Several research plots were established in the forest management area of Tolmin in order to assess the forest regeneration success following a natural disturbance. The first set of plots was marked in the area of Jagršče where the forest was damaged by windfall and then by snow in 2007. The second set of plots was marked in the Zala river valley where windfall in 2005 resulted in a number of treefall gaps. A new forest traffic route was constructed in Jagršče to enable logging, while a cable crane served the same purpose in the Zala river valley. We set up plots on both logged and unlogged areas and compared their tree density, stand structure, browsing damage, micro-sites, erosion and seedling growth. Our findings indicate that there were 34,200 specimens per ha of logged plots and 18,033 specimens per ha of unlogged plots. Broad-leaved trees were predominant % manna ash, European hop-hornbeam, beech and sycamore. Almost one half of the trees in affected areas belong to the group of 21%50 cm tall trees. Browsing was more intensive on logged plots with 22,500 browsed specimens per ha, while 8,750 trees per ha were browsed on unlogged plots. Micro-sites were not particularly important in the regeneration process because the majority of trees (96.8%) grew on ordinary forest soil. In terms of seedling height growth, it was three times better on logged plots than on those left to natural regeneration.
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