Seed Production and Natural Regeneration of Beech in southern Sweden

Natural regeneration is today the only practical and economical reasonable way to create a new beech stand when the old is harvested. Mostly the seeds from one single mast year is used which stress the importance of knowledge about the size of the seed production and when a mast years may be expected. An alternative, more close to nature method, for natural regeneration is described and is shown to have several advantages compared to the traditional method. No site preparation and the seeds from several mast years are used. Acidification is today a world-wide problem and acid soils have been shown to severely hamper the natural regeneration of beech. The effect of liming on both the traditional and alternative regeneration methods has been studied both with respect to the number of germinates and to soil flora and fauna. The thesis gives information to both forest managers and researchers in how to forecast a mast year, how the alternative regeneration method is performed, and how liming influences the different regeneration methods.