We are currently witnessing significant global changes in climate conditions. We cannot change the natural conditions, but with regard to sustainable landscape management, we can increase our knowledge of tree species and adapt forest management to them. Surprisingly, one of the most affected tree species in Central Europe today is Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). The following literature review summarizes over 200 studies from 1952–2022 regarding Scots pine across its entire range while addressing various topics in the ecology and management of this taxon. It is a tree species with a large natural range, nearly covering the entire Eurasian area. In the Czech Republic, it is the second most important tree species in terms of industrial wood production. Scots pine is characterized not only by a significant genetic variability of its populations but also by its wide ecological plasticity. Typically, it grows on sandy soils, poor habitats, and stony scree–but also in peat bogs. The wide habitat valence justifies the economic significance of this species, both in terms of its high production potential (mean annual increment of up to 10.8 m³ ha^-1 yr^-1) but also its wide range of use. However, in the light of climate variations, the practices of Scots pine silviculture are also gradually transforming from the traditional reforestation by clear-cutting to a more natural system–shelterwood felling. In view of climate change, its range of distribution is changing, as with other species, but Scots pine remains a very resistant tree species, depending on the habitat.

From an economic perspective, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is one of Europe’s most important tree species. It is characterized by its wide ecological adaptability across its natural range. This research aimed to evaluate the forest structure, productivity and especially radial growth of heterogenous pine stands in 16 research plots in the Czech Republic, Poland, Spain and Great Britain. The study assessed the tree-ring formation and its relationship to climate change for each country, using 163 dendrochronological samples. The stand volume of mature pine forest ranged between 91 and 510 m³ ha⁻¹, and the carbon sequestration in the tree biomass was 40–210 t ha⁻¹. The stands had a prevailing random distribution of trees, with a high vertical structure close to selection forests (forest stands with typical very diverse height, diameter and age structure). Spectral analyses showed a substantial decrease in fluctuations in the tree-ring index and a loss in natural growth cyclicity in the last thirty years. The results also evinced that mean air temperature was the most important factor influencing the radial growth compared to precipitation totals. Pine thrives in precipitation-stable locations, as shown by the results from Great Britain. The conclusions of this study confirm the fundamental effect of ongoing global climate change on the dynamics and growth of pine forests in Europe.

In the context of climate change, the crucial question is how silvicultural treatments should be modified, in order to reach favourable conditions for initiating natural regeneration of forest stands. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of clear-cutting, basal area reduction (0.4, 0.6 and 0.8) and soil preparation (milling cutter, forestry mulcher, brush rake and control variant without soil preparation) on the regeneration of Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) in the conditions of natural pine sites (Northern Bohemia). Seedling numbers, heights and crown widths were recorded on transects representing all combinations of stand densities treatments and soil preparations variants three years after the silvicultural operations. Seed traps were installed to determine the numbers of seeds from 2016 to 2018. Soil water potential (Delmhorst Instrument Company) and soil temperature (sensor Pt1000 A–class sensors, EMS Brno) were measured. All variants of soil preparation had higher numbers of seedlings compared to control variant. When comparing stand densities, total numbers of seedlings were the highest in stand density 0.4 (cutter 32,402 ± 34,208 S.D. ind.ha ⁻¹ ; mulcher 26,832 ± 24,088 S.D. ind.ha ⁻¹ ; rake 24,496 ± 22,913 S.D. ind.ha ⁻¹ ). This stand density was also beneficial with respect to seed numbers, seedling characteristics and soil moisture and temperature characteristics. We conclude that shelterwood regeneration on natural Scots pine sites is promising silvicultural approach and may become an important tool in mitigating negative effects of climate change in the future.

In the context of climate change conditions, addressing the shifting composition of forest stands and changes in traditional forest management practices are necessary. For this purpose, understanding the biomass allocation directly influenced by crown architecture is crucial. In this paper, we want to demonstrate the possibility of 3D mensuration of canopy architecture with the digitizer sensor Fastrak Polhemus and demonstrate its capability for assessing important structural information for forest purposes. Scots pine trees were chosen for this purpose, as it is the most widespread tree species in Europe, which, paradoxically, is very negatively affected by climate change. In our study, we examined young trees since the architecture of young trees influences their growth potential. In order to get the most accurate measurement of tree architecture, we evaluated the use of the Fastrak Polhemus magnetic digitizer to create a 3D model of individual trees and perform a subsequent statistical analysis of the data obtained. It was found that the stand density affects the number of branches in different orders and the heights of the trees in the process of natural regeneration. Regarding the branches, in our case, the highest number of branch orders was found in the clear-cut areas (density = 0.0), whereas the lowest branching was on-site with mature stands (density = 0.8). The results showed that the intensity of branching (assessed as the number of third-order branches) depends on the total number of branches of the tree of different branch orders but also on stand density where the tree is growing. An important finding in this study was the negative correlation between the tree branching and the tree height. The growth in height is lower when the branching expansion is higher. Similar data could be obtained with Lidar sensors. However, the occlusion due to the complexity of the tree crown would impede the information from being complete when using the magnetic digitizer. These results provide vital information for the creation of structural-functional models, which can be used to predict and estimate future tree growth and carbon fixation.