Journal
SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
Volume 33, Issue 5, Pages 446-454Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS AS
DOI: 10.1080/02827581.2017.1418422
Keywords
Balsam fir; black spruce; boreal forest; brush saw; mechanized precommercial thinning; motor-manual thinning
Categories
Funding
- Forest Research Branch of the Quebec Ministry of Forests, Parks, and Wildlife [142332011]
- Fonds de Recherche du Quebec Nature et Technologies
- Ministere des Forets, des Parcs et de la Faune du Quebec
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Lack of available workforce in motor-manual operations has led to increased interest in mechanized precommercial thinning (PCT) treatments. We evaluated 15 years of growth and yield development of a very dense (27,000 stems ha(-1)) balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill) and black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) stand after six PCT treatments: (1) motor-manual (MAN), (2) motor-manual with crop tree release (MAN-C), (3) mechanized (MEC), (4) mechanized with residual patches (MEC-P), (5) semi-mechanized (mechanized followed by motor-manual, MEC-S), and (6) unthinned control (CON). Compared to CON, both MAN and MEC-S increased height of balsam fir study trees by 53-56% and diameter at breast height (DBH) by 57-58%. MAN-C and MEC-S increased DBH of black spruce study trees by 15-31% over all other treatments. The proportion of merchantable basal area (BA) was higher in MAN (62%) and MEC-S (56%) than in CON (22%) and MEC (25%), without a reduction in total BA. PCT treatments that provided a uniform distribution of potential crop trees (MAN, MEC-S) performed better than MAN-C and MEC-P, while MEC yielded the poorest responses. Our findings highlight the need to develop new tailored mechanized systems for high wood production and low operational cost.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available