The REGEBLOC network, initiated in 2017, aims to understand why natural regeneration can fail and to test silvicultural solutions that remove constraints on regeneration such as competing vegetation, soil impoverishment, ungulate browsing or canopy closure. The REGEBLOC Network currently comprises 4 siteswith plots where natural regeneration has been blocked: 3 sites in oak stands and 1 site in a fir-spruce-beech stand. Other sites located in mountain areas are under discussion. At each site, mutiple factors are considered: edaphic constraints (compaction, soil water logging, presence of thick humus), development of competing vegetation, presence of ungulates. These factors are controlled by implementing different methods of mechanized site preparation and by installing enclosures; control plots with no treatment enable comparisons. All the treatments are repeated 4 to 6 times at each site. The different stages of regeneration are monitored: seed production, dispersal and viability, germination, seedlings survival and growth. The amount of light transmitted by the stand, the development of competing vegetation and plant consumption by herbivores are quantified annually in the first few years.
visit experimental trials
natural regeneration, browsing, ungulates
Quercus sp., Fagus sylvatica, Picea abies, Abies alba