Abstract
On behalf of the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the Swiss College for Agriculture established the basis to foster oak species in Switzerland. For this, the growth areas of three oak species, common oak (Quercus robur), sessile oak (Q. petraea) and pubescent oak (Q. pubescens) were assessed throughout the entire country. The assessment was based on their physiological potential, their natural growth area and on the appearance of the middle spotted woodpecker. In addition, the older mixed oak stands were surveyed. These fundamental data were collected with a geographical information system and analyzed for each canton. Altogether, approximately one-fourth of the Swiss forest area is suitable for oak. The natural oak growth area covers however 38 500 ha only. About 19 000 ha of forest are populated by the middle spotted woodpecker and extended older mixed oak forests are found on approximately 24 500 ha. According to the applied evaluation matrix, the greatest potential for fostering oak species lies in eight cantons: Aargau, Zürich, Solothurn, Thurgau, Vaud, BaselLandschaft, Ticino and Schaffhausen.
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