Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of regeneration in Shafarood managed and ‎‎unmanaged beech forests

In order to achieve the goals of sustainable forest management, single tree selection method was implemented in Hyrcanian forests. But it is not clear what effect the implementation of this method has on the reproductive characteristics of trees in forest stands. For this purpose, we compared the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of beech seedlings and saplings in the gaps of two managed and unmanaged compartments. Expanded gaps with an area > 100 m2 were identified in the two compartments. Except of density and richness of tree species, the average of other quantitative characteristics of saplings was significantly (ρ<0.05) in the unmanaged than the managed compartment. While the highest frequency of healthy and unforked seedlings was observed in the managed compartment (ρ<0.05). Species richness in both compartments showed a low value. Considering that one of the goals of sustainable forest management is to increase the diversity of trees and adapt to the ecosystem, it is necessary to pay attention to the promotion of the diversity and richness of tree species in the future management plans in the studied areas.