Ecology, practice and policy of black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) management in Belgium
1992
Muys, B. | Maddelein, D. | Lust, N.
Black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.), a tree native of North America, was introduced in Europe in the 17th century and applied as a forest tree from the end of the 19th century onwards. It was expected to produce valuable timber, even on poor sandy soils, but it seldom did. Until the fifties, it was massively underplanted in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands where it was believed to ameliorate the soil. Nowadays, as a consequence of its offensive reproduction strategy and important atmospheric ammonia immissions, black cherry has completely overgrown the substorey of thousands of hectares of Scots pine forest in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, preventing regeneration of any species but itself. Some ecological, silvicultural and forest political aspects of this issue are presented and discussed. This paper shows that the soil ameliorating properties of black cherry are doubtful and suggests that it might be an important competitor of the timber crop for nutrients and water. Furthermore, it illustrates that the abundance of black cherry forces silviculture to maintain an everlasting age class system with clearcutting and very costful black cherry combat operations (mechanical or/and chemical) during each regeneration period. It finally states that the present forest policy in Belgium, that made the option to reconvert the first generation pine stands into mixed and more uneven aged stands, only can be realized with an efficient control of black cherry. In that respect, an integrated black cherry management plan issuing a total prohibition of planting and trade, an obligatory control of seed trees in public forests and a subsidized combat in private forests, is proposed in this paper.
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