Hungarian Forest Management Tendencies at the Beginning of the Xxi Century

Abstract

Today, the forest is a key element of natural resources, the most complex natural (ecological) system in the continent. Because of its environmental impact, it is also a vital condition for healthy human life. In addition to its dominant role in regulating the quantity and quality of waters, the forest defines the nature of the landscape, preserves the richness of wildlife species and, being a renewable natural resource, continuously improves the state of the environment, while producing raw materials, energy sources and food. The present area and condition of forests have evolved over centuries of human activity. Due to their territorial fragmentation and the environmental damage forests are exposed to, we can only count on the indispensable survival, protective effect and products (yields) of forest communities if we treat them professionally and protect them from damaging effects, excessive use and stress, ensuring the diversity and appropriate harmony of their flora and fauna. The forest area of Hungary has grown dynamically over the last decades, however, in the European Union, we are one of the countries with less favourable indicators in this field. This study deals with the current issues of forest management in Hungary (forest area, forest land proportion, foresttree supply, afforestation, forest health, logging) focusing on the direction and extent of positive and negative changes in this field.

Onnia triquetra (Pers.) Imazeki, a pine associated polypore species reported for the first time from Hungary

“…Igmándy's collection of Onnia triqetra from 1959 shows, that even a wider spectrum of poroid species were most probably present since a long time ago in Hungarian semi-natural Scots pine forests. The ongoing shrinkage of these forests (KSH 2013;Komarek 2018) and the recent occurrence of O. triquetra on Austrian pine highlights the importance of planted, non-native stands of conifers in preserving fungal biodiversity. These stands could serve as possible surrogate habitats for indigenous fungi, as it was presented in many other cases (Humphrey et al 2000;Johnston 2010;Edman and Fällström 2013;Sarrionandia et al 2015;Dejene et al 2017).…”

“…Conifers represent only 10.5% of the forests, with a significant decline in their actual area in the last two decades (from 243 500 hectares in 2000 to 195 000 hectares in 2016). The most widespread conifer species are Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Austrian pine (Pinus nigra J.F.Arnold), covering an area of 6.2% and 3.2% respectively (Komarek 2018). Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is considered to be native, while Austrian pine (P. nigra J.F.Arnold) was introduced to the Pannonian basin, with its first plantations established in the 19 th century (Borhidi 2003;Tamás 2003;Bölöni et al 2008).…”

The Effects of Different Management Methods on Restored Grasslands in Potential Temperate Forest Zones

“…The cessation of natural conservation management can lead to declining diversity, by means of increasing coverage of some species with a broad tolerance spectrum [33][34][35][36]. The opposite effect of mowing and pasturing has been proven by many surveys [29,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]. This verifies the importance of small-scale disturbances in the composition of vegetation through positive effects on biodiversity [49,50]-they help to spread propagules, maintain ecosystem services, and suppress invasive species.…”

The effect of mowing and pasturing on grassland vegetation in Mátra Mauntains (Parádóhuta)

“…The cessation of natural conservation management can lead to declining diversity by means of increasing coverage of some species with broad tolerance spectrum (Klimeš et al, 2000;Házi et al, 2010Házi et al, , 2011Házi et al, , 2012. The opposite effect of mowing and pasturing has been proved by many domestic surveys (Kelemen et al, 2014;Valkó et al, 2009Valkó et al, , 2011Valkó et al, , 2012Deák és Tóthmérész, 2005, 2007Penksza et al, 2013;Zimmermann et al, 2011;Szabó et al, 2011;Török et al, 2009a, b;Komarek, 2005Komarek, , 2007aKomarek, , b, 2015Komarek, , 2018. This is verifying the importance of small-scale disturbances in the composition of vegetation through positive effects on biodiversity (Morris, 2000;Deák et al, 2015); they help to spread propagules, maintain ecosystem services, and suppress invasive species.…”