Ecological and Economic Advantages of Using Polypropylene Tree Shelters in Lowland Oak Forests

Abstract

Background and Purpose: The process of joining the market competition by the company Croatian Forests, managing state forests in Croatia, is related to the transformation of the company into a trading company. This means that beside the biological and ecological goals in managing forests, the special attention is to be paid to business operations with the highest economic outputs, reduced costs and increased income. In order to enhance the regeneration of pedunculate oak forests in presentday changing ecological and challenging economic conditions, as our proposal, is implementation of one of the artificial methods of regeneration pedunculate oak forests by planting seedlings protected with polypropylene tree shelters. Materials and Methods: The paper deal with existing knowledge about the conditions and characteristics of two methods of oak stand regeneration and analyzed data of current norms, standards and prices for each of these methods. The analysis compared the two methods: method of regeneration with unprotected seedlings, and seedlings protected with polypropylene tree shelters. Results and Conclusions: The research results showed that in comparison to the common seedling planting method, this method of pedunculate oak stand regeneration on difficult terrains with complex stand conditions is ecologically and economically more beneficial.