Hannu Hökkä 
,
Heli Hyttinen,
Hannu Marttila,
Juha Jämsen,
Bjørn Kløve
Effect of peak runoff control method on growth of Scots pine stands on drained peatlands in central Finland
Hökkä H., Hyttinen H., Marttila H., Jämsen J., Kløve B. (2011). Effect of peak runoff control method on growth of Scots pine stands on drained peatlands in central Finland. Silva Fennica vol. 45 no. 3 article id 106. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.106
Abstract
In drained peatland forests ditch networks need regular maintenance operations in order to sustain their drainage capacity. These operations however have a significant impact on the quality of the runoff water from the ditched areas. Peak runoff control (PRC) method has been proposed as a possible method to diminish the load to water courses through retention of the runoff temporarily in the ditch network during maximum runoff events using dams with a plastic control pipe. However, blocking water into the ditched area for periods of varying length during the growing season may have a negative impact on the growth of the tree stands. In this study past stand growth was investigated in Central Finland in altogether 10 sample Scots pine thinning stands in which the PRC method has been applied 5 growing seasons earlier. In each stand, a pair of sample plots was established: one plot next to the dam within the influence of periodic flooding and the other one outside the effect of periodic flooding. For determining stand growth, field measurements were made in August 2009. Stand growth near the dam was on average 0.54 m3 ha-1 a-1 lower than farther away from the dam but the analysis of covariance showed that the dam effect was not significant. The results of this study suggest that the PCR method does not decrease Scots pine stand growth during the first five year growth period after ditch cleaning.
Keywords
peatland;
forest drainage;
stand growth;
runoff control;
water quality
-
Hökkä,
Finnish Forest Research Institute, Rovaniemi Research Unit, P.O. Box 16, FI-96301 Rovaniemi, Finland
E-mail
hannu.hokka@metla.fi
- Hyttinen, Metsänhoitoyhdistys Keski-Suomi, Viitasaari, Finland E-mail hh@nn.fi
- Marttila, University of Oulu, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Lab, Oulu, Finland E-mail hm@nn.fi
- Jämsen, Forestry Centre Keski-Suomi, Pihtipudas, Finland E-mail jj@nn.fi
- Kløve, University of Oulu, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Lab, Oulu, Finland E-mail bk@nn.fi
Received 17 March 2011 Accepted 20 June 2011 Published 31 December 2011
Views 5065
Available at https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.106 | Download PDF
