Results of ecological research on European chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) in the Castanetarium Horné Lefantovce

Abstract

The Castanetarium Horné Lefantovce was established in 1965-1970 on an area of 14.38 hectares of a former agricultural land. It is situated in a uniform ecological environment, providing suitable conditions for a thorough ecological-production research (evaluation of growth and production, phytotechnology, health condition, morphological and genetic stability) in different stand types (pure and mixed stands) and 86 seed progenies from 12 Slovak localities. Today it represents a valuable source of gene pool of the European chestnut. In this contribution we present ecological characteristics of the Castanetarium and recent scientific findings obtained when studying the subject.