Oak often needs to be promoted in mixed beech-oak stands - the structural processes behind competition and silvicultural management in mixed stands of European beech and sessile oak

Abstract

Abstract: Forest ecosystems nowadays provide multiple ecosystem goods and services at a time and throughout all development phases. Species mixing is considered an effective measure to gain benefits beyond purely additive effects. However, the complex structural processes behind interspecific competition and temporal and spatial facilitative effects through mixing are still far from being understood and predictable. In particular the mixture of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea [Matt.] Liebl.) is gaining even more importance due to the fact that forests from these species are considered more tolerant to climatic effects and are expected to expand their natural range to the north due to global warming. The 30 long-term experimental plots analysed in this study reveal the structural processes in mixed beech-oak stands based on data at the tree and stand level. Using spatial and non-spatial structural indices, we can show an increasing dominance of beech over oak in unmanaged stands and the effectiveness of thinning operations to support oak. Those processes are representative for other light-demanding tree species in mixtures with shade-tolerant species. Improving the knowledge on the structural processes in mixed-species stands is particularly relevant when trying to modify forest structure in order to adapt forest management to shifting environmental conditions and the increasing demand for ecosystem services.