PRODUCTION CAPABILITIES OF RED OAK (QUERCUS RUBRA L.) ON DIFFERENT HABITATS IN CZECH FORESTS

Red oak (Quercus rubra L.) is one of the most abundant non-native tree species in Czech forests. According to data from 2023, it occupies 6,719 ha, which represents 0.25% of an forested area. The average age of red oak in the Czech Republic is 52 years. The paper deals with the assessment of production capacity in 33 plots of 0.06 ha, established in 11 forest areas. The age of the plots ranged from 40 to 134 years at the time of the inventory, which took place between 2020 and 2023. The median height ranged from 18 m to 34 m, the median DBH ranged from 18 cm to 59 cm and the median stem volume ranged from 0.28 m3 to 3.20 m3. The standing volume per hectare ranged from 166 m3 to 1772 m3; the big difference is based on both the age and the number of trees per the plots. Almost all the plots showed an excellent health of red oak. Results of the investigation show a high production potential of red oak even in comparison with the average values for this tree species in the forest management records. Given that its adaptive potential to predicted climate change (especially drought and temperature extremes) appears to be higher than that of European native oaks, its importance is expected to increase in the future.