Ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) is a disease that mostly affects European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) and narrow-leaved ash (Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl). The disease can cause dieback of sick trees, while the more resistant trees are weakened and thus more exposed to secondary pests. The disease originates from Asia and has in a few decades spread throughout Europe. In the last few years, the disease has also been found in Slovenia. It is worrisome that the amount of sanitary felling of European and narrow-leaved ash due to ash dieback has been increasing annually. In this thesis, the ecological factors that affect the amount of sanitary felling are established. Meteorological, topological and soil variables, and growing stock of European and narrow-leaved ash were included. With the help of the statistical model, it has been established that the amount of sanitary felling is positively affected by the growing stock of the European and narrow-leaved ash, and standardized precipitation index. The amount of sanitary felling is negatively affected by the average annual precipitation, the percentage of organic matter in soil, slope, average annual temperature, and average annual relative humidity. The effect of some ecological factors differs from findings of similar research from other countries. This is due to the spread of the disease agent from east to west and the differences in meteorological, topological and pedological patterns between the eastern and western part of Slovenia.
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