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Browsing and bark peeling by ungulates is known to affect biodiversity and may constitute the main driving factor of single tree population dynamics. In Slovakia, European yew (Taxus baccata L.) is a threatened species protected by law and present in many protected areas. In the study, we emphasize that protecting land and individual plants may not be sufficient for maintaining of yew populations, unless controlling over damage by deer game is also undertaken. Our results show that in beech forests of the Veľká Fatra Mts, browsing and bark peeling constitute the main negative factor affecting yew seedling-sapling ingrowth transition, and the mortality and vitality loss of adult yew trees. We argue that ungulates may have a larger effect on biodiversity conservation than currently realized.

Understanding long-term successional changes in old growth forests affected by stand-replacing disturbance is particularly important in the context of contemporary changes in climate and disturbance regimes. We analyzed seven decades of succession following a stand-replacing wind disturbance (in 1947) in Badínsky prales, one of the best preserved old-growth fir-beech forests in western Carpathians (Central Europe), and contrasted the post-disturbance development with changes that occurred in the adjacent undisturbed old-growth forest. Both the disturbed and undisturbed sections of the old-growth forest showed compositional and structural changes that differed in their starting point, magnitude, and ecological mechanisms, but forest composition, structure and light conditions appeared to be converging across the two disturbance histories. The windthrow was initially dominated by early-successional goat willow ( Salix caprea L.) that declined in abundance, basal area, and growth over time as beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.) gradually increased in both abundance and basal area to dominate all canopy layers by 2015. This increase in beech dominance over time within the windthrow mirrored increasing beech dominance in the undisturbed old-growth forest which was caused by the gradual decline of silver fir ( Abies alba Mill.). The fact that old-growth forests originally co-dominated by fir and beech appear to be transitioning to forests dominated by beech regardless of the disturbance history suggests that beech expansion may be a robust process that should be considered in both old-growth conservation and forest management where timber harvest with low canopy retention may have similar effects on forest dynamics as a stand-replacing windthrow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An unique database on dynamics of eleven beech-dominated old-growth forests in Central Europe since 1970 to 2019 utilised. • The radial increment of beech trees increased whereas the natural mortality decreased significantly during the study period. • European beech appears to be the most vital and competitive species from sub-mountain to mountain zones in Central Europe under ongoing climate change. • Admixture of other species can contribute to profitability of close-to-nature forest management based on European beech. European beech is the dominant native tree species in sub-mountain and mountain zones of the European continent and provides multiple ecosystem services to European society. However, the mountain zone is strongly affected by environmental change. Here, we explore the long-term natural dynamics of European beech-dominated old-growth forests in the Western Carpathians, Central Europe. We use fifty-year measurements of forest stand dynamics from eleven nature reserves strictly protected from any management (some of them included in the UNESCO natural heritage program). The study sites cover a typical range of natural conditions of the beech-dominated altitudinal zone in the Western Carpathians. The database includes long-term pair-wise non-destructive measurements of nearly 3.000 beeches from 1970 through 2019. We aim to investigate three crucial processes of beech forest dynamics: increment, ingrowth, and mortality of beech trees. The results, besides expected interactions, indicated a statistically significant change in radial increment and tree mortality during the study period. The radial increment increased, whereas tree mortality decreased during the past decades. Our findings indicate that European beech has strengthened the role of the most vital and competitive tree species in the elevational range from sub-mountain to mountain zone of Central European mountains during the last 50 years. The species increases the potential of enlarging its current distribution and outcompeting other species at the upper as well as lower elevational range edges. The assumed reasons for such development considering postglacial vegetation development in Europe and upcoming climate change are discussed. Possible implications and ways how to utilize the observed findings in close-to-nature forest management are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]