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Forestry Advance Access published online on July 7, 2009
Forestry, doi:10.1093/forestry/cpp020
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Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Institute of Chartered Foresters, 2009. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Relationships between canopy transmittance and stand parameters in Sitka spruce and Scots pine stands in Britain

Sophie E. Hale1,*, Colin Edwards1, W. L. Mason1, Martin Price2,3 and Andrew Peace1

1 Forest Research, Northern Research Station, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9SY, Scotland
2 School of the Environment and Natural Resources, College of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Gwynedd LL57 2UW, Wales
3 Present address: Forest Research, Linmere, Delamere, Northwich CW8 2JD, England

* Corresponding author. E-mail: sophie.hale{at}forestry.gsi.gov.uk


  Abstract

The changing emphasis within British forestry from a clearfell/replant system focussed on timber production, to multipurpose forestry encompassing biodiversity and recreation, has resulted in a need for changes to forest management. Manipulation of the forest canopy through thinnings is a powerful tool for forest managers to modify the canopy transmittance, and therefore the below-canopy light levels. This helps to achieve specific objectives such as habitat management or seedling growth as part of transformation of an even-aged stand to a continuous cover forestry regime. In this study, hemispherical photography was used to assess canopy transmittance in a range of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands in Britain. Species-specific relationships were developed between canopy transmittance and easily-measured stand parameters. The models that provided the best fit to the data were based on basal area and stocking for Sitka spruce and basal area alone for Scots pine. The models indicate that a Sitka spruce stand with a basal area of 30 m2 ha–1 should have a stocking density <450 stems ha–1 to favour growth of Sitka spruce seedlings. Similarly, a Scots pine stand should have a basal area <27 m2 ha–1 to achieve transmittance suitable for growth of Scots pine seedlings. In conjunction with a knowledge of the light requirements of different vegetation types, these models can provide a valuable contribution to guidance on current and changing forest management practice.

Received 25 February 2009.
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