Model of forest cycle for the sustainable management of Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii obtained from dendrochronological data.

Abstract

Tíscar, P.A. 2015. Model of forest cycle for the sustainable management of Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii obtained from dendrochronological data. Ecosistemas 24(2): 30-36. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.2015.24-2.05.

The article proposes a model of forest cycle for pinewoods of Spanish black pine (Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii). Five developmental phases were defined: innovation, early aggradation, late aggradation, biostatic and degradation. Phases were characterized from dendrochronological data obtained from 78 trees sampled in a 10x680 m² transect located in Cazorla mountain range (SE Spain). Forest structure and Pinus nigra regeneration mode were also described from this transect. A high structural heterogeneity was observed at small scale. Pine regeneration was observed to occur according to the gap-phase regeneration mode. Late phases of the forest cycle were characterized with less exactness than the initial ones, probably because of changes in tree density during the forest history. The length of the proposed model of forest cycle was estimated as 500 years and the minimum equilibrium area as 20 hectares. These data are of interest for the sustainable management of Pinus nigra forests.