THE STAND DYNAMICS OF A MIXED COPPICE FOREST OF SHADE-TOLERANT AND INTERMEDIATE SPECIES

We investigated stand dynamics of a mixed coppice Forest of shade-tole rant and intermediate species, Fagus crenata Bl. and Quercus crispula Bl., in five stands with canopy-stem densities from 420 to 1320 ha(-1) (estimated stand age: 37-62 years). The mean basal area (BA), exposed -crown area (ECA) and crown depth (CD) per stem were significantly lar ger in F. crenata in the three lower density plots. Also Q. crispula h ad considerably less overtopped stems in the two lower density plots. The mean annual BA increments of the two species were similar in the e arlier 20 years; however, in the most recent 5 years, F. crenata had a higher relative growth rate for basal area (RGR(BA)) than Q. crispula . The most critical variable of the RGR(BA) was the ECA for F. crenata and the relative height (RH) for Q. crispula. We predict that dominan ce of F. crenata will gradually increase over that of Q. crispula as s tands mature. This seems to be caused by lower shade-tolerance despite the similar initial growth rates of Q. crispula compared with F. cren ata. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.