east of the present distribution<br />
range will be more favourable for beech and may support further spreading in this region. However,<br />
as beech is growing predominantly in the lowlands, where precipitation is anticipated to be reduced,<br />
while at the same time evapotranspiration will increase due to higher temperatures, beech stands<br />
especially of the southern and south-eastern range of the present distribution will be affected most<br />
severely. Migrations of beech populations in the Mediterranean region to higher elevations have<br />
already been reported. However, where beech populations already occupy the top of mountain ranges<br />
there is no possibility to migrate further by natural means and such populations may disappear unless<br />
measures of intentional assisted migration are taken. Before climate change progresses and impacts<br />
the ecosystems physically, which is expected to occur in a higher frequency of extreme drought years<br />
like 2003, action should be taken.<br />
Due to this concern, <strong>COST</strong> <strong>Action</strong> E<strong>52</strong> “Evaluation of Beech Genetic Resources for Sustainable<br />
Forestry” (http://www.vti.bund.<strong>de</strong>/<strong>de</strong>/startseite/institute/fg/forschungsbereiche/herkunfts-undzuechtungsforschung.html)<br />
was implemented and twenty-two European countries as well as<br />
Bioversity, Rome, (EUFORGEN-Programme) have agreed to participate. The main objective of this<br />
<strong>COST</strong> <strong>Action</strong> is to evaluate for the first time jointly 60 field trials located in 19 European countries<br />
of the International Beech Provenance Trial established in two series 1995 and 1998 with a total of<br />
200 provenances representing the whole distribution area of beech. This common gar<strong>de</strong>n experiment<br />
allows predictions of the future distribution range of beech forest ecosystems un<strong>de</strong>r the assumption<br />
of certain scenarios of climate change, basing on the analysis of the reaction pattern of European<br />
Beech populations of <strong>de</strong>fined origin (provenance = progenies of natural beech stands) un<strong>de</strong>r changed<br />
climate situations in sets of pan European field trials.<br />
The network of forest geneticists created by <strong>COST</strong> <strong>Action</strong> E<strong>52</strong> including all major countries where<br />
European beech occurs, provi<strong>de</strong>d the platform to <strong>de</strong>ci<strong>de</strong> about the scope and contents of the present<br />
publication, “Communicationes Instituti Forestalis Bohemicae, vol. 25”. Covering the whole range<br />
of European beech distribution, the present publication with its 29 country reports (including three<br />
papers reporting information about 3 million ha of Oriental beech) attempts to give an overview of<br />
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