Scientists in Zakarpattia studying Europe’s largest beech virgin forest

In Zakarpattia, Ukrainian scientists, together with the Swiss, are studying the largest beech virgin forest in Europe.

Myroslav Kabal, a Ukrainian scientist and head of the forestry laboratory at the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, told Ukrinform about this.

"As part of the cooperation between the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research (WSL), long-term research has been continued at one of Europe's largest forest research sites among the Coal Beech Forest," he said.

According to Kabal, the trial plot has a size of 200×500 meters and occupies an area of ​​10 hectares among the untouched forest.

"This scientific clinic was founded in 2000. Now it serves not only to study the structure and dynamics of the forest stand, but it is also actively used by scientists of various fields who study the components of virgin beech, soil scientists, mycologists, lichenologists, entomologists, bryologists and others," Myroslav Kabal said.

According to him, as part of the latest research in the scientific hospital of beech virgin forests, scientists conducted an inventory of the stand. In particular, all trees were measured and described according to the methodology of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO).

He added that the work was carried out by a field group consisting of scientists Jonas Stillhard, Gilbert Projer, Joachim Iodate (Swiss Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research), and Myroslav Kabal, Mykola Voloshchuk, and Ruslan Hleb from the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve.