-Fraxinus excelsior L., Fagus sylvatica L., Betula pendula Roth. and Quercus robur L. seedlings were grown for 1 year with or without an undercutting treatment in July of their first growing season. In the following March, seedlings were lifted from the nursery and subjected to 0, 12 or 36 h desiccation followed by 0 or 10 drops from 1 m. Morphological measurements, moisture content and root electrolyte leakage were determined. Field performance was measured after 1 year. The effects of undercutting, roughhandling and exposure were highly species dependent. Undercutting tended to improve both moisture content and root electrolyte leakage but decrease the root/shoot (R/S) ratio. Rough-handling increased fine root leakage and decreased final height and diameter but had no significant effect on survival. Desiccation had a major effect on the electrolyte leakage from fine roots, increasing it, on average, three-fold over a 36-h exposure. Ash and oak survival was high irrespective of desiccation treatment, whereas survival of beech and especially of birch was impaired by drying. The effect of rough-handling was minor compared with desiccation but there was a detrimental interaction between dropping and 36-h desiccation on birch performance. Species differences in survival were related to differences in R/S ratios, stem

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