NATURAL GERMINATION AS RESILIENCE COMPONENT IN MEDITERRANEAN COPPICE STANDS OF CASTANEA-SATIVA MILL AND QUERCUS-ILEX L

In the Mediterranean basin, most of the present forests derive from original forests where the dominant species was different from the present one. These changes are largely due to human activities reflecting millenia of management and, often, overexploitation. In southern France, for example, palaeoecologists believe that the original malacophyllous deciduous forest of downy oak (Quercus pubescens) was replaced by a sclerophyllous evergreen holm oak (Quercus ilex) coppice in the driest areas, and chestnut (Castanea sativa) orchards or coppices in the `'wettest'' areas. However, for the last several decades, exploitation of these coppice stands has been decreasing. In this study, we addressed the question of the resilience of these managed ecosystems in the fact of changing management schemes, and to determine appropriate strategies and criteria of sustainable development. We present some aspects of the auto-succession after clearcutting of holm oak coppice stands and aspects of the natural regeneration of 4 species (Q. ilex, Q. pubescens, C. sativa, and P. pinaster). The consequences of the contrasted life history strategies are compared to estimate the future of these coppices.