Volume production in different silvicultural systems for 85 years in a mixed <i>Picea abies–Pinus sylvestris</i> forest in central Sweden

• Main Authors: Lundqvist, Lars, Spreer, Susanne, Karlsson, Christer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Finnish Society of Forest Science 2013-01-01
• Series: Silva Fennica
• Online Access: https://www.silvafennica.fi/article/897

A long-term comparison of different silvicultural systems was established in 1923 in central Sweden, in an uneven-aged mixed Norway spruceâScots pine forest ( (L.) Karst. â L.) with about 85% spruce and 15% pine. The five treatments consisted of two examples of even-aged management 1) clear-cutting followed by planting, and 2) seed tree regeneration, one uneven-aged management 3) selection system, one exploiting treatment 4) diameter limit cut, and 5) one untreated control plot. Each treatment plot was 1 ha, 100 m à 100 m. The plots were measured and managed at irregular intervals, ranging from 7 to 15 years. In 2007â2008 the even-aged treatments and the diameter limit cut were repeated and a new rotation started. Mean annual volume increment during the whole observation period differed widely between the treatments, partly because of differences in species composition over time, with treatment clear-cutting followed by planting at the top, and the control at the bottom. Treatment selection system gave only about 60% of planting, but this was probably largely an effect of too small growing stock during the first roughly 50 years. When the growing stock was increased, periodic annual volume increment increased to about 80% of the mean annual volume increment in the even-aged, planted plot.Picea abiesPinus sylvestris