clearing
A clearing or bare (outdated: light or light ) is a tree-free area in the middle of a forest . In terms of the Federal Forest Act , it is considered a forest in Germany.
Ecological function
As clearings within closed forest stands create additional structural elements and provide a habitat for light-loving plants, they increase the species diversity of a forest. They also offer grazing areas for game.
Creation of a clearing
A clearing can be natural or anthropogenic . Natural causes can be storms , fire or calamities . Anthropogenic causes can be blows , environmental disasters or arson. If a clearing is to be preserved due to ecologically valuable deposits or a need for use, it must be maintained. The natural development cycle would otherwise create a forest again through the trees standing at the edge of the clearing.
Clearing (thinning)
In silviculture , clearing is used to describe timber harvesting measures , the intensity of which is significantly higher than that of thinning , but which are not yet clear-cutting . So many trees are removed from a stand that the canopy is permanently interrupted. Often, such a clearing or light flash serves to initiate the rejuvenation . The increase in thickness of the trees that remain in the stand is accelerated by such an intervention and is accordingly called clearing increase . Forestry operations that use this possibility of faster thick wood production are called clearing operations .
