Forestry Working Groups/Groupes du travail: The Forests and the New Forest Injury in the Federal Republic of Germany
The new forest injury in the Federal Republic of Germany is defined as a complex disease caused by a multiplicity of factors in which air pollution plays a major role. Since 1982, one reconnaissance and two comprehensive forest injury inventories have been carried out. The data from the latest (1984) inventory show that over 50% of the country's forested area has been affected by this new forest injury. Conifers tend to be more severely affected than hardwoods, and trees older than 60 years are more likely to be injured than the younger ones. The consequences of the injury are manifesting themselves in a drastic reduction of growth as well as mortality of, so far, individual trees. A forced removal of "calamity timber" is resulting in the creation of unplanned openings and a distortion of age class distribution. A further spread of the injury, both in area and intensity, will make the Federal Republic even more dependent on foreign timber supplies and in the process, change the appearance of the German landscape. Key words: Actual cut, air pollution, employment in forestry, Federal Republic of Germany, forest fires, forest injuries, growing stock, mean annual increment, "Waldsterben".