REGENERATION OF BILBERRY SPRUCE FOREST - ALLELOPATHY, HUMUS AND MYCORRHIZAS

The failure of regeneration observed in subalpine spruce forests (Vaccinio-Piceetea) has been placed in the frame of an antagonism between two ecosystems characterized by the humus profile they generate :the bilberry-system (which impedes the establishment of spruce seedlings) and the spruce-system (which just delays it). In the humus profile, the information is given by molecules (phenolic allelochemicals) which would affect seedlings, symbiotic fungi and/or their association. Lack of adequate mycorrhizal strains would restrict the integration of seedlings into forest ecosystems as long as the humus type does not change.