FORESTS IN SLOVENIA,    FORESTS IN EUROPE

Site Conditions, the Degree of Habitat Conservation and Forest Variety

Slovenia is characterised by great natural diversity, because of the range of geologic conditions, the broken relief and the fact that the country is at the conjunction of continental, alpine and sub-alpine climates. Due to its geographic position and broken relief, Slovenia is influenced by the Mediterranean, the Alps and the Pannonian Lowlands. Because of the varied climatic conditions, a highly diverse vegetation structure can be found in the relatively small area of Slovenian forests.
Most Slovenian forests are located within the area of beech (44 %), fir-beech (15 %) and beech-oak (11 %) sites, with a relatively high production capacity. Sites of thermophilic deciduous trees and pines, occupying only about 12 % of Slovenian forest area, are poorer in terms of timber production.

Much more broadleaves according to nature

Altogether, 71 tree species (only 10 conifers and 61 deciduous trees) have a natural geographical distribution in Slovenia. The major reason why human influence has been less detrimental to forests than in most Central European countries is attributable to the mountainous character of the country, the difficult of access Karst region, and hence a high proportion of poorly accessible forests. The forests have consequently been relatively well preserved, which is particularly true of the diversity of natural tree species composition and the structure (vertical and horizontal) of the stands. There are only 15 % of forests in which the share of spruce has strongly increased. However, it has been established that the actual tree composition deviates greatly from the potential vegetation. The ratio between coniferous and deciduous trees is 48:52 (2000), while the potential ratio appropriate for the site conditions is 20:80.
The slash and burn method used to be fairly important in the history of Slovenian forests. In the initial period of colonisation, forests were cleared by means of the slash and burn method and hoe cultivation in the lowlands and on hillsides. These areas are still the basis of agricultural production. In the present, primarily forest regions, traces of the last colonisation, between the 12th and 15th centuries, are still clearly visible.
The high deviation in terms of the actual spruce share compared to the potential is primarily the result of spruce planting in the distant past (following the model of the German forest management school), especially in Štajerska and Koroška. Spruce was extensively introduced into deciduous sites (primarily beech). Especially in the 18th and 19th century, the species structure of Slovenian forests was greatly changed due to extensive felling and the planting of spruce. It was also highly influenced by mulching, which was practised for two centuries and caused a deterioration of soil conditions in forests in the vicinity of settlements and in agricultural regions. Less demanding tree species consequently took hold (spruce and pine).
Pine has also become a characteristic tree species of the Slovenian Karst, where it was planted in the second half of the 19th century in order to alleviate the effects of the strong "bora" wind and to make the barren rocky karstic landscape green again. The discrepancy between the actual and potential proportion of pine is thus an effect of the planting of Pinus nigra and its further spread by means of natural propagation in the Karst, a region that was completely bare a century ago.

Home of brown bear, wolf and lynx

The extremely high diversity of habitats and biotic communities that have developed through the millennia has created a great many different ecosystems in the relatively small Slovenian area. Numerous animal species have thus found a niche here. Above all, a great many amphibians and mammals are linked to the forest.

A survey of endangered and other plant and animal species dependent on forest.

 
The preservation of the forests has certainly contributed to Slovenia being one of the few European countries in which the three larger European beasts of prey can be found: brown bear, wolf and lynx.
Slovenia is situated on the northwest rim of the area populated by the Dinaric brown bear and - together with Gorski Kotar in neighbouring Croatia - is the western extent of the natural area of distribution of this species in Central Europe. Despite the general persecution of large beasts that was typical of Europe in the second half of the 19th century and after, the first animal to gain the right of domicile on the territory of Slovenia, and the affection of people, was the brown bear. Brown bear first enjoyed protection in the region of Kočevje and Notranjska – still its central habitat - as early as 1889.
That was not the case with lynx. It became extinct and was reintroduced to the Kočevsko region in 1973. In the very next year, lynx cubs were born in the neighbouring forests, marking the beginning of the spread of this species. By 1995, lynx had populated a large part of Slovenia and had also spread south and east to Croatia, even as far as Bosnia and Herzegovina. It had advanced towards the northwest to Italy and Austria.
The fate of the wolf in the present territory of Slovenia is interesting, too. As with the brown bear and lynx, high bounties were also offered for the killing of wolves in the 18th century. Bounties for dead wolves were only abolished in Slovenia as late as 1973. Owing to the wolf’s extreme vitality, natural intelligence and habitation of large forest areas - extending from Notranjska and Kočevska in Slovenia to Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina - this species has managed to survive in Slovenia.