RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Natural regeneration of Pinus canariensis Chr. Sm. Ex DC in Buch in forest plantations after thinning A1 Arévalo, José Ramón A1 Fernández-Palacios, José María K1 Canary islands K1 Regeneration dynamics K1 Canarias K1 Dinámica de regeneración AB Thinning is indispensable for the sustainable development and naturalization of forest plantations. In order toreveal the effect of different thinning intensities on the natural regeneration of a plantation of Pinus canariensis, we followedfor two years the density of seedlings, saplings of 1 year, saplings of 1-2 years and saplings of > 2 years in plots atdifferent thinning intensities (control, 20 and 50%). Our analysis revealed that seedling density and density of saplings > 2years were higher in plots thinned by 50% of their total basal area, whereas the other categories were significantly moreabundant in control plots. These results suggest an important impact of light in the germination of seedlings, while a morecovered canopy will increase the probability of establishment of saplings 1 and 1-2 years old. However, for saplings > 2years, the lack of space found in control plots largely determined their low abundance.We suggest that canopy openness should be much larger than is provided by the currently applied treatments, offering atleast a 40-50% open canopy for a few years (it should ensure that trees around the gap are unable to close the canopy withtheir branches). As our results show, germination in 50% thinned plots is high, but high mortality is also expected, withprobably no more than 5% of the individuals remaining after 3 years. PB Bentham Open SN 1874-3986 YR 2008 FD 2008 LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/17255 UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/17255 LA en DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna RD 28-mar-2024