Gap characteristics under oriental beech forest development stages in Kelardasht forests, northern Iran

Pejman Parhizkar, Majid Hassani and Mohammad Hossein SADEGHZADEH Hallaj
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Majid Hassani: Forest Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran
Mohammad Hossein SADEGHZADEH Hallaj: Forest Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran

Journal of Forest Science, 2018, vol. 64, issue 2, 59-65

Abstract: This study was carried out to evaluate gap characteristics and gapmakers for different development stages of an oriental beech forest in northern Iran. Development stages of 1 ha square-shaped mosaic patches were identified using 100 × 100 m sampling grid and all gaps within these mosaics were recorded. Gap areas were calculated and classified into four classes and gapmakers were counted and classified into 4 decay and 4 diameter classes as well. Results showed that gaps comprised 13.7, 9.1 and 17.6% of the study area in initial, optimal and decay stages, respectively. There was a significant difference between development stages with respect to gap size and the highest amount was observed in decay stage. Medium-sized gaps were the most frequent in all three stages. Frequency distribution of gapmakers varied among development stages. Our findings revealed that 200-500 m2 is the most preferable gap size for close-to-nature silvicultural approaches in Hyrcanian beech forests. To achieve this gap size 1-2 trees should be marked for harvesting operations.

Keywords: close-to-nature silviculture; forest stand; stand dynamics; gapmaker; silviculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:64:y:2018:i:2:id:59-2017-jfs

DOI: 10.17221/59/2017-JFS

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