Age of trees of fir (Abies alba Mill.), spruce (Picea abies Karst.) and beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in mixed uneven-aged multilayered stands on mountain Igman.

This particular paper analyzes the age of fir (Abies alba Mill.), spruce (Picea abies Karst.) and beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) trees, with a diameter at breast height of approximately 50 cm (diametar classes 47.5 and 52.5 cm) in mixed uneven-aged multi-leyerd stands. Research data was obtained from four continuous experimental plots on Mt. Igman, with different site conditions and stand structure on which the selective management method is carried out. Based on the number of annual growth rings on the incerement cores to the center of the tree taken at a height of 1.3 m, the so-called “age of growth” was determined (Flury according to Stamenković, Vučković 1988). However, the actual age is greater than the determined age, for the time required to reach a height of 1.3 m. The research indicated that the tree age is of great variability. The range for fir trees is from 70 to 350 years, for spruce trees from 65 to 256 years and for beech trees from 113 to 275 years. Moreover, the research implicates that the differences in age between tree species within one stand aren’t statistically significant in all analyzed cases, while differences between trees of the same tree species from stands of different site and stand conditions are statistically significant. The differences between the observed fir and beech trees in the same stand are not statistically significant, while the differences between the trees of these tree species and spruce trees are statistically significant. For all observed tree species, it was found that the age of trees is on average lower in sites of medium quality, compared to sites of better and lower quality. It was concluded that differences in the age of observed trees are determined by tree species, site conditions and stand structure (competitive relations) and other factors not covered by this study, and that the age of trees of certain species to some extent indicates the production potential of sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]