Characteristics of lowland broadleaved woodland being restocked by natural regeneration
1997
Harmer, R. | Kerr, G. | Boswell, R.
A survey of 78 sites in southern England with approved management plans for restocking by natural regeneration was made during the summers of 1993 and 1994. The following features were recorded: species, stocking, canopy cover and seed-bearing potential of trees present in the overstorey; species and canopy cover of the understorey; ground cover; species, browsing damage, number and heights of tree seedlings. In general, sites were poorly stocked with overstorey trees having an average of 135 stems ha-1 and a mean canopy cover of 36 percent. Similarly, the understoreys were poorly developed with an average cover of only 23 percent. Twenty-nine species of tree were found in the overstorey, Quercus spp. and Fraxinus excelsior were the most common. Many of the stems present had poor seed-bearing potential. Cover of the ground flora often exceeded 75 per cent. Seedlings were present on most sites, with F. excelsior and Betula pentula being most abundant with mean seedling densities exceeding 10 000 ha-1. Most seedlings were <20 cm tall, few exceeded <20 cm. About 30 per cent of seedlings were browsed. The results are related to current guidance and the future prospects for use of natural regeneration.
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