The competition and survival of stump sprouts of Quercus spp. in a regenerated stand during the 19 years after a forest fire in the Republic of Korea

Abstract

Background : Forest fire is a natural phenomenon that is very important to afforestation in the secondary succession process. Approximately 349.7 M ha yr -1 of forest had been lost due to forest fire in the world. In Republic of Korea, the forest fires occur at a rate of approximately 400 events yr -1 , and burned areas are mainly located on the eastern coast. In the eastern coastal region, pine forest is widely distributed, and pine forest is changed to oak forest through stump sprout regeneration following forest fires. However, there is a lack of research on oak competition during regeneration in burned areas. Therefore, this research was conducted to evaluate the effects of species composition and the survival ratio of Quercus serrata , Quercus variabilis , and Quercus mongolica in burned areas. The investigation plots were set to investigate tree growth, survival, and composition in Goseong-gun, Republic of Korea. Results : The mean tree heights of Q. serrata and Q. variabilis were approximately 9.8 m and 9.1 m, respectively, which were higher than the approximately 5.8 m heights of Q. mongolica stands 18 years after a forest fire, and the trend for tree diameter at breast height was the same for all three species. In the early stage of regeneration, the survival probability of the Q. serrata sprouts rapidly decreased at a rate 1.7-2.0 times higher than that of other oak species in the Q. serrata -dominant stands. The median survival time of Q. variabilis sprouts in the Q. variabilis -dominant stands was approximately 10.1 years, which was similar to Q. serrata -dominant stands. However, the dominant stand of Q. mongolica was different from that of other dominant stands due to different topography and soil environments located in the ridge and the upper part of the mountain. Conclusion : Dominant species decision seems to be determined by the survival and occurrence of sprouts during the early stage in postfire regenerated oak forests. Therefore, it would be more desirable to coppice sprout for dominant species productivity and rapid dominance after a forest fire.