Structure and management of secondary spruce forests

During the last 200 years, original broadleaved as well as mixed forests were transformed into spruce forests on a large scale through clearcutting in the Ukrainian Carpathians. These forests are susceptible to disturbances and in many places affected by mortality phenomena. Therefore, the aim is to transform them into structurally sound mountainous mixed forests with silver fir and beech.

A silvicultural trial with this type of transformation was established in Chornohora within the buffer zone of the CBR in 2005 with 12 sub-plots with a size of 1 ha each, on which the natural regeneration was initiated in various ways. Since then, the regeneration has strongly developed. The structural dynamics of the original stand (including mortality) after the intervention as well as the regeneration development in relation to light resp. the development of the original stand will be studied within a master thesis and a dissertation.