What is the potential of site units applied into forestry management in Slovakia to describe production of beech stands?

Abstract

A high number of site units have been recognized so far in Slovakia region. Site units are to reflect diverse ecological condition and production capability of different sites. In Slovakia, there is a huge number of management units (forest site type, management units of forest site types) and ecological site units (forest site type groups), but more detailed and objective analysis and comparison of their ecological and production properties have not been performed yet. The main aim of this paper is thusq quantification of beech growth potential in selected basic and forestry-applied site units used in Slovakia forest management. Data collected within National Forest Inventory in Slovakia (2005–2006) were used for the analysis. Regression models of mean stand diameter and mean stand height were developed. Intercept of models were compared between sites using the t-test. Site units were merged into several groups in terms of beech growth – As for the altitudinal vegetation zones, three groups were identified, in which the beech productivity was rather homogenous. 3rd, 4th, and 5th altitudinal vegetation zones were grouped into the first group. The second group (2nd AVZ) includes poorer sites at lower altitudes (low precipitation as a limiting factor) with lower beech productivity. The third group includes sites at higher altitudes (6th AVZ), where the temperature limits beech growth. In terms of soil properties, two or three groups can be recognized. The first one includes hemioligotrophic and heminitrophilous sites, while the calciphile sites showed lower beech growth potential.