Quercus variabilis distributed widely in the warm temperate and the subtropical area of China is not only an important constructive species of local forest but also a resource for tannin extracts and cork production. In order to understand the characteristics of seed bank, seed germination, seedling development and their influencing factors, 15 sampling plots belonging to 3 classes of habitats (understory, forest gap and forest edge) in Q. variabilis forests on the north slopes of Qinling Mountains where was the core distribution area of this species were studied. The number of Q. variabilis seeds in soil seed bank was investigated in 2008, the age structure, survival number of young seedlings, and the growth and biomass in relation to age development were investigated during the following year. Meanwhile, 7 environmental factors which might affect the germination of seeds and the growth of seedlings were also measured and analyzed. The main results were as follows: The number of intact seeds in seed banks, being different significantly (P＜0.05), were 3.60×103, 1.94×103 and 2.80×103 per 100 m2 respectively among plots for understory, forest gap and forest edge. They were resulted from that the processes of remove and predation, mildewing and immaturity affected the number of seeds to different extent among the 3 kinds of habitats. While remove and predation were the main way for the loss of seeds in the 3 kinds of habitats. Few seeds were able to germinate and develop to one-year-old seedlings, and the germinating process was observably influenced by the thickness of litter, radiation condition and air humidity according to the result of the correlation analysis. Q. variabilis population had plenty of young seedlings, however, the number of seedlings decreased dramatically with the age increase. The elder seedlings might play a key role in sustained regeneration of the population. The eight-year-old seedlings in understory, forest gap and forest edge accounted for 22.53%, 45.60% and 31.87% of the total number of the seedlings respectively. The number of seedlings in forest gap was more than that in the other 2 habitats. Forest gap was a kind of habitat which might be beneficial for the seedling establishment. The growth of height and biomass of the seedlings showed significant positive correlations with radiation condition and air temperature, but was negatively correlated with soil moisture significantly. The morphological traits including basal diameter, height, leaf area index and length of main root, and the biomass of stem, leaf and root of seedlings in forest gap were greater than those either at forest edge or in understory. The forest gap turned out to be favorable for the population regeneration of Q. variabilis. It might for the reason that the forest gap made the environmental factors, such as the radiation condition, air temperature and soil moisture etc. are different from those at forest edge or in understory, which were benefit to the growth of Q. variabilis seedlings. In the future, appropriate thinning techniques should be used to improve the number of the forest gap and provide favorable conditions for sustainable development of the Q. variabilis forests.