Acta Scientiarum Polonorum
Silvarum Colendarum Ratio et Industria Lignaria

Tree species composition is the basis of forest management. Selection of the tree stand composition depends on habitat conditions but also a number of other factors, such as historical conditions, changing expectations toward forestry or the progress of knowledge. The aim of the study was to analyze the factors influencing the assessment of habitat types other than strict habitat conditions. Based on the analysis of the source materials, significant changes in the types of stands for the analyzed forest areas were shown, among others, irrespective of the habitat conditions. It was assumed that in each of the forest compartments, the selection of the species composition should be based on the forest habitat type (FHT) supplemented with information on actual and potential vegetation, where FHT indicates the potential economic effect obtained from a given stand, but the actual and potential vegetation determines the current state of the forest ecosystem, and further possible directions of stand development. The impact of other factors influencing the selection of the tree species composition was also considered and assumed that the type of tree stand should be the final result of the description of local forest habitat conditions.