The study aimed at recognizing the phases of forest succession where dead trees most probably occur. The model simulations showed that the increasing occurrence of dead trees culminated after the canopy closure. Thereafter the occurrence of dead trees decreased representing a pattern where high frequency of dead trees was followed by low frequency of dead trees, the intervals between the peaks in the number of dead trees being in Southern Finland about 15–30 years. Around this long-term variation there was a short-term variation, the interval between the peaks in the number of dead trees being 2–4 years. This pattern was associated with the exhausting and release of resources controlled by the growth and death of trees.
The PDF includes an abstract in Finnish.