At the end of the 1970s, when signs of destabilization of forests became visible in Eu rope on a large scale, it soon became obvious that the syndrome called "forest de cline" was caused by a network of interrelated factors of abiotic and biotic origin. All attempts to explain the wide-spread syndrome by a single cause, and there were many of them, failed or can only be regarded as a single mosaic stone in the network of caus es behind the phenomenon. Forest ecosystems are highly complex natural or quasi natural systems, which exhibit different structures and functions and as a conse quence different resilience to internal or external stresses. Moreover, forest ecosys tems have a long history, which means that former impacts may act as predisposing factors for other stresses. The complexity and the different history of forest ecosys tems are two reasons that make it difficult to assess the actual state and future devel opment of forests. But there are two other reasons: one is the large time scale in which forests react, the other is the idiosyncrasy of the reactions on different sites. Due to the slow reaction and the regional complexity of the abiotic environment of forest ecosys tems, a profound analysis of each site and region is necessary to identify the underly ing causes and driving forces when attempting to overcome the destruction of forest ecosystems.

This book focuses on the integration of spatial statistics, GIS-technology, ecosystem studies, and scenario modelling. Its main aim is to extend the information gained at the stand level to larger spatial scales, i.e. to forest districts, forest landscapes or to the total area of Lower Saxony. The studies demonstrate the potential and limitations of regionalization approaches for forest ecological variables. The results provide valuable spatial information for forest managers and landscape planners as well as for policy-makers. Some spatial models outlined in this book have been implemented as useful tools in present forest management. With current improvements of data quality, e.g. from remote sensing and refined ground-based inventories, methods are now available to develop large-scale approaches to forest ecology and management. This book is an indispensable tool for scientists and those involved in forest management.