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Future climatic scenarios demand an increasing involvement of management for forest preservation, but little is known on how forestry practices will benefit stands in facing variation of climatic components.

We investigated how selective thinning affected the response of an old Quercus ilex coppice to 6 years of throughfall reduction. Plots thinned from below (≈30% basal area removal) and unthinned plots were subject to either throughfall exclusion (TE; ≈33% throughfall reduction) or normal rainfall. Stem diameter growth, stem survival, and seed and sprout production were measured.

TE did not have a significant effect on stem growth but it reduced the production of viable acorns. Also, in the absence of thinning, TE accelerated the mortality of small stems and stimulated the emergence of …