The structure of stands from different subassociations of a monodominant sessile oak forest (Quercetum petraeae Čer. et Jov. 1953.) in the area of northeastern Serbia before and after regeneration

Abstract

This paper presents the structure of well-preserved, mature stands of seed origin and young stands that followed either after planned regeneration or spontaneously in the understory reinitiation stage, in monodominant sessile oak forests (Quercetum petraeae Čer. et Jov. 1953.) from two subassociations, tilietosum and typicum, in the territory of „Đerdap” National Park. The presentation of mature stands is based on the data collected from experimental plots in 1992, in the period characterized by the mass occurrence of sessile oak decline in this area, and across Europe. The stands were around 150 years old in 1992, and consisted only of sessile oak in the tree layer. The canopy closure of the stands was 0.7-0.8, with a large standing volume. There were no major differences between the stands regarding social classes, stem quality, crown development and crown condition. The presentation of young stands is based on the data collected in 2017 from a permanent experimental plot, as well as on the data from other authors. The structure of young stands indicates that different silvicultural measures need to be planned during the regeneration stage for different subassociations of the monodominant sessile oak forest in order to reach sufficient natural regeneration of sessile oak. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. TR31041, Grant no. III43007 and Grant no. III43010]

Keywords

• monodominant sessile oak forests
• stand structure
• natural regeneration
• degradation
• permanent experimental plots