Journal
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
Volume 45, Issue 9, Pages 1172-1182Publisher
CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING, NRC RESEARCH PRESS
DOI: 10.1139/cjfr-2014-0507
Keywords
wind disturbance; eastern Europe; regeneration; height growth; Scots pine
Categories
Funding
- General Directorate of State Forests [BLP-359]
- National Centre of Science [2012/07/B/NZ8/01908]
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The aims of the investigation were to (i) quantify the changes in natural regeneration and stand structure, (ii) determine the role of deadwood in the process of regeneration following the disturbance, and (iii) determine the effect of disturbance severity on tree recruitment. The study was conducted in the Szast Protected Forest, which was established after a blowdown in 2002. The results showed that the trees were mainly wind-snapped. The basal area of the slightly disturbed stands increased over time. Herb cover increased, whereas moss cover decreased in 2011. The disturbance severity influenced the density of tree species regeneration, moss and herb ground cover, species diversity, average tree height, tree vitality, and damage caused by herbivores. The density of natural regeneration increased and new species became established after the disturbance. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) was the dominant tree species during the regeneration process except in the severely disturbed stand from which wood had been removed; in this case, birch was the dominant species. Wind disturbance increased species diversity and created a new forest with a particular species structure and trees that varied in age and height. The results of this study will be useful for foresters and policymakers to change the existing approaches to large-scale disturbances in the Polish forests.
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