Reproduction of silver fir (Abies alba Mill) forests in the Ukrainian Carpathians

Existing knowledge of the Ukrainian foresters related to the historical changes and current state of silver fir forests, as well as on the various methods of restoration of such forests in the Ukrainian Carpathians were discussed. Forest cover of fir stands in this region has been diminishing in the last two centuries. Only in the period from 1947 to 1956, the area of fir stands in Ukrainian Carpathians decreased by 38.8%. Currently, the restoration of fir stands in these areas are crucial for Ukrainian forestry. Therefore, the natural as well as artificial regeneration using seeds obtained from seed orchards are currently used. Thus, improving the forest stands’ conditions mostly composed of single-spruce plantations need to be improved through changing the species compositions. However, the restoration of fir stands is time and labour-intensive, and require a long-term strategy.