Peatlands are invaluable archives of palaeoenvironmental and climate dynamics, play a central role in the global carbon cycle and hydrological processes, preserve biological diversity, and act as climatic microrefugia. Over millennia, these ecosystems have been heavily modified by human land use, including drainage, overgrazing, and peat extraction, leading to large-scale degradation in many regions. Understanding the long-term dynamics of peatlands is crucial for determining their conservation and restoration needs, as well as for predicting their evolution, including responses to climate change, community changes, and carbon sequestration potential. In this study, we adopted an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the relationships between climate, vegetation, tree growth, hydrology, and human activities in a peatland ecosystem in one of the poorly explored regions of Central Europe, the Solska Forest in southeastern Poland. To reconstruct local ecosystem and landscape dynamics and assess possible climatic and anthropogenic impacts, we integrated various proxy data from natural and human archives: long-term meteorological data (1792-2020), tree ring data (1729-2022) from living peatland pines, palaeoecological data from peat sediment (pollen, plant macrofossils, testate amoebae, and charcoal), and archival written and cartographic sources. Our environmental reconstruction, spanning over 2300 years (ca. 330 BCE-2022 CE), identified three distinct periods in the peatland's history: ca. 330 BCE-1400 CE, ca. 1400- 1830 CE, and ca. 1830-2022 CE. These phases are characterized by varying archival coverage, including a sedimentary hiatus between 1400 and 1830 CE, likely associated with a fire disturbance documented at the study site in the first half of the 19th century. However, the stratigraphic gap was largely bridged by integrating tree ring, climate, and historical data. This synthesis revealed considerable hydrological instability of the peatland and documented its complete transition from black alder bog forest to Scots pine bog forest. To our knowledge, this provides the first palaeoecological evidence of such a conversion in temperate Europe. This ecosystem shift was likely triggered by several interlinked factors, primarily anthropogenic land use change, including settlement development, deforestation, and the introduction of timber-oriented forest management. These drivers led to the landscape-scale expansion of pine forests and subsequent environmental acidification that facilitated Sphagnum encroachment. Furthermore, the roles of fire and drainage in this transition were clearly demonstrated. Our results, including the tree ring record of successful Scots pine establishment and historical data on settlement development throughout the 1700s, suggest that this environmental transformation occurred before the end of the period ca. 1400-1830 CE, between the 16th and 18th centuries. In addition, our findings indicate that both the transition period (> 400 years) and the current ecosystem type (ca. 200 years) represent a much shorter part of the peatland's history (> 600 years) than the preceding, substantially different ecosystem state (> 1700 years). We also address the methodological challenges of multiproxy studies of landscape dynamics, such as reconciling inconsistent quantitative and qualitative data or managing periods of low archival resolution. Nevertheless, linking natural and human archives enabled us to gain a deeper understanding of a complex environmental system, with added value from combining different approaches. Moreover, by confirming the multifaceted interactions between different biotic and abiotic factors affecting both landscape and peatland ecosystems, we emphasized the continuing need for further research on peatland ecology, including past and current changes. Our evidence of a complete ecosystem shift from Alnus to Pinus and Sphagnum dominance under the synergistic influence of different factors, particularly the undeniable human impact, highlights the importance of a temporal perspective and long-term environmental data in conservation and land management, as such records are vital for assessing reference conditions and defining protection and restoration goals.

Changing climatic conditions are amplifying the frequency and intensity of hydroclimatic extremes across Europe. Droughts, heatwaves, intense precipitation and floods increasingly co-occur and cascade, creating compound risks for ecosystems and societies. One of the most visible and severe consequences of these interconnected crises is the growing global threat of forest fires, which are more often facilitated by favorable weather conditions, as well as forest structure and fuel properties. However, the most important cause of fires is related to human pressure, resulting from intentional or unintentional activities that contribute to the outbreak of fires.Forests are an assemblage of diverse habitats, each of which may differ markedly in fire risk and fire behaviour. Here, we examine how fire occurrence in Poland varies among forest habitat types, land-use patterns and management functions, and how these relationships are shaped by interannual meteorological variability and regional context. We compile (i) forest fire records for Poland for 2019-2024, (ii) a 2024 state forest administration database of forest divisions (i.e., basic forest management units) including habitat type, dominant tree species and main forest function, (iii) a database of socio-economic indicators for country's administrative units, and (iv) annual meteorological characteristics relevant to fire weather. This enables a spatially explicit analysis of fire frequency and (where available) burnt area across heterogeneous forest landscapes, while accounting for administrative-region differences and socio-economic factors that may reflect contrasting management practices, accessibility, and human ignition pressure.We quantify fire occurrences in 2019-2024 for distinct forest area types (classified by habitat, dominant tree species and function) and evaluate their sensitivity to meteorological conditions across years. The analysis is designed to identify which combinations of forest habitat, tree species, forest function, and local socio-economic structure show consistently elevated fire incidence, whether observed changes between 2019 and 2024 are uniform or regionally differentiated across Poland, and to determine which meteorological characteristics best explain interannual variability in forest fire occurrence. By integrating ecological and forest management attributes with fire records and meteorological context, the study provides an empirical basis for stratified fire-risk assessment in Polish forests and supports targeted prevention and management measures. This research is conducted as part of the NCN project 2023/49/N/ST10/04035 "Fire, burnt area and charcoal - charcoal-data modeling of burnt area, cross-validation of fires and charcoal signal".

Fire is an important disturbance in European forests, particularly in the Mediterranean region. However, the effects of climate change on fuel availability and fire weather, combined with the widespread dominance of conifer monocultures, high population density, and the significance of human-caused ignition, support predictions of increasing fire risk in temperate Central Europe – a phenomenon likely to necessitate expanded post-fire forest restoration. The non-intervention approach based on ecological succession is often not favoured over active restoration due to economic considerations or legal requirements. Nevertheless, natural ecosystem recovery has been shown to enable successful tree establishment, support biodiversity, and provide microclimatic benefits. Here, we present data on early (2–5 years) natural tree regeneration following non-stand-replacing wildfires in lowland coniferous forests of Białowieża, northeastern Poland, in relation to burn depth and selected microsite characteristics, collected from sample plots along parallel transects within burnt and unburnt forest sections. Our results demonstrate that fire promoted the establishment of diverse tree taxa, including Pinus, Picea, Quercus, Betula, Populus, and Salix. A higher number of saplings was recorded in burnt plots across all sites, with Pinus and Betula benefiting most from both fire disturbance and burn depth. Furthermore, our findings confirm the importance of fire disturbance for the natural regeneration of Scots pine, which is currently nearly absent in the Białowieża Forest otherwise. Our study contributes to the discussion on fire regimes, post-fire ecosystem recovery, and forest restoration in Central Europe, highlighting the great potential for a non-intervention approach after fire. It also provides baseline information to inform conservation and management strategies in the region.

This article analyzes the emergence of modern forest management on the Polish lands from the late eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century, framing it within Enlightenment economic thought, state-building, and delayed industrialization in Central and Eastern Europe. Based on written, cartographic, and administrative sources, it traces the transformation of forests from heterogeneous landscapes governed by customary rights into standardized, administratively legible spaces shaped by scientific forestry. The study compares three successive political regimes—the Prussian administration (1793–1806), the Duchy of Warsaw (1807–1815), and the Congress Kingdom of Poland after 1816—highlighting both continuity and rupture in forest governance. Although short-lived, the Prussian period established durable institutional and spatial frameworks, including large-scale surveying and centralized administration. Later reforms intensified bureaucratic control but unfolded under conditions of a delayed energy transition, with continued reliance on wood and charcoal. This dependence fostered the expansion of Scots pine monocultures, particularly in industrial regions such as the Holy Cross Mountains. The article argues that forest modernization in the Polish lands represents a case of multi-speed modernization, the ecological and social consequences of which remain visible in present-day forest landscapes.

Climate change has the influence on the functioning of natural ecosystems, even those barely affected by human activity. Some of the endangered ecosystems, such as pine bogs, strictly depend on groundwater availability, which, due to progressive dry climatic conditions, may be limited in the future (IPCC 2022). Furthermore, the current microclimatic conditions of pine bogs remain poorly understood, making the future of these ecosystems difficult to predict. Having accurate microclimate datasets would enable the identification of relationships between individual components of this ecosystem, leading to increased accuracy in forecasting the impacts of climate change on it. The objective of the study was to investigate microclimatic functioning of the pine bogs of the Bialowieza Primeval Forest, which is the largest area of old-growth forest in Europe. The research was conducted at the eight study sites between 2023 and 2024.In order to gain insight into the microclimatic functioning of the pine bogs, a series of air temperature and humidity measurements in the near ground air layer were conducted. Furthermore, comparisons were made between soil temperature and moisture at the sites, as well as with the reference station situated outside the forest. Additionally, groundwater level was recorded at each site and peat thickness was mapped. Analyses of vegetation composition and horizon obscuration were also performed.The results indicate that the microclimate of the pine bogs in the Bialowieza Primeval Forest differs significantly from the climate of the open areas outside the forest, with the scale of these differences being seasonally determined. The sites exhibited notable differences in water conditions, peat thickness and vegetation, which influenced the microclimatic functioning. The subsequent step will be to attempt to model the microclimatic conditions of the pine bogs based on the collected data, which will facilitate the prediction of shifts occurring in these ecosystems in the context of climate change.

Remote sensing technologies like airborne laser scanning (ALS) and digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP) have emerged as efficient tools for detecting and analysing canopy gaps (CGs). Comparing these technologies is essential to determine their functionality and applicability in various environments. Thus, this study aimed to assess CG dynamics in the temperate European Białowieża Forest between 2015 and 2022 by comparing ALS data and image-derived point clouds (IPC) from DAP, to evaluate their respective capabilities in describing and analysing forest CG dynamics. Our results demonstrated that ALS-based point clouds provided more detailed and precise spatial information about both the vertical and horizontal structure of forest CGs compared to IPC. ALS detected 27,754 (54%) new CGs between 2015 and 2022, while IPC identified 23,502 (75%) new CGs. Both the average gap area and the total gap area significantly increased over time in both methods. ALS data not only identified a greater number of CGs, particularly smaller ones (below 500 m2), but also produced a more precise representation of CG shape and structure. In conclusion, precise, multi-temporal remote sensing data on the distribution and size of canopy gaps enable effective monitoring of structural changes and disturbances in forest stands, which in turn supports more efficient forest management, e.g., planning of forest regeneration.

Climate is a primary, but non-stationary, driver of tree growth. Climate change is altering the sensitivity of forest growth to water availability and temperature over time. It is considered that pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) will cope with the changing climatic conditions in Europe in the near future. However, while species distribution models project expansion zones, they also identify reductions in occurrence at the dry and warm distribution margins. Whereas species distribution models primarily rely on occurrence data, tree rings-given their long-term perspective and their use in empirical models-can provide a mechanistic view of forest growth dynamics, including temporally changing climate responses. Increased climate sensitivity and growth synchrony are key dendroecological indicators of tree stress. Here, we used an unprecedented network of 150 Q. robur sites (over 3300 trees), covering the full projected range of contracting to persistent areas across Europe, to assess the dendroecological indicators over recent decades in relation to species distribution model predictions. We reveal that oaks in areas projected to experience range contraction exhibited greater sensitivity to current growing season climatic conditions, whereas those in persistence areas responded more strongly to previous season conditions. Growth synchrony among trees was higher in the contraction areas, but showed no significant increasing trend over the last 70 years, as expected from ecotone theory. Temporal shifts in climate sensitivity were stronger for temperature and vapor pressure deficit in the persistence areas, whereas the climatic water balance gained importance in the contraction zones. These findings suggest that Q. robur growth is not yet being severely affected by climate change, and that the species is currently coping well with the climate changes, even in regions with projected range contractions, thereby challenging statistically derived scenarios of range shift based on species distribution models.

Combining different diverse data on human and environmental history during the Anthropocene is an extremely challenging task, particularly, if one wants to compare written or cartographic data with a whole range of environmental data recorded for more than the past 200–300 years. In this article, our objective was to demonstrate that one of the keys to facilitating syntheses for the study of forest landscape dynamics was to conduct a thorough investigation into the historical phenomena of modernization. We believe that a comprehensive understanding of the advancements in post-enlightenment thought and contextualizing them within the evolution of the state apparatus during the 18th and 19th centuries will empower us to formulate new research questions and broaden our understanding of the mutual relations between nature and humans in the past.

To enhance our understanding of forest carbon sequestration, climate change mitigation and drought impact on forest ecosystems, the availability of high-resolution annual forest growth maps based on tree-ring width (TRW) would provide a significant advancement to the field. Site-specific characteristics, which can be approximated by high-resolution Earth observation by satellites (EOS), emerge as crucial drivers of forest growth, influencing how climate translates into tree growth. EOS provides information on surface reflectance related to forest characteristics and thus can potentially improve the accuracy of forest growth models based on TRW. Through the modelling of TRW using EOS, climate and topography data, we showed that species-specific models can explain up to 52 % of model variance (Quercus petraea), while combining different species results in relatively poor model performance (R2 = 13 %). The integration of EOS into models based solely on climate and elevation data improved the explained variance by 6 % on average. Leveraging these insights, we successfully generated a map of annual TRW for the year 2021. We employed the area of applicability (AOA) approach to delineate the range in which our models are deemed valid. The calculated AOA for the established forest-type models was 73 % of the study region, indicating robust spatial applicability. Notably, unreliable predictions predominantly occurred in the climate margins of our dataset. In conclusion, our large-scale assessment underscores the efficacy of combining climate, EOS and topographic data to develop robust models for mapping annual TRW. This research not only fills a critical void in the current understanding of forest growth dynamics but also highlights the potential of integrated data sources for comprehensive ecosystem assessments.

Tar production was an important part of forest management until the beginning of the 20th century. Tar – used for many purposes – from glue, through boatbuilding, to a pharmacy – was widely produced throughout Europe. As early as in the 18th century, in some parts of Europe, tar production became massive. In the eastern part of Europe, however, that process was still carried out with simple methods known from the Middle Ages. With Airborne Laser Scanning, we have detected 53 traces of tar processing in the Polish part of the Białowieża Forest. In 2019, one of the features was archaeologically excavated to identify its preserved structure/architecture and collect samples for laboratory tests. The outcomes of the archaeological test trench did not provide answers to many research questions. Therefore, it was decided to apply an interdisciplinary approach to determine the utilised raw material, timing and the process of tar production. In result of the dendrochronological and anthracological analyses, it was found that diverse parts of Scots pine trees were used for tar production. Our tree ring analyses provided also the first information about the absolute chronology of the tar kiln activity. To obtain information on the tar production process, i.e. the burning temperature and the characteristics of the obtained tar, we performed chemical analyses of the tar samples (microscopic and Fourier Transform Infrared, FTIR). This multidisciplinary case study of one of the many sites from the Białowieża Forest provided basic information about the methods of tar production in modern times and their probable impact on the immediate vicinity of the forest. However, such an interdisciplinary approach is limited by both the quantity and quality of the preserved artefacts, found during archaeological excavations.

The spatial component of past forest fires in temperate Europe has been little studied, despite the value of such data in quantifying human and natural factors driving fire activity and associated forest dynamics. Changes in fire regimes reported across a range of ecosystems call for a better understanding of variability in historic fires and may help define reference points that can be relied upon when discussing climate change effects. We provide the first dendrochronological reconstruction of historical fire sizes in Central Europe and analyze the minimum extent of fires during the last four centuries in a 9.2 km 2 (920 ha) conifer-dominated section of Białowieża Forest, one of the largest continuous lowland forests of the subcontinent. We recorded 82 fires between 1666 and 1946, using 275 sample trees, while 92% of fires (76 out of 82) spread beyond the studied area. Fires varied considerably in size, from events recorded at only one site (1–200 ha) to fires recorded in more than half of the studied area, thus exceeding 500 ha in size. The fire cycle was 11 years over the whole study period, with three distinct periods revealed by the regime shift analysis. In the years 1670–1750, the fire cycle averaged 12 years. It shortened to 7 years between 1755–1840 and increased to 22 years over the 1845–1955 period. In comparison with present day data, the reconstructed fire density of 3.2 fires per 100 km 2 (10 000 ha) and year exceeded lightning ignition density by one to two orders of magnitude, suggesting a significant contribution of human-related ignitions. Our results highlight the important role of fire disturbance in Białowieża Forest and provide critical baseline information to design biological conservation strategies for European forests.

Heatwaves exert disproportionately strong and sometimes irreversible impacts on forest ecosystems. These impacts remain poorly understood at the tree and species level and across large spatial scales. Here, we investigate the effects of the record-breaking 2018 European heatwave on tree growth and tree water status using a collection of high-temporal resolution dendrometer data from 21 species across 53 sites. Relative to the two preceding years, annual stem growth was not consistently reduced by the 2018 heatwave but stems experienced twice the temporary shrinkage due to depletion of water reserves. Conifer species were less capable of rehydrating overnight than broadleaves across gradients of soil and atmospheric drought, suggesting less resilience toward transient stress. In particular, Norway spruce and Scots pine experienced extensive stem dehydration. Our high-resolution dendrometer network was suitable to disentangle the effects of a severe heatwave on tree growth and desiccation at large-spatial scales in situ, and provided insights on which species may be more vulnerable to climate extremes.

Natural disturbances are largely suppressed in Central European landscapes due to economic and human safety concerns. European goals to increase the extent of secondary wilderness areas have the potential to support the restoration of threatened habitats associated with natural disturbances. Germany is among the Central European countries with the most advanced wilderness goals. This study aimed to investigate whether habitat types shaped by natural disturbances are mostly red-listed as threatened and require special consideration within systematic conservation planning (SCP). First, we reviewed literature and the German Red List of Threatened Habitat Types to identify the conservation status of habitat types associated with three natural abiotic disturbance types in Germany: floods, forest fires and landslides. Second, we mapped the potential area coverage of these disturbance types and identified gaps in the current network of strictly protected areas (PA) to inform SCP. Fifty-two per cent of the habitat types associated with the three disturbance types floods, forest fires and landslides were listed as "critically endangered" (n = 1) or "endangered to critically endangered" (n = 9). The potential area for river dynamics accounted for 4.3% of German terrestrial territory, areas potentially subject to forest fires accounted for 0.9% and areas with a very high susceptibility to landslides for 1.1%. Areas potentially subject to forest fires (0.15% strict PA coverage) and river dynamics (0.81%) were underrepresented in German National Parks and the core zones of Biosphere Reserve, whereas strict PA coverage of areas with a very high susceptibility to landslides was higher (6.8%). European and German wilderness goals can support the restoration of threatened habitat types associated with natural disturbances if spatial information on those areas is integrated into SCP concepts. Yet, sophisticated management regimes will be required to resolve conflicts between wilderness areas subject to natural disturbances and the surrounding cultural landscape and infrastructure.

Abstract The shift from shade‐intolerant species to shade‐tolerant mesophytic species in deciduous and mixed forests of the temperate zone is well described in studies from North America. This process has been termed mesophication and it has been linked to changes in fire regime. Fire suppression results in the cessation of establishment of heliophytic, fire‐dependent tree species such as oak (Quercus) and pine (Pinus). Due to the scarcity of old‐growth forests in Europe, data on long‐term compositional changes in mixed forests are very limited, as is the number of studies exploring whether fire played a role in shaping the dynamics. The aim of this study was to reconstruct tree succession in a 43‐ha natural mixed deciduous forest stand in Białowieża Forest (BF), Poland using dendrochronological methods. In addition, the presence of aboveground fire legacies (charred and fire‐scarred deadwood) enabled the fire history reconstruction. Dendrochronological data revealed tree establishment (Quercus) back to the end of the 1500s and fires back to 1659. Under a regime of frequent fires until the end of the 18th century, only oak and pine regenerated, sporadically. A shift in the fire regime in the first half of the 19th century triggered oak and pine cohort regeneration, then gradually spruce (Picea) encroached. Under an increasingly dense canopy and less flammable conditions, regeneration of shade‐tolerant Carpinus, Tilia, and Acer began simultaneously with the cessation of oak and pine recruitment. Synthesis. The study reports the first evidence of mesophication in temperate Europe and proves that fire was involved in shaping the long‐term dynamics of mixed deciduous forest ecosystems. Our data suggest that fire exclusion promoted a gradual recruitment of fire‐sensitive, shade‐tolerant species that inhibited the regeneration of oak and pine in BF.

QuestionsWhat were the features of the historical forest fire regime, fire intensity in particular, in Pinus sylvestris-dominated stands of Biaowiea Forest? Did tree recruitment patterns relate to the fire history?LocationBiaowiea Forest, western Belarus and northeast Poland.MethodsWe used dendrochronological methods to reconstruct the fire regime in a 8.5-ha mixed coniferous (Pinus sylvestris-Picea abies) forest stand located in the Belarusian part of Biaowiea Forest. We analysed fire frequency at stand and point scale, seasonal distribution of fires and fire intensity. We compared the results to a previous study done in a 13.0-ha site of similar habitat and stand structure, located in the Polish part of Biaowiea Forest.ResultsWe reconstructed fires back to 1655, the most recent fire dating to 1918. Mean fire interval at stand scale during 1645-2010 was 97.8yrs (+/- SD). Fire frequency gradually declined after 1811, with mean fire interval at stand scale increasing from 5 +/- 2.5yrs prior to 1811 to 18 +/- 9.3yrs thereafter. Most fires were likely of low intensity, as suggested by (1) small average tree diameter (5.1 +/- 2.9cm) at the first scar, (2) absence of strong negative growth reactions after fire, and (3) high fire frequency likely limiting fuel build-up. However, a fire in 1718 was intense and resulted in a wave of P.sylvestris regeneration. The reconstructed fire history in the Belarusian part of Biaowiea Forest showed many similarities with that done in the Polish section of this forest. Similarities included dominance of low-intensity dormant and early-season fires, sporadic occurrence of high-intensity fires, high fire frequencies between the 1650s and the early 1800s, and cessation of fires since the early 20th century. Six out of 50 fire dates reconstructed in both sites were common and represented a level of synchrony that was significantly higher than expected under a random pattern of fire occurrence.ConclusionsLow-intensity surface fires dominated the historical fire regime of Biaowiea Forest. However, occasional high-intensity stand-replacing fires led to successional changes at the stand scale.

The alarming rate of ecosystem degradation has raised the need for ecological restoration throughout different biomes and continents. North European forests may appear as one of the least vulnerable ecosystems from a global perspective, since forest cover is not rapidly decreasing and many ecosystem services remain at high level. However, extensive areas of northern forests are heavily exploited and have lost a major part of their biodiversity value. There is a strong requirement to restore these areas towards a more natural condition in order to meet the targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Several northern countries are now taking up this challenge by restoring forest biodiversity with increasing intensity. The ecology and biodiversity of boreal forests are relatively well understood making them a good model for restoration activities in many other forest ecosystems. Here we introduce northern forests as an ecosystem, discuss the historical and recent human impact and provide a brief status report on the ecological restoration projects and research already conducted there. Based on this discussion, we argue that before any restoration actions commence, the ecology of the target ecosystem should be established with the need for restoration carefully assessed and the outcome properly monitored. Finally, we identify the most important challenges that need to be solved in order to carry out efficient restoration with powerful and long-term positive impacts on biodiversity: coping with unpredictability, maintaining connectivity in time and space, assessment of functionality, management of conflicting interests and social restrictions and ensuring adequate funding. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.