Spatial distribution of European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea) and their zoochorous dispersal potential with a view to minimizing the intensity of intervention during forest conversion in coniferous forests with nature conservation status

The conversion of protected forest stands holds a considerable potential for conflicts. On the one hand, the conversion to a near-natural forest structure and species composition should be realized by actively introducing species of today's potential natural vegetation, while on the other hand the forest stands must be disturbed as little as possible (conservation of natural processes). Especially within the development zones of national parks it is of importance to gain more insight into the dispersion of natural regeneration of beech and oak wiin non-natural stands of spruce and pine, respectively. While the mainly zoochor dispersion of oak species has been fairly well studied, knowledge about the zoochory of beech is sparse. We will investigate the silviculturally relevant dispersion distances and the respective number of seeds as well as potential preferences of the zoochor vectors for so-called "safe-sites" featuring specific combinations of small-scale characterstics.
By assessing this potential, disturbances in forest ecosystems caused by active large-scale forest conversion can be reduced by minimizing the intensity of silvicultural operations in protected areas such as national parks.