Development of the Recent Episode of Tannensterben (Fir Decline) in Eastern Bavaria and the Bavarian Alps

Abstract

The so-called Tannensterben, a decline syndrome of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.), recognized in the 19th century mainly in Saxony, was described and documented by photographs (Fig. 1) for the first time by Neger (1908) early in this century. According to him, it is characterized by needle loss, dying of branches from the bottom to the top of the crown, the formation of a “Stork’s nest” on the top and growth reductions. An abrupt, long-lasting decrease in incremental growth has been well documented by Wiedemann (1927) in his study of the first episode of Tannensterben in the forest district of Flossenbürg (Oberpfälzer Wald), where up to 80% of the silver firs were diseased in the early 1920s, and where the inroad in incremental growth had started already in the 1880s. The condition was similar in neighbouring mountain areas (Fichtel Mountains, Frankenwald; Fig. 2). Most of the diseased trees died or were cut, and thus, silver fir is rare in those areas today.