Biovarnost v pridelavi gozdnih sadik kot izhodišče odpornosti prihodnjih gozdov
Biosecurity in forest nursery production as a basis for the resilience of future forests

slovenian

2026

volume 84, issue 5/6

artificial forest regeneration   biotic risks   diseases   forest nurseries   forest seedlings   iosecurity   latent infections   pests

Zveza gozdarskih društev Slovenije
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

Biosecurity in forest nursery production is an important foundation for the success of artificial forest regeneration and the long-term resilience of forest ecosystems, particularly under conditions of climate change and globalisation. Although nurseries are well recognized as environments where diseases and pests occur, their importance as entry points for biotic risks into forest ecosystems remains underestimated in practice. The paper highlights major groups of biotic risk factors that may occur in nurseries in latent form and be transferred to restoration sites through planting material. Based on a review of scientific literature and available data from Slovenia, we examined the risks of transferring harmful organisms from nurseries to forest and related ecosystems, as well as key characteristics of the Slovenian nursery system from a biosecurity perspective. Attention is given to systemic characteristics such as production centralization, the mixed structure of nurseries, and the limitations of existing monitoring mechanisms. The health of the seedling should not be assessed only at the end when it is brought to the forest; infections in the beginning could already affect the state of the seedling in the end. Directions for strengthening biosecurity in practice are proposed, based on preventive risk management, control of input materials, and the integration of biosecurity criteria into production programmes and practices for forest reproductive material. The resilience of future forests does not begin in the forest, but already in the nursery, at the level of the individual seedling.

09.10.2026