Lars Karlsson, Tommy Mörling, Urban Bergsten. (2013). Influence of silvicultural regimes on the volume and proportion of juvenile and mature wood in boreal Scots pine. Silva Fennica vol. 47 no. 4 article id 938. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.938

Keywords: fibre length; stand density; juvenile wood

Highlights: Initial stand densities have a large impact on the proportion of mature wood within trees throughout most of their life cycle; The difference between regimes in volume of long fibres in crop trees could be substantial; Long-term silvicultural strategies implemented at juvenile stand ages can be important tools in order to produce wood raw material suited for specific end-uses.

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Trees from 48 to 78 years old, exposed to three different long-term silvicultural regimes, were examined for transition ages between juvenile (JW), transition (TW) and mature wood (MW), total wood volume and proportions of the same wood types, as defined by fibre length. Twenty one sample trees were collected at sites with similar growing conditions within the same geographical area. Stem discs and fibre samples from breast height (BRH), 20% of tree height, green crown height and 70% of tree height were analysed. Trees growing in an environment with few neighboring trees (Sparse regime) started to produce MW, on average, five years later at BRH and six to nine years later at 20% of total tree height than trees in stands with high stem numbers (Dense regime) and trees growing in stands where the stem number had been heavily reduced after an initial high stand density (Dense/Sparse regime). For all regimes, the greatest mean fibre length was found below the green crown and high initial stem numbers were found to positively influence fibre length. The proportion of MW in the whole stem was 34% at Sparse regime sites, 57–69% at Dense/Sparse sites and 63–64% in sites where there was a Dense regime. The proportion of MW was significantly lower for trees from the Sparse regime on each stem section compared. In conclusion, the results suggest that the initial condition a tree faces affects the stem wood properties and quality output at the end of the rotation period.

Karlsson, Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: lars.karlsson@slu.se
Mörling, Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: tommy.morling@slu.se
Bergsten, Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: urban.bergsten@slu.se

Category : Research note

article id 974, category Research note

Kristina Ahnlund Ulvcrona, Lars Karlsson, Ingegerd Backlund, Urban Bergsten. (2013). Comparison of silvicultural regimes of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) in Sweden 5 years after precommercial thinning. Silva Fennica vol. 47 no. 3 article id 974. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.974

Keywords: direct seeding; forest production; corridor thinning; biomass harvest; PCT

Highlights: Management regimes can serve different purposes such as biomass production, pulp and timber production or a combination of those; 30 tons biomass or 38–45 m³ stem volume ha^–1 could be derived by schematic corridor thinning (70%) at year 20; Producing large amounts of biomass early in the rotation period does not exclude a conversion into pulp and timber production.

Abstract | Full text in HTML | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Early effects (stem volume, mean diameter at breast height weighted against basal area (Dgv) (Dgv), biomass and damage frequency) of different silvicultural regimes 18-19 years after direct seeding of lodgepole pine in northern Sweden were analysed. A Conventional regime, (i) precommercial thinning (PCT) to 2200 stems ha^-1, was compared to: (ii) High biomass production (15 300 stems ha^-1, no PCT) with and without corridor thinning at year 20, (iii) production of Large dimension trees (PCT to 1700 stems ha^-1), (iv), Combined high biomass production and production of conventional round wood (PCT to 4500 stems ha^-1). PCT was done 15 yrs after direct seeding for all PCT treatments. Local biomass functions showed that the regimes aiming at High biomass production displayed ca 144-157% more biomass and 134-143% more stem volume than the Conventional and Large dimension regimes (ca 21 tons and 31 m³ ha^-1). Dgv for the 1000 (9.2 cm) and 2000 (8.3 cm) largest trees ha^-1 appeared unaffected by regime. By schematic corridor thinning (70% of the total area) at year 20 in the High biomass regime, 27-32 tons of biomass ha^-1 and 38-45 m³ ha^-1 could be derived while still having a Dgv of the 1000 largest trees ha^-1 of about 8 cm. Therefore, this study indicates that it is possible to produce and harvest large amounts of biomass and stem volume early in the rotation period without excluding later pulp and timber production. This initial regime comparison should be continued over time.

Ahnlund Ulvcrona, SLU, Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Skogsmarksgränd, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: kristina.ulvcrona@slu.se
Karlsson, SLU, Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Skogsmarksgränd, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: lars.karlsson@slu.se
Backlund, SLU, Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Skogsmarksgränd, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: ingegerd.backlund@slu.se
Bergsten, SLU, Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Skogsmarksgränd, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: urban.bergsten@slu.se

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