Abstract
European temperate rainforests are disjunctly distributed from ~45° to 69°N latitude, where they are influenced by maritime climates (see figure 6-1). Storms originating in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean (Balkans) provide for mild winters, cool summers, and adequate precipitation to sustain rainforests throughout the year. Due to extensive deforestation, however, today’s European rainforests are mere fragments of primeval rainforests. A reminder of a bygone era when rainforests flourished, they are barely hanging on as contemporary rainforest relicts (see box 6-1).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
Ibid.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
The Bohemian Forest is a low mountain range in Central Europe extending from SouthBohemia in the Czech Republic to Austria and to Bavaria in Germany. The mountains?form a natural border between the Czech Republic and Germany and Austria. For historical reasons, the Bohemian and German sides of the forest have different names: in Czech,Sˇumava and the Bavarian side Zadní Bavorský les, while in German, the Bohemian side is called the Böhmerwald (literally, “Bohemian Forest”), and the Sˇumava is also used?as a name for the entire adjacent region in Bohemia. (From Wikepedia.)
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.
Illyrian languages are a group of Indo-European languages that were spoken in the western part of the Balkans. Species of this distribution type range from the southeast Alps to the northwest Balkans.
- 16.
- 17.
LITERATURE CITED
Alaback, P.B., and J. Pojar. 1997. Vegetation from ridgetop to seashore. Pp. 69–88 in The rain-forests of home. Ed. P. K. Schoonmaker, B. von Hagen, and E. C. Wolf. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Alfnes, E., and E.J. Førland. 2006. Trends in extreme precipitation and return values in Norway 1900–2004. Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Meteorological Report Number 2/2006. Norway: Blindern.
Aste, C., and W. Gossow. 1996. Habitat suitability for brown bears in the Austrian Alps and potential impairments by forestry and ungulate game conservation. Pp. 284–89 in Proceedings of the IX International Conference on Bear Research and Management. Grenoble, France.
Burga, C.A., and R. Perret 1998. Vegetation und Klima in der Schweiz seit dem jüngeren Eiszeitalter. Thun, Switzerland: Ott Verlag.
Coppins, A. M., and B. J. Coppins. 2002. Indices of ecological continuity for woodland epiphytic lichen habitats in the British Isles. British Lichen Society.
Cross, J. R. 2006. The potential natural vegetation of Ireland. Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 106B (2):65–116.
DEFRA [Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs]. 2007. A strategy for England’s trees, woods and forests. www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/rddteam/forestry.htm
Draxler I. 1977: Pollenanalytische Untersuchungen von Mooren zur spät- und postglazialen Vegetationsgeschichte im Einzugsgebiet der Traun. Jahrbuch der Geologischen Bundesanstalt 120:131–63.
Drescher-Schneider, R. 2003: Die Vegetations- und Klimageschichte der Region Eisenerz auf der Basis pollenanalytischer Untersuchungen im Leopoldsteiner See und in der Eisenerzer Ramsau. Pp. 174–97 in Archäologische Erforschung der Region Eisenerzer Alpen. Ed. S. Klemm. Wien: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, Mitteilungen der Prähistorischen Kommission.
Foot, D. 2003. The twentieth century: Forestry takes off. Pp. 158–94 in People and woods in Scotland:A history. Ed. T. C. Smout. Edinburg: Edinburgh Univ. Press.
Forestry Commission. 2007. Choice of Sitka spruce seed origins for use in British forests. Forestry Commission Bulletin 127.
Håpnes, A. 2003. Background note: Natural forest heritage in Norway. WWF Norway.
Higgins, G.T., J. R. Martin, and P. M. Perrin. 2004. National survey of native woodland in Ireland. A report submitted to National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
Holien, H., and T.Tønsberg 1996. Boreal rain forest in Norway:The habitat for lichen species belonging to the Trøndelag phytogeographical element. Blyttia 54:157–77. (In Norwegian with an English summary).
Hutchinson, J. 2001. Wolves of the world. Wolves in Europe:The action plan for wolf conservation in Europe. International WolfWinter 2001:16–17.
Ingrouille, M. 1995. Historical ecology of the British flora. London:Kluwer Academic Publishers
Jørgensen, P. M. 1996. The oceanic element in the Scandinavian lichen flora revisited. Symbolae Botanicae Upsaliensis 31 (3):297–317.
Kellogg, E. 1992. Coastal temperate rainforests: Ecological characteristics, status and distribution worldwide. A working manuscript. Occasional paper series No. 1. Ecotrust, Portland, OR.
Kelly, D. L., and J. J. Moore. 1975. A preliminary sketch of the Irish acidophilous oakwoods. Pp. 375–87 in Colloques phytosociologiques III: La vegetation des forêts caducifoliees acidophiles. Ed. J. M. Gehu. Vaduz, Liechtenstein: J. Cramer.
———. 1981. The native forest vegetation of Lillarney, southwest Ireland:An ecological account. Journal of Ecology 69:437–72.
———. 2005. Woodland on the western fringe:Irish oak wood diversity and the challenges of conservation. Botanical Journal of Scotland 57:21–40.
Kraus E., ed. 1991. Forschungsbericht Braunbär 1. Forschungsinstitut WWF Österreich, Bericht 2/1991. Wien.
Leibundgut, H. 1982. Europäische Urwälder der Bergstufe. Bern, Stuttgart: Paul Haupt Verlag.
Little, D., E. Curran, T. Horgan, J. Cross, M. Doyle, and J. Hawe. 2008. Establishment, design and stocking densities of new native woodlands. Native Woodland Scheme Information Note No. 5. Forest Service, Ireland.
Maser, C. 1988. The redesigned forest. San Pedro, CA: R. and E. Miles.
Mather, A. 2003. The future. Pp. 214–24 in People and woods in Scotland:A history. Ed. T. C. Smout. Edinburg: Edinburgh Univ. Press.
Mayer, H., M. Neumann, and Sommer H. G. 1980: Bestandesaufbau und Verjüngungsdynamik unter dem Einfluß natürlicher Wilddichte im kroatischen Urwaldreservat Corkova Uvala/Plitvicer Seen. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Forstwesen 131:45–70.
Moen, A. 1999. National atlas of Norway:Vegetation. Norwegian mapping authority, Hønefoss. ISBN 82-7945-000-9.
Neumann, M. 1978. Waldbauliche Untersuchungen im Urwald Rothwald/Niederösterreich und im Urwald _orkova Uvala/Kroatien. Doctoral thesis. Universität für Bodenkultur, Wien (Univ. of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna).
Perrin, P., M. Martin, S.B. O’Neill, F. Mc Nutt, and A. Delaney. 2008. National survey of native woodlands 2003–2008. Unpublished report to the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Dublin.
Peterken, G. F. 2001. Ecological effects of introduced tree species in Britain. Forest Ecology and Management 141:31–42.
Pini R., C. Ravazzim, and M. Donegana. 2009. Pollen stratigraphy, vegetation, and climate history of the last 215ka in the Azzano Decimo core (plain of Friuli, north-eastern Italy). Quaternary Science Reviews 28:1268–90.
Printzen, C., and T.Tønsberg 1999. The lichen genus Biatora in northwestern North America. Bryologist 102:692–713.
Pyatt, D. G., D. Ray, and J. Fletcher. 2001. An ecological site classification for forestry in Great Britain. Bulletin 124. Edinburgh: Forestry Commission.
———. 2003. Interpretation, prediction and modelling with NVC. Pp. 59–86 in National vegetation classification:Ten years’ experience using the woodland section. Ed. E. Goldberg. JNCC-Report No. 335.
Rackham, O. 1995. Looking for Ancient Woodland in Ireland. Pp. 1–12 in Woods, trees and forests in Ireland. Ed. J. R. Pilcher and S. Macantsaoir. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy.
Rauer, G., and B. Gutleb. 1997. Der Braunbär in Österreich. Umweltbundesamt Wien. Monographien 88.
Ray, D. 2008a. Impacts of climate change on forestry in Scotland:A synopsis of spatial modeling research. Research Note, Forestry Commission Scotland.
———. 2008b. Impacts of climate change on forestry in Wales. Research Note, Forestry Commission Wales.
Rodwell, J. S., ed. 1991. British plant communities. Vol 1.: Woodlands and scrub. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Rolstad, J., I. Gjerde, K.O. Storaunet, and E. Rolstad. 2001. Epiphytic lichens in Norwegian coastal spruce forests: Historic logging and present forest structure. Ecological Applications 11:421–36.
Schauer, T. 1964. Zur epiphytischen Flechtenvegetation der Umgebung von Lunz (Niederösterreich). Verhandlungen der zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 103:191–200.
———. 1965: Ozeanische Flechten im Nordalpenraum (Doctoral thesis). Portugaliae Acta Biologica B 8:17–229.
Scottish Forestry Strategy 2006. SE/2006/155. Laid before the Scottish Parliament by the Scottish Ministers, October 2006. Forestry Commission Scotland ISBN-0 85538 705 X.
Shephard, G. 1998. Europe:An overview. Pp. 3–26 in The EU tropical forestry sourcebook. Ed.G. Shepherd, D. Brown, M. Richards, and K. Schreckenberg. London: Overseas Development Institute. www.odi.org.uk/projects/98-99-tropical-forestry/Sourcebook/index.html
Storaunet, K.O., J. Rolstad, I. Gjerde, and V.S. Gundersen. 2005. Historical logging, productivity, and structural characteristics of boreal coniferous forests in Norway. Silva Fennica 39:429–42.
Timdal, E., H. Bratli, R. Haugan, H. Holien, and T.Tønsberg 2006. Lichens. Pp. 129–39 in 2006 Norwegian Red List. Ed. J. A. Kålås, Å. Viken, and T. Bakken. Norway: Artsdatabanken.
Tipping, R. 2003. Living in the past:Woods and people in prehistory to 1000 BC. Pp. 14–39 in People and woods in Scotland:A history. Ed. T.C. Smout. Edinburg:Edinburgh Univ. Press.
Tønsberg, T., Y. Gauslaa, R. Haugan, H. Holien, and E. Timdal. 1996. The threatened macrolichens of Norway. Sommerfeltia 23:258.
Tuite, P., and D. Brown. 1998. Pp. 233–44 in The EU tropical forestry sourcebook. Ed. G. Shepherd, D. Brown, M. Richards, and K. Schreckenberg. London: Overseas Development Institute. www.odi.org.uk/projects/98-99-tropical-forestry/Sourcebook/index.html
Williams, M. 2003. Deforestation of the Earth: From prehistory to global crisis. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
Worrell, R. 1992. A comparison between European continental and British provenances of some British native trees: Growth, survival and stem form. Forestry 65 (3):253–80.
———, and N. Mac Kenzie. 2003. The ecological impact of using the woods. Pp.195–213 in People and woods in Scotland:A history. Ed. T. C. Smout. Edinburgh: Edinburg Univ. Press.
Zukrigl, K., G. Eckhard, and J. Nather. 1963. Standortkundliche und waldbauliche Untersuchungen in Urwaldresten der nördlichen Kalkalpen. Mitteilungen der forstlichen. Bundesversuchsanstalt 62:1–24, 40–245, and tables.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Timothy Beatley
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
DellaSala, D.A., Alaback, P., Drescher, A., Holien, H., Spribille, T., Ronnenberg, K. (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforest Relicts of Europe. In: Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World: Ecology and Conservation. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-008-8_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-008-8_6
Publisher Name: Island Press, Washington, DC
Online ISBN: 978-1-61091-008-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)
