There were many pine forests in the territory of Hungary before the Peace of Trianon, but there are few natural pine forests within the country's borders today.
Much of the coniferous forests were planted after 1920, so spruces, red and black pines are all alien to the territory of our country today, where the only native species was Scots pine (primarily) in the western part of the country – read Grendex In his article.
However, climate change has had serious consequences for conifers accustomed to cooler, wetter northern regions. Some species of pine trees have difficulty withstanding high temperatures and drought. They are affected by climate stress, and the lack of moisture has led to a decrease in their resin production.
For this reason, they are less resistant to bark beetles, which can weaken trees by burrowing into the plant's trunk to the point of completely destroying them, even if they are standing.
The spruce may disappear completely
The primary targets of pests are spruce trees, the disadvantage of which is the mixing of 5-6 different types of wood in natural pine forests, which increases the resistance of conifers and makes the work of borer beetles more difficult. Due to settlement, there is no such diversity here, we are talking about mostly monocultural forests.
As things stand, in about twenty years all the contiguous spruce forests may disappear from our country, and tree species may remain in only one patch.
In the case of black pine, the biggest problem is caused by fungi, which become more prevalent during drought years. Redness of the needles can be seen in black fungal pine. According to the Greenex article, the black pines in Balaton, even if they disappeared, had a positive impact, recreating fertile soil on the hillsides that had become barren due to centuries of grazing, so that after the pines disappeared, local leafy species would be able to settle. .
According to projections, within thirty years, the distribution of native forests will be significantly different, and about 11 percent of the country's area will become wasteland, with only shrubs and forests remaining.
This mainly threatens the southern part of the Danube-Tysza region and the western part of the Great Plain. There is also a chance that by the end of the century beech trees will also disappear from our country, and they will be replaced by oaks and hornbeam trees. According to experts, there is an opportunity to improve the situation through artificial planting of local species and targeted mixing of forests.
An international problem
Problems caused by high temperatures do not only cause difficulties at home. In Germany and Austria, where pine forests make up a large part of the total forests – in the former, pines make up a quarter of the forests, and in the latter, spruce trees make up more than half of the total forests – the situation is even more radically bad. In Germany, removing and replanting dead trees costs several billion euros, while healthy trees are also being felled at a rapid pace in order to at least make an economic profit.
Because pests not only destroy the forest but also reduce the value of the timber.
According to the Greendex article, the destruction of pine trees in Hungary also causes some economic deficit, but we can view the process mostly as a cultural loss. After all, even if the population of pine forests completely disappeared here, in ecological terms, the Hungarian forests would not become noticeably poorer.
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