Natural regeneration in narrow strip clear-cuts of Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) stands (original) (raw)

Natural regeneration of Norway Spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stands on northern Velebit

Background and Purpose: Natural regeneration is a natural phenomenon that depends on numerous factors. Regeneration of virgin forests is successful even without any human interference. For the regeneration of economic forests we do not have that much time and thus try to speed up the process. The study of factors involved in natural regeneration as the most perfect system of forest ecosystem regeneration requires long lasting research. Material and Methods: Numbers and heights of seedlings and new growths, as well as the species participating in natural regeneration were measured on four test plots over the period of four years (1995, 1998, 1999, 2000). The plots were located at different elevations and contained different plant communities. The Norway spruce seed yield and its quality (germination) were also researched. Results: Very poor appearance of seedlings and new growth and even the decline in the numbers were observed on all test plots. This can be directly correlated to ma...

Interactions of ecological factors and natural regeneration in an altimontane Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stand

K e y w o r d s : Norway spruce, natural regeneration, irradiation, forest soil, ground vegetation, mycorrhiza, forest gaps. S u m m a r y DIACI J., KUTNAR L., RUPEL M., SMOLEJ I., URBANCIC M. & KRAIGHER H. 2000. Interactions of ecological factors and natural regeneration in an altimontane Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stand. -Phyton (Horn, Austria) 40 (4): (17) -(26).

Regeneration process from seed crop to saplings – a case study in uneven-aged Norway spruce-dominated stands in southern Finland

Silva Fennica, 2004

The dynamics of spruce regeneration, from seed crop to saplings, was studied based on five permanent plots in uneven-aged, spruce-dominated, boreal forest stands, cut with single-tree selection in the beginning of the 1990’s. The annual fluctuation of the spruce seed crop was very similar in uneven-aged and even-aged stands. The correlation between seed crop and number of germinants was significant; but stem number, basal area or volume of the stand did not influence on seedling emergence. The effects of good seed crops were seen as peaks or an increase in the number of germinants and smallest seedlings. The mean number of ‘stabilised’ spruce seedlings (height 11 cm to 130 cm) varied from 6000 ha to over 25 000 spruce seedlings ha from one monitoring plot to another. On a monitoring plot the number of ‘stabilised’ spruce seedlings was stable over time. Neither stand basal area nor stand volume influenced the number of ‘stabilised’ spruce seedlings, but the height of th...

Growth of advance regeneration of Norway spruce after clear-cutting

Tree Physiology, 2005

We developed a basal area growth model for recovery of advance growth of Norway spruce trees after clearcutting. Stem diameter growth at ground level and needle-mass characteristics were measured on permanent sample plots in Estonia. Both tree ring analysis (destructive sampling on one sample plot) and yearly repeated measurement data (two plots) were used to quantify advance growth. Basal area growth of small trees was estimated by multiple regression analysis. Previous-year basal area of the tree and basal area growth explained tree performance the next year. Tree needle-mass variables characterizing the acclimation status of the tree were included in the model as explanatory factors. Needle samples (one shoot from the upper third of each tree crown) were collected each year after the growth period from all sample trees. Needle masses of shoots from consecutive years were correlated and this variable was used as a predictor in the simulation model. Accelerating growth was observed in trees that exceeded the growth threshold in the year after release: the greater the needle mass per shoot, the greater the acceleration in growth. Competition among advance regeneration trees was included in the model: small trees under taller neighbors exhibited reduced growth. We found that trees released from a long period of heavy shade can survive, but the time needed for acclimation and resumption of competitive growth rates is considerably longer than for trees released from light shade. Such trees can be used for forest regeneration, but competition control (particularly reducing the proportion of fast-growing hardwoods) is required.

Performance of planted and naturally regenerated seedlings in Picea abies-dominated shelterwood stands and clearcuts in Sweden

Forest Ecology and Management, 2000

This study was focussed on regeneration of Norway spruce (Picea abies)-dominated forests on fertile, drained peatlands located along a north±south gradient in Sweden. Naturally established seedlings of mainly spruce and pubescent birch were inventoried with respect to numbers and height, and planted (large, bare-root) spruce seedlings in 10-year-old shelterwoods and clearcuts with respect to survival, damage and height development. Two shelterwood densities were studied, 140 and 200 trees ha À1 . The planting treatment also included site preparation (mounding in shelterwoods, mounding and no mounding in clearcuts). The planted seedlings and the natural regeneration were inventoried 9 and 11 growing seasons after cut, respectively.

Comparing natural regeneration of Norway spruce Picea abies (L.) Karst. in the Kaszuby Lake District and in the other regions of northern Poland

2017

The paper investigates the biometric characteristics natural Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) regeneration in the Kaszuby Lake District, which is beyond the acknowledged Norway spruce range, with the natural regeneration in the Augustów Forest situated deep within the natural range, Warmia, at the edge of the natural range and in the West-Pomerania Lake District far beyond the natural range. For each region, four tree stands with similar light conditions on the forest floor were selected, including two cambisols and two brunic arenosols. All sites contained naturally regenerating spruces 16–17 years of age. The features of the forest stand and the biometric features of the saplings were determined for the selected stands on circular research plots. Altogether, the characteristicts of 400 saplings (100 in each region) were measured and analyzed using basic descriptive statistics. ANOVA with the Tukey’s multiple comparison test was performed to compare the features of forest st...

Regeneration dynamics in a Norway spruce plantation on a silver fir-beech forest site in the Slovenian Alps

Forest Ecology and Management, 2002

Conversion of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) plantations is a great challenge for silviculture in Europe today. While complex problems with these stands are widely recognised, methods to regenerate or convert them to mixed stands are not yet well established. The purpose of this study was to determine favourable combinations of site factors (diffuse solar radiation (DIFF) and direct solar radiation (DIR), forest ground vegetation cover, thickness of humus horizons, browsing) for development of tree regeneration within gaps of different size and age, located in a Norway spruce plantation on a silver ®r (Abies alba Mill.) and common beech (Fagus silvatica L.) forest site. Fifteen fenced and ®fteen unfenced gaps with nine plots each were placed on the north slope of Mount Krasica, in the mountain vegetation belt, on limestone parent material. From 1993 to 1998 woody seedlings and saplings were observed. A successful development of Norway spruce, sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) and other frequently seed-bearing broad leaves was determined for the ®rst years. Further development of seedlings was hindered by dense forest ground vegetation and browsing impact. Beech and silver ®r regeneration was insuf®cient due to a lack of seed-bearing trees. On the basis of direct and DIFF radiation four groups of microsites were separated. This satisfactorily explained the differences in regeneration patterns among tree species. Norway spruce seedlings were most frequent in the group with high levels of diffuse and low levels of DIR, while sycamore saplings were most frequent in the group with high levels of both radiation components. Results obtained suggest that natural regeneration success and composition can be successfully in¯uenced by managing the incidence of radiation in context with gap geometry (shape, size and orientation). #

A model describing natural regeneration recruitment of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in Austria

Forest Ecology and Management, 1997

In the absence of reliable and representative data on the frequency of seed years, seed amounts, germination and survival of seeds, the data of the observation period 1992-1996 of the permanent national forest inventory of Austria are used to develop a model describing the probability for the occurrence, density and height of Norway spruce (Picea a&es (L.) Karst) natural regeneration in the forests of Austria. The forest inventory provided data on natural regeneration (saplings between 10 and 130 cm height) on clusters within a 3.89 km square sampling grid. A logistic equation is used to predict the probability for natural regeneration occurrence. Input parameters for this equation are the variables that describe the site, with slope and azimuth as continuous variables, and growth districts and vegetation types as discrete variables; the crown competition factor describes density and the quadratic mean diameter describes the stage of development of the stand. The same equation type is used to predict the probability for the occurrence of Norway spruce, conditional on the occurrence of some regeneration. An additional variable in this species specific model is a dummy variable which is set to 1 if Norway spruce occurs in the overstory and otherwise zero. Additional site variables entering this model are elevation and vegetation types characterizing soil fertility and moisture. Because the density and height of spruce regeneration depends on the stand's susceptibility to browsing, the probability for browsing is also modelled as a logistic equation depending on elevation, vegetation type, and stand density. Finally the probability distribution for height and density of the regeneration is described by two bivariate Weibull-distributions, each one describing browsed and unbrowsed Norway spruce regeneration respectively. 0 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.

Models for the regeneration establishment and the development of established seedlings in uneven-aged, Norway spruce dominated forest stands of southern Finland

Forest Ecology and Management, 2007

ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to model the regeneration establishment, and the survival and development of established seedlings in uneven-aged, Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) forest stands in southern Finland. Models were based on a 5-year monitoring period of permanent sample plots established in forest stands managed by selective harvests. Separate models were obtained for spruce, birch (Betula pendula Roth and Betula pubescens Ehrh.) and aspen (Populus tremula L.), all of which were well represented in the data. Since the stand structure of uneven-aged forests is irregular, spatial variation in competition factors and species composition were considered in the modelling. Due to the spatially hierarchical correlation structures of the data, a mixed modelling technique was applied in the estimation of the model parameters. Establishment models were developed for the number and initial height of established seedlings that had attained the set threshold height limit of 10cm during a 5-year period and thereafter survived until the end of the period. Prediction models were also developed for the survival, height increment and diameter at breast height of juvenile trees that were at least 10cm tall at the beginning of the 5-year period. The latter model is needed only when juvenile tree models are replaced with models for advanced trees. Simulations conducted for demonstration and validation purposes revealed that the regeneration establishment and juvenile growth models can be applied to construct a simulation system for the optimisation of uneven-aged spruce stands in southern Finland.

Stand-replacing disturbance does not directly alter the succession of Norway spruce regeneration on dead wood

Density of regeneration in European subalpine Norway spruce (Picea abies) forests is typically low with regeneration primarily located on dead or decaying wood. The post-disturbance development of this regeneration is crucial for natural forest succession. The aim was to identify the influence of disturbance on regeneration on decaying logs immediately after a severe disturbance event. Study plots were established in two subalpine spruce forests: the first, an undisturbed site located in the Hrubý Jeseník Mts. and the second site in the Šumava Mts. that has experienced recent severe disturbance. Regeneration density increased between 2008 and 2011 by 7% (0.29 individuals per square meter of log) at the undisturbed site and by 33% (3.24 individuals per square meter of log) at the disturbed site. The increased regeneration density observed at the disturbed site was mostly associated with the smallest saplings. The highest increase in regeneration density was observed on logs with the largest diameters. Three years after severe disturbance caused 100% mortality of the parent stand in the Bohemian Forest, no significant effect was recorded on the growth rate and survival of established spruce saplings on dead wood.