EFFECTS OF SEEDBED TYPE ON WINTERING OF BEECH NUTS (FAGUS-SYLVATICA) AND DEER IMPACT ON SPROUTING SEEDLINGS IN NATURAL REGENERATION

Natural regeneration of beech (Fagus sylvatica) is often initiated by soil preparation before seed fall in the mast years. The wintering of beech nuts and the sprouting of beech seedlings in mixed and mineral soil seedbeds were investigated in six Danish beech stands after the 1989 seed fall. Previously, the mineral soil seedbed was considered to give the best wintering conditions for beech nuts owing to a relative low level of fungal attack. In the present investigation average number of undamaged nuts and sprouting seedlings were up to ten times larger in the mineral soil seedbed compared with the mixed soil seedbed within the same stand. However, the fungal attack was not significantly affected by the seedbed type. It is suggested that rodents collect undamaged nuts, leaving empty and damaged nuts behind, and that they prefer to seek for nuts in the mixed soil seedbed. Thereby, the method used for the collection of samples in previous investigations may have yielded misleading results concerning the effects of seedbed type on fungal attack.