Skip Navigation


Forestry Advance Access originally published online on December 15, 2005
Forestry 2006 79(1):103-121; doi:10.1093/forestry/cpi061
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
79/1/103    most recent
cpi061v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mäkinen, H.
Right arrow Articles by Hongisto, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© Institute of Chartered Foresters, 2006. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Effect of half-systematic and systematic thinning on the increment of Scots pine and Norway spruce in Finland

Harri Mäkinen1,*, Antti isomäki1 and Timo Hongisto2

1 Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Centre, PO Box 18, FIN-01301 Vantaa, Finland
2 Metsänhoitoyhdistys Lakeus, Hyypäntie 9, FIN-61800 Kauhajoki, Finland

* Corresponding author. E-mail: harri.makinen{at}metla.fi

Diameter, height and volume increment of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stands were investigated in long-term thinning experiments in southern Finland. The measurement period was on average 19 years, and thinnings consisted of five different treatments: (1) unthinned; (2) selective thinning from below where thinning intensity was determined according to the number of stems; (3) selective thinning from below where thinning intensity was determined according to stand basal area; (4) systematic thinning where corridors were opened at regular intervals in the stand; and (5) half-systematic thinning where corridors were opened at regular intervals and the remaining strips thinned from below, i.e. a combination of selective and systematic thinning. The selective (basal area) thinning of Scots pine resulted in a volume growth reduction of about 12 per cent, but in Norway spruce it resulted in no marked reduction compared with the unthinned plots. In both tree species, volume increment in the half-systematic and selective (basal area) thinning differed only slightly from each other. The systematic thinning resulted in the lowest volume increment. In the systematic thinning, the total yield (m3 ha–1) somewhat decreased with increasing corridor width. In half-systematic thinning, on the other hand, the total yield was not clearly related to corridor width. A corridor accelerated the diameter increment of the edge trees. The edge effect progressively diminished when moving deeper into the strip and ended at a distance of about 3–4 m from the corridor edge. After the thinning, the height increment first decreased, but later on it recovered. The unthinned plots had more dead trees than the other treatments, but there were no significant differences between the other treatments. It can be concluded that the prevailing thinning method in the Nordic countries, i.e. half-systematic thinning, most probably results in no significant growth and yield losses.

Received 10 November 2004.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.