Ecology of Tree Regeneration in Mature and Old Forests

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 October 2019)

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Interests: forest regeneration; vegetation and wildlife
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Successful tree regeneration depends on many key factors, including mature mother trees for natural regeneration, light regime, competition, herbivory and other biotic or abiotic impacts. In order to sustain the current tree species composition or to enhance tree species diversity in old forests, it is many times questionable to achieve this with natural regeneration and under total protection. Depending on the forest ecosystem, legal constraints and the owner’s objectives and management strategies may be very different. Here, we are seeking studies that either found stable patterns of self-preservation in mature and old forests or studies describing ways to increase the resilience of the forest ecosystem in times of climate change. Investigated management strategies could e.g. focus on total protection, on artificial tree species enrichment, on other silvicultural treatments, on wildlife management or on forest protection measures (against insects, fungi, etc.). We are looking forward to your contribution to this Special Issue in order to gain a deeper insight into strategies of forest ecosystem management focusing on the protection of mature and old forests.

Dr. Torsten Vor
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Old forest protection
  • Natural disturbance
  • Tree species diversity
  • Forest ecosystem resilience
  • Natural regeneration
  • Artificial regeneration
  • Silvicultural treatment
  • Wildlife management

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 1905 KiB  
Article
Dormancy-Breaking and Germination Requirements for Seeds of Sorbus alnifolia (Siebold & Zucc.) K.Koch (Rosaceae), a Mesic Forest Tree with High Ornamental Potential
by Yuhan Tang, Keliang Zhang, Yin Zhang and Jun Tao
Forests 2019, 10(4), 319; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10040319 - 8 Apr 2019
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4928
Abstract
Sorbus alnifolia (Siebold & Zucc.) K.Koch (Rosaceae) is an economically important tree in the temperate forests of Eastern China. In recent decades, ever-increasing use and modification of forestlands have resulted in major degeneration of the natural habitat of S. alnifolia. Moreover, S. [...] Read more.
Sorbus alnifolia (Siebold & Zucc.) K.Koch (Rosaceae) is an economically important tree in the temperate forests of Eastern China. In recent decades, ever-increasing use and modification of forestlands have resulted in major degeneration of the natural habitat of S. alnifolia. Moreover, S. alnifolia seeds germinate in a complicated way, leading to a high cost of propagation. The current study aimed to determine the requirements for breaking seed dormancy and for germination as well as to characterize the type of seed dormancy present in this species. Moreover, the roles of temperature, cold/warm stratification, and gibberellic acid (GA3) in breaking dormancy were tested combined with a study of the soil seed bank. The results showed that intact seeds of S. alnifolia were dormant, requiring 150 days of cold stratification to achieve the maximum germination percentage at 5/15 °C. Exposure of the seeds to ranges of temperatures at 15/25 °C and 20/30 °C resulted in secondary dormancy. Scarifying seed coat and partial removal of the cotyledon promoted germination. Compared with long-term cold stratification, one month of warm stratification plus cold stratification was superior in breaking dormancy. Application of GA3 did not break the dormancy during two months of incubation. Seeds of S. alnifolia formed a transient seed bank. The viability of freshly matured S. alnifolia seeds was 87.65% ± 11.67%, but this declined to 38.25% after 6-months of storage at room temperature. Seeds of S. alnifolia have a deep physiological dormancy; cold stratification will be useful in propagating this species. The long chilling requirements of S. alnifolia seeds would avoid seedling death in winter. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecology of Tree Regeneration in Mature and Old Forests)
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