Acta Scientiarum Polonorum
Silvarum Colendarum Ratio et Industria Lignaria

Background. Fir (Abies alba Mill.) is an important tree species in Polish forests, both from an economic and biocenotic point of view. In contrast to the Carpathians, where its share in stands is stable, in the Sudetes, as a result of massive deforestation in the past, its share in some regions fell below 0.5%. The “ecological disaster” that took place in the mountain forests of Lower Silesia in the second half of the 20th century contributed to the willingness to rebuild the Sudeten tree stands in the direction closer to the habitat and historical situation (Barzdajn, 2000). As a result of many projects related to the restitution of fir, in the Sudetes its share in forest stands has increased in recent years to several percent, depending on the forest district. Such an upward trend may cause the occurrence of diseases that cultivation and fir stands in the Carpathians have already started to struggle with.
Aim of the study. The aim of the study was to assess the health status of fir regeneration in permanent plots in the Tatra National Park and artificial plantings in the Karkonosze National Park.
Material and methods. The research was conducted from April to the turn of September and October 2019 (Tatra National Park) and in 2020 in the Karkonosze National Park. Health analysis in the TNP was carried out in July in 32 permanent plots with more than 30 Abies alba trees each. The research at KNP was carried out in 31 localities, including 3 localities belonging to the so-called conservation plots (conservation banks).
The methodology developed according to Kowalski and Andruch (2010) was used to assess the incidence of the disease, where the occurrence of disease symptoms and the location of symptoms were determined.
Results and conclusions. As a result of the conducted observations, symptoms of Herpotrichia needle browning of silver fir were found in all the examined areas in the Tatra National Park. Symptoms were recorded on 5 to over 60% of trees depending on the location. However, in the Karkonosze National Park, disease symptoms were found in 8 (out of 31) areas. It seems that the severity of disease symptoms in this part of Poland is much lower than in the Carpathians. However, the condition of fir stands should be constantly monitored, because in the Sudetes the reconstruction of spruce stands is underway to increase the share of fir in stands, which may cause deterioration of its health in the next years.