State assessment of dominant tree layers of oak forests based on quantitative analysis of population strategies

The article considers the results of assessing the state of the tree layer of oak forests based on calculating the severity of population strategies of species in the community. The obtained values made it possible to establish how actively of the strategy is being implemented in various types of oak forests. The data analysis showed a high degree of correlation with succession processes characteristic of the considered communities, which expands the possibilities of quantitative assessment of forest sustainability. It has been established that the optimal condition of oak forests depends not so much on the presence of such a typical competitor as oak, but on the possibility of growing tree species with other strategies, which allows for a normal generational turn of in the plant community. Very important is the joint growth of trees belonging to all three types of population strategies: competitive - Quercus robur ; ruderal - Betula pendula, Alnus incana , elm species; tolerant - Tilia cordata, Acer platanoides etc. The presence of external influences ensuring the creation of gaps in the tree layer for the development of oak undergrowth and heliophilous species also contributes to the long-term existence of the forest community. It was found that the existence of a relatively stable forest community can be expressed with the following values of degree of severity population strategies of the stand: competitiveness - 50-58, reactivity - 35-44, tolerance - 21-29.