Articles containing the keyword 'continuous cover'

Forest management practices have deployed during the centuries very differently in different regions. The geographical as well as other nature related factors influence them heavily. During the first half of 19^th century was shelterwood felling much used practice especially in Prussia. Meanwhile the clearcutting with planting the seedlings became also more popular. The method is still widely used in many countries. Becoming more popular the clear cut and planting practice changed the modus operandi of forestry from close-to-nature to economically-oriented.

• Aaltonen, E-mail: va@mm.unknown

Uneven-aged forests set certain challenges for cut-to-length harvesting work. It is a challenge to cost-effectively remove larger trees while leaving a healthy understory for regrowth. The study’s aim was to evaluate productivity and costs of harvesting two-storied Silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) stands by creating time consumption models for cutting, and using existing models for forwarding. Damage to the remaining understory spruce was also examined. Four different harvesting methods were used: 1) all dominant birches were cut; 2) half of them thinned and understory was preserved; compared to 3) normal thinning of birch stand without understory; and 4) clear cutting of two-storied stand. Results showed the time needed for birch cutting was 26–30% lower when the understory was not preserved. Pulpwood harvesting of small sized spruces that prevent birch cutting was expensive, especially because of forwarding of small amounts with low timber density on the strip roads. Generally, when taking the cutting and forwarding into account, the unit cost at clear cuttings was lowest, due to lesser limitations on work. It was noted that with increasing removal from 100 to 300 m³ ha^–1, the relative share of initial undamaged spruces after the harvest decreased from 65 to 50% when the aim was to preserve them.  During summertime harvesting, the amount of stem damage was bigger than during winter. In conclusion, two-storied stands are possible to transit to spruce stands by accepting some losses in harvesting productivity and damages on remaining trees.

• Niemistö, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Natural resources, Kampusranta 9 C, FI-60320 Seinäjoki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9152-2108 E-mail: ext.pentti.niemisto@luke.fi
• Korpunen, Norsk institutt for bioøkonomi (NIBIO), Division of Forest and Forest Resources, Department of Forest operations and digitalization, Divisjon for skog og utmark, Avdeling for Driftsteknikk og digitalisering, Høgskoleveien 8, 1433 Ås, Norway https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9749-5684 E-mail: heikki.korpunen@nibio.no
• Nuutinen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Production systems, Yliopistokatu 6 B, FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3360-4444 E-mail: yrjo.nuutinen@luke.fi

Modern forestry, which mainly consists of clear-cutting, is one of the most important factors influencing today’s boreal forests. In Sweden, the breaking point for modern forestry is generally considered to be around 1950. Recently, our common knowledge of the implementation of clear-cutting in Sweden has increased, and new research indicates that clear-cutting systems were already applied before the 1950s. In this case study, we used aerial photographs from the 1940s to analyze the extent of contemporaneous clear-cuts and even-aged young forests in an area in northern Sweden. Our results show that almost 40% of the study area had already been clear-cut by the end of the 1940s, but also that clear-cutting had been applied to 10% of the forest land in the early 1900s. This implies that the historical development of forestry in northern Sweden is more complex than previously thought, and that certain proportions of the forest land were already second-generation forests in the 1950s. Our results have implications for the use of concepts such as “continuity forest”, suggesting that this concept should employ a time frame of at least 100 years.

• Lundmark, Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-901 83 Umeå, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8402-7152 E-mail: hanna.lundmark@slu.se
• Östlund, Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-901 83 Umeå, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7902-3672 E-mail: lars.ostlund@slu.se
• Josefsson, Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-901 83 Umeå, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8734-5778 E-mail: torbjorn.josefsson@slu.se

Ingrowth is an important element of stand dynamics in several silvicultural systems, especially in continuous cover forestry. Earlier predictive models for ingrowth in Finnish forests are few and not based on up-to-date statistical methods. Ingrowth is here defined as the number of trees over 1.3 m entering a plot. This study developed new ingrowth models for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) and birch (Betula pendula Roth and B. pubescens Ehrh.) using data from the permanent sample plots of the Finnish national forest inventory. The data were over-dispersed compared to a Poisson process and had many zeros. Therefore, a zero-inflated negative binomial model was used. The total and species-specific stand basal areas, temperature sum and fertility class were used as predictors in the ingrowth models. Both fixed-effects and mixed-effects models were fitted. The mixed-effects model versions included random plot effects. The mixed-effects models had larger likelihoods but provided biased predictions. Also censored prediction was considered where only a certain maximum number of ingrowth trees were accepted for a plot. The models predicted most pine ingrowth in pine-dominated stands on sub-xeric and xeric sites where stand basal area was low. The predicted amount of spruce ingrowth was maximized when the basal area of spruce was 13 m² ha^–1. Increasing temperature sum increased spruce ingrowth. Predicted birch ingrowth decreased with increasing stand basal area and towards low fertility classes. An admixture of pine increased the predicted amount of spruce ingrowth.

• Lappi, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: juha.lappi.sjk@gmail.com
• Pukkala, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: timo.pukkala@uef.fi

• Kelemen, Loránd Eötvös University, Institute of Biology, Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Budapest, Hungary E-mail: kk@nn.hu
• Mihók, Loránd Eötvös University, Institute of Biology, Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Budapest, Hungary E-mail: bm@nn.hu
• Gálhidy, Loránd Eötvös University, Institute of Biology, Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Budapest, Hungary E-mail: lg@nn.hu
• Standovár, Institute of Biology, Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Budapest, Hungary E-mail: standy@ludens.elte.hu

• Gadow, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Institute for Forest Management, Büsgenweg 5, 37077 Göttingen, Germany E-mail: kgadow@gwdg.de

European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests have a long history of coppicing, but the majority of formerly managed coppices are currently under conversion to high forest. The long time required to achieve conversion requires a long-term perspective to fully understand the implication of the applied conversion practices. In this study, we showed results from a long-term (1992–2014) case-study comparing two management options (natural evolution and periodic thinning) in a beech coppice in conversion to high forest. Leaf area index, litter production, radiation transmittance and growth efficiency taken as relevant stand descriptors, were estimated using both direct and indirect optical methods. Overall, results indicated that beech coppice showed positive and prompt responses to active conversion practices based on periodic medium-heavy thinning. A growth efficiency index showed that tree growth increased as the cutting intensity increased. Results from the case study supported the effectiveness of active conversion management from an economic (timber harvesting) and ecological (higher growth efficiency) point of view.

• Chianucci, Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria – Forestry Research Centre, viale Santa Margherita 80, 52100 Arezzo, Italy http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5688-2060 E-mail: fchianucci@gmail.com
• Salvati, Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria – Research Centre for the Soil-Plant System, via della Navicella 2–4, 00184 Roma, Italy E-mail: bayes00@yahoo.it
• Giannini, Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria – Forestry Research Centre, viale Santa Margherita 80, 52100 Arezzo, Italy E-mail: tessa.giannini@entecra.it
• Chiavetta, Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria – Forestry Research Centre, viale Santa Margherita 80, 52100 Arezzo, Italy E-mail: ugo.chiavetta@entecra.it
• Corona, Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria – Forestry Research Centre, viale Santa Margherita 80, 52100 Arezzo, Italy E-mail: piermaria.corona@unitus.it
• Cutini, Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria – Forestry Research Centre, viale Santa Margherita 80, 52100 Arezzo, Italy E-mail: andrea.cutini@entecra.it

• Modig, Statens fastighetsverk, Jokkmokk, Sweden E-mail: em@nn.se
• Magnusson, Skogsstyrelsen, Bräcke, Sweden E-mail: bm@nn.se
• Valinger, Deparment of Forest Ecology and Management, SLU, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: ev@nn.se
• Cedergren, Mariehamn, Åland E-mail: jc@nn.se
• Lundqvist, Deparment of Forest Ecology and Management, SLU, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: lars.lundqvist@slu.se