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Despite extensive forest destruction in the Middle Ages and later intensive commercial forest management, remnants of virgin forests remained spared in some Central, Eastern and South-Eastern European countries. These virgin forests are the last examples of original forests in this part of Europe. That is why their protection becomes an important issue of current European forestry and nature protection policy. But the knowledge about the location and the area of virgin forests in these countries is incomplete up till now. This article has the prime goal to present a conceptual framework what virgin forests might be (“A conceptual framework for defining of virgin forests” section). Based on this framework, a working methodology has been tested in Bulgaria and Romania (“Results of the two national projects in Romania and in Bulgaria” section and further). For this reason two projects have been carried out by the Royal Dutch Society of Nature Conservation (KNNV) in close co-operation with the Forestry Institutes in Romania and in Bulgaria. The results of these projects are described in general terms and further analysis in the future is necessary to describe specific features like forest structure and spatial heterogeneity of these forests. Based on the results of the inventory, principles of sustainable protection and management of the mapped virgin forests were defined and described in the research reports. The usefulness of the inventory became evident already during the EU pre-accession period of both countries while preparing the NATURA 2000 network. The remaining virgin forests of temperate Europe are an inexhaustible source of ecological information about biodiversity, structure, natural processes and overall functioning of undisturbed forest ecosystems. Their research will reveal information which can be used for ecological restoration of man-made forests which are degraded through intensive forestry practices over the last centuries. The last virgin forests of temperate Europe represent an irreplaceable part of the natural capital of Europe and are worth to be protected by law. Their last remnants in South-Eastern and Eastern Europe are endangered by commercial activities. A full inventory of remaining virgin forests in all countries of temperate Europe is a matter of highest urgency. A representative selection of virgin forest sites should be declared by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.

Old-growth forests around the world are vanishing rapidly and have been lost almost completely from the European temperate forest region. Poor management practices, often triggered by socioeconomic and institutional change, are the main causes of loss. Recent trends in old-growth forest cover in Romania, where some of the last remaining tracts of these forests within Europe are located, are revealed by satellite image analysis. Forest cover declined by 1.3 % from 2000 to 2010. Romania's protected area network has been expanded substantially since the country's accession to the European Union in 2007, and most of the remaining old-growth forests now are located within protected areas. Surprisingly though, 72% of the old-growth forest disturbances are found within protected areas, highlighting the threats still facing these forests. It appears that logging in old-growth forests is, at least in part, related to institutional reforms, insufficient protection and ownership changes since the collapse of communism in 1989. The majority of harvesting activities in old-growth forest areas are in accordance with the law. Without improvements to their governance, the future of Romania's old-growth forests and the important ecosystem services they provide remains uncertain.

Scolytids constitute an insect group of forest ecosystems that is very important both ecologically and economically, and which has been well studied in most European countries. However, new species are found quite often, especially in regions searched less intensively to date. In this paper three species of scolytid fauna not previously known in Romania are reported for the first time: Trypodendron laeve, Xylosandrus germanus and Hylastes linearis. Individuals of all three species were collected in the north-eastern part of Romania. T. laeve was found only in natural coniferous forests, at altitudes above 1230 m and in association with T. lineatum, but in much lower abundance. The Asian species X. germanus was found in an old beech forest situated at a much higher altitude (760-900 m) than observed in western and central Europe. The third species, H. linearis, was captured as a single specimen in a plateau region (375 m).

This study aimed to establish the essential oil (EO) composition from young shoots of Picea abies, Larix decidua, Pseudotsuga menziesii, and Pinus nigra harvested from Romania and evaluate their antimicrobial and anti-virulence activity, as well as potential synergies with currently used antibiotics. The samples’ EO average content varied between 0.62% and 1.02% (mL/100 g plant). The mono- and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were dominant in the composition of the studied EOs. The antimicrobial activity revealed that the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for the tested EOs and some pure compounds known for their antimicrobial activity ranged from 6.25 to 100 µL/mL. The most intensive antimicrobial effect was obtained for the Pinus nigra EO, which exhibited the best synergistic effect with some antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus strains (i.e., oxacillin, tetracycline, erythromycin and gentamycin). The subinhibitory concentrations (sMIC) of the coniferous EOs inhibited the expression of soluble virulence factors (DN-ase, lipase, lecithinase, hemolysins, caseinase and siderophore-like), their efficiency being similar to that of the tested pure compounds, and inhibited the rhl gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, suggesting their virulence-arresting drug potential.

The Great Union of 1918 brought into one country the Romanian populations of all the provinces where they lived for hundreds of years. In newly created Great Romania, the groups of specialists from all fields of activity are enriched by new members coming from the provinces joining the Old Kingdom, which impulse the development of these domains. Neither forestry is an exception, the forestry sciences taking an unprecedented momentum in our country. Along with colleagues from other Romanian provinces, Bassarabian foresters make a significant contribution to the development of forestry sciences, including through the initiation of new research directions. In the paper are presented the contributions of 14 personalities from Basarabia - B. Alexa, A. Alexe, R. Bereziuc, F. Carcea, I. Ceianu, Gh. Ciumac, E. Costin, N. Doniță, R. Gaşpar, V. Leandru, V. Nesterov, S. Paşcovschi, Z. Przemeţchi, Şt. Rubţov - to the creation and development of some research directions or forestry activity fields. Among the fields of forestry sciences in which the Bassarabian foresters have made remarkable contributions are: forest typology, forest mapping, forest ecology, forest management planning, forest inventory, afforestation and natural regeneration of forests, improvement of degraded lands, watershed management, avalanches, forest entomology, forest roads, forest economics and diseases of hunting species

The diversity relationship between tree and herb layer has often been investigated, but the results are contradictory. Moreover, few studies of deciduous European species have been conducted to date in natural or near-natural forests, while such studies in old-growth forest with considerable co-dominance of oak are missing. In one of the best preserved natural European beech-sessile oak forests (Runcu-Grosi Natural Reserve, Western Romania) we investigated whether there is a correlation between canopy-layer diversity and herb-layer diversity. Structural diversity, vegetation composition, ecological and functional traits were evaluated. Our results show that the herb-layer diversity is higher under canopy with greater tree-layer diversity, and the diversity of both layers depend on whether the overstorey is dominated by beech or sessile oak. Herb layers of plots with oak co-dominance showed higher indicator values for light and temperature, and a higher proportion of graminoides and shrub species. In contrast, herb-layer in beech plots is dominated by juvenile trees, mainly beech and competitive herb species. Oak plots are characterised by a generally more evenly distributed herb-layer composition. Species richness of herb-layer was higher under a diversely structured overstorey, which was mainly achieved when oak was present in the canopy, and correlated negatively with litter thickness, which was highest in beech plots. We conclude that the identity of the dominant canopy species is most important for herb layer species composition and diversity. Furthermore, the plots with oak occurrence in the overstorey even with weak proportion (around 20% of stand basal area) features a higher biodiversity of species in the understorey.

Nicolae Doniță, Stoica Preda Godeanu, Roxana Corina Sfetea: Population, Species, Biocenosis: An integrating vision. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. 2019, 109 p. ISBN-13: 978-613-9- 45530-0. Nichiforel L., Managementul forestier cu și fără guvern, Editura Performantica Iași, 2019, 171 p. ISBN 978-606-685-635-5 Fournier R.A., Hall R.J. (eds.), 2017. Hemispherical photography in forest science: theory, methods, applications [Fotografia emisferică în științele silvice: teorie, metode, aplicații] (Vol. 28). Springer. eISSN 978-94-024-1098-3, 318 p Ralf Th., 2017. Data Visualisation with R: 100 Examples [Vizualizarea datelor cu R: 100 de exemple]. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-49750-1, eISBN 978-3-319-49751-8, 385 p.

The paper resume the main moments of Ann. For. Res. history.

In his long career he had remarkable professional achievements: he established 32 seed orchards with a surface of 184.8 ha, 58 experimental plantations covering 130.9 ha, and published over 100 scientific papers in prestigious international journals. Widely known as one of the best specialists of Swiss stone pine species he will remain as such in the future years at the international level for the forest community. The human qualities of his personality doubled by his passion and devotion to forest and profession made him highly appreciated and honored by all the people who met him. În 1987 susţine public teza cu titlul \"Cercetări asupra rezistenţei genetice la Cronartium ribicola a unor hibrizi interspecifici\", având ca obiectiv principal obţinerea unor hibrizi care să combine rapiditatea de creştere a speciei nord-americane Pinus strobus cu speciile eurasiatice Pinus peuce şi P. wallichiana, şi obţine titlul de doctor în specialitatea silvicultură.

Acest necrolog este dedicat memoriei dr. ing. Ioan Blada (1932 – 2020), reputat cercetător român în domeniul geneticii forestiere și ameliorării arborilor. Dr. ing. Ioan Blada a decedat în data de 23 decembrie 2020, la câteva zile după împlinirea vârstei de 88 de ani. În îndelungata sa carieră a avut realizări profesionale remarcabile: a înființat 32 de livezi semincere/ seed orchards cu o suprafață de 184,8 ha, 58 de plantații experimentale cu o suprafață de 130,9 ha, a publicat peste 100 de lucrări științifice în prestigioase reviste incluse în fluxul internațional de literatură științifică. Este cunoscut și va rămâne în memoria comunității științifice și a silvicultorilor ca fiind unul dintre cei mai buni specialiști ai zâmbrului pe plan internațional. Calitățile umane ale personalității sale, alături de pasiunea și dedicația pentru profesie și pădure, l-au făcut să fie foarte respectat și apreciat de către toți cei care l-au cunoscut. Îi vom păstra veșnică recunoștință!