THE APPLICATION OF CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA IN THE DETERMINATION OF CLIMATE FAVOURABLENESS FOR THE FOREST VEGETATION OF CROATIA

The Meteorological and Hydrological Service in Zagreb has been monitoring the values of climatological elements and phenomena in the atmosphere and on the ground for a long period of time. A data bank has been established of exceptional value which is being used for research in natural sciences. The Forest Research Institute, Jastrebarsko, has produced the Pluviothermal climate favourableness indices for forest vegetation based on the Climate Atlas and the Institute data. 19 different climate favourableness indices in Croatia (KL-1 to KL-19) and the index of the greatest favoraubleness have been determined on the basis of a hypothesis that the most favourable climatic conditions dominate on those areas where the biocoenoses members are the most numerous. This hypothesis has been confirmed by the central position of the best favourableness index (KL-10) in a sequence of 19 members. The indices distribution in Croatia has been shown on the map (scale 1:1,350.000). The relative values of the indices have been determined by attributing the highest value to the highest climate favourableness index (KL-10) and the smallest value to the lowest favourableness index (KL-1 and KL-19). These indices can be applied to numerous natural science research fields and in forestry