Altitude (m): 480 Topography: middle slope Orientation: W Slope (%): 30.0 Hydrology: Middle slope in the river Lerez basin and 20 km far from Atlantic coast Soil type: UMBRISOLS Soil sub-type: cambic Parent rock: acid regional metamorphic rocks PH: 4.6
Climate
Average temperature (°C): 12.3 Average precipitation (mm): 1673 Number of frost days: 37 Reference period for climatic data: 2005-2012
History of the site
The stand shows an uneven-aged oak (Quercus robur L.) canopy covering a sparse understory mainly with grasses and some shrubs (holly trees, chestnuts, heaths and gorses). Initially, tree stand characteristics were: Age (32 years), Mean DBH (22.5 cm), Mean Height (14.8 m), Density (1000 tree/ha) Thinning treatments were applied in 1999. The stand is surrounded by pastures and orchards and occasionally some trees were removed mainly for fuel by the nearest neighbors. DS07 is placed on a private land. The land is owned and managed by a Neighborhood Forest Association, typical of Galician culture. All the forest area belongs to a territorial demarcation, “parroquia”, which joins all the neighborhood members. Each citizen owns a percentage of the whole indivisible forest area and the management must be agreed with all the members of the community by a common consent. In Galicia, this way of forest property is called “Neighborhood Forest in Common Hand”. We asked for the permission to the Neighborhood Forest of Loureiro, and they, by common consent, gave us a permission to establish the experience.
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