Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

A recent oak (Quercus robur) decline has been noticed and studied in Europe during the last few decades. This decline in combination with failure in natural regeneration could threaten not only oak populations, but also oak-associated species. In Dalby Söderskog national park in southern Sweden, the last survey on oak was carried out in 2011 and showed that the number of living oaks had declined since 1935. Although only nine years have passed since the latest survey, a new inventory has become ecologically relevant due to rapid disease-related changes in the ash and elm populations which, in turn, may affect both the vitality of old oaks and the conditions for oak to regenerate. In the inventory for this thesis, living and dead oaks above 10 cm in stem diameter (dbh) were surveyed. The data collected for each tree was: dbh, coordinates and vitality.
Results show that the mortality rate in the oak population of Dalby Söderskog is still unchanged, although the first substantial regeneration of oak can be seen in the forest for the first time since 1935. In the thesis, changes in the tree community of the forest and possible future approaches from a nature conservation perspective are discussed.