Changes in the Species Composition of Elms (<i>Ulmus</i> spp.) in Poland

• Main Authors: Anna Napierała-Filipiak, Maciej Filipiak, Piotr Łakomy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-11-01
• Series: Forests
• Subjects: <i>ulmus glabra</i>; <i>ulmus minor</i>; <i>ulmus laevis</i>; dutch elm disease; alluvial forests
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/11/1008

In nearly 600 randomly selected forest stands including elms (<i>Ulmus</i> spp.), we conducted field research to identify them to species level and to find trees showing symptoms of Dutch elm disease (DED). The presented data show that all the 3 native elms (<i>U. glabra</i>, <i>U. laevis</i>, and <i>U. minor</i>) still exist in the whole ranges of their distribution in Poland reported earlier, but their role as forest-forming species has changed. In comparison to published data, the contribution of <i>U. minor</i> has markedly decreased, while an increased contribution was observed in the case of <i>U. laevis</i>, a species which in the past was predominantly located out of woodland and was rarely cultivated. In mountains, where the most frequent is <i>U. glabra</i>, the contribution of elms to forest stands is currently clearly lower than in the lowlands and uplands of Poland. The observed changes most probably result from Dutch elm disease. It cannot be excluded that the changes are at least partly linked with natural correction of forest stand composition modified earlier by human activity (silviculture). In all parts of Poland, trees with symptoms of Dutch elm disease are found, but large-scale decline (of a majority of elm trees) is observed only in about 1.5% of the directly investigated localities.