The purpose of this paper is to present the potential of the structure and width of wood and phloem increments as additional indicators of the vitality of trees. The purpose of forest monitoring and indicators to determine the vitality of trees and stands are summarized. As radial increments proved to be an appropriate tool to evaluate the response of forest stands to changing environmental factors, the dynamics of wood formation processes that determine the structure and quality are described in detail.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3379110
Anatomical and histometrical investigations were carried out on bark tissues (non-collapsed and collapsed phloem, and periderm) of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) trees. Secondary changes in mature phloem were characterized by a collapse of sieve tubes, inflation of axial parenchyma, and development of sclereids. The percentage of sclereid areas and the stage of their development elevated with increasing distance from the cambium. Sclereid cell walls were thick and poly-lamellated and had similar spectral characteristics but distinctly higher UV absorbance values than xylem fibres. By means of a combination of light microscopy, UV-spectrophotometry, and transmission electron microscopy, the structure and secondary changes in the bark could be precisely identified.
COBISS.SI-ID: 1942153
The development of the first black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) regional chronology for the central-western Balkan area, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), based on seven site chronologies from different parts of the country is described. Site chronologies were compared using statistical parameters and visual crossdating, from which a 435-year-long tree-ring width chronology for P. nigra for BiH was constructed and compared with existing P. nigra chronologies from Montenegro, Greece, Albania, Austria, and Franc. The resulting statistical and visual similarity indicated that the chronology has a strong regional signal and therefore can be included in the dendrochronological network for P. nigra for the Western Balkans.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3317670