Journal
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
Volume 51, Issue 3, Pages 493-499Publisher
CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1139/cjfr-2020-0187
Keywords
silviculture; Nothofagus antarctica; northern Patagonia; thinning; growth
Categories
Funding
- Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica -Argentina [PICT 2013-1079, PICT 2016-0305]
- Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro [PI 40-B-635, PI 40-13-728]
- CONICET scholarship
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Nothofagus antarctica forests in northern Patagonia responded positively to strip thinning, with thinning intensity impacting basal diameter annual increment and stand volume growth. Maintaining thinning intensity below 50% could promote the development of retained trees without reducing productivity, representing an important contribution to silvicultural interventions design in the region.
Nothofagus antarctica (G. Forst.) Oerst. stands of northern Patagonia (Argentina) have great potential to provide multiple ecosystem services. Nonetheless, the lack of basic information limits the application of silvicultural treatments to this forest type. This study reports the early response to three systematic strip thinning treatments (30%, 50%, and 70%) carried out during 2013 in a 30-year-old N. antarctica stand, where control plots (i.e., no thinning) were also established. Subplots were located within each plot. Basal diameters (BD) of all retained stems were measured in the non-vegetative season (winter) of 2016, 2017, and 2018 to calculate basal diameter annual increment (BDI) and stand volume growth. BDI ranged from 1.9 mm.year(-1) in the control plots to 2.7 mm.year(-1) at 70% thinning. Relative BDI also responded positively to thinning intensity. Stand volume growth decreased non-linearly with thinning intensity from 3.36 m(3).ha(-1).year(-1) in the control plots to 0.71 m(3).ha(-1).year(-1) when thinning was 70%. Smaller differences were observed between control plots, 30% thinning, and 50% thinning. Our results show that N. antarctica forests, in the stem exclusion stage, respond to strip thinning. Thus, silviculture based on this management system could favor the development of retained trees without losing productivity if it remains under 50% intensity. This outcome represents an important incremental contribution to the design of silvicultural interventions in northern Patagonia.
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