Influence of climate on tree-ring and earlywood vessel formation in Quercus robur in Latvia

We studied the effects of climatic factors on tree-ring width and vessel lumen area (VLA) in earlywood of English oak (Quercus robur L.) in Latvia. Cores were obtained from healthy canopy oaks in 40 stands located across Latvia. Tree-ring widths and VLA were measured. Principal component analysis was used to arrange the sites along gradients of response of tree-ring width and earlywood to environmental factors. Significant relationships of tree-ring width and mean VLA with climatic factors (mean monthly temperature and precipitation sum) were determined by correlation analysis. Relationships between tree-ring, early- and latewood widths were tested in three sampled stands. The patterns of response of VLA and tree-ring width to environmental factors differed in relation to a west–east gradient of increasing continentality. Three regions of Latvia (western, central and eastern) were distinguished along this gradient. Responses to climate differed between tree-ring width and mean VLA. Occurrence of significant correlations between climatic factors and the proxies differed between regions, likely due to regional differences in temperature and precipitation. Tree-ring width correlated with climatic factors (most commonly with March, May and June temperature and August precipitation of the current growing season and July–August temperatures of the previous growing season); VLA was more strongly related to climatic factors, particularly with temperature in winter and spring months. The proportion of significant correlation coefficients with climatic factors differed between the regions. Among sites, significant correlation of tree-ring width with temperature in spring and summer was more frequent in the western region, while correlation with winter temperature of the previous growing season and precipitation in August was more frequent in the eastern region. For VLA, the frequency of significant correlation coefficients with temperature in winter and spring was higher in the eastern region.     

Carbon isotope discrimination and wood anatomy variations in mixed stands of Quercus robur and Quercus petraea

The two most common oak species in western Europe, Quercus robur and Quercus petraea, display different ecological behaviours, particularly with respect to their responses to drought. The ecophysiological basis of this niche difference is not understood well. Here we test the hypothesis that these two species present distinct water use efficiencies (WUEs), using the carbon isotope discrimination approach. Leaves and 13 dated ring sequences were sampled in 10 pairs of adult trees growing side by side. Carbon isotope composition was measured on cellulose extracts. In addition, relationships between carbon isotope discrimination and wood anatomy were assessed at the tree level. Quercus robur displayed a 1·0‰ larger isotopic discrimination than Q. petraea, and therefore a lower intrinsic WUE (?13%). This interspecific difference of isotopic discrimination was quite stable with time and independent of tree radial growth and climate fluctuations. A strong positive correlation was observed between average tree values of earlywood vessel surface area and ¹³C isotopic discrimination. This correlation was even higher with ¹³C of the 1976 dry year (r = 0·86). These observations led to the hypothesis that hydraulic properties of xylem could exert a constraint on leaf gas exchange, resulting in a larger WUE for individuals with smaller vessel cross‐section area.     

An evaluation of english oak earlywood vessel area as a climate proxy in the UK

This research evaluates the usefulness of oak earlywood vessel area as a climate proxy in the western United Kingdom (UK). The results demonstrate that at this site earlywood vessel area contains a different environmental signal (March relative humidity) to a ring-width chronology developed from the same trees. The vessel area signal passes commonly used verification statistics and was found to be representative of the climate of a similar geographic area to other tree-ring proxies, albeit with a lower explained variance. Taking the average of all the vessels identified for each year weakened the reconstructed climate signal and it was found for this study that the average of the 10 largest vessels provided the strongest and most stable match. The results demonstrate earlywood vessel area of oak in the UK has potential as a climate proxy, but that further work to strengthen and characterise the climatic target variable controlling vessel area is required.     

First dendrochronological studies of Quercus protoroburoides

Quercus protoroburoides Donchev and Bouzov ex Tashev and Tsavkov (Rila oak) is a species with extremely limited and localized distribution. It is found only on several locations on slopes above Rila Monastery in Rila Mountains (Bulgaria) at elevations between 1500 m and 1750 m a.s.l. The trees are in small groups or scattered, usually situated on ridges slightly higher than the local population of sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.) and above mixed fir-beech forests. The species was first discovered and described in 1968 by Boris Buzov, but was officially validated in 2017 by Tashev and Tsavkov. Up to this moment there were no dendrochronological studies of the species and there is general lack of data on how climate affects its growth. Our aim was to contribute to filling this knowledge gap. In our study we analyzed 42 series (22 trees) from Q. protoroburoides from two locations (Drushlyavitsa and Brichebor) and compared them to cores from Q. petraea from the same region. The Rila oak trees varied in age from 30 to 170 years. Nearly half of them were about 50 years old. The composed tree-ring chronology spans from 1856 to 2019 with more than 5 included series after 1870. The sessile oak trees were generally older and the chronology spanned from 1743, having more than 4 series after 1786. The climate-growth analysis with local and gridded data revealed positive effects on growth of previous August and current April-June precipitation, positive correlations with previous May-June temperatures and negative with August temperatures. Most of the pointer years with low growth were characterized by extreme climate conditions, such as summer droughts, unusually cold summers or delayed start of the vegetation period due to late frost events at the end of May or early June. Our data indicate that Q. protoroburoides and Q. petraea trees at this unusually high location for oaks are sensitive to climate conditions including summer droughts.     

Quercus robur survival at the rear edge in steppe: Dendrochronological evidence

Climate change is altering forest ecosystems worldwide, particularly in steppe landscapes, where the rare tree communities are challenged with steadily increasing droughts. In the steppe of Eastern Europe, amid dry conditions, Quercus robur occupies mostly riverine habitats and ravines. Here we study the climate sensitivity and drought vulnerability of a Q. robur population located at the rear edge of the species range, in the steppe of Ukraine. The population occupies two adjacent but clearly contrasting in their microclimatic conditions sites: a river floodplain and a steep-sloping river bank. We develop tree earlywood, latewood, and total ring width site-level chronologies and evaluate their relationship with regional climate variables and the local river's water level using response function analysis. We find that trees growing in the floodplain and at the steep river bank have exhibited slightly different growth patterns. The trees at the flooded site have benefited from water proximity, which facilitated their earlywood growth. These trees have responded positively to the current May and previous September precipitation and previous and current May temperatures. At the non-flooded site, the trees have experienced warm temperatures and the lack of precipitation in June. The extreme drought episodes have triggered a decrease in the latewood and total ring width in trees from both sites. We established that oak growth in the floodplain had been depressed by an unknown stressor around 1900, therefore limiting our ability to identify the more beneficial steppe habitat for Q. robur conclusively. Nevertheless, our results provide a dendrochronological evidence of Q. robur survival in a dry steppe environment and lend new insights into local microclimatic factors contributing to it.     

Environmental control of vessel traits in Quercus ilex under Mediterranean climate: relating xylem anatomy to function

Time series of tree-ring anatomical features are important to understand the functional role of xylem plasticity over the life span of trees, and thus to reconstruct past ecological and climatic conditions. Holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) is a drought-tolerant tree widely distributed in the Mediterranean Basin. Chronologies of tree-ring width (TRW), vessel lumen area [maximum (MAX) and mean (MVA)] and vessel density (VD) were developed for the period 1942–2001. Each ring was divided into three sections to compare the intra-annual variation of vessel features with the climate conditions during the growing season. The common variability of tree-growth and vessel features was analyzed using a principal component analysis (PCA). Vessel lumen area (MAX and MVA) and TRW loaded positively on the first axis (PC1), whereas VD from the first and second part of the ring (VD1 and VD2) loaded negatively, suggesting that these variables share a common variance. On the other hand, VD in the last third of the ring (VD3) loaded positively on second axis (PC2). PC1 showed a strong positive correlation with precipitation during the hydrological year (prior October–September) and a negative correlation with temperature in spring (April–May), while PC2 showed a negative correlation with precipitation in June. Our results showed that TRW and vessel lumen area were mainly dependent on moisture conditions along the growing season, while vessel density probably plays an important role in the balance between hydraulic conductivity and safety to embolism to better adjust the hydraulic system to water availability.     

Long-term radial growth and climate-growth relationships of Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. and Quercus cerris L. in a xeric low elevation site from Hungary

Sessile oak (Quercus petraea [Matt.] Liebl.) and Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.) dominated mixed forests are common in low montane and hilly regions in Hungary. Here, we aimed to describe the long-term pattern and climatic responses of the radial growth of Q. petraea and Q. cerris in a xeric low-elevation forest, using retrospective tree-ring analysis for the period 1910–2019. We performed separate analyses with time series of full tree-ring (TRW), earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW) widths. Our results showed that the radial growth of the two species was largely synchronous over time, but became transiently divergent for a 20-year period after a drought in 1968, due to the greater-than-expected growth of Q. cerris and the supressed growth of Q. petraea. Precipitation was the major growth-limiting factor for both species, with a strong positive influence on LW particularly during the current early growing season (March-June), on EW in the previous late summer (August-September) and in the current early spring (March), and on all tree-ring traits in the previous December. The radial growth of both species was negatively related to temperature in the spring (May) and late summer (August) of both current and previous years. The climate-growth relationships showed general instability over time: the most striking temporal change was a gradual shift of positive correlations with precipitation and SPEI during the growing season from spring (March-May) to summer (June-August) since the 1980s over the analysed period. The two species had similarly low growth resistance to droughts in four studied pointer years (1968, 1993, 2002 and 2012), but Q. cerris exhibited a greater capacity to recover over the four post-drought years, and thus higher growth resilience, particularly after the drought of 1968. Our results contribute to the better understanding of the role of climate variability and droughts in the growth of the two co-existing species in transitional locations between closed forests and forest-steppes.     

Natural and experimentally altered hydraulic architecture of branch junctions in Acer saccharum Marsh. and Quercus velutina Lam. trees

 The functional xylem anatomy and the hydraulic conductivity of intact and treated branch junctions of the diffuse-porous sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) were compared to those of the ring-porous black oak (Quercus velutina Lam.). Maple shoots possessed greater growth intensity than those of oak. The extensive growth of the maple trees resulted in about a two-fold increase in xylem production in the maple branches. Branches were altered by removing a patch of bark from the base of a branch (near a junction) leaving a bridge of bark on the upper or lower side of the branch. The experimentally treated branch junctions revealed that, in oak, most (up to 92%) of the water flows in the lower side of a branch, where most of the large vessels occurred. In maple, most of the conductive tissue was observed to form in the upper side of the branches, which was equally or more conductive than the lower side. A treatment of longitudinal, parallel scratches in the bark-bridge, which reduced earlywood vessel width, substantially decreased conductivity (to only 15%) in oak, but had no effect on conductivity in maple. In maple, such wounding stimulated more wood formation and increased conductivity. In both trees, a narrow bridge at the junction induced more wood formation and higher conductivity in the branch. The mechanisms controlling wood formation and water flow in branch junctions of ring- and diffuse-porous trees are discussed. Received: 14 February 1996 / Accepted: 27 May 1996     

Ensuring a representative sample of earlywood vessels for dendroecological studies: an example from two ring-porous species

The analysis of time series of wood cell anatomical features (such as the earlywood vessels of ring-porous trees) is a successful approach to understand the effect of environmental factors on tree growth and thus constitutes a valuable source of information about past environmental conditions. However, despite the rising interest in analyzing wood anatomical time series, little or no attention has been paid to establish an adequate sample of cells in order to minimize the risk of missing a valuable environmental signal. In order to contribute to such methodological bases, this paper is aimed at (1) identifying a representative sample of earlywood vessels within a tree, which encode the same climatic information, and (2) assessing if it is preferable to obtain the sample of vessels along one or two radii. Four individuals of sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Mattuschka) Liebl.) and sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) were harvested and all their earlywood vessel lumina were measured along two 40-mm wide radial strips. Measured vessels were selected stepwise while increasing the tangential width of the wood section from 1 to 40 mm, analyzing at each step (1) the common signal of chronologies and (2) the correlation to the main climatic variables controlling growth. Additionally, both radii in each tree were analyzed together and separately. The results showed that a total tangential width of 10 mm was enough to stabilize the climatic signal with improvement when distributed along two different radii, but a slightly larger tangential width was required to reach an optimal common signal. We suggest that, at least for the case of these two species growing at this specific climatic context, two 5-mm increment cores ensure a representative vessel selection.     

Vessel features of Quercus ilex L. growing under Mediterranean climate have a better climatic signal than tree-ring width

We investigated whether vessel time series of Holm oak (Quercus ilex L.), a diffuse to semi-ring-porous species, can record a climatic signal which differs from the signal encoded in tree-ring width (TRW). The study was conducted in ten Q. ilex trees from a coppice stand in northeast Spain. Chronologies of TRW, mean vessel area (MVA) and maximum vessel area (MAX) were developed and correlated with climate data, for the period 1985–2004 (20 years). Our results indicate that vessel features contain environmental information that is different from that stored in TRW. MAX chronologies correlate better to early spring precipitation (April–May) than TRW chronologies, and so does MVA of the largest 20–25 vessels from the first third of the ring with late spring precipitation (May–June). Also, the combination of MVA and TRW is a better predictor of summer precipitation. This explorative study clearly shows that vessel features can complement the climatic signal of TRW increasing the resolution of the climate reconstructions for the Mediterranean region.     

Dendroclimatic regions of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) in Belarus

In this study, we present the boundaries of five dendrochronologically homogeneous regions of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) and the master chronologies for them for the period 1703–2018 based on 27 tree-ring chronologies from different locations around Belarus. The average length of the master chronologies ranges from 70 to 310 years. Our research shows that the radial increment of a pedunculate oak in Belarus is primarily limited by the previous year’s August-September temperature, by the current year’s May temperature and by June precipitation. Oak growth in northern Belarus is mostly limited by air temperature, whereas precipitation plays more significant role in central and southern parts of the country. The most unfavorable years for oak growth in Belarus were 1940 and 1952, both of which were years when a very frosty winter was followed by a droughty summer. The results provide an important achievement in Belarusian dendrochronology, since they represent a significant breakthrough for Eastern Europe, where there is a considerable lack of dendroclimatic researches of broadleaved species.     

Contrasting ectomycorrhizal fungal communities on the roots of co-occurring oaks (Quercus spp.) in a California woodland

Plant host species is considered an important factor influencing ectomycorrhizal (EM) communities. To gain insights into the role of host species in structuring EM communities, EM communities on sympatric oak (Quercus) species were compared in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California. Using molecular methods (polymerase chain reaction, cloning, restriction fragment length polymorphism and DNA sequencing), EM fungi on roots of deciduous Quercus douglasii and evergreen Quercus wislizeni trees were identified from 64 soil cores. The total EM species richness was 140, of which 40 taxa were detected on both oak hosts. Greater diversity and frequency of EM fungi with epigeous fruiting habit were found on Q. wislizeni, while taxa in the Ascomycota were more frequent and diverse on Q. douglasii. Using ordination, it was determined that both soil extractable phosphorus and oak host species explained a significant proportion of the variation in EM species distribution. These results indicate that plant host species can be an important factor influencing EM fungal community composition, even within congeneric trees.     

The facultative bimodal growth pattern in Quercus ilex – A simple model to predict sub-seasonal and inter-annual growth

In Mediterranean climates, bimodal growth patterns, corresponding to two peaks in radial increment during favorable seasons, have been described in several tree species. However, we lack a better mechanistic understanding of bimodality and its potential responses to the predicted warming and aridification trends. Filling this research gap is important since growth duration affects the capacity of trees to form wood and uptake carbon. Here we used an 11-year (1994–2004) long record of dendrometer data of the Mediterranean Holm oak (Quercus ilex) and compared how climate related to radial increment in trees from the south- and the north-facing slopes. We also related climate variables to tree-ring width and the production of intra-annual density fluctuations (IADFs), which reflects bimodality. In this paper, we introduce a model called VS-Lite2 to simulate tree-growth dynamics, which is a modified version of the process-based Vaganov-Shashkin Lite model. The VS-Lite2 model adequately reproduced the bimodal intra‐annual pattern of radial growth, IADFs, and annual tree growth. Trees from the south-oriented slope grew more, produced more IADFs and showed a more marked bimodal pattern than trees from the north-facing slope. These differences agree with the observation that late-summer drought constrained growth. Therefore, radial-growth models should consider plastic bimodality and micro-environmental conditions in areas subjected to seasonal droughts.     

Stadium Woods: A dendroecological analysis of an old-growth forest fragment on a university campus

On the Virginia Tech campus, adjacent to the football stadium is a 4.6-ha forest fragment that contains a population of unusually large white oak (Quercus alba L.) trees. We used dendroecology and sampled vegetation in fixed area plots to reconstruct the disturbance history of this forest fragment and compared the radial-growth averaging criteria and the boundary-line release criteria for identifying canopy disturbances. Structurally, the Stadium Woods has an inverse-J diameter distribution and trees present in all canopy strata. The oldest white oak had periods of asynchronous suppression and release indicating a closed canopy forest with periodic canopy disturbances. The boundary-line release criteria detect a broader range of growth releases, whereas the radial-growth averaging criteria are more specialized for capturing canopy gaps. Release events identified with the boundary-line release criteria lagged an average of 5.8 years behind those identified with the radial-growth averaging criteria because the boundary line release criteria identifies the year of maximum percent growth change, whereas the radial-growth averaging criteria identifies the first year with a detectable increase in radial growth. The Stadium Woods represents a unique collection of unusually large white oak trees growing in a heavily populated area and reveals the importance of long-term tree-ring chronologies stored within urban forest fragments.     

Does Forest Continuity Enhance the Resilience of Trees to Environmental Change?

There is ample evidence that continuously existing forests and afforestations on previously agricultural land differ with regard to ecosystem functions and services such as carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling and biodiversity. However, no studies have so far been conducted on possible long-term (>100 years) impacts on tree growth caused by differences in the ecological continuity of forest stands. In the present study we analysed the variation in tree-ring width of sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.) trees (mean age 115–136 years) due to different land-use histories (continuously existing forests, afforestations both on arable land and on heathland). We also analysed the relation of growth patterns to soil nutrient stores and to climatic parameters (temperature, precipitation). Tree rings formed between 1896 and 2005 were widest in trees afforested on arable land. This can be attributed to higher nitrogen and phosphorous availability and indicates that former fertilisation may continue to affect the nutritional status of forest soils for more than one century after those activities have ceased. Moreover, these trees responded more strongly to environmental changes – as shown by a higher mean sensitivity of the tree-ring widths – than trees of continuously existing forests. However, the impact of climatic parameters on the variability in tree-ring width was generally small, but trees on former arable land showed the highest susceptibility to annually changing climatic conditions. We assume that incompletely developed humus horizons as well as differences in the edaphon are responsible for the more sensitive response of oak trees of recent forests (former arable land and former heathland) to variation in environmental conditions. We conclude that forests characterised by a long ecological continuity may be better adapted to global change than recent forest ecosystems.     

Species distinction in Irish populations of Quercus petraea and Q. robur: morphological versus molecular analyses

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Populations of oak (Quercus petraea and Q. robur) were investigated using morphological and molecular (AFLP) analyses to assess species distinction. The study aimed to describe species distinction in Irish oak populations and to situate this in a European context. METHODS: Populations were sampled from across the range of the island of Ireland. Leaf morphological characters were analysed through clustering and ordination methods. Putative neutral molecular markers (AFLPs) were used to analyse the molecular variation. Cluster and ordination analyses were also performed on the AFLP markers in addition to calculations of genetic diversity and F-statisitcs. KEY RESULTS: A notable divergence was uncovered between the morphological and molecular analyses. The morphological analysis clearly differentiated individuals into their respective species, whereas the molecular analysis did not. Twenty species-specific AFLP markers were observed from 123 plants in 24 populations but none of these was species-diagnostic. Principal Coordinate Analysis of the AFLP data revealed a clustering, across the first two axes, of individuals according to population rather than according to species. High F(ST) values calculated from AFLP markers also indicated population differentiation (F(ST) = 0.271). Species differentiation accounted for only 13 % of the variation in diversity compared with population differentiation, which accounted for 27 %. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that neutral molecular variation is partitioned more strongly between populations than between species. Although this could indicate that the populations of Q. petraea and Q. robur studied may not be distinct species at a molecular level, it is proposed that the difficulty in distinguishing the species in Irish oak populations using AFLP markers is due to population differentiation masking species differences. This could result from non-random mating in small, fragmented woodland populations. Hybridization and introgression between the species could also have a significant role.     

Sapwood characteristics of Quercus robur species from the south-western part of the Pannonian Basin

We analysed sapwood characteristics in 344 pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) samples from the south-western part of the Pannonian Basin. The samples came from 13 sites, located in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia. The trees had an average of 13.3 sapwood rings, with a minimum of 5 and maximum of 32. Fifteen log-log linear regression models were employed to assess the statistical relationship between sapwood and heartwood variables. The number of sapwood rings (N_SW), which is usually needed in dendroarchaeological dating, is significantly related to the number of heartwood rings (N_HW), heartwood width (W_HW) and heartwood growth rate (G_HW). Older and more slowly growing trees had a higher average number of sapwood rings. Using N_HW and W_HW, we employed an additional multiple regression model and calculated coefficients for N_SW predictions for real-world dendroarchaeological dating from the south-western part of the Pannonian Basin.     

Natural hybridisation between Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. and Quercus pubescens Willd. within an Italian stand as revealed by microsatellite fingerprinting

Interspecific gene flow is frequently reported in the genus Quercus . However, interfertile oak species often seem to remain distinct, even within areas of sympatry. This study employed molecular markers to verify, at a fine scale, the presence of interspecific gene flow in a natural population of Quercus petraea and Quercus pubescens . Within a delimited area of 6 ha, all adult trees belonging to the studied oak complex and seeds from a subsample of such trees were collected and analysed using molecular microsatellite markers. A low interspecific genetic differentiation and a high level of interspecific genetic admixture suggested past hybridisation. Paternity inference of seeds allowed the estimation of pollination frequencies from the three groups of pollen donors ( Q. petraea, Q. pubescens , intermediate). We also assayed pollen viability and germinability of each species group. We observed natural hybridisation between Q. petraea and Q. pubescens, with a predominant component in the direction Q. petraea → Q. pubescens : Q. pubescens displayed a higher level of heterospecific pollination by Q. petraea (25.8%) and intermediate morphotypes (14.7%), compared to Q. petraea acting as pollen receptor (with less than 5% heterospecific pollinations). Intermediate 'mother trees' were pollinated in similar proportions by Q. petraea (23.1%), Q. pubescens (37.8%) and intermediate morphotypes (39.1%). The asymmetrical introgression observed for the studied generation may be caused, among other factors, by the relative abundance of trees from each species group in the studied area.     

Climatic responses of tree-ring width and δ13C signatures of sessile oak (Quercus petraea Liebl.) on soils with contrasting water supply

We investigated climate–growth relationships (in terms of tree-ring width, basal area increment (BAI), and tree-ring δ¹³C signatures) of Quercus petraea in Central Europe (Luxembourg). Tree responses were assessed for 160 years and compared for sites with contrasting water supply (i.e. Cambisols vs. Regosols with 175 and 42 mm available water capacity, respectively). Oak trees displayed very low climate sensitivity, and climatic variables explained only 24 and 21 % of variance in tree-ring width (TRW) (Cambisol and Regosol sites, respectively). Contrary to our expectations, site-related differences in growth responses (i.e. BAI, δ¹³C signatures) to climate shifts were not significant. This finding suggests a high plasticity of oak trees in the study area. Despite a distinct growth depression found for all trees in the decade 1988–1997 (attributable to increasing annual mean temperatures by 1.1 °C), oak trees completely recovered in subsequent years. This indicates a high resilience of sessile oak to climate change. Shifts in δ¹³C_corr signatures were mainly affected by temperature, and peaks in δ¹³C_corr values (corrected for the anthropogenic increase in atmospheric CO₂) coincided with decadal maximum temperatures. Correlations between δ¹³C signatures and TRW (mainly affected by precipitation) were not significant. This finding suggests that wood growth often was disconnected from carbon assimilation (e.g. due to carbon storage in the trunk or allocation to seeds). Since the selection of drought-resistant tree species gains importance within the context of adaptive forest management strategies, Q. petraea proves to be an adaptive tree species in Central Europe’s forests under shifting climatic conditions.     

Growth and yield of young Quercus ilex coppice stands in the Tafferte forest (Morocco)

The coppice method is the silvicultural system commonly applied to Quercus ilex (holm oak) forests for the production of firewood and charcoal. Although the holm oak is the species that covers the largest area in Morocco (1400 000 hectares), little is known about its growth and yield. The objective of this study is to quantify the stand growth and yield of young coppice holm oak stands in the Tafferete forest in the eastern part of the Middle Atlas (Morocco).Equations relating dominant height to age, and basal area, volume, and number of trees to dominant height were developed and used to derive young holm oak coppice yield estimates.The growth and yield information developed in this study may have a greater utility in defining cultural measures that should be applied in the early stage of holm-oak coppice stands.