Nowadays, studies of natural conditions provide a basis for planning all economic activities of man. They are also a starting point for predicting changes in the natural environment. Therefore, the assessment of the environment's vulnerability to human impact is of particular importance. Previous studies of forests' susceptibility to degradation, which were published as part of the series Prace Instytutu Badawczego Leśnictwa [Papers of the Forest Research Institute] (compare: Kowalkowska et al., 1993, Kowalkowska et al., 1995), are characterized by a high degree of generality. Moreover, no attempt was made to aggregate evaluation factors, which were only presented in the form of separate cartographic representations for the whole country.
The evaluation of the susceptibility of forests administered by the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Poznań to degradation is the essence of the research problem which is dealt with in this monograph. An analysis of source data obtained from forestry databases was a starting point. This material was complemented by taking into account additional factors that have an influence on the state of forests. The aim of this monograph was achieved by adopting methodology based on combining cartographic, geoinformational, analytical and statistical methods.