Red oak is a native North American species that was cultivated in Europe from the XVII century onward firstly in ornamental purposes and then in forest plantations. At present, the species occupies in our country a surface of 2.500 ha and is renowned for its rapid growth. The present paper has characterized red oak stands from the West Plain taking into account their environment and stand conditions. In order to achieve this, data from forest management plans were used from the period 1995-2008 from 13 forest districts located in this area. Red oak stands occupy a surface of 474 ha in this area (4%), especially in Tinca, Oradea, Radna and Săcuieni, and are situated at altitudes between 120-300 m. This species appears in field and slope areas, on preluvisol, luvisol and eutric cambisol soils and in Quercus mixtures, oak stands or Turkey oak stands. Tree pruning is low towards average, while the composition is mixed or in dense clusters. The structure is even-aged and the production class is average and average towards superior. The knowledge of these characteristics is very important for adapting the best practices in forestry and for the protection of best stands of the read oak, especially because this area (the West Plain) is one of the main area where the species is present in Romania.

red oak, stands, site conditions, soil, pruning, current annual increment

biology

Presentation: poster