COST Action E 52 - vTI - Bund.de

A recent inventory of all forest land in the Republic of Ireland (Anonymous 200 ) reported that there
were a total of 625, 50 hectares of forest land in Ireland or about 9% of the total land area. Ownership
of this land is divided between public (52%) and private (48%). The national forest estate currently
consists of 4% conifer species, 24% broadleaves and 2% unstocked. Of the total forest land about
8, 10 hectares or about 1.4% of the total are planted with beech. Of the 151,950 hectares designated
as broadleaved forest, beech accounts for 5. % of all broadleaves.
In Irish beech stands age distribution is heavily weighted towards the older age classes with almost
60% of the area in the 51+ year age category. This consists largely of the 1930s phase of beech planting
in the public sector and the old woodland remnants of the private sector.
Beech has been planted in most areas of the country, but the majority is planted along the east coast
and south of a line running from Dublin on the east coast to Galway on the west coast. It was one of
the main species planted in the old estates and many of the mature beech trees that can be seen in the
Irish countryside were planted in late 1 00s under a grant system administered by the Royal Dublin
Society. The species was also extensively planted around the edges of conifer plantations in the 20th
century to enhance their appearance and provide autumn colour. Today its greatest use is for hedging
in suburban gardens.
Despite its undoubted potential beech has not featured prominently in grant aided planting of
recent decades, possibly because of establishment difficulties caused by heavy grass competition on
agricultural sites.
sILvIcuLTure aNd maNaGemeNT oF beech IN IreLaNd
Current beech stands have been categorized in the national forest inventory as, 4 % being
afforestation sites, 3 % semi-natural sites and 16% reforestation or replanted sites (Anonymous
200 ). About 2% of the beech plantations are below 100 m in elevation with most of the rest below
200 m in elevation.
Beech has generally been managed under the clearcut silvicultural system but this is likely to change
as shelterwood systems will be used for most broadleaves in the future, to maintain forest cover.
Mean tree age in both public and private plantings is 44 years (Anonymous 200 ). In Irish beech
stands 58% of the trees are in the top layer of the canopy, with 22% in the middle and 20% in the
bottom layer of the canopy. Current estimates are that there is approximately 1. million m3 of beech
growing stock in Ireland with most of this being in public ownership.
Current recommendations are to plant between 6 to ,000 plants per hectare (Joyce et al. 1998). It is
rarely planted pure because early thinnings have little value. For this reason it is commonly planted
in mixture with a conifer that will provide income from the thinnings. In the past, beech has been
used in mixtures with western red cedar (Thuja plicata), Scots (Pinus sylvestris) or Corsican pine
(Pinus nigra var. maritima), or European larch (Larix decidua). Mixtures with wild cherry (Prunus
avium), oak (Quercus petraea, Q. robur) and Spanish chestnut (Castanea sativa) are also mentioned,
but may not be practical. Mixtures are planted as a 50 : 50 (alternate line or bands) mixture or a 5 :
25 conifer : beech mixture.
165