Growth response to pre-commercial thinning of lodgepole pine is short-term but the effects on size distribution persist for decades
Pre-commercial thinning in Alberta is a potential option for increasing the growth rate and shortening the rotation age of regenerating forests. Previous studies have focused on the evaluation of either the immediate- or long-term response to thinning after many decades. Our current study compares t...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Canadian Institute of Forestry
2024-03-01
|
| Series: | The Forestry Chronicle |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2024-002 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849239994016727040 |
|---|---|
| author | Shes K. Bhandari Bradley D. Pinno Kenneth J. Stadt Barb R. Thomas |
| author_facet | Shes K. Bhandari Bradley D. Pinno Kenneth J. Stadt Barb R. Thomas |
| author_sort | Shes K. Bhandari |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pre-commercial thinning in Alberta is a potential option for increasing the growth rate and shortening the rotation age of regenerating forests. Previous studies have focused on the evaluation of either the immediate- or long-term response to thinning after many decades. Our current study compares the pre-commercial thinning response in lodgepole pine for a 10-year period immediately after thinning, and again 38-45 years after thinning, based on 22 paired plots of precommercially thinned trials in Alberta. The first group of plots was pre-commercially thinned in 1984, measured in 1985 and 1995 (short-term) and the second group was pre-commercially thinned between 1962 and 1969 and measured in 2007 and 2017 (long-term). In the short-term, individual tree DBH growth was 56% greater in pre-commercially thinned plots, while in the long-term plots, there were no measured growth differences between pre-commercially thinned and unthinned plots. Small- and medium-sized trees benefited more from pre-commercial thinning than larger trees. However, at the stand level, the number and volume of merchantable-sized trees (≥13.5 cm DBH) were higher in pre-commercially thinned plots than in unthinned plots in both the short- and long-term. Although the growth response of thinning appeared to be a short-term response (number and volume of larger trees), yield at the end of the long-term measurement period was still higher in pre-commercially thinned than in unthinned plots. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-23973c2f9b9b4599b14ab39512f9eaab |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0015-7546 1499-9315 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Canadian Institute of Forestry |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Forestry Chronicle |
| spelling | doaj-art-23973c2f9b9b4599b14ab39512f9eaab2025-08-20T04:00:45ZengCanadian Institute of ForestryThe Forestry Chronicle0015-75461499-93152024-03-011001505810.5558/tfc2024-002Growth response to pre-commercial thinning of lodgepole pine is short-term but the effects on size distribution persist for decadesShes K. Bhandari0Bradley D. Pinno1Kenneth J. Stadt2Barb R. Thomas3Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E3Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E3Reforestation, Inventory and Biometrics Section, Ministry of Forestry and Parks, Government of Alberta T6H 5T6Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E3Pre-commercial thinning in Alberta is a potential option for increasing the growth rate and shortening the rotation age of regenerating forests. Previous studies have focused on the evaluation of either the immediate- or long-term response to thinning after many decades. Our current study compares the pre-commercial thinning response in lodgepole pine for a 10-year period immediately after thinning, and again 38-45 years after thinning, based on 22 paired plots of precommercially thinned trials in Alberta. The first group of plots was pre-commercially thinned in 1984, measured in 1985 and 1995 (short-term) and the second group was pre-commercially thinned between 1962 and 1969 and measured in 2007 and 2017 (long-term). In the short-term, individual tree DBH growth was 56% greater in pre-commercially thinned plots, while in the long-term plots, there were no measured growth differences between pre-commercially thinned and unthinned plots. Small- and medium-sized trees benefited more from pre-commercial thinning than larger trees. However, at the stand level, the number and volume of merchantable-sized trees (≥13.5 cm DBH) were higher in pre-commercially thinned plots than in unthinned plots in both the short- and long-term. Although the growth response of thinning appeared to be a short-term response (number and volume of larger trees), yield at the end of the long-term measurement period was still higher in pre-commercially thinned than in unthinned plots.https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2024-002lodgepole pinegrowthmerchantable sizepre-commercial thinning (PCT)pin lodgepolecroissance |
| spellingShingle | Shes K. Bhandari Bradley D. Pinno Kenneth J. Stadt Barb R. Thomas Growth response to pre-commercial thinning of lodgepole pine is short-term but the effects on size distribution persist for decades The Forestry Chronicle lodgepole pine growth merchantable size pre-commercial thinning (PCT) pin lodgepole croissance |
| title | Growth response to pre-commercial thinning of lodgepole pine is short-term but the effects on size distribution persist for decades |
| title_full | Growth response to pre-commercial thinning of lodgepole pine is short-term but the effects on size distribution persist for decades |
| title_fullStr | Growth response to pre-commercial thinning of lodgepole pine is short-term but the effects on size distribution persist for decades |
| title_full_unstemmed | Growth response to pre-commercial thinning of lodgepole pine is short-term but the effects on size distribution persist for decades |
| title_short | Growth response to pre-commercial thinning of lodgepole pine is short-term but the effects on size distribution persist for decades |
| title_sort | growth response to pre commercial thinning of lodgepole pine is short term but the effects on size distribution persist for decades |
| topic | lodgepole pine growth merchantable size pre-commercial thinning (PCT) pin lodgepole croissance |
| url | https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2024-002 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sheskbhandari growthresponsetoprecommercialthinningoflodgepolepineisshorttermbuttheeffectsonsizedistributionpersistfordecades AT bradleydpinno growthresponsetoprecommercialthinningoflodgepolepineisshorttermbuttheeffectsonsizedistributionpersistfordecades AT kennethjstadt growthresponsetoprecommercialthinningoflodgepolepineisshorttermbuttheeffectsonsizedistributionpersistfordecades AT barbrthomas growthresponsetoprecommercialthinningoflodgepolepineisshorttermbuttheeffectsonsizedistributionpersistfordecades |