Typology of natural woodlands: a management tool. Application to natural colonisation by Scots pine in mid elevation mountains in Auvergne: the Chaîne des Puys

Abstract

The Chaîne des Puys, a volcanic massif of the French Massif Central located at medium mountain level, is characterised by widespread spontaneous reforestation, often by a single species such as the Scots pine which has grown over abandoned agricultural and grazing land during the last four decades. An analysis of the flora in 106 plots allows differentiating four main categories depending whether the process is in its initial stages (moors or meadows) or its terminal stages (beech or oak-beech forests). Dendrometric data is presented for each of these types.