The intention of this book is to present a forest regeneration concept based on forest typology and provide its economic and ecological evaluation.
We observed that moist sites often became wet and dry sites became even drier when conventional regeneration methods were applied. In both cases the regeneration process stopped. While the increased abundance of ground vegetation became the main limiting factor in the first case, lack of water and the competition from the old stand blocked the development of the seedlings in the latter.

Sylviculturists thought that the right speed of regeneration could be the key to solving the problem. The general approach was to open up stands on wet sites slowly and carefully, but quickly on dry ones. This concept however did not prove to be efficient enough. In order to find a solution we developed a method where the emphasis was not on the speed of the regeneration process, rather, we tried to create well regenerating mesic site conditions on any site by changing the stand structure through opening it in appropriate direction, extent and depth. We gave this new method a new name: „quarter-oriented regeneration”.
The core of the concept is to create optimal site conditions by the very first intervention. On dry sites stands should be opened evenly along an East-West line, moving from North to South and never exceeding the width of the shade provided by the remaining trees and thus preserving moisture. On wet sites stands should be unevenly opened from South to North beyond the shaded zone, allowing sufficient exposure to sunlight and thus avoiding that the site becomes more wet.
We started field experiments in the Farkasgyepű Forest Directorate to test the concept. The results showed clearly that the theory was right. Site conditions changed favorably on both originally wet and dry sites so that most of the seeds could fall onto the most ideal, mesic section. On wet sites these sections appeared at the northern boundary of the shaded zone where sunlight reached the surface, while on dry sites right in the shaded zone.
Once the seedlings that appeared on the opened mesic areas are sufficiently vigorous and strong, regeneration could continue. On wet sites where stands were unevenly opened, seedlings appear always on the edge of the cleared areas where the drying effect was the strongest, therefore new openings are to be created on the adjacent areas. On dry areas the process is different, since the whole cleared area is kept under shade so conditions are even and the seedlings can evenly cover the whole area. Once the seedlings are strong enough, another belt of trees can be removed so that the newly opened area remains in the shade of the remaining old trees. Dry conditions can be altered by a stronger opening, because the transpiration surface becomes sufficiently decreased and there are only minor losses due to evaporation, since only the early and late rays of sun can reach the surface in the shaded zone. The method is safely based on sporadic seed production because there is always a stand edge that produces sufficient amount of seeds for a half to one tree length wide area.
A forest stand under such regeneration can always be divided into two different zones, an active and a passive one:
Active zone: the main engine of the process in the state of permanent change and development, i.e. the zone of regeneration
Passive zone: an area of relative stability, in the absence of human intervention stand structure is stabile. In other words this is the remaining part of the old stand.
The two zones are in permanent interaction. In regeneration systems based on uneven preparatory cuttings this interaction is relatively permanent and harmonic. As the active zone moves as a result of the cuttings, it leaves behind vertically and horizontally divided, mixed young stands with high biological diversity. The process is largely driven by natural forces, so there is no need for cleanings to regulate tree-species composition. There could be an increased abundance of ground vegetation in the passive zone, but there is no need for any intervention here, as these areas will eventually become part of the active zone and ground vegetation will be regulated by the drying site conditions. The method is independent of the cyclic seed production of beech since it is based on seeds produced on the stand edges.
Due to the moving regeneration zones this regeneration methods results in a relatively even distribution of diameter classes and such spatial and temporal patterns which largely follow those of the natural systems. These patterns can not be destroyed even by negative selective thinnings because they are spatially separated as a result of the above described movement of regeneration areas.
This regeneration system is ecologically sound since it results in mixed, uneven aged, genetically diverse stands and maintains the permanent forest cover. At the same time this method is very economic, because the dominant natural processes result in such young stands which do not require nursing interventions. It creates mixed stands which are less sensitive to biotic and abiotic damaging factors, therefore there is little or no ecological hazard. The associate tree-species have a positive effect on the site’s micro climate, the soil and the whole site in general, but they have a non-negligible effect on the quality and consequently the value of the dominant stand as well.
Our experiment covered 223,5 hectars at the Farkasgyepű Forest Directorate and with the help of this method we were able to successfully complete the regeneration of those areas where the process could not be completed for several decades due to excess moisture.