Evaluation of the natural and artificial regeneration of Scots pine Pinus sylvestris L. stands in the Forest District Nowa Dęba

Abstract

The main purpose of this article was to highlight the potential for enhancing positive silvicultural effects and their dependency on the management method in Scots pine Pinus sylvestris L. stands. We therefore assessed the impact of natural and artificial regeneration on vitality and health, compaction, surface coverage and seedlings height. Another important goal was to assess the severity of damage in the selected forest sites. A comparative analysis was carried out based on results from field work conducted in the autumn 2010 in the Forest District Nowa Dęba. As part of this field work, also the breeding quality of the analyzed pine renewals was assessed. The obtained results indicate that natural regeneration of Scots pine under the conditions of a fresh coniferous forest as well as a fresh mixed coniferous forest is the most reasonable management practice. In wet mixed coniferous forests however, the naturally regenerating Scots pine seedlings are of lower silvicultural quality and growth parameter values compared to those in artificially regenerated stands. In fresh mixed broadleaved forests, naturally regenerated Scot pine trees showed slightly lower silvicultural quality and vitality than artificially regenerated trees. Our results indicate furthermore that there are indeed conditions under which the restoration of Scots pine in the Nowa Dęba Forest District using natural regeneration is preferable. We also found that the employed method of renewing has a significant impact on pine growth parameters in the moist mixed coniferous forest habitat. Naturally renewing pines are characterized by a lower overall viability, but at the same time natural regeneration provides a larger number of individuals with the best viability (1st vitality class), which can be a valuable selection basis for trees used in breeding.

Growth traits of natural regeneration of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in south-eastern Poland

“…Soil preparation in combination with large seed production and suitable weather conditions enables successful pine regeneration (Grigoriadis et al 2014) and the greatest success was on fresh coniferous habitat (Długosiewicz et al 2019). Under the conditions analysed in our study, preparation of soil seems to be a necessary procedure for the natural regeneration of Scots pine trees.…”

Silvicultural options to promote natural regeneration of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in Western Ukrainian forests

“…To date, many Ukrainian scientists have studied the natural regeneration of pine after clearcut at different times (Fuchylo 2011;Maurer et al 2013;Levchenko, Mazurenko 2017;Maurer, Kimeichuk 2020) and foreign scientists (Dong et al 2003;Andrzejczyk, Żybura 2012;Dobrowolska 2015;Czyżyk 2017;Aleksandrowicz-Trzcińska et al 2018;Bílek et al 2018;Saursaunet et al 2018;Długosiewicz et al 2019;Przybylski et al 2021). Fuchylo (2011) described the abundant natural regeneration in the humid forests of Eastern Polissya.…”

Under-Canopy Regeneration of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) as Adaptive Potential in Building a Diverse Stand Structure

“…50%), especially with a diversified height structure, is characteristic of pine saplings growing under a canopy [79]. Trees in stands with a different height structure are characterised by thinner branching, greater wood density, and less convergence of trunks [80,81]. The possibility of including pine saplings in further breeding planning could reduce the frequency of complete felling in favour of shaping stands with a more diversified spatial structure, thus increasing their naturalness and shortening the regeneration time [26].…”