The renewal and sustainability of the forest stands are attained through regeneration. There are three basic methods to regenerate high forest stands: natural regeneration, direct seeding, and planting. This study reviews the factors affecting regeneration, the three methods of regeneration and the effect of stand structure on regeneration. Overall, regeneration success can be quite variable due to edaphic and climatic conditions, seed losses and/or seedling mortality. The silvicultural system is relevant to the choice of the regeneration method. Natural regeneration is used in selection and irregular shelterwood systems whereas direct seeding and planting are used in uniform shelterwood and clear-cut systems. In the former, stand stocking management is primordial to regeneration success while for the latter are species selection, seed predators and spontaneous vegetation control.

Forest fires are a common disturbance in many forest systems in the world and in particular in the Mediterranean region. Their origins can be either natural or anthropogenic. The effects in regard to the time trends, vegetation, and soil will be reflected in the species distribution, forest composition, and soil potential productivity. In general, it can be said that the larger the fire and the shorter the time between two consecutive occurrences, the higher the probability to originate shifts in vegetation and soil degradation. In the Mediterranean region, the number of fire ignitions does not reflect the burnt area due to the occurrence of very large fires. The latter occur in a very small proportion of the number of ignitions, but result in very large burnt areas. Also there seems to be an increasing trend toward larger fires in the Mediterranean region due mainly to climatic and land use changes. This case study highlights the importance of vegetation regrowth a short time after the fire to maintain both forest systems and soil conservation.