Soil-water determinants of forest management in the perspective of climate change

The paper reviews the projected impacts of climate change on forest stands in relation to the local conditions in Poland. One of the most urgent challenges for foresters in Central Europe is adapting the stands to the effects of climate change. Warming of the climate will lead to limited soil water availability to forest stands and to the increasing risk of long−term drought. The threatof soil drought depends on the meteorological conditions, but also on the ability of the soil to retain water. In Poland, forests grow mainly on poor sandy soils with low water retention capacity. Additionally, relatively small precipitation – less than 600 mm per year – occurs in most areas of Poland and long−term periods without precipitation are more and more frequent. In 2015, drought affected large area of the country. The forests are severely exposed to the stress of drought caused by climate change. Polish forests ared comprised of rather small number of tree species. It is considered that drought will threaten the biodiversity of forests. Of all tree species in Poland, Scots pine has the best ability to survive drought and therefore it can be expected that the share of pine in the stands will increase in the future. Pedunculate oak, which is the most common deciduous species in Poland, may retreat because of its vulnerability to drought. Forest management should aim at the adaptation of stands to climate change. The proportion of species resistant to drought stress should be increased. The thinning of forest stand can help to reduce damage. A smaller number of trees contributes to lower interception and consequently increases the amount of water reaching the soil. In some opinions the reduction in the number of trees and the density of the canopy reduces evapotranspiration, but not in Scots pine stands