%0 Research article
%T Impacts of different thinning regimes on the yield of uneven-structured Scots pine stands on drained peatland
%A Kojola, Soili
%A Penttilä, Timo
%A Laiho, Raija
%D 2004
%J Silva Fennica
%V 38
%N 4
%R doi:10.14214/sf.407
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/407
%X Drained peatlands in northern Europe comprise more than 10 million ha of  forestland and thus constitute a considerable production potential in  forestry. Much of this area consists of stands dominated by Scots pine  and close to maturity regarding commercial thinning. The trees within  these stands typically vary in terms of age, size, and growth rate. The  impacts of silvicultural cuttings on these uneven-structured stands are  inadequately known. We simulated the impacts of a control regime with no  thinnings, and three different thinning regimes, involving different  thinning intensities, on the development of fifteen pine-dominated  stands in Finland. The simulations started from the first thinnings and  were continued until regeneration maturity. The predicted total yields  ranged from 244 to 595 m3 ha–1, depending on site and thinning regime.  The highest total yields were observed for the control regime in which  18–38% of the yield was, however, predicted to self-thin by the end of  the simulation. Thus, the differences in the yields of merchantable wood  were fairly small among the compared regimes. However, the regimes  involving thinnings generally needed less time than the control regime  to reach regeneration maturity. The mean annual increment of total stem  volume was at its highest in the control regime. The highest mean annual  increment of merchantable wood was obtained in the regime involving two  moderate thinnings, but excluding the most low-productive sites where  thinnings did not increase the yield of merchantable wood.