In Europe, two commercially important treelike birch species occur naturally: silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) and downy birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.). Both species have a wide natural distribution area on the Eurasian continent, ranging from the Atlantic to eastern Siberia. Although birches occur throughout almost the whole of Europe, the most abundant birch resources are in the temperate and boreal forests of Northern Europe. In the Baltic and Nordic countries, the proportion of birch out of the total volume of the growing stock varies between 11 and 28 per cent. In Northern Europe, birch is commercially the most important broadleaved tree species. Birches are light-demanding early successional pioneer species, which grow both in mixed stands and in pure stands. This article provides an overview of the most important ecological characteristics and typical growth and yield patterns of birch, based on European scientific literature. Growth and yield research on birch has been relatively active in Northern Europe, where numerous growth and yield models have been developed during the last decades. In this paper, a list of published scientific articles on growth modelling is provided and is grouped according to the different types of model. When growing in forest stands, birches have a relatively straight slender stem form. The current practices and silvicultural recommendations, based on research directed at high-quality timber production in silver birch stands, are reviewed. Although the emphasis is on even-aged pure silver birch stands, the management of mixed stands as well as the silviculture of downy birch and curly birch are also briefly discussed.

European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) is common throughout much of Europe and is a valuable broadleaved tree due to its ecological characteristics, outstanding wood properties and high economic value. It is a fast growing species, associated with several forest types and with a scattered distribution in many different forest communities. In this review, we sum up essential characteristics of European ash, relevant to the further development of silvicultural practices. The paper covers site requirements, regeneration and stand establishment, growth dynamics and wood quality, and health and robustness. The review also highlights implications for silviculture and summarizes new information on ash dieback, a phenomenon which is observed in many European countries. Ash grows best on fertile, pH-neutral, deep, freely drained soils and such sites should be favoured if the aim is for high quality timber. Ash grows well at wide spacing which can result in enlarged ring width and increased latewood percentage, making the wood denser and stronger. Relatively short rotations may be recommended, depending on site, to avoid black heart: for example, a harvesting diameter of 60 cm can be reached within 60–75 years at 60–80 ash crop trees per ha. Universal recommendations are therefore for wide spacing with heavy, regular thinning in order to get a large diameter within a relatively short rotation. The necessity for pruning depends on the stand density at establishment and the subsequent thinning regime.

Tilia cordata Mill. is a minor European broadleaved species with a wide but scattered distribution. Given its scarcity and low value in the wood market, it has received little attention from researchers and forest managers. This review summarizes the main aspects of T. cordata ecology and growth. Its main limiting factor is its need for warm summer temperatures to ensure successful seed production. It has a height growth pattern relatively similar to that of Acer pseudoplatanus L., with a slight delay in the early stages. Yield tables report great productivity, especially in eastern Europe. T. cordata used to be a major species in Europe, in contrast to its present distribution, but it is very likely to receive renewed interest in the future. Indeed, with the potential change of competition between species in some regions and the need for important diversification in others, T. cordata may play an important role in forest adaptation to climate change, especially owing to its wide ecological tolerance and its numerous ecosystem services. It is necessary to increase our knowledge about its regeneration and its responses to environmental and silvicultural factors, to establish clear management recommendations.

Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) is a widespread but minor species throughout Europe though there is a growing interest in using it more because of its potentially high economic and ecological values. Silvicultural recommendations for exploiting sycamore's full potential should aim at producing a maximum of about 750–1000 m³ ha^-1 of high-quality timber on the best sites (depending upon region), on short rotations (c. 70–75 years). About 11–12 m of clear bole should be achievable. This can be achieved in a number of ways including the creation of mixed-species and structurally diverse stands that will simultaneously increase ecological values. This review synthesizes existing knowledge on the growth and development of sycamore that may be used as a basis for developing silvicultural recommendations. Sycamore regenerates easily, although competing ground vegetation, damage by browsers and bark stripping by grey squirrels can reduce the amounts of valuable timber. Existing yield models show that it grows rapidly for the first 20–25 years and then slows considerably. Because of its relative scarcity and the fact that it seldom grows in pure stands, there has been limited interest in the species for growth model development and this has restricted its inclusion in forest growth simulators. This review shows that there is currently a lack of detailed knowledge about the responses of sycamore to various environmental, ecological and silvicultural factors and this hinders the understanding and management of this valuable broadleaved tree.

Tree height growth measurements at monthly and annual time scales are important for calibrating and validating forest growth models, forest management and studies of forest ecology and biophysical processes. Previous studies measured the terminal growth of individual trees or forest stands at annual or decadal time scales. Short-term, within-season measurements, however, are largely unavailable due to technical and practical limitations. Here, we describe a novel approach for measuring within-season tree height growth using a time series of co-registered digital surface models obtained with a low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle in combination with ground control plates and Structure from Motion data processing. The test site was a 2-hectare temperate mixed forest stand of varying age and successional stage in central Europe. Our results show median growth rates between 27 May and 19 August of 68 cm for Norway spruce, 93 cm for Scots pine, 106 cm for Silver birch and 26 cm for European beech. The results agree well with published field observations for these species. This study demonstrates the capability of inexpensive, increasingly user-friendly and versatile UAV systems for measuring tree height growth at short time scales, which was not previously possible, opening up new avenues for investigation and practical applications in forestry and research.