The management of oak in Germany: A Silvicultural Note.

Abstract

The forests of Western Germany, in common with those of other European countries, have been greatly influenced by man. Over most of the country the indigenous forest was very different, both in species composition and structure, from that which exists today. A classification of the original forest types for the Federal Republic (Anon. 1962) shows the predominant position of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) in the northern half of the country. From northwest Gennany through Lower Saxony to the Basin of Münster and Cologne oak-hornbeam mixtures occupied the better sites with oak -birch on the poorer soils. Throughout the uplands of Hesse and towards the south-east in the Spessart oak-hornbeam forest covered the lower slopes with beech at the higher elevations. To the west in the Pfalzer Wald oak occupied the sunny slopes with beech on the north-facing shaded aspects. [...]