o:8413 Drivers of seedling emergence and early growth of 12 European oak species: Results from a cross-continental experiment en ABSTRACT Seedling emergence constitutes a critical recruitment step, and early growth relates to plant competitive ability. Understanding their drivers has implications for forestry and forest ecosystem conservation, restoration, and adaptation to climate change. We seeded 6984 acorns in an experiment with 97 cases at 45 sites in 15 European countries, encompassing 12 oak species. We tested whether the quality of the acorn batch, site-level weather and soil characteristics, year of seeding, and species’ mean specific leaf area (SLA) affected the emergence and early growth of seedlings after the first summer. Germination potential and acorn dry weight, measured under controlled conditions, were positively associated with emergence and early growth. Seedling emergence was negatively associated with the mean monthly temperature and cumulative winter precipitation, and it was higher in the seedling cohort that was spared from the 2021 drought. Additionally, seedling emergence was positively related to soil nutrient concentration and negatively to increasing soil pH, but not to water-holding capacity, and growth was unrelated to soils. Species-level SLA was not related to either response. The four main study species –Quercus cerris, Q. ilex, Q. petraea, and Q. robur– responded similarly to weather but not to soil conditions. We conclude that, at a continental scale, and assuming that species establish within their current distributions, (a) oak seedling emergence and early growth are associated with acorn quality rather than species identity or SLA, (b) they are highest at sites with low winter precipitation and temperature, (c) emergence is reduced in dry years, and d) soil properties play a secondary role at this early recruitment stage. Seed quality, Regeneration, Direct seeding, Seed germination, Coordinated distributed experiment, Climatic gradient 1552099 10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123223 1552102 https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0378-1127(25)00731-5 2025-10-30T13:31:32.794Z 44 yes 46 Alexandro B. Leverkus Viktorija Vendin¸ a person Arkadiusz Tomczak person Ana Topalovic person Jose María Rey Benayas person Marek Szczerba person Roberta Proietti person Stefano Puccinelli person Luís Nunes person Pedro Antonio Plaza-´Alvarez person Ricardo A. Moreno Llorca person Marina Nonić person Fabio Meloni person Manuel Merino Ceballos person Luis Matías person Ryan McClory person Roman Malik person Antonín Martiník person Johan Kroon person Dario La Montagna person M. Noelia Jim´enez Morales person Branko Kanjevac person Fløistad Inger Sundheim person Jovana Devetaković person K¯arlis D¯umin¸ˇs person Sofia Corticeiro person Michele De Sanctis person Jorge Castro person Donato Chiatante person Paola Bolzon person María D. Carbonero Mu˜noz person Nicol`o Anselmetto person Jürgen Bauhus person Raquel Benavides person Pedro Villar-Salvador person Johanna Witzell person Carmen Ure˜na-Lara person Piotr Robakowski person Piotr Sewerniak person Juan A. Oliet person Maria S. Patrício person Francisco B. Navarro Reyes person Antonio Montagnoli person Maria Cristina Monteverdi person Lucia Mondanelli person Raffaella Marzano person Alberto Maltoni person Barbara Mariotti person Paola Mairota person Adrian Łukowski person Paula Maia person Jelena Lazarevic person Dagnija Lazdin¸ a person Emanuele Lingua person Magnus L¨of person Manuel E. Lucas-Borja person Klaus Kremer person Sanja Jovanovic Institute of Forestry person 0000-0001-9468-2628 Vladan Popovic Institute of Forestry person 0000-0003-4326-3364 Radosław Puchałka person Zoran Poduška Institute of Forestry person 0000-0003-0593-0103 Ivona Kerkez Janković person Kjersti Holt Hanssen person Marcin Jakubowski person Lorena G´omez-Aparicio person Arndt Hampe person Peter Ferus person María Medina person Alba Lazaro-Gonzalez person Laura Levy person Olivia Lorente-Casalini person Marino P. Reyes Martín person Enrique Andivia person Alessandro Bizzarri person Henrik B¨ohlenius person Vito E. Cambria person Claudia Cocozza person Lenka Ehrenbergerova person Branislav Cvjetković person Giovanbattista de Dato person Marcin Klisz person Wojciech Kowalkowski person application/pdf 9806958 https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:8413 no yes 16 70 92000001 2025 Forest Ecology and Management 599 Special Issue from presentations at the 2024 International Oak Symposium Elsevier B.V 2026