The problem of natural regeneration of forests, in general, is essential especially under the climate change scenario. The canopy influence on the establishment and growth of oak seedlings supposes an approximation to the still lack of knowledge of oak forests heterogeneity. The management directly concerns the radiation that absorbs the canopy and, therefore, to the undergrowth radiation. The aim of the study was to research the existing relationships between the light percentage that crosses the canopy and comes up to the natural regeneration in native stands of Quercus robur L. in Galicia, in NW Spain. After making the stratification of the stands according to their canopy, data collection was based on the percentage of available light in the undergrowth estimated by means of hemispherical photography. The results show that in areas with a better light percentage, there is a greater regeneration density, which is justified by presenting largest development of the vegetation in the partial opening. The most important conclusion is that San Fitoiro forest is the one with better conditions for seedling establishment, because, the percentage of light reaching the understory are the lowest, providing shade conditions turn out to be a clave factor in the germination of acorns and further development of them.

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