Various studies have established possible threats posed due to pollution using ecological risk indices, but most have focused strictly on anthropogenic areas, so the data from these studies are less comparable with those obtained from natural forest sites, which was the focus of this current study. The main reason for this focus could be attributed to the commonly agreed reference provided by natural forest parks, which are assumed to be uncontaminated. The aim of this research was to determine if the Kampinoski National Park (Poland) could be considered a geochemical referencing ecosystem for Pb, Cd, and Ni levels. The specific purpose was to conduct a soil-background-based evaluation of metal contamination with a focus on geochemical indices as normative tools for assessing similar forest ecosystems at local and international levels. The toxicity response factors indicated some specific metal features that seemed highly magnified for Cd compared with Pb and Ni. The use of geochemical indices when assessing the contamination status of various ecosystems, either natural or strongly anthropogenic, is recommended to enable worldwide comparison, rather than only assessing metal contents. This approach considers the background metal concentrations for local on-site targets as well as pre-industrial reference levels for international referencing.

Forest fires are becoming a more significant problem in Central Europe, but their danger is not as high as that in Southern Europe. The exception, however, is forest fires occurring in disturbed areas (windthrow and bark beetle outbreak areas), which are comparable in severity and danger to the most serious forest fires. In this study, we describe the current situation in Central European countries in terms of fire protection for disturbed areas in managed forests and forest stands left to spontaneously develop (secondary succession). If a country has regulations and strategies in this area, they are often only published in the local language. In this review, we combine information from all Central European countries and summarize it in a unified international language, provide an opportunity for local authorities to express their own experiences, and integrate data from worldwide scientific research. Thus, this paper may be considered a universal guide for managing fire protection and preparedness in disturbed areas and can serve as a reference for the establishment of strict legislative rules at the state level. These laws must be obligatory for all stakeholders in individual countries. The motivation for this study was two large forest fires in an area left to spontaneously develop in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park in the Czech Republic and Harz Mountains in Germany in the summer of 2022. These incidents revealed that fire prevention legislation was inadequate or nonexistent in these areas. The strategy of the European Union is to increase the size of protected areas and spontaneous development areas. Therefore, we consider it necessary to provide governments with relevant information on this topic to create conditions for better management of these destructive events.

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is a widespread species in Eurasia, but its natural range can be significantly altered by a variety of stressors. The ability of pine to regenerate naturally is significantly reduced by its occurrence in unsuitable habitats. The processes of natural selection of pine from select habitats can be followed in stands of national parks where forestry activities are excluded. The possibility of pine regeneration is influenced by the following factors: characteristics of produced seeds, competition, and genetic characteristics. In the present study, selected factors associated with limiting the natural regeneration potential of pine were analysed. The present work generated important information related to the natural regeneration potential of pine in Central and Eastern Europe. The main objective of the analyses was to discuss the possibility of the natural regeneration of pine stands without human intervention. In addition, the genetic diversity of naturally germinating seedlings was analysed. The obtained results confirmed the high reproductive potential of pine despite the advanced age of the studied trees. The obtained seeds produced by old growth Scots pine trees had high viability, while a significant difference was observed in terms of the average number of cones per dominant tree between studied stands. Thus, the number of cones was the main element determining the regeneration potential of the stands. It should be emphasised that the number of cones did not influence the occurrence of natural regeneration. Based on the obtained results, the regeneration potential of pine stands depends mainly on the habitat and the competitive pressure. In addition, a correlation between genetic parameters and the regeneration potential of stands should be established, which may be the beginning of further research on the process discussed in this publication.

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.

Biodiversity at the species and individual levels is one of the fundamental elements characterizing an ecosystem. It is assumed that the greater the level of biodiversity, the more tolerant the environment is to changes in external conditions. In recent years, dynamic climate change has negatively impacted the health of many forest trees across Europe, in particular Scots pine. Tree health is commonly characterized by crown defoliation. The study presented here describes and correlates crown defoliation with biodiversity indicators at the species and individual tree levels. Research was conducted in two national parks in Poland (Kampinoski and Bory Tucholskie). Since stands have been under legal protection for many years and forest management is not practiced there, stand development processes taking place there are similar to natural ones. This study provided empirical data on ecosystem response to external stresses based on species and genetic structure. The results confirm differing health of the populations, which results from, among other factors, stand age and the environmental conditions in which they grow. Pine stands in both national parks are genetically diverse but with low genetic variability. Differences in stand health are related to the number of alleles forming the genetic pool. This conclusion is supported by a high correlation coefficient for interactions between defoliation, the number of alleles, and the Shannon index for genotypes. This suggests that greater gene diversity is likely to provide a wider range of phenotypic responses to environmental change.

In the old pine stands of national parks, it is possible to observe genetic processes in a state free from disturbance by humans. Studies of this type make it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of the conservation of genetic variation and its transfer between generations. The present study was conducted in the largest national forest park in Poland, located in the Central European pine area. The oldest stands of Kampinos National Park and their natural descendants were selected for detailed analyses. The main objective of the study was to compare the mother pine stand, excluded from forest management, with its progeny generations on the basis of their chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), which was used as a diagnostic tool. The results demonstrate significant genetic difference between the maternal and progeny generations of the studied sites. The degree of variation observed in the maternal generation haplotypes in the present study was found to be reduced in the next generation. A significant proportion of the genetic diversity of the studied stands was also lost in the subsequent progeny generation. The obtained results allow conclusions to be drawn about the genetic processes taking place in valuable old-growth forests.