Introduction

Abstract

AbstractDevelopment of management strategies to achieve sustainable forest ecosystems has remained an important issue in forestry. An important component of sustainability is the maintenance of structure and functions of ecosystems. Beese (1996) outlined four primary functions of forest use which would need due attention to achieve a long term sustainable system: (a) production and use of resources (wood and other forest products, recreation, water conservation and other functions), (2) maintenance of ecosystem-internal cycles of matter and energy to minimise any effect on the neighboring systems, (3) habitat conservation (biodiversity – structure and functioning), and (4) maintenance of cultural and social role (landscape and heritage conservation).European beech is a dominating tree species in central Europe covering a wide ecological spectrum of site conditions (climate, soil type, soil pH) (Ellenberg 1988, 1996; Leuschner et al. 2006; Bartsch and Röhrig, Chap. 22, this volume). Figure 1 shows some distribution pattern of beech forests in relation to chemical soil properties. Without human influence, forests would have covered most of Germany, while at present only about 30% of land area are covered by forests of which only 15% is under beech and another 25% under other deciduous species (BMVEL 2004). There is a broad consensus among forest managers that in future the area of beech forests in central Europe should increase, mainly as mixed broadleaf stands and as admixtures with conifers. The argument in favour of growing beech, especially in areas which are presently covered by conifers, is based on the fact that conifers had been planted on beech sites in the past, on considerations of forest health, and preservation and enhancement of biodiversity in a changing climate to provide long-term sustainability of forests and the productivity of such stands. The phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary adaptability of European beech to drought and its competitiveness appear to be underestimated (Bolte et al. 2007).KeywordsSoil Organic MatterBeech ForestEuropean BeechChemical Soil PropertyDominate Tree SpeciesThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.