Morphological and physiological responses of Fagus sylvatica and Quercus robur seedlings to light availability

The need to develop forest management systems other than clearfelling has resulted in a requirement for improved understanding of the potential of continuous cover forestry (CCF).One suggested method for the conversion of forest stands into CCF systems and for bringing under-performing forests into productivity is thinning in conjunction with underplanting.This study was an attempt to provide information on species suitability for underplanting of two important trees in European forestry: pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.).To determine the morphological, physiological and growth responses of these two species to different light Φ CO2 Quantum yield of photosynthesis (μmol CO 2 (μmol photons) -1 ) Φ PSII PSII operating efficiency Chapter 2 Effects of light availability on morphology, growth and biomass allocation of Fagus sylvatica and Quercus robur seedlings Abstract The survival, morphological, and growth responses of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) seedlings to different light intensities, from full sunlight to heavy shade, were studied over two growing seasons in a shadehouse experiment.Although shade treatments significantly affected seedling growth, they did not influence seedling survival.Both growth and biomass increased as light intensity increased.Diameter growth of oak seedlings was higher than that of beech.Beech and oak seedlings showed typical acclimation to shade, including greater specific leaf area and height to diameter ratios, and lower leaf thickness and root:shoot ratios with increasing shade.Beech seedlings exhibited greater specific leaf area, and lower leaf thickness and root:shoot ratios than oak seedlings.In spite of the greater growth at full sunlight, the results from this study suggest that beech and oak seedlings would have high survival rates and would acclimate well if underplanted below overstories that reduce the available light to as low as 28% of full light.