Forest ecosystem condition
Major pressures affect the forest and their ecosystems. The European member states record the following forest health indicators in a harmonised way: tree crown condition, soil condition and foliar nutrient content.
Foliar nutrient condition
CHART UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Tree crown condition, %
Defoliation is defined as needle/leaf loss in the assessable crown as compared to a reference tree. Defoliation is observed regardless of the cause of foliage loss.
Trees are moderately to severely defoliated when defoliation exceeds 25%.
Main disturbances on forest ecosystems
The main disturbances on forests comprise forest fires, diseases, insects and storms.
Forest area affected by fires, k ha
The occurrence of forest fires varied in the last 20 years.
Forest area affected by pathogens, k ha
Forest areas damaged by diseases decreased in the last years.
Forest area affected by insects, k ha
Forest damaged by insects has been variable in the last years in 2016 affecting 2700 ha, yet no damage was reported in 2017.
Forest area affected by severe weather, k ha
Deforestation
Deforestation is the permanent conversion of forest land to cropland, grassland, wetland, and settlement. Deforestation covers forest areas where the impacts of disturbance, over-utilisation or changing environmental conditions affect the forest to the extent that it cannot sustain a canopy cover larger than 10 per cent.
Deforestation, k ha
Forest fragmentation
Forest fragmentation is breaking large, contiguous forested areas into smaller forest patches, separated by roads, agriculture, utility corridors or other anthropological developments.
Fragmentation is one of many factors that threaten forest health and vitality. Large and intact forest ecosystems are essential to maintaining a good forest condition and biodiversity. Increased fragmentation means that the forest area in the largest patch sizes will decrease and that the small size classes will increase.
Share of different forest patch sizes in 2018, % of total forest cover